A couple years ago, I was working on a campaign map and in my brainstorming process I started writing down every interesting location that I could think of. Some basic (city, bridge, gallows etc) others more obscure (tallow mine, petrified forest, leper colony). I filled an entire page.
Ever since, this has been one of the pages in my DM notebook that I use most. Whenever I need to think of a site for an encounter I just scan the list to find an interesting+fitting option. I've populated maps by adding coordinates and rolling for locations.
It's a basic tool, but when I hear other DMs talk about the resources they keep handy, this one never comes up. Are other people using something similar? If so, would you share a copy?
Anyhow, I just migrated to a new notebook, and I took a couple minutes to re-create the list. It's got 250+ entries but I'd love to fill another page or two. I'm posting this to reddit in hopes the hive mind will help me populate another page or two.
What are some places it would be fun to go in an RPG?
Alas, I have nothing to share. In a fit of tidying up frenzy I accidentally threw out a page somewhat along these lines. It was a mix of place names and location descriptions. I sometimes go through phases of naming things, inspired by hearing a word I just like, and turn into a place name, or when I’m coming up with a setting or inspiration for the next session of a game and I need some NPCs, and where they can be found, or adventure sites and situations. I might need 1 or 2 names, or 6, but once the process starts sometimes that leads to just writing down more names than I need. I save these lists (which sometimes also include minimaps), and come back to them later, because later the things that occur to me will be different, and when I look at the old list the things that resonate are kept, and things that seem gross, boring, common - I cross out. I had one such list that had gone through several iterations, it had map fragments and features named, and it worked really well. Until I accidentally threw it out (I assume this is what I did, anyway). So yes, I appreciate the utility of such things. The lesson I learned was to either put such loose pieces in sheet protectors in a binder or display book, OR: keep a notebook, like others do.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the lost notes! I tend to make a lot of my notes on post-its and various scraps.
DeleteMy latest trick is to just tape or glue them into my notebook.
Hey there! There was a fella who put together a fantastic blog who put a series of tables together that kinda jived with this. http://rolesrules.blogspot.com/2014/03/all-tables.html
ReplyDeleteHope it's kinda congruent with what you're doing! :)