In honor of the forthcoming mass-market paperback edition of Arkad's World, here's a random encounter table for the city of Ayaviz, where the story begins. Ayaviz stands right on the twilight line of the tidally-locked planet Syavusa. To the east the planet's ice-capped night side stretches away to the spaceport; to the west the Sun sits perpetually on the ocean horizon.
ENCOUNTERS IN AYAVIZ
(Roll 1d10 if the visitors are staying in one place, 1d20 if they're exploring the city.)
- Roll twice and combine
- Plot advancing encounter: Someone or something connected with the reason the adventurers have come to Ayaviz.
- AaaAa: A huge bipedal organism with a shaggy egg-shaped body and three trunks. It is an authority on some field of knowledge and responds favorably to requests for information.
- Itooti: 2d6 small winged Itooti, exchanging banter and insults with each other and passers-by.
- Machine Activity: The great machines which the city is built on and around momentarily come to life. Roll 1d6 to see what they're doing. 1: All metal becomes too hot to touch for 1d6 hours; 2: Electrical interference shuts down electronic devices for 1d4 hours; 3: Entire city warms up by 10 degrees C; 4: Loud noises make conversation impossible for 1d4 hours; 5: Powerful magnetic pulse freezes all metal in place for 1d20 minutes; 6: Subsonic vibrations cause disorientation and nausea for 1d6 hours.
- Off-world Visitor: An alien which has come to the planet Syavusa. Most come to trade, but others are looking for something or someone, or are just sightseeing. Roll 1d6 to see what kind of being. 1: Elmisthorn accompanied by 1d8 servitors; 2: 2d6 feathered Hakhaha; 3: Machine Civilization unit; 4: Ouyaoi with 2d4 limbs; 5: Qrel in environment tank on treads; 6: 1d6 Roon traders.
- Pfifu: 2d4 tentacled Pfifu pirates in town to fence some stolen goods. They are armed with acid-sprayers and cleavers.
- Scavenging Machine: Unintelligent device gathering up metal scrap.
- Street Urchins: 1d6 youngsters of various species looking for employment, trash to scavenge, or something to steal.
- Vziim: One of the serpentine, clawed Vziim who have settled on Syavusa. Roll 1d6 to determine sex. 1-3: Female Vziim accompanied by 1d4 servants, engaged in business; 4-6: Male Vziim armed with steel claws, looking for employment.
- Ambush: 2d4 armed Vziim burst from hiding, bent on robbery.
- Bath-House: A dive (literally) where Pfifu sailors and road-train drivers gather to soak in scented water, watch satirical puppet-shows, and consume snacks.
- Graffiti: A message painted on the wall in English! But there are no humans in Ayaviz . . . or are there?
- Hazard: An electrical arc extends from one huge ancient machine to another. Getting past it risks being fried by millions of volts.
- Repair Shop: 1d6 Pfifu run a business fixing anything. Unless your device is incomprehensible Machine Civilization technology, they can get it working again in 1d20 hours.
- Ruined Machine: A vast device of unknown purpose. It might contain usable salvage — or repair robots which treat intruders as trash to be incinerated.
- Shaft Down: A shaft leading down into the lower levels of the city.
- Stalked By Psthao-Psthao: 1d6 Psthao-Psthao are following the party, always staying in the darkest shadows. They lay their eggs in corpses and are said to be able to tell who is about to die.
- Trap: A cunningly-prepared trap which sprays the victim in quick-hardening adhesive foam. Roll 1d6 to see who prepared it. 1-3: Vziim property-owners concerned about thieves; 4-5: Pfifu bandits who intend to rob those they catch; 6: Itooti pranksters who will mock the victim and paint rude slogans on the foam.
- Tracks or Traces (roll again to see what left them).
SITUATIONS IN AYAVIZ
(Roll 1d6, then consult the table above to determine who A and B are.)
- A desires B
- A wants to capture B
- A wants B dead
- A wants to go somewhere
- A wants to solve a mystery
- A wants X
REACTION TABLE
2-3: Immediate attack!
4-5: Unfriendly
6-8: Neutral
9-10: Friendly
11-12: Very Friendly
Note: I have no idea why I didn't think of doing a whole series of Arkad-themed Random Encounter tables when the novel originally came out. I will not make that mistake again.
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