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miinstrel
2017-09-25, 08:14 PM
There's a lot out there about random combat encounters, but not so much about random sites or assorted other discovery type encounters. The goal of this post is to assemble a list that can be used by DMs to drop some flavor into their PCs' journeys. What I'm looking for are interesting locales that might be off the road, or visible from the road, or visible from a hilltop... something players have to decide "yes, let's take a short detour and check that out."

The world I'm currently building is very old, and it's dangerous to go alone (roving bandits/monstrosities between cities), so travel is limited for those who can't protect themselves like an adventuring party can.

I'll provide some examples of what I have in mind here, and then I hope the GitP community will help me spawn a rather lengthy list for myself and any other DM's use. So here we go!




dX
Discovery


1
a hilltop that only has trees at the peak. The lower reaches are burned or cut down. (I picture a dryad or something living at the top and doing what she can to protect what's left.


2
a giant sized wooden door. No structure, maybe some crumbly wall, but mostly just s door.


3
a roadside inn complete with innkeeper... but when PCs wake up in the morning they're on hard ground and the house is gone.


4
a geometric area with absolutely no organic material on the surface


5
a funeral pyre that was never lit, the now skeletal remains still sitting atop it.


6
the bones of an enormous beast


7
A semi-hidden path off the main road leads to a well-maintained still, surrounded by a ring of mushrooms. The still seems to have been recently used, but no tracks lead to or from it.


8
Near a fork in a river lies a cave with glittering stones in the walls. It has excellent acoustic properties, issuing near perfect echoes. Occasionally, it emits an echo even when no one has spoken.


9
This natural harbor always appears to be lit by sunset, no matter the time of day. A small pile of rubble lies near the shore - perhaps once a building, or a statue.


10
This grove of trees is shaped eerily like a cathedral. Branches twist over head to make natural hallways and rooms, and there even appear to be windows. In the central 'hall', a group of leaves gives the appearance of a stained glass window, whose image can be seen best at dawn.


11
The unmistakable ruins of a sea resort for the wealthy, including the remains of expensive yachts in the harbour. But it is all situated in a high mountain valley, miles above sea level and hundreds of miles from any shore.


12
A spring that feeds a small river, in an area with plenty of grazing animals. But within thirty feet of the spring, all the grass is high and untouched, and no tracks of natural animals can be found in that area either.


13
Three mountain tops on the same range of mountains, quite close and about the same height, and yet: One top is always covered by clouds, even in strong winds; one is always clad in snow, even in the hottest summer; and one is always naked of snow, despite frequent blizzards in winter.


14
A petrified oak, complete with petrified leaves, and even a few petrified birds and a squirrel. A single acorn hangs ripe and unpetrified from the highest branch.


15
The splattered remains of a whale, at most a fortnight old, crashed on a desert plain. A smashed piece of pottery can be found among the stinking blubber.


16
An old bear pit, which shows some sagging due to its age and neglect. But the bait looks to be a kind of turnip, and the bottom of the pit has a layer of straw and hay.


17
The Night Spire: A high natural column of stone, reaching about 120 ft high. Someone built/ carved a ramp that goes around it slowly. At day there are strange carvings on the sides of the spire, depicting constellations, measurements, astrological and astronomical maps and similar. Yet at night... From far away the spire twinkles, as if in the light of far away stars, the spire itself quite dark, almost at night, giving an eerie beauty to it. And if one travels up the spire at night, the sky looks especially clear, the stars especially bright and marvelous... Some locals say that at certain times of the year, if one travels the spire, you see... different stars... be them from other times, or other worlds, is unknown...


18
The Harpies: A group of 3 high jagged hills, who's sides are tough to climb. The hills are littered with small twisting caves, and at times when the wind comes there is a disturbing howling music, as if screeching of many crows, yet somehow also... appealing, mesmerizing. At times musical talents, holy men or seers seek the center of The Harpies. Some come out with an insight, a revelation, a prophecy... Others come mad, weeping, or don't come out at all.


19
The Silent Cliff: A massive natural cliff. Yet if you get close enough, you catch odd images- like a part of an arm protruding, the side of a face, a part of a tree, a part of a ship an more. The entire thing feels almost as if the entire cliff is an unfinished work of art, with but haphazard touchings to a big canvas, but... the findings seem real, VERY real.


