Procedurally Generated Fairy Tale Style Fey

Awhile back I created what I called a Random Fey Generator. Though at the time I created it I received a lot of positive feedback, I’ve become less satisfied with it as time’s gone by for several reasons. So it’s time for a change. Below is my new “Procedurally Generated Fey” table.

Recently, +Jacob Hurst made a fascinating post about his thoughts on procedurally generated game content. He brings up several points near the end about what should be involved in creating a table for procedural generation, and quite frankly, I like his advice. So I’m going to follow that. Let’s see where it goes.

So first of all, I took out pretty much all the creepy stuff. I left a bit of weirdness at the very ends of each table (very low % chance of rolling on the bell curve), but all the grotesque / body horror stuff is pretty much gone. I’m saving that for if/when I do my Lovecraftian generator. Part of getting rid of all the grotesque stuff also led to me trimming some of the fat in other ways. If it got too much into the “not very natural-feeling” side of things (other than one noted exception), I cut it.

Next, like Jacob recommended, I outsourced some ideas. I went to google plus and got some thoughts from some people I highly respect in the various RPG circles there.

Finally, I changed the format. I decided it made more sense to set up this generator specifically for encountering fey, not just creating weird fey, so the format is now based around creating an entire encounter, with motivations, numbers, and everything that needs. Hopefully this makes this a bit more useful.

Enjoy!

Procedurally Created Fairy Tale – style Fey Encounters

[(1) Number of AND Type of fey], [(2) Size of fey], with [(3) First physical trait] and [(4) Second physical trait], who [(5) Personality trait / motivation], and is/are attended by [roll 2d6-number of] [(6) Minion size], [(7) Minion movement style], [(8) Minion descriptive adjective] [(9) Minion creature type] with [(10) Minion some objects or other descriptors].

d20 (1) Size of AND Type of fey
1 (2d4) willow sisters
2 (2d2) night dukes
3 (2d4) shapeshifting bogies
4 (2d6) fungus maidens
5 (2d6) water sprites
6 (1d4) stone luminary(ies)
7 (1d3) tree warrior(s)
8 (1d2) headless horsemen
9 (2d3) dusk nymphs
10 (2d6) dawn guardians
11 A forest warden*
12 (2d2) mountain spirits
13 (1d3) longshadow soldiers
14 (2d4) moon dancers
15 (1d4) sidhe sorceresses
16 (2d6) seaweed asrai
17 (1d6) hill hosts
18 (2d4) vine glaistigs
19 (3d6) peat fairies
20 (2d4) deformed pookas

* A forest warden will always be solo, and will always be either (1d2) 1:barn-sized or 2:castle-sized.

d8 (2) Size of fey
1 sized like a small child
2 as tall as a tree
3 as large as a barn
4 sized like an adult human
5 as small as a ladybug
6 sized like a dog
7 as large as a horse
8 tall and wide as a castle
d20 (3) First Physical Trait
1 goat head
2 glowing eyes
3 circular fanged maw
4 insectoid probiscus
5 hair like a bed of leaves
6 canine head
7 stone-like skin
8 eyes of fire
9 tusks like a boar
10 asymmetrical antlers
11 furry, lamblike skin
12 eyes like ivory buttons
13 beak like a falcon
14 hair like twisted vines
15 thick, barklike skin
16 head like a large, wilted flower
17 large almonds/nuts for eyes
18 pig snout
19 horse head
20 translucent skin
d20 (4) Second Physical Trait
1 back covered in porcupine spines
2 legs like a goat
3 wings like a ciceda
4 crablike pincer hands
5 back covered in jagged tree limbs and branches
6 lower body like a massive, scuttling beetle
7 wings like a raven
8 long, spindly arms and fingers that end in points
9 dragonfly wings
10 lower body of a horse
11 back covered in beehives
12 surrounded in shifting mist
13 wings like a bat
14 scaley bird legs and claws
15 hands have biting, snakelike fingers
16 octopoidian tentacles in place of arms
17 lower body replaced by a rickety, two-wheeled cart
18 wings of shredded tapestries
19 back covered in boney, ivory ridges
20 soaking wet, lower body like a large frog
d20 (5) Personality trait / motivation
1 carries multiple crystal vials to contain the blood of Hollow Lamias, who only appear in the nonlight of a new moon
2 changes form to look like whoever it is talking to
3 collects wooden masks, grows angry at anyone in possession of one it doesn’t own
4 only walks in cardinal directions, as this is the only way to find the Cauldron of Rebirth in the Resonant Enclave
5 is always looking up at something in the sky
6 is a Knight of Lurus, the Wind Shepherd, and randomly stops what it’s doing to spastically dance in circles
7 speaks only in whispers, attempts to shush any sounds louder than a trickling brook
8 sings meloncholic poetry about elusive cloud magic
9 wears a wooden collar attached to a golden chain, claims to be a slave to the Heralds of Khet-lui
10 walks in a cloud of butterflies
11 can only speak using lines from burned love letters
12 always carries a lantern and speaks rhyming prophecy
13 will not walk across moving water
14 whistles a tune you’ve only heard before in your dreams
15 promises (truthfully) to grant you one wish for the price of your left eye
16 hates starlight more than anything, claims to be a Knight of Lurus, the Wind Shepherd
17 walks sideways when no one is looking
18 carries a live frog and occasionally talks to it
19 is scared catatonically of inks, dyes, and tattoos
20 ignores you, searching for a missing relic to help in the foretold battle with the Cloven Strand
d4 (6) Minion size
1 tiny
2 small
3 normal
4 large
d10 (7) Minion movement
1 slithering
2 hopping
3 crawling
4 gliding
5 floating
6 dancing
7 swinging
8 twirling
9 flying
10 charging
d10 (8) Minion descriptive adjective
1 stone
2 albino
3 golden
4 lace
5 silk
6 leathery
7 clockwork
8 cellulose
9 lichen
10 stainglass
d20 (9) Minion creature type
1 beardogs
2 spiderkin
3 sabertooth rats
4 redcaps
5 boggarts
6 nereids
7 porcupine folk
8 will-o-wisps
9 jack-o-lantern men
10 homunculi
11 spriggens
12 changelings
13 giant ravens
14 sparrow folk
15 reed children
16 leprechauns
17 lurdanes
18 grogochs
19 merrows
20 satyrs
d20 (10) Minion descriptors / objects
1 saucer-sized eyes
2 hair like spun silver
3 tattoos over all exposed skin
4 numerous bone piercings
5 globular helmet of red gemstone
6 flowers woven around the head
7 lustful songs on the tongue
8 hundreds of battle scars
9 a bandolier of lion’s teeth
10 a rotting, swamplike smell
11 multi-faceted eyes of a fly
12 blood songs on the tongue
13 dead whipporwills tied around its waist
14 a snakeskin sash that shimmers
15 a walking stick that crackles with blueish lightning
16 sack filled with [brass doorknobs] / [tarnished manacles] / [ancient scrolls depicting prehistoric rituals] / [glass bottles filled with dead worms]
17 a sash made from the feathers, beaks, and claws of ravens
18 silver coins minted with grotesquely grinning men on one side, and dead snakes on the other
19 a small lambskin wallet filled with fern leaves, crab grass, rose thorns, and dried lavender petals
20 flicking shadows, and an aura of buzzing like bees

About the Author

Ishmayl

nerdgame player with too much time on his hands

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