Random tables ahoy: Plot Generators

Long time no see!

I am preparing a longer post. But now I want to share with you a random generator that I'm using it to determine NPC intentions, a.k.a. plots (I've lately given up on using this word in the narrative sense) during the session preparation.

First, we have the actor.

Actor:

1. Empty (and actually impossible, this is a 2d12 check, I just don't like starting from 2)
2. Empty
3. Empty
4. Reporter
5. Organised crime
6. Cops
7. Principal
8. Vice Principal
9. Idoru
10. Teachers
11. Classmates
12. Social Media drama
13. Main Yokai
14. Secret organisation 1 Ninja clan 2 Shinto priest 3 Buddhist priest 4-5 Yokai hunters 6 "Dark Side" priest
15. Side Yokai
16. School Bullies
17. Delinquents
18. Bosozoku bikers
19. Family Drama
20. Otakus
21. Zaibatsu
22. Foreign spies
23. Japanese counter-intelligence
24. Other Yokai

Note: the reasons I have "empty" is because other NPCs are meant to be written there if I want to up their chances of coming up (like, if they're actively searching for the PCs).

 

Then we have the Intentions. 

I have written them in "shortform" using the Yin and Yo concept: Yin means the intention is passive, in extreme form it might be reversing the actor and the object, or meaning the attempt is ill-advised). 

The five elements mean that you achieve your goals via unyielding strength and resilience (Chi, earth), flexibility, adaptivity and emotion (water, Sui), energetic, forceful, aggressive, flashy action (Ka, fire), evasion, freedom of movement and momentum (air, Fu), or spontaneity, inventiveness, spirit (Ku, the void).

Just remember: the elements have their dark side as well. Earth can be unable to adapt, water can be indecisive, fire can be scared (as fear is the other side of aggression), air can be wasting time aimlessly, and the void can be allowing space for a negative influence.

With that in mind, you can see what this table means:

Intentions

1. Earth, yin
2. Earth, yo
3. Water, yin
4. Water, yo
5. Fire, yin
6. Fire, yo
7. Air, yin
8. Air, yo
9. Void, yin
10. Void, yo

And last, object, the thing upon which the intention is focused.

Roll 2d8-1

(I wasn't in the mood for another "empty" entry in a table).

1. The Prince
2. The Princess
3. The Samurai
4. The Peasant
5. The Wanderer
6. The Artisan
7. The Shogun
8. The Moneylender
9. The Priest
10. The Doctor
11. The Teacher
12. The Student
13. The Sumotori
14. The Entertainer
15. The Mendicant

And of course, you can just use one of them. Like, I often just roll 1d10 to determine the approach an NPC is going to take in a conversation. Or I could roll 2d10, and pick whichever is closer to a specific result (say, 9, for someone using his spiritual power for nefarious purposes).

Or I could just roll 2d8 to determine what kind of a person this is they're meeting.

Binding Books for Tekumel/Create Your Own Yozi

Here's a system-agnostic way to create your own demons for Tekumel. Because someone pointed out that The Book of Ebon Bindings only has Change demons, and not Stability demons...
And I thought of a series of interlinked random tables.

Step one: Pick Stasis/Stability or Enthropy/Change. Or toss a coin. If you have Stasis, add "a" to the number of the tables. Enthropy means you add a "b". 

Step two,optional: Do you want to decide a god in advance or not? If yes, roll on table 1. 

1a: Roll 1d10, or 2d10 pick higher/lower.

1. Hruu
2. Wuru
3. Vimuhla
4. Chiteng
5. Ksarul
6. Gruganu
7. Sarku
8. Durritlámish
9. Dlamelish
10. Hriháyal

1b: Roll 1d10, or 2d10 pick higher/lower.

1. Hnalla
2. Dra
3. Karakan
4. Chegarra
5. Thumis
6. Ketengku
7. Belkhanu
8. Qon
9. Avanthe
10. Dilinala

Or, you know...just decide whether you want a Cohort or a main god/dess, and roll 1d5 on table 1C (c for Common, it applies to both stability and change).

1-Authority and Rulership (the "boss" of the pantheon)

2-War and Violence

3-Wisdom, especially occult

4-Death and Afterlife

5-Sex and Family

Either way, if you have chosen a god or goddess already, when you'd roll the other tables, only pick results that "fit". A courtesan might not be the best option for Sarku (or at least I prefer not to imagine it).

Step 3: Pick the basics of your demon. Roll on table 2. 