20
The "True Dark": A natural looking cave, visited by some of local avage tribes, worshiping old gods. The entrance is littered with remains of offerings, crude symbols to many different gods, yet oddly enough, no actual marking on the cave itself (If anyone interrogates the locals, they declare the place "came before even the old ones"). As one goes into the cave, the light goes dimmer and dimmer, till no light at all remains. No light source, magical or otherwise is capable of piercing the true dark. Worse- even other senses, such as darkvision, echolocation or more fail to notice any feature of the cave.
In fact, people who go deep enough realize they don't even feel themselves... But they may hear voices... voices of the past, the future, of loved ones lost, of gods, of others, and perhaps most alarmingly- of themselves... What the voices tell each person is different for each, yet most find the experience both unsettling and shaking, but also quite important.


21
The Standing Stones: an ancient group of standing stones, arranged in one (or more) rings. Many are broken, have fallen, or are missing. Any inscription is worn to nigh-illegibility by time. When within the stones, odd whispers are sometimes heard on the wind, and travelers who use them for shelter overnight often experience dreams of blood or madness...


22
The Watchtower: A ruined tower, standing tall on a hilltop, or perhaps collapsed with only the base still intact. The writing that has been found is strange, and no one really knows who built it. It has simply always been there. Bonus points if it's made of a strange stone as well.


23
The Abyss: While exploring a cavern system, you come across a sudden drop into a cavernous opening. Attempts to light the area only reveal more darkness further below, and if you drop a stone to listen for when it hits the bottom it simply falls into the deep--you never hear it land. But, stare long enough, and you may see lights moving deep within, or something that sounds tantalizingly like voices from below.


24
The Place of Peace: Within a twisted, cursed wood there is a small clearing that is well lit. The cloying fog that hangs over the rest of the forest stays outside, and the blackened, gnarled vines and clawing trees are replaced by green, healthy plants. A small, clear spring bubbles up into a pool in the center, filled with crystal water, not like the murky, befouled streams you have thus far come across. You don't know why this place hasn't been touched by whatever else blighted this wood, but it may be the only respite you find.


25
The Fey Rings: An interlocking set of toadstool rings, in a glade, off the path in an ancient woodland. The butterflies and glowworms here seem to dance in circles and patterns around the rings, the keen eared can hear high pitched hints of music...
Maybe the rings inflict penalties and/ or bonuses on bards or other charismatic heroes, depending on their actions.


26
The Quartz Caverns: Deep in the snowy mountains is an underground cavern of immense size, a thousand feet tall and twenty miles across at its longest point. There are a few breaks near its edges, from which a quartz cache is visible, and once inside there's an abundance of quartz crystals. Those at the edges are normally sized, but in the heart of the open cave is a crystal hundreds of feet tall, and several others nearer the center that are smaller, only a few dozen feet in height.


27
The Algal Grove: Swamps are always teeming with life, but there's a unique quality to the algal grove, somehow more alive than other swamps. Its borders are a ring of trees and reeds, blocking off the waters from the swamp around it. Inside is a massive and deep lake, teeming with fish that are large by ocean standards. A titanic heron lives here eating these fish, and the fish themselves are found eating the most distinctive feature of the grove by which it earned its name - the surface is teeming with dense clumps of algae, like mossy green icebergs and just as dangerous to boats.


28
The Fog Crater: There's an unusually foggy temperate forest, which has grown up around the site of a meteor hit. The forest abruptly ends around the edge of the crater, but the fog rolls in. Right after a rare sunny day the fog can be watched rolling down the edge of the crater, slowly filling in the sun-burnt hole in the fog.


29
The Rainbow Spire: Sandstone in a desert is nothing special, and even tall rock structures of sandstone aren't too uncommon. What makes the rainbow spire special is that the sandstone has clearly been compressed out of several kinds of sand, forming elaborate patterns of color in tan and pink, black and purple, and even the occasional streak of deep red of blue.


30
The Storm Peak: Amidst an unremarkable range of high mountains is a single peak that rises above the others in the range. Every mountain range has one, but this one is special - rising to be outright sharp, with dense metal ores at the very top. It's also considered cursed, as it seems to draw lightning strikes to that peak with frightening regularity, and the entire mountain is prone to violent lightning storms.


31
The Tidal Sink: There's a canyon by the coast, separated from the ocean by a short spit of stone maybe twenty yards across. At high tide this short spit is submerged, and the ocean waters go tumbling down the canyon. There, miles below, they enter a whirlpool which has been draining them away for at least all historical memory. Where this ocean water is going, nobody knows.


32
The Glass Tower: The glass tower isn't actually glass, but molten sand that has cooled to a glassy sheen. It's a squat, ugly structure at the center of a large pool of fused sand, with long tendrils reaching in every direction, partially buried.


33
An area of stone or rock that's been melted smooth. the armor of some poor saps of yesteryear is melted down and fused into the ground.


