5E Deck of Many Things Generator

Yep, rolled out another variant of the classically chaotic Deck of Many Things. This time supporting the 5E system.

Interestingly, 5E allows for players to state the number of cards they wish to draw and then draw them sequentially rather than simultaneously. Most cards return to the deck after being drawn so this change allows duplicate cards to be drawn unless a card effect stops the drawing process.

Also, no limit is placed on the number of cards the character chooses to draw. Prior variants capped the number of drawn cards at up to 4. I previously discussed the Origins of the Deck, which I may update in the future with the new 5E details.

Restaurant Name Generator Update

Given the launch of the Modern Business Generator, it was time to refactor some other utilities given the massive increase in available names. First and foremost, I expanded the Restaurant Name Generator to utilize the new database in addition to the original list. Additionally, it is now possible to select specific categories of eateries to refine the results.

Similar to eating establishments, I added the Hotel and Motel Name Generator which includes RV Parks, Bed & Breakfasts and other lodging services in addition to traditional hotel names. Results can be refined by category if desired.

City Name Generator Update

While it has been a few months since I’ve turned my attention to the City Name Generator, I never forget about my longer term plan to ingest data from every country on the planet. Today, I expanded the list by adding nine additional countries: Belize, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Paraguay, Uruguay, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

The additions are smaller countries or ones that I just overlooked during the original build out of the generator. Most of them have fewer than 2000 identified names in the database. The first push was to get results for larger countries or those with many different town names available to maximize the database information. Now, I am turning my focus to smaller countries or those with a less dense population. After all, neither geographic stature or population density equate to interesting results.

Today’s update should fill in coverage for Central and South America. Next, I’ll turn my attention to Africa, Asia, or the Middle East. Or perhaps all 3.

Crafting Zombies: Fluff vs. Crunch

Game prep always leads to thoughts on random generation. Up to bat are zombies. More specifically, I’m pondering zombies for ROTWORLD. I have already hand-crafted a dozen that will be featured in the game. Still, I’m going to need filler at some point.

My needs are more fluff than crunch. Good information on a random set of the folks behind the scenes so I can expound when needed and just cross them off the list as they’ve been terminated.

The bare bones process I’ve worked up includes sex, general age range, ethnicity, hair color, hair style, wound locations, wound severity/descriptions, and clothing style. Not all of the elements are well defined yet. Wound descriptions and clothing are still in progress.

I may add information regarding the rigor stages for the newly undead along with decomposition states as defined within ROTWORLD. Even those are mostly fluff. Usable information with little impact to game mechanics.

For the crunchier bits, I could add occasional occurrences of differing ability scores, movement, and specialized attacks. Doing so is trivial but all zombie worlds vary so I am leaning against it. The same goes for different intelligence levels and talents.

Do you need zombies? If you do, would you like options to enable the crunchier bits of the ROTWORLD system? Are there descriptive elements I have missed?

Names, more names, and other utilities

A few days ago, I pimped my Labyrinth Lord Generators. Now, I’d like to detail the other random utilities I have made available over the last few months.

Names

I struggle with coming up with names for people. For those afflicted with naming challenges and to help myself, I have released several random name generation systems.

For people, you can choose between modern or medieval names. The underlying data is based on real names from actual sources. Not ad hoc attempts to clobber a bunch of text together. While I enjoy role-playing, I prefer realistic names so the results are just as useful for writers. The city name generator, especially the U.S. data, is a great way to spark a name for a locale. Data from a dozen other countries is available as well.

Other Modern Stuff

If you need a career for a person, the occupation generator allows either random or drill down selection. Again, it is based off real data as is the business type utility, which is helpful if you want to know what businesses are nearby. The city block generator features quick block by block generation across four different zone types. If you need to know what’s on a random city block, the generator fits the bill.

CyberPunk 2.0.2.0

I keep meaning to port my Fast & Dirty Expendable and Lifepath utilities over from C++ to php. They still function on my old workhorse machine thus porting is a low priority. The system was one of my favorites in years past.

Labyrinth Lord Generators and Utilities

Here’s an overview of the utility software I’ve written for Labyrinth Lord over the last few months.

If you are in need of treasure generation, you can select either the by hoard class generator or generate a book of treasure covering all hoard classes and unprotected treasure. Should you need an individual spell scroll that is available as well. Perhaps you need a spellbook found as treasure? No problem.

On the monster front, several options are available. If you already know what creature you want to use but don’t want to scribble down the statistics, the monster generator produces quick and simple stat blocks along with treasure. Cut and paste, adjust to fit, and you are done. Alternatively, you may need to fill in a few rooms in your dungeon but are unsure what to use or just want some wandering options. The monster stocker produces a variety of creatures based on labyrinth level. It even features NPC generation, which you can also use standalone to produce individuals with a fair amount of detail.

Fantasy Inn/Tavern Name Generator

Ahh, inspiration. The Almighty DM and Digital Orc prompted me to work on inn/tavern names. I was going to contribute back to the Digital Orc’s open document. I failed to get my data organized prior to it being closed for editing.

My first cut, the Inn and Tavern Name Generator leans toward Digital Orc’s style. I did categorize and expand upon The Almighty GM’s system but have not yet coded the individual elements.

Instead, I ended up with adjectives (166) and nouns (524). Toss them together, muck around a bit and a reasonable output spews forth. The names are chaotic. Aren’t all random generators?

However, I do not like the distribution. I have to tweak the system again. Realism is missing. I cannot put my finger on exactly what I dislike. The distribution is skewed in my opinion.

I’m counting on others to point out the obvious flaws I cannot see.