Dangerous beasts may lurk in the areas around villages, and characters who ask around may hear various rumours about things that have been seen, heard or found, including signs of violence. They may indicate a dangerous animal is around, or perhaps something worse is lurking.
A few travellers on the road leading through the woods have claimed they’ve seen something big. Those with horses said they were acting spooked.
Did you hear the noises round the cattle pens last night? Sounded like something was trying to get in. The animals sure were spooked.
The Coltons said they heard something large snuffling around their door the other night. Old Man Colton wanted to go out and see what it was but his wife talked him out of it. Claimed they found some large prints in the dirt the next day.
Old Jimmy was found dead in the woods the other day. Something had ripped him clean open, spilling his guts everywhere. Looks like something had been eating them too.
Betrand has had some of his cattle go missing recently. All he’s found afterwards is some blood and a trail leading into the woods. He’s looking for someone to go deal with whatever it is.
Several sheep were found in the hills this morning, their insides torn out. Looks like something with big claws had butchered them, then eaten the best bits.
The dogs have been making a fearful racket the last few nights. Seems there’s something coming close to the village that they can sense. People are a mite concerned.
Someone said they found the head of a cow in the road this morning. The rest of the cow wasn’t there, but there was plenty of blood splashed around.
A few people with barns where they keep livestock have said they’ve found deep scratches in the wood of the doors in the mornings recently, as if something was trying to get in. They’ve strengthened the doors, just in case.
The Hanglins’s chicken run has been torn to shreds. Blood and feathers everywhere and not a chicken left alive.
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Numenera is a game published by Monte Cook Games. Its setting is the Ninth World, and this list has ten rumours for that setting. The rumours, which are similar to the Hearsay that can be found in the official books, can be used as adventure hooks or as simple misinformation.
Farond, the mayor of Omar in the Sea Kingdom of Ghan, is a tough individual who maintains order in her equally tough town using a suit of ancient armour and its devastating numenera weapons. There’s a rumour, though, that Farond is quietly seeking out people familiar with that sort of armour, as reputedly it’s starting to fail and becoming less effective. Without the armour, Mayor Farond will have much greater difficulty maintaining order.
It’s been said that King Laird, the ruler of the Sea Kingdom of Ghan, hasn’t been seen in public in some time. Some are claiming that the king is very ill; others that he’s actually died and his advisors are ruling in his stead. Most citizens of the Sea Kingdom, whilst loyal to the king, dislike a heavy-handed government and, should the king truly be unable to rule or dead, as long as whoever is doing so in his stead doesn’t alter the current situation, they may well go along with it.
Keford is a lumber town in the Sea Kingdom of Ghan and the lumberjacks of Keford frequently cross into Navarene to harvest wood from the Westwood, as there is no firm border. Navarene does patrol the woods, and sometimes the lumberjacks and soldiers come into conflict. Recently, a number of parties on both sides, lumberjacks and soldiers alike, have disappeared in the woods without a trace. Both Navarene and Ghan seem to think the other is responsible.
King Laird, the ruler of the Sea Kingdom of Ghan, lives in the Coral Palace in the City of Bridges, taking up most of one platform and provides a location for the king’s personal ships to dock. Recently, those close to the palace have said that access to it has been greatly restricted, with outsiders being searched before entering and leaving, and that there has been a substantial increase in the guard presence.
Massive humanoid statues float above the Sea Kingdom of Ghan, ancient war machines that have done nothing but float above the hills, never travelling far from their origin point. They have floated for so long that most don’t pay them much attention any longer. Recently, though, some of the inhabitants of the region have claimed that they have seen signs of activity from some of the machines. Not much, little more than twitches or lights, but they seem to suggest that the war machines are coming back to life somehow.
Omar in the Sea Kingdom of Ghan is a mining town whose miners cut away metal from an ancient structure below the surface, which can then be reforged, though not easily. The metal, known as omaroa or azure steel, is in great demand, but there are rumours that recently supplies have started to become scarcer. It’s been said that the miners have run into trouble, perhaps an ancient defence mechanism that is objecting to the intruders and attacking them.
