No campaign add-ins this week, sorry. I’ve got lots of ideas, just a lack of time to actually put them to digital paper. I’m such a terrible host this week! I am almost done copying the text that I want from the 1st edition DMG, namely the cool random generators in the back. I think that I’m developing a real fondness for them! I know that I could download some program off of the web, and can have multiple level dungeons randomly created at the touch of a button, but where is the fun in that?

I think that if you over simplify some stuff, it will remove the process itself, and without the process . . . Well, what is the point of doing it? I know that when I sit down and start developing a map, I am actually just sketching. I know what I want . . . Sometimes, however the beauty of a good map is in the details. I think of these details as I’m fussing over the sketch, trying to figure out what can go where, and it is during this process that the dungeon starts to become real to me. I can see its face forming, and before I know it, it is done and I created a brand new creature that is just waiting for the PC’s to step into it before I give it a pulse, and a life of its own. It really is a beautiful thing! And if we eliminate too much of the process, with fancy random dungeon generation programs, or NPC generation programs, we don’t have enough time on our hands, to really get them dirty and do what we need to, to actual create something truly different.

Other times, I find that it isn’t the map at all that makes an encounter unique, but the individual who calls it home. Creating NPCs is an art in itself! The more static that something is, the more of a caricature that it must become, but there is always limits. I suppose that there are always limits.

I find it interesting to study acting, and a great film to do it to is a little dark comedy called “Curdled”. It started out as a student film, which they have on the DVD, as well as the professional release, but it really shows you something about how to handle villains. A villain in the hands of a crappy actor is always a hilarious thing. They have no idea what a villain is, never the less how to play one. A bad actor will always play a bad guy with too much intensity, he always walks around with some single purpose and is always angry and intense. A GOOD actor, however, can take this villain and make him come alive. He’ll give him a purpose, he isn’t pissed off and brooding all of the time, in fact, the villain believes that the film is really about him, and that he is the hero of the story! A good villain isn’t afraid of displaying his emotions, and not just the destructive and dark ones that we always think of when we envision them, but the pleasant ones too. A good villain can be a very sensual creature who is more in touch with himself then any body else in the story.

Where am I going with this? WHY TO A RANDOM GENERATION TABLE OF COURSE!!!

This table doesn’t just need to be used with villains exclusively, but with any NPC that you want to give a little bit extra too.

Random Bad Habit Generator (d%)

01-05 = Antisocial behavior
06-10 = Impolite
11-13 = Belching in public
14-15 = Curses
16-18 = Discourtesy
19-20 = Disregard for others’ property
21-25 = Drug use
26-27 = Ear pulling
27-32 = Excessive drinking
33-35 = Fingerpointing
36-40 = Frowning
40-44 = Gossiping
45-50 = Impatience
51-55 = Insensitivity
56-57 = Interrupting
58-60 = Jumping to conclusions
61-62 = Knuckle-cracking
63-64 = Lateness
65-66 = Loudness
67-68 = Messy
69-71 = Nail biting
72-75 = Nose picking
76-77 = Nosiness
78-80 = Preoccupation
81-83 = Profane
84-86 = Selfishness
87-90 = Smoking
91-95= Stubbornness
96-98 = Unkempt appearance
99-00 = Whining