Sooner or later, your players will ignore your narrative breadcrumbs in favor of aiding a random NPC. This is good and right. But it helps to be prepared when it happens!
One Roll Wonders are a way to throw together RPG locations and points of interest in the time it takes for a bathroom break!
Grab one of each of the polyhedral dice: d4, d6, d8, d1, d12, and d20. Roll them all at once and consult the tables.
The results provide a ready-made bit of adventure. You might need to massage the outcome to create something coherent, or you might find a result that appeals to you more than what you rolled. Whatever gets the game moving is the right call!
Want more help keeping things running? The Prepared! Expanded Collection is an group of pre-generated one-shot adventures that helps you look like an improv master.
The Roadside Inn
| d4 | What is the inn made of? |
| 1 | Lumber |
| 2 | Brick |
| 3 | Stone |
| 4 | Built in the branches of mighty trees, above the ground. |
| d6 | Who is the owner? (This might be a different person that the innkeeper.) |
| 1 | The owner is also the innkeeper |
| 2 | A wealthy farmer who supplies produce to the inn |
| 3 | A retired adventurer who purchased their favorite establishment |
| 4 | Local bandits or thieves who use the inn to carouse and find marks |
| 5 | Local landed gentry who rely on the money it makes |
| 6 | The monarch of the realm who stops by in disguise occasionally |
| d8 | What immediate threat does the inn face? |
| 1 | Rodents (or other pesky monsters) keep eating the inn’s food supply |
| 2 | Locals are spooked because the innkeeper placed a taxidermied head behind the bar |
| 3 | Ravens perch outside the inn’s window, staring inside intently |
| 4 | Pockets are picked whenever a bard plays at the inn |
| 5 | The wait staff keeps dying under suspicious circumstances |
| 6 | Travelers’ pack animals keep dying overnight |
| 7 | Poltergeists haunt their former bar stools |
| 8 | If the rent isn’t paid tomorrow, the landlord will have the innkeeper imprisoned until it has been paid |
| d10 | What local landmark is near the roadside inn? |
| 1 | Roiling, roaring rapids |
| 2 | A venerable cemetery |
| 3 | A grove of rare eastern hemlock trees |
| 4 | The ruins of walled fort |
| 5 | A razed temple to a fell god |
| 6 | A ring of druidic standing stones |
| 7 | A dank cave mouth leading in the Underworld |
| 8 | A cascading waterfall crashes close enough for visitors to hear |
| 9 | Engraved pictographs hint at ancient life |
| 10 | An engagement in a recent war was fought near here |
| d12 | What specialty food and drink is this inn known for? |
| 1 | Baked beans and watery ale |
| 2 | Cabbage stew and flat pilsner |
| 3 | Thick porridge and stout beer |
| 4 | Salted fish and clear grain liquor |
| 5 | Hard boiled eggs sliced over a bed of wild greens, toasted nuts and fresh fruit, with a glass of clean water |
| 6 | Chopped liver and mashed vegetables with brown ale |
| 7 | Braised spiced fish and lemon-ginger mead |
| 8 | Wild boar sauerbrauten with sweet wine |
| 9 | Toasted bread and sliced brie with dry wine |
| 10 | Pickled beef with crusty bread and plumb brandy |
| 11 | Smoked pork flank and doublebock beer |
| 12 | Fresh venison steak and blackberry mead |
| d20 | Who can PCs meet while staying here? |
| 1 | A waiter who can predict what diners want to order |
| 2 | A musician who gets regularly chased off the stage |
| 3 | A cook who spends most of their shift turning indiscernible cuts of meat on a rotisserie |
| 4 | A priest whose teachings cause mild discomfort among the inn’s patrons |
| 5 | A caravan guard experiencing persistent migraines since being clubbed over the head |
| 6 | A druid headed to a nearby settlement with a list of demands |
| 7 | A lonely merchant peddling wares from a handcart |
| 8 | A hardscrabble mercenary returning home to protect his people |
| 9 | A merchant in fine gems who travels with an entourage of armored guards and hangers-on |
| 10 | A monk travelling the land righting wrongs (and is looking for a new pupil to teach) |
| 11 | Twin brewers, traveling in a guarded caravan to advertise their drink to roadside inns |
| 12 | A knight in shining armor who seems uncomfortable around common folk |
| 13 | A burly local who performs the inn’s menial labor (and knows more than you’d expect) |
| 14 | A local hunter taking a week to relax (and sell trophies) |
| 15 | A scoundrel from a nearby city who uses the inn to lay low until the heat dies down |
| 16 | A wanted rustler hiding in plain sight with a hat of disguise |
| 17 | A mountebank who sells curative remedies from the back of their wagon |
| 18 | A hedge wizard who complains about the quality of food and drink |
| 19 | A chef who once worked for the monarch but now enjoys the relative quiet at the inn |
| 20 | An archmage whose chronomancy spell went awry, trapping anyone who enters the roadside in to repeat the last day until they break the spell |
So fun!