2a - roll 1d24 or a 1d100

1. Warrior (1-5)
2. Scholar (6-10)
3. Priest (11-13)
4. Maiden (14-15)
5. Slave (16)
6. Pe Choi or other "friendly" race (17)
7. Unfriendly race or extraterrestrial menace (18)
8. Grazing beast (19-23)
9. Predator (24-26)
10. Earthly predator (27)
11. Earthly vegetarian beast, likely horned and/or of great mass (28)
12. Marsupial (29)
13. Bird with great speed or strength (30-33)
14. Bird of prey (34-38)
15. Lizard-analogue (39-40)
16. Frog-analogue (41-42)
17. Invertebrate considered useful (ex: eatable mollusque, a scarab that must eat the body of the deceased in order to guarantee the ascension of the soul 43-45)
18. Colony-based Insect (46-50)
19. Construct, humanoid (51-54)
20. Plant (55-60)
21. Fungi (61-62)
22. Animated item (63-69)
23. Geographic location (a big boulder, a forest 70-75)
24. Roll twice and combine (ignore this result if you roll it again, 76-100).

Table 2b. Roll 1d66 (2d6 of different colour, giving you a result between 11 and 66).

1. Roll once more 2
2. Roll twice more
3. Roll 3 times more
4. Warrior, probably berserk-like or mounted
5. Scholar, likely mad or extremely methodic
6. Priest
7. Courtesan
8. Vacchan
9. Slave
10. Dark-clad Assassin
11. Non-human Tekumelian race
12. Enraged, stampeding grazing beast
13. Stalking predator
14. Corpse-eating beast
15. Bird of prey
16. Carrion-eating bird
17. Snake-analogue
18. Lizard-analogue
19. Frog-analogue
20. Horned beast
21. Fish
22. Worm
23. Other invertebrate, likely considered harmful
24. Carnivorous plant
25. Fungi
26. Algae or jellyfish
27. Spider
28. Scorpion
29. Poisonous or corpse-eating insect
30. Construct, non-human looking
31. Undead
32. Animated item, likely not man-made: Stone, sand, diamond
33. Incarnation of a disaster (hurricane)
34. Animated geographic feature (forest)
35. A hive, swarm or pack with one mind
36. Ethereal presence

Now combine all results you got, if you have more than one, and go to the next step. 

Step 4: Roll on table 3. 

Add an elemental condition to your demon. This is a guideline-only and the "element" doesn't need to be presented! 

A Wind demon might be fully material, but flying...or it might be the wind itself (the scourging wind, for Change demons). It might be watery, or command water (salty water, for Change demons). 

Table 3a (I let it to you to guess which die to roll...or you can roll 1d100).

1. None 1-44
2. Light 45-52
3. Air 53-60
4. Water 61-68
5. Earth 69-76
6. Gold 77-84
7. Steel 85-92
8. Shadow 93-100

Table 3b. Roll 1d20 or 1d100...seriously, you don't need me to write that out!

1. None
2. Fire
3. Wind
4. Water
5. Earth
6. Gold
7. Steel
8. Brass
9. Darkness
10. Beast
11. Poison
12. Smoke
13. Blood
14. Acid
15. Salts
16. Thunder
17. Electricity
18. Shadow
19. Void
20. Flesh

Step 5:  Combine them into a narrative description that fits.

Step 6: Consider which god or goddess said demon is most likely to serve (note: a "slave" demon likely has no free will and you might want to roll on Table 1).

Step 7: Decide what said demon's goals, needs and wants, dislikes, hates and quirks are. Demons often reflect the identity of the god/dess they serve.

Step 8: Decide on a binding ritual. The type and element should help you, but it should be costly, require precision and sacrifice - or it doesn't count...

Also remember, no demon works for free. The personality should help you devise a suitable payment.

So, how does it work?

Well, you start with Step 1, and pick a pantheon. Let's say you got Stability.

Then you roll 100, double, and get "maiden" and "plant" on the results. You roll "gold".

Your demon is a plant girl, walking on feet of greenery, that leaves golden nuggets in her footsteps. I decide she's an Avanthe demon that aims to preserve the crops and reward the good farmers.

Too bad you need to boil gold in a pot of ironwood and pour it on a still-living flower so you get the golden flower. You need to arrange enough of those to make a nice arrangement, while reciting the magical formula.

If you fail to do a nice one, the demon appears, but smashes the arrangement and takes the caster away for uses best left unmentioned.

Oh, and you know why this has the Exalted tag? It also works for demons of the 2nd and 3rd circle, or even new Yozis!

Have fun!

A.