34
Clear signs of an avalanche, but there exists an odd empty space in the shape of a cube or sphere where no rocks rest.


35
In a fetid bog there sits a small geyser-like spring of pure water.


36
A small decrepit town devoid of life (or filled with skeletons in odd, neutral poses). Taken by disease? magic? Who knows..


37
A large pit/sinkhole, deep enough the bottom cannot be seen and a dropped torch vanishes into darkness.


38
The ruins of an ocean vessel far enough inland it has no logical reason to be there.


39
An area of stationary rainfall, heavy winds, or other weather phenomena.


40
A single spot where lightning strikes continually.


41
Cyclopean Walls: A city stands on a hilltop. Stone walls surround it, complete with towers and iron gates. The locals live in the city, but no one knows who built it. The stones used for the walls are so large, legends say it was built by Giants or the like.


42
The Haunted Bridge: Far below, a long dried river has carved a bridge-like structure in the rock face, and roads have since been constructed over and through the formation. Every now and then, a wind gust through the rock formation is accompanied by what sounds like a woman's piercing shriek. Most people say it's a natural, if disturbing, effect... but many people travelling over the top have reported an inexplicable urge to step off the edge.



43
The Lost Traveler: A middle-aged knight wanders the road, apparently lost, asking for directions and a bit of food. Those who share supplies with him and treat him kindly find the rest of their journey smooth and easy. Those who refuse him aid or treat him with disdain find themselves hopelessly lost, often turning up weeks later in a location they could not possibly have reached given their reported route.


44
Fire-torn City: The remains of a once-bustling city, abandoned for many centuries. Stone walls and other structures still stand, though they are burnt and twisted, almost melted--as if blasted by unimaginable heat.


45
a door, just a door without walls or attached building, you can walk around it and everything. open it and there is an actual structure on the other side, like some sort of pub or inn.


46
two elderly types playing chess. and an imp who changes the board when neither are looking. the game has been going for decades now.


47
a tree, that always seems to have the same side facing them.


48



49
a house, 12 inches tall. yes someone lives there, and yes the characters are able to go inside by opening the door and stepping inside.


50
a cabbage cart, freshly trashed.


51
an old battle field. at night the ghost reenact the battle.


52
an old statue. may or may not be an unlucky adventurer.


53





You get the idea. I'll tidy up the list once it's s little longer. Maybe add a column for biome specific suggestions. Look forward to seeing what you creative types have in your pockets. :smallsmile:

THEChanger
2017-09-25, 09:43 PM
-A semi-hidden path off the main road leads to a well-maintained still, surrounded by a ring of mushrooms. The still seems to have been recently used, but no tracks lead to or from it.

-Near a fork in a river lies a cave with glittering stones in the walls. It has excellent acoustic properties, issuing near perfect echoes. Occasionally, it emits an echo even when no one has spoken.

-This natural harbor always appears to be lit by sunset, no matter the time of day. A small pile of rubble lies near the shore - perhaps once a building, or a statue.

-This grove of trees is shaped eerily like a cathedral. Branches twist over head to make natural hallways and rooms, and there even appear to be windows. In the central 'hall', a group of leaves gives the appearance of a stained glass window, whose image can be seen best at dawn.

miinstrel
2017-09-25, 11:23 PM
Exactly what I'm talking about. Just a touch of mystery and mysticism, if any. Love the echo cave idea.

hymer
2017-09-26, 02:49 AM
The unmistakable ruins of a sea resort for the wealthy, including the remains of expensive yachts in the harbour. But it is all situated in a high mountain valley, miles above sea level and hundreds of miles from any shore.

A spring that feeds a small river, in an area with plenty of grazing animals. But within thirty feet of the spring, all the grass is high and untouched, and no tracks of natural animals can be found in that area either.

Three mountain tops on the same range of mountains, quite close and about the same height, and yet: One top is always covered by clouds, even in strong winds; one is always clad in snow, even in the hottest summer; and one is always naked of snow, despite frequent blizzards in winter.

A petrified oak, complete with petrified leaves, and even a few petrified birds and a squirrel. A single acorn hangs ripe and unpetrified from the highest branch.

The splattered remains of a whale, at most a fortnight old, crashed on a desert plain. A smashed piece of pottery can be found among the stinking blubber.

An old bear pit, which shows some sagging due to its age and neglect. But the bait looks to be a kind of turnip, and the bottom of the pit has a layer of straw and hay.

Kol Korran
2017-09-26, 03:51 AM
Ooohhh! I like these! I'll add some that I'll be uising for my own project (If I ever get the time to actually write it...)

