Travel Scenery

The world is a fascinating place and across their journeys the adventurers are bound to see some things that are interesting or extraordinary yet pose no threat or danger. Narrators can use travel scenery to heighten the sense of adventure and mystery, introduce new quests, or tweak them to help guide a wayward party back to an important task they’ve left unfinished.

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Travel Scenery (d100)

1 A flock of birds wheels and dives in the air, staying within sight for most of the day.

2 The ground shakes as some kind of burrowing creature passes beneath.

3 An old battlefield littered with skeletons and rusty weapons.

4 A giant tree, towering above those around it, stands lifeless and dead, charred and burned.

5 A great flying creature such as a dragon or wyvern passes overhead.

6 Strange voices are heard overnight while at camp, but no sign of anyone is discovered.

7 An eclipse takes pace, plunging the adventurers into darkness for several minutes.

8 A stone circle, some remnant of an ancient religion.

9 A ruined keep covered in ivy stands at the side of the road.

10 A corpse hangs from a tree, clearly having been hanged for some reason.

11 A beautiful waterfall cascades in a picturesque scene.

12 Barrow mounds where ancient warriors were laid to rest spread sense of unease.

13 A large fallen tree blocks passage across the road.

14 An ancient paved road from a civilization long before any in recorded history.

15 The inert bodies of a family that have been killed and gnawed upon.

16 A deserted farm whose owners clearly left in a hurry—there is still livestock there.

17 A friendly stray dog accompanies the adventurers for a while.

18 A strange waterfall which flows upwards.

19 Unusual tracks indicate the passage of some rare monster.

20 A bridge crosses a chasm with a sign that reads, “Beware of the troll.” There is no troll.

21 An overturned wagon contains spoiled provisions and there are no owners in sight.

22 An area of trees and bushes clearly ravaged by some kind of disease.

23 A ranger stands in a clearing, clearly having been turned to stone.

24 A tree decorated with humanoid skulls.

25 A majestic white falcon leads the PCs through a shortcut and then vanishes.

26 The corpse of a well-equipped adventurer still in their armor with a sword in hand.

27 A great skull of some kind of massive giant, covered with moss and home to small critters.

28 A shallow grave with notice atop it which reads, “This is the fate of thieves and liars.”

29 Wolves howl in the distance all throughout the night.

30 The remains of a campsite that was clearly recently used.

31 An oversized rusted greatsword embedded in a stone.

32 Ornate spires made of magically-hardened ice rise from the ground.

33 A great face carved into the side of a cliff.

34 A wooden stick clearly marks the site of a buried object.

35 A large statue of a well-known god or hero overlooks the route.

36 A hot spring provides an opportunity for a bath.

37 A riderless horse, still saddled, walks down the road.

38 A swarm of insects, dense enough to be almost opaque, hovers for no apparent reason.

39 Distant and strange lights flash and move in the sky.

40 An obelisk or stone pillar etched with eldritch runes.

41 A rare plant is found, though any herbal concoctions it might be used in are the purvey of only expert alchemists.

42 The sounds of battle can be heard, but nothing can be seen and there are no recent signs of conflict.

43 An unusual quiet falls—all is still, the animals remain silent, and no wind disturbs the air.

44 The adventurers discover the corpse of a powerful monster—a dragon, giant, or similar.

45 The air becomes suddenly chill, even in the height of summer.

46 A giant eagle swoops down on some small woodland creature and carries it off into the distance. 

47 The blackened and burned remnants of a roadside inn. 

48 A massive fallen tree riddled with fungal growths of unusual size.

49 A moldering shipwreck paradoxically hangs in the treetops far from any body of water. 

50 Several low hills that look suspiciously like giant tortoises overgrown with bush and bracken.

51 A thunderstorm in the distance that seems strangely unmoving and persists longer than usual. 

52 A boulder-sized obsidian sphere floats a few yards above low and scattered ruins. 

53 A massive, 100 foot tall iron colossus lies almost peacefully against a mountain. 

54 A hilltop graveyard covered in colorful flowering vines. Cheerful ravens squawk from atop the ancient headstones in the noonday sun. 

55 The current of a turbulent river creates numerous tiny rainbows in the spray. 

56 A half-finished cathedral to a forgotten god sits covered in moss. 

57 An angelic being appears, loudly blesses a holy site, and disappears.

58 Ghostly spirits go about ancient daily routines in silence.

59 Water is paradoxically drawn up from a lake into a cloud overhead. 

60 An ancient roadside inn that is immaculately maintained yet oddly empty. 

61 Two castles on adjacent hilltops stand watch over a river running between them. 

62 Vividly-colored fish swim in a nearby body of water. 

63 A child’s joyous laughter echoes from the bottom of a well. 

64 A herd of massive herbivores slowly ambles across an open field, grazing as they go. 

65 An old windmill sits atop a hill outside a town, its blades slowly turning even when there is no breeze. 

66 The outline of a door carved into a rock face.

67 A stone altar standing alone on a small hill.

68 An area of devastation caused by two huge monsters fighting. There is blood aplenty but no bodies. 

69 A smooth circular crater—the obvious result of a magical explosion—with a broken staff at its center. 

70 An empty wooden chest clearly pulled from the hole in the ground next to it. 

71 A collection of 17 trees that are perfectly identical in size and shape all the way down to their leaves.

72 A 100 foot long perfectly straight groove in the ground, a few inches wide and several feet deep. It starts and ends abruptly. 

73 A monument to an ancient battle honoring the dead. The monument is clean though the battleground is long overgrown. 

74 A set of wards constructed at a crossroads purporting to keep fiends away. 

75 A carved statue of such exquisite quality that it looks as though it was a living person turned to wood. If removed it becomes brittle and quickly loses its details.

76 A stand of trees burning endlessly without being consumed.

77 A deep well which appears to be bottomless.

78 A pool of water which seems to be impossibly clean and clear.

79 Disused ancient roads lie partially overgrown.

80 A strange grove where all sound seems to be muted and a sense of peace pervades.

81 A tall, narrow stone tower, 100 feet high, seemingly empty and standing alone on the landscape.

82 A 30 foot wide eldritch rune burned into the ground.

83 A herd of pegasi flies overhead. 

84 Ambulatory plant creatures slowly trudge along a well-worn route, following the change of seasons.

85 Clouds that bear an uncanny resemblance to monsters float overhead.

86 Ancient monument commemorating an armistice that combines the aesthetics of two different peoples.

87 An abandoned carriage gutted of everything that might have value.

88 A luxurious inn purporting pleasurable company, though no other customers seem to have been enticed inside.

89 A talking and interactive figment that flamboyantly points the way to a magical shop.

90 A shrubbery.

91 A fortified bridge that spans a chasm over a river of lava.

92 An empty cart firmly stuck in a pothole. Removing the cart breaks its axle.

93 The ground nearby is littered with scores of small holes the size of a person’s fist.

94 A perfectly square stone as big as a cauldron.

95 The shredded remains of a snare that a creature has recently escaped from.

96 An ancient signpost by the road naming a couple towns and their distances.

97 Further down the road the air seems to waver as if from heat despite lacking the warmth necessary for such an effect.

98 A child’s top spins on a boulder, sometimes dancing to here or there across the rocky surface—but if left alone it never stops.

99 An almost absurdly long line of ferrets darts across the party’s path and quickly scampers out of sight.

100 The skies high overhead rumble as if the gods were in violent conflict, but the clouds do not rain or strike with lightning.