Encounters – Roads
Domestic
1: Disabled wagon with a broken wheel and a long-dead campfire. It has been looted already.
2: A large slip in the land has cracked the road in half.
3: A Guard checkpoint has been set up. As the PCs approach a Guard stops them and holds up a wanted poster. He carefully
studies the party and the poster – the guard thinks one of the PCs resembles the picture on the poster, even though it is not the
character.
4: A young man and woman riding a horse bareback, ill-equipped for travel, make to pass by you in haste. If questioned, they
tell you they are lovers, fleeing a feud between their families who live in the village ahead of you.
5: A line of ducklings follow their mother across the road.
6: A funerary procession winds its way along the road, the clerics beseeching all they encounter for donations to the faith.
7: A group of eight travellers on a ‘pilgrimage’ to a religious shrine a few miles up the road. Some of the group members really
stink, and many have large backpacks. The group stops at a farmhouse about halfway to the shrine and several of them buy
boxes of eggs. When the group arrives at the shrine its members begin to desecrate it, pelting it with eggs, smearing faeces all
over the shrine and smashing it up with crowbars.
8: A naked minstrel asks for a lift to the nearest Inn where he left his clothes and money to pay for the party’s troubles.
10: An overturned carriage surrounded by dead bodies. Or are they undead?
11: The road is guarded by characters wearing Guard uniforms who claim to be toll collectors. They produce official looking
documents. Observant PCs will notice that the warrant is fake, and their uniforms are really old and worn out.
12: A burly man sits next to a hay-wagon with a broken wheel. He waves in despair when he notices the party.
13: A wagon train stopped on the road blocks traffic as the drivers feed their animals and fill waterskins in a stream.
14: A traumatised friar hurries past the PCs, mumbling to himself and fondling his religious charm. He barely notices them. If
spoken to he shakes his head and avoids conversation keeping his head down and heading on down the road with haste.
Further up the road there is a man nailed out in a star-shape on the ground, with his stomach cut open and entrails pulled out.
The symbol of Mekeeta is traced with a copious amount of his blood around the victim.
15: The road is crossed by many animal tracks, as if a herd of beasts all crossed at the same time.
16: A lemonade shack, run by a bored looking young girl. 1gp for a deliciously refreshing cupful, 5gp to fill a whole waterskin.
17: Two groups of pilgrims from rival faiths block the road as they engage in an aggressive, potentially violent argument over
their right to celebrate their faith on their holy day without other false religions interfering. Each side appeals to the heroes for
help and won’t let them pass without intervening on their side. If one of the PCs is a cleric, neither of the pilgrim groups is of his
denomination.
18: A chain gang is repairing the road for the next 5 miles. Halve movement speed over this distance.
19: The road is filled with large potholes for half a mile. Horses suffer a 25% chance to damage a leg, +10% per complete
month since they were last shod. If the PCs have a carriage or cart there is a base 50% chance to break a wheel if they go
through the potholed road, or go off-road.
20: The remains of an ambush litter the road, but the wounded courier begs the PCs to deliver the sealed message he is
carrying. It is destined for a gang leader in the next settlement. If opened it reads “The Slaughtered Fox is ready to accept your
offer of a truce. Meet us at the first milestone marker outside [settlement] at midnight on Sunday to discuss the terms. No
weapons.”
21: A travelling merchant on a horse going the same way. The merchant asks if he can travel with them to the next village.
During the night (if they make an overnight stop) the merchant will attempt to steal valuables from the group – nothing obvious
like a sword, but small things that might not be noticed until later. He will then continue to the town with the PCs the next day.
When PCs get up the following day, make a perception check for each theft victim to spot that their belt pouch feels a little
lighter. The merchant will try to bluff his way out of any accusation by saying that other PCs are trying to frame him, or that the
items are his and they are lying. If he makes it to the town he vanishes for good. PCs won’t realise their loss until they look
through their bag.
22: A new toll bridge/road has been installed here. There are several Guards manning it. Peasants trying to get to work cannot
afford the toll. They accost the PCs, begging for change.
23: Illegal casino stall. Dice and card games are available.
24: A man hits a donkey with a branch and shouts, "Move, y’old flea-bitten good-for-nothin’!"
25: A famous bard and his boisterous entourage pass by on a two-horse carriage.
26: The bridge is missing. Where it used to be is now a ferry service, for a sizable fee. The ferry looks like it might consist of
bridge parts, and only takes a few travellers at a time. The operators look a bit shifty.