- The Night Spire:
A high natural column of stone, reaching about 120 ft high. Someone built/ carved a ramp that goes around it slowly. At day there are strange carvings on the sides of the spire, depicting constellations, measurements, astrological and astronomical maps and similar. Yet at night... From far away the spire twinkles, as if in the light of far away stars, the spire itself quite dark, almost at night, giving an eerie beauty to it. And if one travels up the spire at night, the sky looks especially clear, the stars especially bright and marvelous... Some locals say that at certain times of the year, if one travels the spire, you see... different stars... be them from other times, or other worlds, is unknown...

- The Harpies:
A group of 3 high jagged hills, who's sides are tough to climb. The hills are littered with small twisting caves, and at times when the wind comes there is a disturbing howling music, as if screeching of many crows, yet somehow also... appealing, mesmerizing. At times musical talents, holy men or seers seek the center of The Harpies. Some come out with an insight, a revelation, a prophecy... Others come mad, weeping, or don't come out at all.

- The Silent Cliff:
A massive natural cliff. Yet if you get close enough, you catch odd images- like a part of an arm protruding, the side of a face, a part of a tree, a part of a ship an more. The entire thing feels almost as if the entire cliff is an unfinished work of art, with but haphazard touchings to a big canvas, but... the findings seem real, VERY real.

- The "True Dark":
A natural looking cave, visited by some of local avage tribes, worshiping old gods. The entrance is littered with remains of offerings, crude symbols to many different gods, yet oddly enough, no actual marking on the cave itself (If anyone interrogates the locals, they declare the place "came before even the old ones"). As one goes into the cave, the light goes dimmer and dimmer, till no light at all remains. No light source, magical or otherwise is capable of piercing the true dark. Worse- even other senses, such as darkvision, echolocation or more fail to notice any feature of the cave.
In fact, people who go deep enough realize they don't even feel themselves... But they may hear voices... voices of the past, the future, of loved ones lost, of gods, of others, and perhaps most alarmingly- of themselves... What the voices tell each person is different for each, yet most find the experience both unsettling and shaking, but also quite important.

rs2excelsior
2017-10-02, 11:25 PM
The Standing Stones: an ancient group of standing stones, arranged in one (or more) rings. Many are broken, have fallen, or are missing. Any inscription is worn to nigh-illegibility by time. When within the stones, odd whispers are sometimes heard on the wind, and travelers who use them for shelter overnight often experience dreams of blood or madness...

The Watchtower: A ruined tower, standing tall on a hilltop, or perhaps collapsed with only the base still intact. The writing that has been found is strange, and no one really knows who built it. It has simply always been there. Bonus points if it's made of a strange stone as well.

The Abyss: While exploring a cavern system, you come across a sudden drop into a cavernous opening. Attempts to light the area only reveal more darkness further below, and if you drop a stone to listen for when it hits the bottom it simply falls into the deep--you never hear it land. But, stare long enough, and you may see lights moving deep within, or something that sounds tantalizingly like voices from below.

The Place of Peace: Within a twisted, cursed wood there is a small clearing that is well lit. The cloying fog that hangs over the rest of the forest stays outside, and the blackened, gnarled vines and clawing trees are replaced by green, healthy plants. A small, clear spring bubbles up into a pool in the center, filled with crystal water, not like the murky, befouled streams you have thus far come across. You don't know why this place hasn't been touched by whatever else blighted this wood, but it may be the only respite you find.

Bogwoppit
2017-10-06, 05:07 PM
The Fey Rings
An interlocking set of toadstool rings, in a glade, off the path in an ancient woodland. The butterflies and glowworms here seem to dance in circles and patterns around the rings, the keen eared can hear high pitched hints of music...
Maybe the rings inflict penalties and/ or bonuses on bards or other charismatic heroes, depending on their actions.

Knaight
2017-10-06, 05:53 PM
I recently ran a game involving sites of magic that could bestow power upon those who found them. While I don't have the notes for it, I do remember many of the sites, and those (plus others from the same game) are listed below. The feel is generally a bit off from what you're going for, but they might be usable with some adaptation.


