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Sometimes you want your players to feel like something dangerous is going on, but in reality its just a mundane occurrence. I’ve put together a table of 100 spooky and unnerving, yet harmless encounters for you to frighten and confuse your players! Roll a d100 on the table below to get started.
- A birds nest sits in a crack in the wall. It has three warm eggs inside
- A body hangs by its neck from a chandelier
- A broken weapon lies discarded here. It has been sundered by something of great strength.
- A cage containing the bones of a child hangs from the ceiling
- A ceiling tile falls, narrowly missing the party
- A chess board is set up in an alcove with a half finished game laid out
- A chicken pecks at the floor
- A circle of carefully stacked stones have been arranged in the middle of the hallway
- A corpse lies on the floor. The word “SEVEN” has been carved into its skull
- A crudely drawn image of a vulture on a wall deeply unsettles the PCs
- A curious rat trails the party
- A dead cow lies on the floor. It is clearly rotten but has no smell
- A deep thumping approaches the party until it sounds like it is in the room with them, then stops
- A delicious dessert sits on a wooden stool
- A faded sign advertising “Hot Meat Pies” leans against the wall
- A frog with a ribbon tied around its neck hops across the floor
- A fungus growing along the floor rapidly fades and dies as the PCs approach it.
- A gold chamber pot with still warm feces
- A group of rats gnaw at the head of an Orc. The body is nowhere to be found
- A head with its lips sewn shut lies on the floor
- A large cobweb sits in the corner. A first glance a PC sees the name of a loved one written in it, but when he looks back at the web the name is gone.
- A large spider crawls out of a PC’s ear
- A large, flaming spider screeches as it races about, and is killed by the flames
- A lone moth flits around a torch. It seems to pass through solid materials and will slowly fade from sight.
- A loose stone reveals the bones of a child
- A mask rests on a table. After a moment, it sighs, whispering “You’re not perfect”, before crumbling into dust.
- A pack and its contents lie strewn across the ground
- A pair of glowing lights is visible in the distance, but fade as the PCs approach.
- A PC feels a hand in his pouch, but nothing is missing
- A PC finds a slip of paper with his name on it
- A PC finds himself unconsciously flipping a coin and nervously checking the outcome
- A PC has a flash of a vision in which the other PCs are stone statues
- A PC hears a horrid, cacophonous roar which fills his ears and reverberates off the walls. No one else hears this
- A PC hears whispering right behind him, but there is no one there
- A PC splashes into a puddle that was not there an instant before. He is soaked in stale water
- A pigeon lands on a PC’s shoulder. It has a message tied to its foot which reads “Trust no one,” written in the PC’s handwriting
- A rat gnaws at a bone nearby and suddenly a hawk swoops down, grabs it, and vanishes around a corner
- A severed hand covered in stitches lies on the floor
- A sheet of music is pinned to the wall with a dagger
- A shield lies on the ground here, ripped into two pieces by something of immense strength.
- A single strawberry grows in a pot of earth
- A skeletal foot seems to be partially embedded into the wall.
- A small flower grows in a crack in the floor.
- A small ray of light reaches through a crack in the ceiling.
- A spider covered in spines scurries away
- A suit of armor crumples to the ground with a human sounding sigh
- A tarnished silver key hangs from a ring on the wall
- A throbbing spider nest the size of a cat is attached to the ceiling. Several spiders run across it.
- A timid voice whispers a PC’s name before laughing and fading away.
- A vile liquid bubbles and seeps up from one of the tile-stones.
- A wall stone has been shifted, revealing a natural cave entrance
- A zombie with no arms or lower jaw follows the party
- All of the PCs speak in unison “It is done,” and find themselves feeling elated
- An arrow sticks from a chink in the wall
- An old ring sits in a crack in the floor
- An old trail of blood leads away, as if a body were dragged. It stops suddenly
- Bloody footprints left by a large creature lead down the hall, and slowly fade
- Dried petals of an unidentifiable flower litter the floor.
- Hundreds of insects swarm a corpse
- One by one, the lights in the room go out
- One PC has a vision of the other PCs being murdered one by one. The killer wears the PC’s face and a smile.
- Several headless corpses lie around a chopping block. Their heads are nowhere to be found
- Statues of guards flank a bricked up doorway
- The distinct skittering of tiny paws can be heard for a moment.
- The dust is thick in the air here, and the PCs feel the need to cough.
- The eyes of a moth-eaten painting lazily follow the PCs.
- The floor here is crawling with maggots.
- The full name of someone dear to one of the PCs is scratched into a wall
- The ground beneath the PCs’ feet suddenly becomes extremely sticky.
- The lights dim and it appears as if the PCs are moving through a field of stars for a moment
- The party leader gets a whiff of the perfume a loved one used to wear
- The party leader suddenly knows the identity of a killer who committed a crime here long ago
- The PCs can hear heavy breathing.
- The PCs feel a sudden chill here.
- The PCs find that they have all drawn their weapons unconsciously
- The PCs have been idly talking about an old friend before remembering that they know no one by that name
- The PCs hear the lonely howl of a single wolf.
- The PCs hear the sounds of a massive metal blade being dragged across the ground. It slowly fades into the distance regardless of the PCs’ actions.
- The PCs hear the sounds of drums. Drums, in the deep. They fade as the PCs move.
- The PCs suddenly realize that their footfalls have been completely silent for several minutes. As soon as they do so, their footsteps can be heard again
- The remains of an adventurer are pinned to the wall with daggers
- The smell of the sea is overwhelmingly strong in a corner of the room
- The sound of a conversation the PCs had earlier can be clearly heard from behind a door
- The sound of hurried footsteps echo, and suddenly stop
- The sound of shattering pottery echoes from around a corner. If the PCs investigate they find a broken vase and no one in sight
- The sound of singing floats from a doorway and fades
- The torch here seems to be burning a strange color. It returns to normal as soon as the PCs interact with it.
- The wall has been carved away, and a large standing stone has been placed in the newly formed alcove. It is covered in strange writing
- There is a box here faintly emitting a sweet aroma. It is filled with decaying fruit.
- There is a desk and a pair of chairs here. One of the chairs is covered in dried blood.
- There is a locked box here, filled with tiny slips of paper with names on them. Approximately half the names are crossed out.
- There is a pile of teeth here.
- There is a scroll here describing the trial and messy execution of one of the PCs.
- There is an empty net here on the ground, ripped and torn to shreds.
- Thin metallic shavings form an intricate pattern in the floor.
- Two ancient corpses embrace one another
- Two cats chase each other and run past the PCs
- Water drips slowly from the ceiling, but it distinctly smells like blood.
- What appears to be the carcass of a rat lies on the floor. As the PCs approach, it suddenly springs into action and darts away.
- When a PC steps on a certain stone he hears a click, but nothing happens.