The City of Bridges is the capital of the Sea Kingdom of Ghan, though truthfully the construction is not in Ghan itself, but stretches out into the sea, a series of metal platforms joined together by a web of bridges. The platforms are constructed from materials from prior world and, until now, have proven perfectly safe. There’s a rumour, though, that some of the material of which the city is constructed has started to rapidly fail. Should this not be stopped, then the city may have to have large parts replaced, or perhaps even abandoned.
The lumber town of Keford in the Sea Kingdom of Ghan is known for the constant, and deafening, noise that can constantly be heard by everyone except, oddly, those that are blind. The sound is deafening enough that those who can hear it find it troublesome, and there are rumours that the sound is both growing louder and that the area in which it can be heard is growing in size.
The Sea Kingdom of Ghan maintains its position primarily through the leverage of its vast merchant fleet. With the ships being merchant ships, they are not an immediate military threat to any other nation, but they could also be converted to naval vessels if need be. The merchant fleet is also a vital part of the economy of the Steadfast; loss of it would cause damage to the trade routes that the other kingdoms depend on. In recent months, losses amongst the merchant fleet have apparently been higher than normal. More vessels are being lost, and lost without a trace, than is usual. It could be that a foreign power is attempting to reduce the fleet’s utility, harming the Sea Kingdom and, perhaps, the other nations of the Steadfast as well.
There are rumours of a chain of islands leagues to the west of the Steadfast, and King Laird of the Sea Kingdom of Ghan is said to be preparing an expedition to head to those islands to discover if they are as rumoured. Some say that the expedition has actually happened, and that the fleet discovered something extremely unusual, perhaps extremely dangerous, and that its discovery is being covered up until a course of action can be decided on.
Sofas are notorious places for accumulating pieces of debris. Should a character ever choose to go poking around inside a sofa, looking for something important, here are various less useful, and sometimes unpleasant, items they could find.
1d6 loose change
Pen
Unwrapped and sticky sweet
Used tissue
Cheese puff
Leaking battery
Remote control
Crisp packet
Sock
Mouse droppings
Dead spider
Soft and disintegrating biscuit
Dummy
Faded receipt
Hard bread crust
Lego piece
Screw
Peanut
Pill
Plastic figure
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Some artwork copyright William McAusland, used with permission
Scrolls, whether they be scrolls of magic, maps or other writings, are common items to find in a fantasy game. They are also fairly fragile items, so finding them in a scroll case is hardly unusual. Here, then, are ten different scroll cases to find them in.
A pale brown scroll case that has been shaped out of a piece of sandstone. One end cap, also made of sandstone, is removable and fits surprisingly snugly.
An expensive-looking case made from silver with flat-cut semi-precious stones, amethyst that has been carefully pieced together on each endcap, and acid-etched vines on the main body.
Carvings of trees decorate the sides of this mahogany scroll case, with each end cap shaped like branches radiating out from a central point.
Decorating the side of this scroll case made from fired red terracotta are bas reliefs of people kneeling before a figure on a throne and presenting them with offerings.
Dirty rags have been stuffed into the ends of this hollowed out yellowed and cracked bone that is being used as an improvised scroll case.
Scrimshaw of ships at sea hunting whales decorates the side of this scroll case that has been craved from a walrus tusk.
The case is made from brass with rotating sections each of which is has symbols carved into it. To open the case, the correct symbols need to be lined up.
The once highly-polished steel of this scroll case is now marred by scratches, with several dents in the side, though the case itself is still sound.
This case is made from white ceramic that has been painted with cherry trees in blue. Both endcaps are solid blue and the glaze is cracked.
This is a crude scroll case made from greenish glass. It was once clearly a bottle, but the top has been broken off and a plug of wood used to block the open end.
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Numenera is a game published by Monte Cook Games. Its setting is the Ninth World, and this list has ten rumours for that setting. The rumours, which are similar to the Hearsay that can be found in the official books, can be used as adventure hooks or as simple misinformation.
Bodrov in Navarene is an unusual city, being built on top of a strange rock formation. It resembles a round table with a single leg more than anything. Though the city is extremely defensible, and can house nearly ten times as many people as it currently does, the difficulty of getting supplies to the top has restrained its growth. There’s a rumour that a means of more easily shipping supplies to the city is being investigated, via some sort of ancient mechanism, and that if this is achieved, the city will grow substantially.
Charmonde, the capital of Navarene, is protected by four fortresses, each of which has a powerful and ancient device that can emit a standing field that inflicts pain, and eventually death, on anyone who tries to cross the barrier. The devices have not been used in living memory, but there’s a rumour that recently they’ve started briefly activating all by themselves, without being switched on.
For years, people feared the Westwood, believing it to be the haunt of ghosts and beasts, but the citizens of Navarene have started claiming the forest for their own, cutting down trees, building roads and clearing land for farming. They have met opposition which, until now, has been the creatures called the colovas. However, more recently there have been rumours of something else stirring in the region, and of strange disappearances, leading some to believe the tales of ghosts were not as far-fetched as is now commonly thought.
In the Westwood on Navarene’s coastline is a huge tree known simply as the Emperor of the Green, substantially taller than any other tree and of a different species. Occasionally, some attempt to travel to the tree, but the journey can be dangerous. Recently, the survivors of one party returned, claiming that they couldn’t find the tree. Most think they simply got lost but some wonder how they could have failed to see a tree of the Emperor’s size.
Queen Armalu, the ruler of Navarene, lives in Empiternal House, her palace in the capital city of Charmonde, and has not left there for years. Anyone wishing to visit the queen must pass through a whole series of stringent checks, something that, in combination with other procedures, has apparently allowed the queen for 253 years. Yet there are mutterings that none of that is true. That the elaborate procedures and protections are intended to cover up the truth, and add an air of mystery, that the queen died many years ago and the current Queen Armalu is merely the latest successor.
The Emols, a noble family of Navarene, own a machine called the Dark Smoker that cuts down and processes the trees of the Westwood at a tremendous rate. The Dark Smoker requires constant maintenance to keep it going, both because of how jury-rigged the machine and because of constant attacks by culovas. Recently, though, the Dark Smoker has been suffering from an increasing number of problems, failing with greater regularity, in some cases injuring those working on it. The Emols suspect sabotage.
The Empiternal House in Charmonde, home of Queen Armalu, the ruler of Navarene, is also called the House of a Thousand Slaves, as that is said to be the exact number of slaves that the queen has in the palace. There’s a rumour that this is also the number of slaves that the queen goes through each year, some being simply worn out but many of the others dying, fuel for whatever means the queen uses to extend her life.
The northern portion of Navarene is filled with fortresses south of the Tithe River that are used to defend the border from the Beyond, and are important given that the Amber Pope has declared war on the lands to the north. Queen Armalu has been attempting to get the other eight kingdoms to help subsidise these fortresses, but they are reluctant, fearing that they may be funding a potential invasion of their own realms. It’s even been said that the Amber Pope has been duped by Queen Armalu into declaring war on a non-existent foe, simply to raise funding for her own army.
The Vacant Palace in Bodrov in Navarene was constructed by a now long-dead suitor of Queen Armalu as a place for the queen to retreat to in time of war or calamity. Queen Armalu never leaves her chambers in Empiternal House, and has never set foot in the palace, though the suitor’s estate still maintains it as if the queen could arrive there any day. There’s a rumour that the estate also hides a secret in the palace, one that the suitor never shared with anyone else, something that could perhaps interest the queen, were she to find out the truth.
There’s a ruin in Navarene whose mirror image can be seen in the sky, though there are some differences. For one, the image is always in winter, no matter what the season, and for another, the inhabitants don’t seem quite human. There’s a rumour that recently the ruin itself has started to take on some of the characteristics of the mirror image. Snow has been seen on the ruin outside of winter and some claim to have spied some of the inhabitants of the mirror image in the ruin on the ground as well.
Some artwork copyright William McAusland, used with permission
Dungeons need walls, to separate the ceiling from the floor, and this list has 10 different walls that can be added. These could be used as a source of potential curiosities or hazards, or perhaps as potential adventure hooks. Alternatively, they may simply be used as walls to flesh out an otherwise uninteresting room and, perhaps, pose a puzzle that lacks a true answer.
A huge fossil of what looks to be an ammonite sticks slightly out of the wall, the rock cut back slightly to partially expose the fossil, and the exposed surfaces highly polished.
Curved tiles made from terracotta cover the wall, forming a wavy pattern. Each tile has a small face moulded into it, and each face is identifiable as being an individual.
The wall appears to be made of circles of glass, in alternating blues and browns. Each circle is approximately 3″ in diameter, and is slightly indented. They have been fixed together with mortar and, if more closely examined, it can be seen that the circles are the bases of glass bottles.
The wall is formed from trilithons, which have the openings beneath the stones filled up with roughly shaped stones. These stones, on inspection, look to be menhirs that have been cut into pieces.
One-inch-wide strips of copper run vertically and horizontally, forming a woven wall of copper strips.
What look like louvred slats of wood running horizontally form the wall. The slats are unusually hard, and prove to be stone if investigated. They cannot be moved from their current position, but a slight draft comes from the gaps between the slats.
The wall is made from what look to be thick, black tentacles. The tentacles interlock tightly, but whenever anything living approaches them, they shift and writhe.
Three-foot square blocks of stone form the wall. Although each block is tightly fitted, they are made from different materials; granite, marble, sandstone and limestone, and with different types and colours of each individual stone.
Rusty iron bars have been vertically mounted, driven into the floor and ceiling, and roughly welded together.
Bodies of many different creatures have been used to make the wall. The bodies have been stacked and fitted together, then coated with some sort of thick, clear varnish to preserve them. Those bodies that have faces all appear to be screaming.
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The apocalypse has struck and the local shop has been looted of everything, whether of value or use now or not. Characters could still search such a shop to see what the previous looters have missed. Items may have fallen under shelving, been kicked behind cabinets or simply left for no longer being of use.
Bruised apple
1d6 penny chews
Packet of cheese & onion crisps
AAA battery
Can of extra strong beer
Book of stamps
Packet of cigarette papers
Tin of baked beans
Solidifying milk
Roll of bin liners
Squashed chocolate bar
Tin of anchovies in olive oil
Packet of dry spaghetti
Disposable lighter
Lottery scratch card
Small bottle of hand sanitiser
Sheet of over-the-counter painkillers
Raspberry yoghurt
Melted lollipop
Bag of deliquescing salad
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Crawling hands are severed hands that have been brought back to life through necromantic magics. They are low level guardians for necromancers and are frequently found in numbers.
What Creature Did the Crawling Hand Come From?
Human.
Orc.
Goblin.
Kobold.
Bugbear.
Hobgoblin.
Where is the Crawling Hand Hiding?
Inside a sealed jar.
Underneath a wooden box.
Beneath a pile of fabric.
Clinging to the room’s ceiling.
Inside a cupboard.
In a backpack.
What’s Unusual About the Crawling Hand?
Painted fingernails.
Copper ring on one finger.
Wearing a rusty gauntlet.
Missing a finger.
Has a tattoo on the back of its hand.
Nearly skeletal.
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Some artwork copyright William McAusland, used with permission
This simple table has ten different notes and letters that could be found lying around on desks, hidden in drawers, blowing in the wind or in the pockets of the dead. None have any game relevance unless the GM decides that they do. They can be used to add miscellaneous flavour, be misdirection or potential adventure hooks.
Bantus says he’ll be able to get it for you. Be careful when dealing with him.
Drayank is up to something, I’m sure of it. There’s no way he can be doing that well unless there’s something underhand going on.
Hide the stuff in the usual place. M.
I need to do some research on the tunnels below the town.
It’s buried beneath the heart of the collapsed building in the village.
No choice left. I’m going to challenge that idiot to a duel.
Not a chance. There’s no way I’m going to help you do that Urich.
Speak to Betts. She can recommend a good guide.
Turns out that giant worms are very good eating. Who knew?
Why did that happen?
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These are dreadful covers of Christmas songs that characters could hear in a modern setting, perhaps in stores, lifts or whilst on hold. They could be heard during a normal investigation, or in a retail establishment during the zombie apocalypse or similar event.
Rap version of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You”
Drum and base version of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”
Electronic dance version of Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”
Children’s gospel choir performing Wizzard’s “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday”
Panpipe version of Slade’s “Merry Xmas Everybody”
Steel band version of “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”
Bagpipes playing Gene Autry’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Rock guitar version of Wham!’s “Last Christmas”
Tibetan throat singing version of The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s “Fairytale of New York”
Harmonica version of “Walking in the Air”
Hammond organ version of Cliff Richard’s “Mistletoe and Wine”
Electronic dance version of Chris Rea’s “Driving Home for Christmas”
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