The Quartz Caverns: Deep in the snowy mountains is an underground cavern of immense size, a thousand feet tall and twenty miles across at its longest point. There are a few breaks near its edges, from which a quartz cache is visible, and once inside there's an abundance of quartz crystals. Those at the edges are normally sized, but in the heart of the open cave is a crystal hundreds of feet tall, and several others nearer the center that are smaller, only a few dozen feet in height.
The Algal Grove: Swamps are always teeming with life, but there's a unique quality to the algal grove, somehow more alive than other swamps. Its borders are a ring of trees and reeds, blocking off the waters from the swamp around it. Inside is a massive and deep lake, teeming with fish that are large by ocean standards. A titanic heron lives here eating these fish, and the fish themselves are found eating the most distinctive feature of the grove by which it earned its name - the surface is teeming with dense clumps of algae, like mossy green icebergs and just as dangerous to boats.
The Fog Crater: There's an unusually foggy temperate forest, which has grown up around the site of a meteor hit. The forest abruptly ends around the edge of the crater, but the fog rolls in. Right after a rare sunny day the fog can be watched rolling down the edge of the crater, slowly filling in the sun-burnt hole in the fog.
The Rainbow Spire: Sandstone in a desert is nothing special, and even tall rock structures of sandstone aren't too uncommon. What makes the rainbow spire special is that the sandstone has clearly been compressed out of several kinds of sand, forming elaborate patterns of color in tan and pink, black and purple, and even the occasional streak of deep red of blue.
The Storm Peak: Amidst an unremarkable range of high mountains is a single peak that rises above the others in the range. Every mountain range has one, but this one is special - rising to be outright sharp, with dense metal ores at the very top. It's also considered cursed, as it seems to draw lightning strikes to that peak with frightening regularity, and the entire mountain is prone to violent lightning storms.
The Tidal Sink: There's a canyon by the coast, separated from the ocean by a short spit of stone maybe twenty yards across. At high tide this short spit is submerged, and the ocean waters go tumbling down the canyon. There, miles below, they enter a whirlpool which has been draining them away for at least all historical memory. Where this ocean water is going, nobody knows.
The Glass Tower: The glass tower isn't actually glass, but molten sand that has cooled to a glassy sheen. It's a squat, ugly structure at the center of a large pool of fused sand, with long tendrils reaching in every direction, partially buried.

miinstrel
2017-11-09, 10:06 AM
These are all great guys. Sorry I disappeared from my own thread for so long... it's been a crazy month and this just kept dropping down the list in my subscriptions. A few others I've come up with in the meantime:

- An area of stone or rock that's been melted smooth. the armor of some poor saps of yesteryear is melted down and fused into the ground.

- Clear signs of an avalanche, but there exists an odd empty space in the shape of a cube or sphere where no rocks rest.

- In a fetid bog there sits a small geyser-like spring of pure water.

miinstrel
2018-01-06, 12:04 AM
Combined everything so far into the OP for ease of use. Also added a few more entries.

rs2excelsior
2018-01-06, 12:47 AM
I like the idea of this thread and think it deserves to get some more attention. A couple more suggestions:

Cyclopean Walls: A city stands on a hilltop. Stone walls surround it, complete with towers and iron gates. The locals live in the city, but no one knows who built it. The stones used for the walls are so large, legends say it was built by Giants or the like.

The Haunted Bridge: Far below, a long dried river has carved a bridge-like structure (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Bridge_(Virginia)) in the rock face, and roads have since been constructed over and through the formation. Every now and then, a wind gust through the rock formation is accompanied by what sounds like a woman's piercing shriek. Most people say it's a natural, if disturbing, effect... but many people travelling over the top have reported an inexplicable urge to step off the edge.

The Lost Traveler: A middle-aged knight wanders the road, apparently lost, asking for directions and a bit of food. Those who share supplies with him and treat him kindly find the rest of their journey smooth and easy. Those who refuse him aid or treat him with disdain find themselves hopelessly lost, often turning up weeks later in a location they could not possibly have reached given their reported route.

Fire-torn City: The remains of a once-bustling city, abandoned for many centuries. Stone walls and other structures still stand, though they are burnt and twisted, almost melted--as if blasted by unimaginable heat.

BWR
2018-01-06, 03:40 AM
I suggest you check out Monte Cook's Numenéra game. It's based on discovering weird stuff of former civilizations. It's in that fun niche where it doesn't matter if it's magic or supertech, it's just weird and beyond our understanding. Half the setting description is weird places and things one can discover from previous civilizations and visitors.

vasilidor
2018-01-06, 03:55 AM
a door, just a door without walls or attached building, you can walk around it and everything. open it and there is an actual structure on the other side, like some sort of pub or inn.

two elderly types playing chess. and an imp who changes the board when neither are looking. the game has been going for decades now.

a tree, that always seems to have the same side facing them.

a house, 12 inches tall. yes someone lives there, and yes the characters are able to go inside by opening the door and stepping inside.

a cabbage cart, freshly trashed.

an old battle field. at night the ghost reenact the battle.

an old statue. may or may not be an unlucky adventurer.

vasilidor
2018-01-08, 03:04 AM
hat of hat wearing, anyone/thing can wear it.