100 Overland Descriptors Table

This article is a companion piece to the earlier article 100 Dungeon Descriptors Table ^[1]. Just like that article, it’s a d100 list you can roll on for random descriptors. This time it’s for overland areas. Roll a few and see if it inspires you, or roll a few for an overall area and more for sub-areas.

Here’s an example: Rolling 5d100, we take the first two results for the entire area, then the next three for extra traits for smaller sub areas. Results are 16, 56, 10, 37, 96. Air: Cutting, Resources: Land/Water, Earth: Rocky, Dead:Ruined, Wealth: Traders

• We have an overall area with rich farming soil and good fishing waters but plagued with cutting winds. This means that large plots of cropland are out. Inhabitants probably try to build shelters in the lee of rock outcroppings and tree breaks and grow small plots of crops either behind wind breaks or in greenhouses. Livestock are probably common but closely tended and brought into shelter to avoid storms. This implies a fairly sparse population since the level of farming necessary to feed a dense population would be very difficult despite the fertile soil. Uncommonly used creatures that would be right at home in this area are air elemental creatures as well as burrowing monsters.
• We’ll say that there is an area with the same fertile soil but rocky and very hard to till and littered with large boulders and rocky outcroppings. This area houses a medium sized city with walls strung between large rocks and outcroppings, which owns large herds of grazing animals that they bring in the city when storms rise. However the area is also home to many bandits and dangerous creatures that also take shelter in the stones. At least there are relatively few burrowers waiting to pop up beneath your feet.
• Next is an area dotted with ruins. For some variety, we’ll place this area in a forest of large solid trees with wind blasted outer bark and needle leaves (none of our rolls say anything about local flora, so why not?). Interspersed among the trees are many tumbledown ruins, some largely intact. The winds are stronger and more frequent here and accompanied by a fearsome howling and may originate somewhere in these ominous structures. Strange skulking creatures with tough hide and tiny almost vestigial eyes and ears roam the forest. How they hunt with such deadly efficiency is a mystery.
• Finally we have another medium city. This one is located in the lee of a huge rock outcropping and surrounded on the other sides by a wooden palisade. It sits on one of the area’s major waterways. It has a small fishing fleet but is mostly a giant walled bazaar. It’s fleet of shabby merchant houseboats ply the area’s rivers visiting homesteads and trading odds and ends and resupplying the locals.

Note: Dave Woodrum of Fishwife Games ^[2] was inspired by this example and made me a the matching map, seen above! We’ve featured some of his cool gaming products ^[3] on Gnome Stew previously ^[4]. 

1. Water: Swampy – swamp, marsh, bog or any very wet land
2. Water: Lakes – a land studded with multiple lakes of various sizes
3. Water: Islands – mostly water with lots of islands
4. Water: Rivers – an area criss-crossed with many rivers large and small
5. Fire: Burning – affected by regular wildfires and uncontrolled burns
6. Fire: Ash – an area that has burned to the ground and never recovered
7. Fire: Volcanoes – volcanoes or other geothermal activity
8. Fire: Lava Flows – has open flows of lava and similar hazards
9. Earth: Gravity defying – impossibly high or overcropping cliffs and mountains
10. Earth: Rocky – rocky soil, littered with large boulders
11. Earth: Broken – split and broken ground with chasm and ravines
12. Earth: Living – populated with earthen creatures or living rock
13. Air: Noisy – constant whistling winds
14. Air: Floating – features floating rocks, plants, buildings or whatever else you like
15. Air: Flying – inhabited by a large number and variety of flying creatures
16. Air: Cutting – dangerous gale force winds that can injure those caught in them
17. Forest: Light – young trees
18. Forest: Heavy – heavy forest
19. Forest: Dense – ancient dense or massive forests
20. Forest: Brush – scrub trees with underbrush
21. Inhabitants: Magical – elementals, undead, constructs and other unnatural things
22. Inhabitants: Humanoids – primitive or advanced humanoid tool users
23. Inhabitants: Animals – area is populated with animals, predators, scavengers etc…
24. Inhabitants: Lowlives – slimes, fungus monsters and insects
25. Elevation: Lowlands – ravines, gorges, basins and the like
26. Elevation: Flat – largely flat and featureless
27. Elevation: Medium – hills and slopes
28. Elevation: High – mountains, buttes, etc…
29. Weather: Constant – always a light precipitation falling
30. Weather: Heavy – more precipitation than usual and/or heavier than normal
31. Weather: Erratic – likely to change quickly and a wide variety of weather
32. Weather: Extreme – probably usually heavy but with a much more intense season that can be dangerous
33. Live: Verdant – extremely green and covered with vegetation of all sorts
34. Live: Genius Loci – a spirit inhabits the land and can manipulate it to a limited degree
35. Live: Carnivorous – large plants or even the land itself is predatory
36. Live: Growth – plants grow quickly to larger than usual size
37. Dead: Ruined – scattered with ruined and partially destroyed buildings
38. Dead: Haunted – spirits, ghosts or just strange feelings haunt the area
39. Dead: Decaying – plants and soil don’t last long and actively decay
40. Dead: Ancient – similar to ruined but far fewer and far older ruins
41. Hot: Desert – covered in sand and blistering heat
42. Hot: Tropical – full of vegetation and wet but unbearably hot
43. Hot: Veldt – dry grassland with burning overhead sun
44. Hot: Bare – dry cracked earth
45. Cold: Snowy – covered in a layer of snow, snows often
46. Cold: Iced – freezing rain coats everything in a layer of ice
47. Cold: Spires – ice makes strange flowers and spires
48. Cold: Frigid – cold with cutting dangerous winds
49. Development: Frontier – isolated fortresses with small populations
50. Development: Secret – hidden settlements, isolated farmsteads etc…
51. Development: Points – points of light in largely unsettled wilderness
52. Development: Dense – highly populated settled lands
53. Resources: Wildlife – game and fur animals are abundant
54. Resources: Ore – lots of valuable metal and gems
55. Resources: Materials – wood, stone etc…
56. Resources: Land/Water – arable land, fishing, water access
57. Vegetation: Grassland – rolling grasslands with only grass scrub and isolated trees
58. Vegetation: Ancient – strange old plants uncommon elsewhere
59. Vegetation: Fungal – mushrooms and other fungus
60. Vegetation: Overgrowth – thick underbrush and tangling weeds
61. Government: Balkanized – many small countries or city states in tense relations
62. Government: Democracy – government by a representative body
63. Government: Oligarchy – government by a council or small group
64. Government: Monarchy – a single ruling figure
65. Architecture: Simple – uncomplicated unpretentious buildings
66. Architecture: Efficient – larger and more complicated building style with little ornamentation
67. Architecture: Ornate – lots of decorative details and shapes
68. Architecture: Unusual – strange or unusual building materials, shapes or styles
69. Relations: Warlike – inhabitants are threatening or war on their neigbors
70. Relations: Traders – trade with neighbors
71. Relations: Diplomats – peacemakers and diplomats
72. Relations: Isolationists – keep to themselves, possible xenophobic
73. History: War – area or people once involved in a significant war or conflict
74. History: Diversity – due to historical events, area is host to a large diversity of people
75. History: Religion – hosted significant religious events or personages in the past
76. History: Events – other significant historical events happened in this area
77. Production: Agriculture – makes food and ag products
78. Production: Materials – exports raw materials
79. Production: Manufacturing – produces crafted and finished goods
80. Production: Art – exporter of art objects
81. Technology: Primitive – stone or bronze age technology
82. Technology: Iron – low fantasy iron age
83. Technology: Advanced – high fantasy renaissance
84. Technology: Steam – steam tech
85. Food: Hunt/Gather – sustains population with hunting/gathering
86. Food: Livestock – primarily raises livestock
87. Food: Crops – crop farms for most food
88. Food: Advanced – uses advanced ag technology like aqueduct irrigation, crop rotation etc…
89. Learning: Religion – region has learned religious experts
90. Learning: Crafting – region has master craftsmen of note
91. Learning: Scholars – region has many secular scholars
92. Learning: Education – unlike most areas, the common inhabitants are mostly literate and have a basic education
93. Wealth: Poor – inhabitants are very poor
94. Wealth: Wealthy – inhabitants are wealthy
95. Wealth: Non-standard – the wealth of the area is in unconventional goods or coinage
96. Wealth: Traders – inhabitants mostly operate via barter or trade
97. Magic: People – most people either know a few magic tricks or have very minor magic items
98. Magic: Creatures – creatures are strange and magic touched
99. Magic: Landscape – landscape has odd magic features
100. Magic: Effects – odd effects can be found here, fountains, auras etc…