27: A shaken up and dishevelled merchant approaches and warns you to be careful of the road up ahead. He tells you a local
gang is pressurising travellers on the road to stop at the village and drink in the tavern – which they are supplying with
homebrew.
28: A bank-wagon trundles past, with not quite enough guards to challenge the party.
29: A travelling merchant wants to buy a particular item from one of the PCs and refuses to take no for an answer.
30: A funeral procession winds its way along, complete with mourners, priests and servants who carry an ornate coffin.
31: A stray dog runs down the road with a boot in its mouth. A broken bit of bloody shin-bone sticks out of the top of the boot.
32: A unit of extremely drunk soldiers in full battle dress stagger down the road, laughing and joking and banging each others’
helmets.
33: A group of masons push carts of stone and tools towards a town.
34: A ravishing and technically still-eligible noble bachelorette in a very expensive carriage en route to her arranged marriage in
the closest town. Desires to escape but fears the consequences. If they help her escape the players will have the house of a
powerful lord after them.
35: Off-duty caravan security team of rangers sitting around a fire awaiting a new assignment.
36: Extremely nervous courier trying to look inconspicuous, delivering shipment from a high end jeweler strapped under his
clothes.
37: Heavily guarded merchant caravan full of wares on way to nearest town. Not interested in hiring extra bodyguards.
38: A prestidigitator performs tricks and sleight of hand before a large crowd just outside town. While the mage has every eye
captivated, his compatriot moves through the crowd pilfering items.
39: A small enclave of garishly dressed, foppish highborn artists just outside town. One member is naked and some of the
others appear to be sketching him.
40: Beggars accost the party, pleading for money.
41: A travelling salesman and his gaudy cart covered in hanging beads and a dancing monkey. The hawker with fast-talking
snake-oil offers and a dancing monkey. He blocks the road with his cart and ignores all requests to move it. PCs will have to buy
something utterly useless – maybe a potion to make hair grow back offered to a bald PC, or a healing potion that just makes the
imbiber cough when its actually used.
42: A small party of armed knights under a noble's banner approach. Their outrider tersely demands the party yield the road.
43: Militia stop every wagon and search the contents of every bag and wagon box.
44: A high level clergyman rides by in a secure carriage, escorted by heavily armed guards.
45: A pompous noble stands in the road, flogging and shouting at his injured horse.
46: A horse thief poses as a reputable merchant and strives to sell his stolen horses to travellers before the law catches up to
him.
47: A wounded hitchhiker flags the party down. He will pay them to take him to the nearest healer.
48: The land over a bluff has slipped, and the road has crumbled away. Horses may slip on the treacherous surface, and
wagons stand a chance of tipping over.
49: A hooded farmer struggles with a broken wheel on his wagon over-full of turnips.
49: A crook-backed man covered by a black cloak limps along with a twisted rod, shouting about the end of the world. He grips a
PC, and in that instant the PC sees a massive horde of assembled barbarians – orcs, goblins, kobolds, gnolls and others
marching under the banner of a great orc warlord. Behind marching army there is blackened earth stretching to the horizon, with
burning villages dotted across the landscape.
50: A belligerent drunk wanders into the group's path demanding alcohol and money. He is offensive to the PCs, saying he
knows their sort, and they think they’re better than everyone else.
51: A passing mail-courier's horse gets spooked and throws the courier. The courier dies in the fall, and the mail bag contains a
diplomatic bag bearing the seal of a prominent politician. The bag contains a mundane but confidential report regarding grain
production in the state, however the government will be extremely displeased if the adventurers open it, and may trace it back to
them and assume they robbed the mail cart.
52: A large, disgruntled mob of people blocks the entire road and refuse to let anyone past. Every member of the mob is
wearing a red arm band. The mob is angry at a distant noble’s abuses of their common land, as he was recently given a chunk
of it by the government to build a holiday villa on, in exchange for military support. The protesters are peaceful to the PCs, but
block their way unless they can find a way to deal with them. At the next settlement the PCs hear from the Guard about
troublemakers causing problems on the roads. The Guard’s official line is that the noble’s military support is for the protection of
their land, and they should be grateful. The noble is visiting his newly acquired land next week, and the Guard expect trouble.
Maybe the PCs can help the situation?
