150 Benign Urban Fantasy Encounters
From Chris Buono
Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0299
Chris polled members of the GMMastery Yahoo group for benign urban encounter ideas and then added a few of his own to come up with this awesome list you might find useful for your own campaigns. Editor Isaac and I added a few more as well. Thanks Chris, Telas, and GMMastery contributors!
Try using this list a few different ways:
- To help with impromptu descriptions.
- An injection of scenery when designing city encounters and locations.
- Encounter hooks. These items are perfect micro-situations on which to layer a larger conflict, clue, or circumstance. For example, pick an item from the list and use it as a distraction while the real encounter triggers. Your players will enjoy the one-two punch.
- Inspiration. If you’ve got writer’s block, these items are perfect for getting the ideas flowing.
The List of Benign Urban Encounters
- Chamber pot emptied near/on
- Cats chasing each other dart past
- “Please watch this cart for me, just for a minute.”
- Birds of prey circling overhead
- Urchin approaches for minor scam
- Shadow passes across the ground
- Smoke rises in distance (brush fire)
- Feeling of deja vu
- Insect swarm/nest on building
- Howling/barking in the distance
- Beggar asks for alms
- Children pester party
- Local teen wants to join party
- Graffiti on building
- Stumble onto amorous teens
- Child looking for pet frog
- Snake slithers away
- Street vendor (food, drink, trinkets, etc.)
- Rainbow in the distance
- Group of bats rise in the distance
- Drunken fist fight
- Stumble on lover’s quarrel
- Religious pilgrims with vow of silence are jeered at
- “Recognized” by a drunk
- Overturned vegetable cart
- Criminal held in public stock
- Sudden sun shower
- Wind kicks up
- Street performer(s)
- Religious fanatic
- A discarded, tattered cloak
- A rusty old weapon found in gutter
- Dark storm cloud approaches
- Large beetle buzzes around head
- Kids playing game (hide ‘n seek)
- Criminal in custody is marched past
- Mother looking for child
- Sandstorm
- Small dust whirlwind
- A dead ox causes a gridlock
- An overturned cart causes a gridlock
- A few sun bleached papers blow by
- Well-armed adventurers pass by
- Roof tile falls, barely missing party
- Approached by prostitute(s)
- Smell of baking/cooking
- Pimp (“you messin’ with my woman?”)
- Wailing baby
- One person chasing another
- Stench of feces
- Ray of light seems to surround one person
- Unusually cool breeze
- Rats are following you
- You get a dull, throbbing headache
- Injured bird lies helpless
- Skunk smell
- Eerily quiet
- Customer angry with shopkeeper
- Food fight occurring
- Stung by a bee
- Arid dust coats your mouth
- Cop/guard walking a beat
- Spoiled brat wants party item
- Someone teleports away
- Very friendly cat
- Parent scolding child
- Someone bumps pouch–nothing’s missing
- Find a copper piece
- Parade in honor of minor saint, hero, etc.
- Foreigners arguing in their own language
- Allergic reaction to exotic spice/pollen
- Discount holy water salesman
- Witness a minor crime
- Something scurries away (chipmunk)
- Street preacher accosts you
- Witness a major crime
- Two religious processions meet head-on
- City watch follows you for 2d4 blocks
- Find a silver piece
- Dogs chasing each other run by
- Very active beehive nearby
- Howling gust of wind
- Approaching lightning storm
- Crow squawks repeatedly at approach
- Rubbery mass stuck to your boot (gum)
- Step in crap – dog, dire rat, etc.
- Someone stomps in nearby puddle–splash!
- Street cleaner sweeps by
- Unconscious stranger on side of road
- Pair of small birds harass you
- Feral cat is trailing the party
- A case of mistaken identity
- Cloud shaped as holy symbol
- Shopping list for potions is found
- Old ring is sticking out of the dirt
- One person has an intense itch
- Hawk takes mole/mouse near party
- Find a gold piece
- Loose chickens peck at the street
- Passing child drops pottery, cries
- Raven lands in path, stares, leaves
- Injured mounted scout charges through the street
- Noble is carried past in a sedan chair
- Two hooded people whisper on street
- Young consumer is watched closely
- Singing floats out of nearby building
- Circus wagon trundles past, animal calls
- Weapon sharpener approaches party
- Large flock of birds flies acrobatics, then darts away
- Private guards flank a door
- Distracted senior totters straight for party
- Weary knight is mobbed by adoring children
- Partial eclipse of the sun
- Emaciated children tug at party sleeves
- People cheer for the party
- A strong, young, healthy beggar asks for coin
- A politician on a box of soap during a speech makes eye contact with a PC
- A cat is stuck in a tree and mewls at the PCs
- An escaped pet rodent rolling around the street in its ball bumps up against a PC’s leg
- A religious leader and his incense burning retinue cuts across the PCs’ path
- A diseased old man resting in a chair asks for help standing up
- A paint can spills from above and splashes PCs
- Political activists on parade beckon the PCs to join
- A dangerous fish in a tank bumps loudly against the glass
- A bee stings a nearby child who blindly runs to a PC for soothing
- A small bird egg drops out of a nest from above and land intact nearby
- An elf walks by with living snakes wrapped around his shoulders
- A visitor stops to ask for directions to an interesting place
- A fish vendor bends over to vomit and people point and laugh
- A sheet of music blows into a PC’s face
- A garbage bin rattles; inside is a tied sack of kittens
- A depressed bard asks sing-song, rhetorical questions of the PCs
- A dangerous-looking racoon has claimed an apple cart as his–merchant beseeches PCs
- A known crime boss sits and reads while sweating shoe shine boy buffs and casts the PCs worried looks
- A woman with too much fashion going on breaks her shoe and stumbles into a PC
- A man gets down on one knee and proposes, drawing a crowd and knotting traffic
- A beggar with his hand down a drain hole brings up a ring and immediately asks the PCs to buy it
- Three performers in masks surround the PCs and do a ring dance around them
- Clothing tossed out a window during a lovers’ spat lands on a PC
- A woman drops a basket of fruit–can the PCs dodge before squashing some?
- A crazy man points at PC’s equipment and lists its magical properties–and he’s right!
- A little boy confronts the PCs and shoots them with an imaginary crossbow
- PCs pass an alleyway blocked by a new spider web
- A fishmonger dumps a cart of rotten fish for scavengers to clean up
- A young noble passes trailed by a pickpocket
- A messenger collides with the PCs and numerous papers start blowing around
- A body of an evil wizard tied to a stake, body still smoking
- A chatty bard walks alongside the party
- A chess match
- A person passed out from too much drink, looted, with writing on forehead