3d6 Random Campaign Generator

Written by M. A. Packer

For use in your fantasy campaigns, regardless of system or edition, simply grab three six-sided dice and
roll down each column of the table. Location describes where the adventure mainly takes place, though
the game referee may wish to add other locations for convenience. Antagonism is the main problem
affecting this area, be it man-made or unnatural. Complication is a secondary form of antagonism
affecting the area, which either hinders or constraints how the party goes about the adventure. Note that
many of these may be rolled twice to produce a variety of effects for the same location!

3d Location Antagonism Complication

3 Planar Location Planar Entity Frozen or Otherwise Sealed Off
4 Forgotten Citadel or Shrine Made Mage or Cleric Looming Judgement
5 Deep Cave System Warlord or Tyrant Confusing or Easy to Get Lost
6 Shallow Cave System Curse or Paranormal Activity Flooding, Sinking or on Fire
7 Distant Wilderness Evil NPC Party Requires Special Entry
8 Nearby Wilderness Formidable Monsters Hazardous Terrain
9 Farmlands Slavers or Raiders Worn and Rugged
10 Village or Town Bandits or Thief Gang Intact and Normal
11 Trade City or Capital City Lost Items or Persons Intact and Normal
12 Castle or Manor House Secret Cult Worn and Rugged
13 Watchtower or Fortress Plague or Infestation Growing Problem
14 Isolated Shrine or Monastery Natural Disaster Difficult to Enter and Leave
15 Geographic Wonder Undead Menace Crumbling or Quaking
16 Unnatural Wonder Awakened Demon Secret or Hidden Location
17 Lair of Legendary Creature Legendary Creature Looming or Prowling Danger
18 Extraterrestrial Craft Extraterrestrial Entity Vanishing or Sinking

Locations

Planar Location: a region of space or parallel universe, such as the plane of fire, the hells, etc.
Forgotten Citadel or Shrine: usually an ornate structure, hidden somewhere in the wilderness.
Deep Cave System: lower layers of the earth in unexplored and mysterious caverns.
Shallow Cave System: a mine or natural network of tunnels that open up on the surface.
Distant Wilderness: region that is completely wild and untamed by intelligent beings.
Nearby Wilderness: region that is close to civilization and very lightly intruded upon.
Farmlands: rugged outlying lands surrounding civilization that are tilled by farmers.
Village or Town: smaller settlement of intelligent beings, which usually exist near water sources.
Trade City or Capital City: large, dense settlements full of trade and commerce.
Castle or Manor House: large homestead or palace run by local authorities and populated with servants.
Watchtower or Fortress: usually a military structure or camp where soldiers are garrisoned.
Isolated Shrine or Monastery: ancient building or complex, sparsely populated by devout persons.
Geographic Wonder: crevice, waterfall, stone spire, or other features that stand out in the terrain.
Unnatural Wonder: formation of land caused by unnatural means, such as a crater or poisoned lands.
Lair of Legendary Creature: the abode of a great dragon or some other powerful, magical beast.
Extraterrestrial Craft: vessel or structure built by a race of creatures who originate from another world.
 Antagonisms

Planar Entity: a powerful, cosmic being from a parallel universe or plane of reality.
Mad Mage or Cleric: mighty practitioner of magic who is using their powers for ill.
Warlord or Tyrant: up and coming warmonger who seeks dominance over the region.
Curse or Paranormal Activity: strange energies, ghosts or other spirits wreaking havoc.
Evil NPC Party: another party of adventurers, but with evil intentions.
Formidable Monsters: powerful creatures acting as a menace to the region.
Slavers or Raiders: evil group who are stealing and taking captives to sell on the black market.
Bandits or Thief Gang: monstrous humanoids, petty criminals or a crime syndicate spreading mischief.
Lost Items or Persons: valuable items or a lost or kidnapped individual in need of recovery.
Secret Cult: a following, either religious or political in nature, trying to spread their doctrines of corruption.
Plague or Infestation: disease, sickness, vermin or other causes of malaise that are spreading.
Natural Disaster: act of the gods or of nature, either causing or threatening devastation to the region.
Undead Menace: a plague of zombies or other undead creatures that are running amok.
Awakened Demon: demon or entity from the hells that has escaped or arisen within the materium.
Legendary Creature: demigod-like creature, such as a dragon, that is threatening destruction.
Extraterrestrial Entity: being from the stars who has come to conquer, exploit, or destroy.

