Strange and Wonderful Plant Generator Thingy

Let’s talk about weird and wonderful plant life. Sometimes we need an unusual plant for the PCs to encounter. Perhaps we don’t want another combat encounter in the wilderness. Maybe normal plants are just boring and we want a magical fantasy twist to the scenery. Maybe we just like rolling on tables and plants don’t seem to get love in that regard. Whatever the reason, it would be nice to get some dice and randomness involved. I suppose it’s worth saying that when we are saying ‘plant’ it’s being used as a fairly broad and definitely scientifically inaccurate way e.g. we’re including fungi and corals. Before making the tables let’s have a quick look at some real plants.

Nature is full of interesting and strange plants, fungi etc. It’s reasonably easy to look around the web for inspiration considering the variety of plant life in the world. As fodder for more varied description googling up some plants is worth it. Let’s have a look at a few I have picked out below.

  1. That’s a Joshua Tree or Yucca brevifolia. These things grow in the desert, can live to be a thousand and their roots can dig up to 11 metres into the ground. For reference for most trees in the UK 2-3 metres might be considered deep roots. For someone used to standard European trees it look pretty interesting and with a little creative tweaking (pale white bark, a shimmering pearlescent aura and a nesting white feathered vulture) it could easily be a fantasy plant. It would definitely make the preferred roosting place of a desert harpy, giant one could hold a whole roost.
  2. Saxifraga burseriana – Also known as Burser’s saxifrage. You can picture it growing atop a high cliff that’s hard to get to. It’s found in the Alps and has been found at heights of 2500 feet. It tends to grow on rocks or in crevasses. Perhaps griffons use these to decorate their nests or its nectar is fed on by mountain dwelling bees whose honey has magical effects. Growing in mountains is great, a lot of adventuring should happen up mountains. The adventurers are off to pick some but they don’t realise giants pick them out in bunches to woo potential lovers.
  3. Ginkgo biloba – Also known as the maidenhair tree, so called because of myth. Guānyīn, daughter of Diànmǔ the lightning mother, cut off her hair to save the Nanman people from a great calamity of fire. Where strands of her hair fell to earth this tree is said to have sprouted. Said by me, because I just made all of that up wooo. Its common name is the maidenhair tree though. The Ginkgo tree is seemingly the only remaining member of the order ginkgoales and is considered a living fossil. Sounds like an undiscovered, ancient repository of knowledge from when the earth was young if ever I heard of one. Who needs dusty old tomes when you have the spell: speak with plants. The gingko also appears to show little to no evidence of ageing, which is cool. It is also used in a lot of traditional medicine, none of which works, which is both cool and not cool at the same time. Six even survived the Hiroshima blast.
  4. This is valonia ventricosa and it is like a big, bulgy green egg. Apparently, it’s an algae and is one of the biggest single cell creatures in the entire world. It grows underwater and can be annoying for those who have fish tanks and the like. According to wikipedia one of its nick names is Sailor’s Eye balls?! I don’t even care if that’s made up it’s a great name. It’s basically already a fantasy plant. Maybe we just put something interesting or valuable inside and make it slightly larger than in real life.

For more visual stimulus, what about any of these weird fungi (ok they’re not the same as ‘plants’ like trees and that but who cares really?).

Obviously there is much much more stuff out there that can serve as inspiration: terrifying ant brain fungus, The Dragon Blood Tree, sea grapes, Venus flytraps and pitcher plants, Orchids with strange flower shapes, clumpy wooly lumps of stuff, strange shaped giant trees and much more. I think with such things out there in the real world we can probably do better than the basics when we mention plant life in our adventures. Why not have an interesting plant be the focus of side quests or even whole adventure arcs. They can make an easy McGuffin, key item or adventure token to be cashed in later too. Importantly, they can also give characters focused on nature something useful to do with their abilities, skills or spells. If people can cast Speak with Plants or something similar, unusual plants could provide interesting personality or NPC opportunities: a terrifyingly poisonous mushroom that is extremely arrogant about its abilities, a beautiful flower that is incredibly insecure…you get the idea. Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked…Lets get back to the process of generating some plants via random tabling.

Environment

The conditions that the plant has evolved in may affect how it looks or behaves. Some adaptations might be more suitable to certain climates than others. Perhaps our first table should be a simple one. Lets generate different emblematic plant types for different stereotypical fantasy environments. Our starting point is the five main biome types: Aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, tundra. As well as these, we will follow up with a few unusual biomes relating to fantasy such as other planes of existence.