53: A lone hooded figure dressed in a dirty red robe approaches, slowly tolling a bell. As he gets closer the PCs experience a
mass hallucination – skeletons suddenly burst from the ground all around them and attack. After 5 rounds of combat they
suddenly snap back to reality – they are standing in the same spots, but the sinister figure is a long way past them, still slowly
pacing down the road into the distance, bell still, chiming ominously. The damage they suffered is real. If the PCs attempt to
catch up with him, they experience the same thing again. The figure is a skeleton himself, but the cowl hides his skull.
54: A mounted patrol of soldiers rides past at pace. The captain salutes the adventurers as he passes.
55: Just outside town, two children offer to buff shields or shine boots for a gold piece. They follow the PCs at a distance calling
them names if rebuffed.
56: The party chances on an elderly nobleman and his wife on their way to visit relatives. Their carriage-horse got spooked and
crashed the carriage into a ditch, the horse broke free and bolted and the axle of the carriage snapped, leaving them stranded.
They would like to be taken to the nearest settlement, but the nobleman has a bladder infection, and needs to stop frequently.
The journey takes twice as long as it should, but the nobleman gives the PCs the name of a tavern in his hometown some
distance away and tells them to meet him there in two weeks. He will pay them handsomely for helping him out, and the PCs will
have made a valuable ally – he is influential and his household includes 40 retainers-at-arms they may be able to call on in a
time of need.
57: A farmer with a slow moving herd of oxen blocking the path ahead. +1 hour journey time.
58: A Guard post manned by a corrupt captain who wants to confiscate something valuable. He makes up a bluff that it looks a
lot like a stolen or counterfeit item – yep, they’ve seen a lot of these things around these parts recently. The other Guards agree.
Maybe a bribe could get the adventurer off the hook.
59: What appears to be a group of labourers are digging up the road with picks. They are actually saboteurs masquerading as
workmen on official business.
60: An odorous mess of rotting fish litters the path, spilled from an overturned cart. Two trolls are gorging themselves on the free
meal, but are not aggressive as they are too full to want to fight.
61: A furniture maker has a problem with low overhanging branches that are stopping his wagon getting through. The wagon is
sitting in the road, blocking it. The overloaded wagon is piled high with merchandise strapped all over the roof. +2 hours to
journey.
62: Two arguing wagon-masters at a narrow bit of road, each refusing to give way to the other. In order to get past one will have
to back up some way.
63: A raucous band of foolhardy riders challenge the party to a race for 300gp. Two PCs versus two of their riders. The race is a
relay race from the roadside to a rock upon a hill, then back to the road. When they reach the rock they have to grab a small
stone off the top of the flat rock at the top of the hill. When the first member of the team gets back to the road they hand the
second member of the team the stone and then the second racer has to replace the stone on the rock. A girl rides out to the
rock to adjudicate the winner. The riders race fair, but are fast and very skilled at scooping up the stone and handing it off –
they’ve clearly done this before. Loss of respect for PCs if they cheat.
64: Guard tower on fire, local criminal organisation who have had members arrested recently are attacking it, the Guards
battling against them ask for help, the criminals try to persuade the PCs of the injustices of the state, saying their compatriots
are political prisoners. The stone and wood tower collapses part way through the battle.
66: A carriage is pulled over and the driver is looking for help – the nobleman’s wife is giving birth.
67: A cart in a tree by the side of the road.
68: A beautiful woman wearing lingerie and a silk robe emerges from hiding near the road and implores the PCs to lend her aid.
She is cold and shivering and has a black eye. She is a prostitute, and her arrogant drunk client threw her out of his carriage.
She asks the PCs to take her to see him and demand an apology. The client is the son of a wealthy and influential politician,
and is cocky and dismissive – “do you know who my dad is?” He will challenge a PC to a public duel. The father won’t care
though – he knows how stupid his son is, and will offer to meet the duellist to discuss a job offer, having been impressed by his
fighting skills when he witnessed the duel.
69: A vagrant claims to be the messiah of a religion. If the party contains a cleric, it is his religion. The tramp can perform
cantrips, and can heal people, and will do a decent job of convincing the group he is the real deal. He says he has a dire
warning, which he must communicate to the world. He asks the PCs to take him to see a senior ranking priest in a nearby town.
If the PCs actually believe him and take him, he will drink rum continually but secretly, and will show the priest poor magic tricks
as “proof” of his status, and tell the priest that his “dad” is unhappy with the poor management of His religion. The tramp tells the
temple clergy that they need to pay him a huge sum of money in order to please their god, or else his “dad” will destroy the
world. The priest is not impressed with the foolish PCs for bringing the tramp to see him and wasting his time, and their
reputation is damaged.
