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The Game Master's Book of Astonishing Random Tables: 300+ Unique Roll Tables to Enhance Your Worldbuilding, Storytelling, Locations, Magic and More ... RPG Adventures
More than 300 random tables designed to help you build a new world from scratch or take your existing RPG campaign to new levels of creativity and excitement, plus 3 exciting one-shot adventures!
While The Game Master's Book of Astonishing Random Tables is not a wondrous item, you'd be forgiven for assuming it has magical properties. That's because within these pages are countless adventure hooks - side quests and travel complications and chase sequences and skill challenges and other encounters suitable for any environment. And that's just one section.
These table results aren't just short line listings of random answers either. Inside, you'll find rich, fully examined results and supplemental pieces of text that provide you with all the information you need to use them effectively. With this book by your side, you can develop an entire campaign setting, its pantheon, its various continental forms and proclivities of its population. From the big questions ("Where does magic come from?," "Who's in charge?," "Why are we at war with our neighbors?") down to the most minute detail ("Can my party avoid paying property taxes on their new keep if it's actually an instant fortress?"), this book has you covered.
Develop a rich tapestry of trade and commerce by randomizing your realms economy or find out who's really pulling the strings by rolling on the Puppet Government table. Want more ideas? How about a table or curses or dreams or wild magic results or spell scroll side effects or a random potions generator or a list of things your party shouldn't tough (but probably will)? All those and much, much more are waiting within.
So relax, unwind and unleash the unknown. By letting this book spark your creativity and set the stage for each session, you can focus on the important things like how to properly destroy that instant fortress).
While The Game Master's Book of Astonishing Random Tables is not a wondrous item, you'd be forgiven for assuming it has magical properties. That's because within these pages are countless adventure hooks - side quests and travel complications and chase sequences and skill challenges and other encounters suitable for any environment. And that's just one section.
These table results aren't just short line listings of random answers either. Inside, you'll find rich, fully examined results and supplemental pieces of text that provide you with all the information you need to use them effectively. With this book by your side, you can develop an entire campaign setting, its pantheon, its various continental forms and proclivities of its population. From the big questions ("Where does magic come from?," "Who's in charge?," "Why are we at war with our neighbors?") down to the most minute detail ("Can my party avoid paying property taxes on their new keep if it's actually an instant fortress?"), this book has you covered.
Develop a rich tapestry of trade and commerce by randomizing your realms economy or find out who's really pulling the strings by rolling on the Puppet Government table. Want more ideas? How about a table or curses or dreams or wild magic results or spell scroll side effects or a random potions generator or a list of things your party shouldn't tough (but probably will)? All those and much, much more are waiting within.
So relax, unwind and unleash the unknown. By letting this book spark your creativity and set the stage for each session, you can focus on the important things like how to properly destroy that instant fortress).
288 pages, Hardcover
Published June 20, 2023
11 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 24, 2024
Creo que es mi preferido a la fecha. Muy inspirador.
Read
July 5, 2023How? Found in the Round Rock library RPG section
What? Random tables about
* worldbuilding (60p)
* adventure planning
* random encounters (25p)
* chase complications (10p)
* side quests (4p)
* skill challenges (10p)
* environmental hazards (2op)
* travel complications (2p)
* magic (30p, including unexpected results, bad teleportation results, magic item personalities)
* other stuff (pickpocketing, prophecy, heraldry, books and art, songs, shipwrecks, etc., 50p)
* some adventures that feature some randomness (a murder mystery where you can decide the killer by random table, something about animated objects that attack, and something else I can't recall)
Yeah, so? I don't know what I expected from this book: it's exactly what it says it is, a bunch of random tables, randomly put together. Except for the first section on worldbuilding, which has some thematic coherence, there is nothing else in this book that _needs_ to be here or couldn't be swapped out by some other random table.
So, fine, it is what it is, which makes it a bad book to skim but maybe a useful book to have. Is it? How's the quality of the random tables? Overall, fine, I guess, though there's a lot here that also leans towards the jokey side of things. And, just to be clear, when I say that, I don't mean actually funny, I mean things like "how about a butcher's guild called the 'Vegetable Protection Association'?"
My favorite part of this book, well, I'm a sucker for worldbuilding, but besides that, my favorite part might be the second adventure where everyday objects are animating and attacking people because a wizard's tower's security system has leaked, which is just a fun premise.