Urban environments: For now we will leave out City environments since really these usually have plant life from the surrounding biomes. They may also have systems that allow for plant life from other environments e.g. greenhouses or irrigation. Therefore, for urban environments simply pick the table you feel is most appropriate and then, if you wish to, create some logic for this plant being able to thrive in the city’s biome. Perhaps a god gifted the plant to the town in the past or the local wizards help them grow to show off. Unusual plants can often be a personal status symbol or they might represent something about the culture e.g. during the British Empire it was very fancy to have plants from the extremities of the empire. Like under the British Empire, botanical gardens may also play a role in the economics of colonialism as seed beds. Unusual plants may also simply be in the city for study by horti-occulturists or people of science.

Dungeon Environments: As far as I can tell, there doesn’t seem to be much point making a dungeon or underground plant table. Nearly all or perhaps all plants need light to live. Some plants can grow in low light, such as those which grow on densely foliated forrest floors. Even if they don’t need light they likely feed on decaying matter from those plants who do need light. Fungi can grow in darkness but they tend to eat decaying matter. Dungeon plants growing in infrequent candle-light or no light at all would make them almost magical by default. We could have a table entirely populated by fungi and slimes but I’m not sure what the point is. So I haven’t done that here. If you want dungeon plants just roll on one the tables below and modify or just use a slime, everyone loves a good dungeon slime. Brown mould is always fun but dark vision negates a lot of the need for torches which set it off. Anyway sidetracked again…

The following tables are for a base plant type which you can then tweak or add interesting features. Either make up your own or keep reading.

Terrestrial Biomes

d10AquaticGrasslandForestDesertTundra
1Green AlgaeLichenLichenLichenLichen
2KelpMossMossFernArtic Moss
3SargassumConifers / BroadleafConifers / BroadleafDesert ShrubArtic / Diamondleaf Willow
4SpongeShrub or BushCycadCactusHeather
5CoralFlowerPalmDesert GourdPoppy
6PlankterLegumeFernDate PalmCottonsedge
7Water Mould / SlimeFungusFungusTamariskBearberry
8Duck WeedSageSageEphedraReindeer Moss
9Pyrosome / SalpTuberIvyYuccaSaxifrage / Rockfoil
10Water FernGrassGrassAcaciaGrass / Sedge

Planar Biomes

Planar Biomes will inevitably have magical, elemental or divine infused plants. Some of the magical or interesting plants we find on the material plane may not even originate on the material plane. Hmmm that gives me an idea. We should probably have another table that tells us the plants origin! We can do that one after we finish this one though…let’s not get ahead of ourselves. So, planar biomes have unique conditions and natures that might influence their character. If it originated on the plane of fire or can be found there then it will undoubtably be resistant to fire, at least while it grows there. A tree on the elemental plane of air may not need roots to be buried in soil, it may not even have roots. These plants don’t really need to behave in any normal way. It is also perfectly fine to say that planar plants may not grow outside their native plane, might change form when removed from it or that it simply turns to dust without magical intervention when removed from that plane.

Rather than generating a plant type (you can use the preceding table for that) these tables produce interesting quirks of an elemental or divine nature.

d10Elemental PlanesDivine Planes
1Whilst it is in the shape of a plant, it is made of the raw element itself i.e. fire, stone etc. Each plant is made from a single soul as a heavenly transmogrification or an evil metamorphosis
2Due to the nature of its home plane it is able to withstand extreme: pressure, heat, windWhen planted in the material plane, its seeds sprout new souls to be born into mortal bodies
3The plant is not made of raw elemental material but rather feeds on it like a regular plant might feed on soil and lightGrows in chaotic, mind shearing patterns or tightly regulated, uniform structures
4It provides stability and safety by anchoring chaotic forces, providing shelter from flaming meteors, holding together cleaving plates, preventing wild floods or absorbing energy from fearsome storms.When the wind moves it, the plant lets out a whispered, rattling incantation of sacred or profane verses
5It acts in opposition to the forces of the plane: Immovable by air, growing colder with heat, transforming the water around it into air and pale blue fire or counteracting gravity does and turning diamonds to talc. Grows only on the bodies of dead devils, angels and gods
6It is grows like a parasite on elementals like an elemental fungal infectionFeeds on thoughts about a specific good or evil deed and blooms when it is committed
7Part of the plant’s life cycle is spent in each of the elemental planes. Those who know how can use it to move between planes.It is associated with a specific virtue or sin and encourages that behaviour in its vicinity
8Its presence calms or enrages elementals, either by simply being in its presence or after it is refined into a tincture.Part of the plant is used to create paper on which are written the names of the dead and their ultimate fates.
9The plant is considered a delicacy by elementals of its plane. However, if it is eaten by a mortal they risk petrification, burning down to charcoal, dissolving or evaporating.Sprouts where powerful celestial creatures walk and where they will walk in the future.
10The plant’s seeds, spores, pollen or other parts manifest as small storms, grassfires, floods and earthquakes on the material plane.The plant is poisonous to celestial beings and invasive to their plane. If allowed to roam unchecked, it will change its nature and alignment.