70: An old witch collects herbs from the bushes along the roadside while her cat meows at passersby.
71: A roadside stand offered fresh vegetables and fruit to passersby.
72: A rat-on-a-stick vendor travelling with his cart of wares offers to hire the party to help him at a three-day harvest festival and
jousting tournament in the next settlement.
73: At first the bard you met along the road was quite entertaining, but by the sixth hour they will have heard his entire repertoire
a number of times. He will steadily annoy them, and will keep playing at night if not in a town, which may attract monsters. One
of his songs will get stuck in their heads for the whole of the following day after they finally get rid of him. Charisma checks are
made with a penalty during this day, as the party is feeling very fractious and irritable.
74: A noblewoman rides by on a sedan chair. One of its bearers trips and stumbles on a rock. The
noble screams as the chair crashes to the ground, and she falls out and sprawls on the ground in an undignified way. She looks
at the PCs with a scornful and embarrassed glance that says ‘avert your eyes’, and then starts to abuse the man who stumbled.
The PCs will recognise her the next time they have to deal with a noblewoman.
75: A scornful woman chases her cheating husband, throwing rocks at him.
76: The party runs over a shepherd's goat. The shepherd demands money equivalent to three or four times the goat's value.
Then, as things settle down, another shepherd comes up and displays his injured goat. A passing Guard patrol stops and takes
an interest if the encounter goes on for more than a short time.
77: A pair of drunk young noblemen pass the PCs, racing their expensive horses.
78: Labourers are erecting a new guard tower.
79: Two children chase chickens down the road.
80: The group comes upon the scene of a recent grisly carriage accident. The carriage lies in the ditch, with the driver some
distance away on the far bank, thrown free. It must have been travelling at speed – the man and woman have been slammed
against the front wall of the carriage, splitting their heads and faces and crushing their skulls.
81: A man riding an ostrich hurtles by, yelling to the PCs to give way.
82: Every sign on the road has been defaced with the mark of a local brigand.
83: A bare-knuckle fight in a dusty ring on the roadside. A large crowd watches.
84: A cart piled high with corpses sits in the middle of the road with not a living soul in sight.
86: A squad of plain-clothes assassins relieved after successful mission try to maintain cover as press reporters while dying to
spend the payment which is stashed in their rucksacks.
87: An otherwise empty stretch of highway, with two rival roadhouse taverns facing each other across the road. The publicans
try to outdo each other loudly on the discounts and benefits of their respective establishments to the party. Each tries to discredit
the quality of the other roadhouse. Both seem desperate for customers.
88: The staff of the roadhouse tavern where the PCs plan to spend the night have been killed and stuffed in the cellar, replaced
by the bandits who murdered them and now rob and murder unaware travellers.
89: The party arrives at a deserted roadhouse tavern. A dagger is stuck point-down in the middle of the bar, with a newspaper
pinned under it. The newspaper has “three days” scrawled across the front page, and is dated two days ago. Beside the note is
a sheep’s skull. The gang will return to collect their protection money in the morning if the PCs stay.
90: An angry preacher harangues the party.
91: An unlicensed bar consisting of a couple of tables and crates to sit on, with a cart containing a several barrels of ale.
92: The road is lined with grand statues of warriors.
93: Wanted posters are nailed to trees and rocks every so often. There are four faces, and a reward for each if captured alive
and brought to a Guard station.
94: The road is in terrible condition, and is crumbling at the edges and full of potholes, which wreak havoc on animal legs and
wagon wheels.
95: A man on a flying carpet scoots overhead, waving down if the PCs shout after him.
96: A table on the roadside holds a large basket of fresh vegetables. Carrots, turnips, leeks and other things are tied together in
bunches. A sign reads "1gp a bunch". A box marked “honesty box” sits on the table. One bunch is enough for two meals for 4
people.
97: The road is rigged with an obvious and clumsily made trap. A pit has been dug into the roadway, which is full of thick tar,
and covered with bits of grit from the road. Easy perception check to spot it. The PCs can hear drunken laughter from the
undergrowth where two men who are too drunk to walk can’t quite contain themselves.
98: A nobleman's retinue is travelling up behind the PCs. The guards are rash and impolite and demand they immediately get
off the road. Beside the road is a muddy ditch.
99: An overturned cart has pinned its driver underneath and the horse has bolted. The cargo includes several sacks of drugs,
one of which has split open and spilled onto the road.
00: A group of farmers, bringing goods to town for trade. They complain loudly about the value of their produce and animals in
the current economic climate.