What? Random tables about
* worldbuilding (60p)
* adventure planning
* random encounters (25p)
* chase complications (10p)
* side quests (4p)
* skill challenges (10p)
* environmental hazards (2op)
* travel complications (2p)
* magic (30p, including unexpected results, bad teleportation results, magic item personalities)
* other stuff (pickpocketing, prophecy, heraldry, books and art, songs, shipwrecks, etc., 50p)
* some adventures that feature some randomness (a murder mystery where you can decide the killer by random table, something about animated objects that attack, and something else I can't recall)
Yeah, so? I don't know what I expected from this book: it's exactly what it says it is, a bunch of random tables, randomly put together. Except for the first section on worldbuilding, which has some thematic coherence, there is nothing else in this book that _needs_ to be here or couldn't be swapped out by some other random table.
So, fine, it is what it is, which makes it a bad book to skim but maybe a useful book to have. Is it? How's the quality of the random tables? Overall, fine, I guess, though there's a lot here that also leans towards the jokey side of things. And, just to be clear, when I say that, I don't mean actually funny, I mean things like "how about a butcher's guild called the 'Vegetable Protection Association'?"
My favorite part of this book, well, I'm a sucker for worldbuilding, but besides that, my favorite part might be the second adventure where everyday objects are animating and attacking people because a wizard's tower's security system has leaked, which is just a fun premise.
January 29, 2025
I was bought this book as a present for Xmas and, despite an unjustified wariness about 3rd party content, I've loved reading it. The utility of such a book depends on what sort of DM you are. I'm a solid prepper rather than a 'pantser' but despite that I've found a ton of useful content. Strangely it became more interesting as I progressed, and to explain that:
Section 1 on World-building isn't something I'd likely use, as my campaigns tend to be adapted content of established settings e.g. Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Spelljammer. My only world build was actually for the books I wrote. Nonetheless the myriad tables and nuances and aspects considered here are excellent.
Section 2's session building definitely has utility: I don't often run random encounters, but the tables have such varied ideas that I may steal some parts; the chase complications I'll definitely use; side quests maybe not, but skill challenges were fun; the environmental hazards tables are very very useful, and I'll take happily from them and supplement into encounters in my ongoing campaign.
The third section is golden. Magic and miscellany has a stack of great material, that just add fun detail to adventures. Just random ideas like prophecy and dreams, book titles, weird curses, and spell mishaps. Can't imagine any DM not finding useful stuff in here.
Indeed, it reminds me at times of fun content you'd find in old copies of Dragon many years ago.
Finally, there are three one-shots which are nice enough but don't really sit with the rest of the book which is more of a roll as you go vibe. Could have done without them and not impacted on the book as a whole.
Overall, an excellent book. Recommended.
Section 1 on World-building isn't something I'd likely use, as my campaigns tend to be adapted content of established settings e.g. Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Spelljammer. My only world build was actually for the books I wrote. Nonetheless the myriad tables and nuances and aspects considered here are excellent.
Section 2's session building definitely has utility: I don't often run random encounters, but the tables have such varied ideas that I may steal some parts; the chase complications I'll definitely use; side quests maybe not, but skill challenges were fun; the environmental hazards tables are very very useful, and I'll take happily from them and supplement into encounters in my ongoing campaign.
The third section is golden. Magic and miscellany has a stack of great material, that just add fun detail to adventures. Just random ideas like prophecy and dreams, book titles, weird curses, and spell mishaps. Can't imagine any DM not finding useful stuff in here.
Indeed, it reminds me at times of fun content you'd find in old copies of Dragon many years ago.
Finally, there are three one-shots which are nice enough but don't really sit with the rest of the book which is more of a roll as you go vibe. Could have done without them and not impacted on the book as a whole.
Overall, an excellent book. Recommended.
January 21, 2024
I love randomized worldbuilding aids. I use a lot of randomness while working on worldbuilding. I bought this as a randomized worldbuilding aid and I got some immediate use out of it. It's front-loaded with the content that I actually want, whereas I didn't finish the back of the book as I deemed it completely useless to me. Nothing wrong with that! The included adventurers are for a different reader, one who is looking for TTRPG content rather than a worldbuilding aid.
There's all kinds of stuff here that helps with imagining a world of magic and chaos. I've been building one, so I'm glad to get access to this book. I'm not writing in a D&D setting, but this book's ideas might still benefit my writing.
There's all kinds of stuff here that helps with imagining a world of magic and chaos. I've been building one, so I'm glad to get access to this book. I'm not writing in a D&D setting, but this book's ideas might still benefit my writing.
July 17, 2023
While this is not a book that you would read cover to cover as an adventurer, it would be a good place to start to build an adventure.
December 20, 2023
It is a useful tool for anyone wanting to run a tabletop game.
January 4, 2024
I love me a good worldbuilding table, and this books has hundreds of them.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews