Monday, January 6, 2014

Pointcrawling Ruins, Stocking Structures

Onwards and upwards to part two of my series on Ruinscrawling. Stocking a ruined city with it's rather large and diverse range of habitations is another of the bigger hurdles to running such a beast. If you are like me you are pretty deliberate in planning the big ticket adventure sites (the abandoned palace, great temple and the like) and the barebones city planning elements (residential areas are here, ceremonial there) but tend to get stuck sometime in the brainstorming of each specific sub-zone.

Here are two random charts to help you unstick your brain in that process. Remember that the Non-Stupid Rule is in effect, ignore any results that contradict your image of who the builders of the site where or what you are going for as a challenge.

(A large round of special thanks to all the crowdsourcers on Google Plus for the decidedly weird second chart, see here for the individual descriptions in their more verbose, wonderful state.)

Point Type and Structures
Roll d100
01-20 Rubble Field (Type 1)
21-30 Freestanding Walls, No Structure (Type 2)
31-32 Abandoned Garden/Field/Orchard/Quarry (Type 1-3)
33 Neglected Canal/Lake/Pool/Fountain (Type 1-3)
34-37 City Walls/Fortification/Towers/Barracks (Type 2-5)
38-45 Lower Class Residential, Low Density (Type 2-3)
46-50 Lower Class Tenement (Type 2-4)
51-54 Middle Class Residential, Low Density (Type 2-4)
55-58 Middle Class Tenement/Rowhouse (Type 2-4)
59-60 Upper Class Residential (Type 2-5)
61-63 Small Market/Market Square/Bazaar (Type 2-4)
64-67 Artisan Workshops/Manufactory/Foundry (Type 2-4)
68-70 Warehouse/Granary/Silo (Type 2-4)
71-72 Plaza/Agora/Forum/Square (Type 2-4)
73-74 Gaol/Prison (Type 2-5)
75-80 Small Temple/Shrine/Fane/Sick House (Type 2-4)
81-83 Large Temple/Cathedral (Type 2-5)
84-85 Courts/Custom House/Public Official/Library (Type 2-5)
86 Palace
87-95 Mixed Usage (Roll Twice)
96-00 Unusual (see chart below)

Modifiers:
Ruins originate in Advanced Builder Civilization +5
Ruins originate in High Weirdness +10

Unusual Structures
Roll d10, All Type 3-5
01-02 Necropolis
03-04 Cemetery
05-06 Crematorium
07-08 Death House
09-10 Ossuary
11-12 Aqueduct
12-13 Qanat 
14-15 Bath Houses
16-17 Gladiatorial Arena
18-19 Observatory
20-21 Scriptorium
22-23 Oracular Well/Cave/Grove
24-25 Triumphant Arch/Monument/Tower
26-27 Temple Brothel
28-29 Pagoda, Giant
30-31 Boulevard of Monumental Statutes
32-33 Semaphore/Signaling Tower
34-35 Giant Ceremonial Bell/Gong
36-37 Hermae Row
38-39 Lingam and Yoni 
40-41 Oubliette, Penal
42-43 Oubliette, Meditatory
44-45 Yakhchal 
46-47 Vomitorium, Misinterpreted 
52-53 Mud Baths
54-55 Tar Pits
56-57 Strangling Bog
58-59 Circumcisorium
60-61 Giant Statue Head
62-63 Ozymandius Feet
64-65 Megalith
66-67 Ball Court (50% Sacrificial)
68-69 Cenote (50% Sacrificial)
70-71 Orgone Accumulatorium
72-73 Floating Object, Random
74-75 Conical Ziggurat
76-77 Featureless Cube
78-79 Iron Pillar, Unrusting
80-81 Ceremonial Spawning Pool
82-83 Doorless Sealed Shrine
84-85 Lair, Sacred Beast/Guardian/Local Demigod
86-87 Confusatorium (?)
88-89 Condominiums, wretched servitor beast
90-91 Olympic-style village, defunded
92-93 Headquarters, League of Demigods
94-95 Golden Stupa
96-97 Crystalline Dome
98 Corral, Massive Monster
99 Punishment Tube
00 Mollusk Garden

Modifiers:
Somewhat Mundane Civilization -10

9 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, I like that third picture.

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    Replies
    1. That would be part of Angkor in Cambodia. Lovely, isn't it?

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    2. Yeah, super nice. Happy 2014 to you and your family.

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    3. Aw thanks and likewise. I hear that Tim is being fattened up.

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  2. The "See here" link for the longer crowdsource texts of the second table is broken.

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, it will work if you are in my Google Plus circles as it's privately shared to my broad gaming circle.

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  3. I just read the whole series, excellent stuff. I've done something similar with road travel as what you explain in the earlier posts. Overall this is the sort of fiddly prep that really appeals to me.

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. Just discovered your series on pointcrawling... What a treasure! So much useful stuff in here that I plan to use. Thanks for posting this ~9 years ago and leaving it up!

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