Complication

Frozen or Otherwise Sealed Off: either under a curse or spell that makes the place still, quiet, frozen in
time, frozen in ice, or creates conditions in which one cannot leave until the problem is resolved.
Looming Judgement: the king will have the place burned, the gods will destroy it, or the area will
otherwise self-destruct unless the problem can be resolved.
Confusing or Easy to Get Lost: conditions exist that make the place confusing and difficult to navigate,
such as a winding labyrinth, uniform features, illusions, or other effects that disorient.
Flooding, Sinking or on Fire: the area is slowly destructing, but remains stable just long enough for the
party to enter and sort out the problem.
Requires Special Entry: needs permission from the local authority, king, requires a key, or the party
must perform a ritual of some kind before they may gain access.
Hazardous Terrain: the terrain poses a constant danger, such as fires, floods, poisoned gas in the air,
falling debris, or stationary obstacles that damage or interfere.
Worn and Rugged: possibility of minor hazards, such as poor footing, low ceiling, or minor obstacles.
Intact and Normal: little to nothing out of the normal.
Growing Problem: either a fire is spreading, more vermin are entering, magical barriers and auras are
growing stronger, or enemy reinforcements are steadily flowing in.
Difficult to Enter and Leave: either guards have set up a security post, there was a cave-in, or the
entrance is in a precarious location that requires a special means of entering or departing.
Crumbling or Quaking: a
Secret or Hidden Location: the entrance is either very hard to find or requires a special means simply to
access it, either with a key, a special time of day, a puzzle, or an alternate access forgotten by all but the
most learned of sages.
Looming or Prowling Danger: something else exists in the area that poses a threat, such as a stalking
predator, a dangerous villain, or aspects of the surrounding area that could set off a catastrophe at any
moment.
Vanishing or Sinking: the area is about to disappear, sink into water, descend below the ground, self-
destruct, or otherwise become inaccessible from that time forth.
 Example Pre-Generated Adventures

A lighthouse on the coast has become infested with giant spiders, and the lighthouse operators
barricaded themselves at the very top. One of them managed to escape and ask the party to lend
assistance as their supplies of food are running low, and the spiders are eating away at their defenses.

Slavers are capturing local farmers and dragging them out to the mountains where an enormous geode
has been discovered. The geode has many precious gems nestled in among its large crystals, but, as
the slaves dig away at the outside of the geode, its structure begins to fail and could collapse at any
moment.

Raiders set up a hideout in a shoreline cave system. The caves are mostly flooded and only one of the
routs is accessible while the others lead to fully submerged chambers filled with dangerous creatures.
The party may enter into the secret hideout, either through trial and error, or by capturing one of the
raiders’ scouts who sneak in and under the cover of night.

A large segment of town has suddenly become frozen in time. Shadows prowl around the still alleyways
and motionless people. The shadows seem to be originating from a local Inn, where a mage has
established a hidden lab in one of the cellar rooms. The mage is also frozen in time, and has accidentally
opened a portal into the realm of darkness. The mage’s notes may show a way to close the portal and
resume normal time for that part of town, but shadows will try to stop the party every step of the way.

Fires are sparking in the wilderness. These seem to be stemming from a deep part of the wilderness
where elves had once created an ornate stone tower. This tower’s cellar holds a demon of flame that is
trying to break free of its imprisonment. It has spawned fire mephitis and imps, which are burning the
wilderness as they search for magical weapons that they can use to destroy the last of the demon’s
bonds.

Farmlands are afflicted by a great best who goes about, exhaling poisonous vapors that ruin crops and
toxify the countryside. The beast was sent by a group of bandits who are using the distraction to cloak
their efforts to break their leader out of the local prison.

Youth have gone missing in a local town. Investigations into it will produce evidence of a cult, which
operates out of an old river mill out in the country. Here, the party finds a secret entrance into an
underground complex where the youth are being placed under hypnotic control by a statue of an evil
goddess.

A farmland was recently pillaged by raiders who have taken their spoils out into the wilderness. The party
will discover a camp built along the shores of a river where the raiders’ ship has become jammed in the
rocks. Their leader still lives in the ship while his men build a wooden fortress around the river and have
set up fortifications to hold off a siege.

Sickness afflicts a community, but their herbalists cannot cure it. An old woman in town remembers the
sickness affecting the community when she was a small girl, and remembers her father traveling to a
distant swamp. The swamp contains a rare flower, which grows in the middle of a festering bog, which is
infested by slithering creatures.

Blood begins raining from the sky, killing crops and wild animals, and clerics trace the anomaly to an old
shrine in the hills. The priests who monitor this shrine have evacuated, saying that a member of their
order broke their vows by entering into an old vault and tampering with a great sea, which was used to
seal away a curse caused by a blood god in ancient times. The party must enter into the vault, but the
way is blocked by torrents of blood, which comes spewing out. They need to locate a secondary access
in one of the old air ducts, which has become infested by devilish creatures. Once inside, the party needs
to approach the great seal carefully as blood continues to blast from it. They need to then use strength to
set the seal back into its fixture in the wall, ending the curse.