Origins

Ok as we said up there, we may want a table that gives us the place of origin or the circumstances of origin of our strange plant. This table is split into two. Roll two d12 at the same time and use one for the place and the other for the circumstance. Often the plant does not need to originate outside the material plane or we may already have an idea of where it originated. If a role doesn’t make sense for your campaign setting simply re-roll or pick an appropriate result (duh we know that).

d12Place of OriginCircumstances of Origin
1The Material PlaneNaturally occurring i.e. evolved or was always present
2An Elemental PlaneA product of intentional magical intervention
3The Green / Arborea / plane of plant lifeThe product of a magical accident or an accidental by-product of great magic
4The Feywild / Shadowfell / The HedgeAccidentally or intentionally imported by travellers or settlers from far afield
5A divine plane or realm / The HellsInvasive and gradually spreading
6The DreamlandsA gift to someone from or created by a divine being
7The Astral SeaThe result of a mythological event – war, calamity, parable, transformation, death
8The Ethereal PlaneA manifestation of the earth’s anger or part of its immune system
9The Outside / The Far Realm / The VoidCreated through selective breeding over millennia
10Outer SpaceUsed to be a part of a larger entity e.g. the ‘hair’ of an elemental
11Another PlanetStolen from someone or something, perhaps a god
12Unknown and/or UnknowableConnected to a living being, a manifestation of their life force

More Modifiers

Ok so we have a collection of base plant types that we can randomly select from. We also have where the plant came from. Where actually gets interesting to anyone beyond botanists is when we add fantasy or game-able elements. We could have characteristics that are blown out of proportion or unusual. We could have characteristics that are encounter or adventure inspiring. We can have characteristics that are related to the nature of the encounter with this plant. We can have stuff that just seems cool.

Unusual Physical Feature

This table provides a list of basic modifications to the rolled plant type. These are designed to add some spice to the base plant. Combine them, use them as inspiration etc. It might be that the characteristic doesn’t fit with the rolled plant type but a little tweak or a re-roll should fix that.

d20Unusual Feature
1Gigantic in height, width or covering an unusually large area
2An abnormal, rare or magical colouration – bright red bark, sap that runs International Klein Blue, Ashen grey grass flecked with lemon yellow, an indescribably soft orange
3Part of the plant’s anatomy is covered in irritating bristles or sharp spines that protect it from predators. It may be poisonous, burn the lips or irritate the eyes etc.
4The plant or part of it glows with a faint bioluminescence
5It lives with, in or on another plant or creature. It is either parasitic or symbiotic.
6Rather than subsist only on soil, sunlight etc. it also feeds on insect or animal life
7Its sap or internal fluids are made of something unusual – a metal such as mercury or silver, animal-like blood, steam
8It is extremely difficult to harvest successfully. It requires great skill and time and failure spoils the harvest or is dangerous.
9The leaves, roots, fruit or other elements grow into unusual geometric patterns with sharp angular edges. Some mathematicians claim they have meaning.
10It is a virulent weed taking over the entire area. It may be preparing this plane or area for an invasion by gradually warping the landscape.
11It will only grow in extremely inaccessible areas or difficult terrain – high mountain tops, deep lakes, cliff sides, at the bottom of deep ravines or on top of the highest forrest canopy
12The plant forms a symbiotic relationship with a local monster. It may enhance its abilities, keeping it hidden, increasing its strength etc. It may consume its kills or feed on its leavings.
13The plant appears all over the landscape but each of these lone plants are actually part of a much much larger gestalt plant. It may take several different above ground forms – various flowering plants, roses of different colours, a forest of kelp, patches and fields of grass
14The pollen or some other element of the plant is extremely sticky. It attaches to clothing or fur and is irritating to exposed skin.
15The sap or internal fluids form a resinous sticky substance like rubber or glue.
16Like an arboreal iceberg the majority of the plant is under the ground or surface. The visible portion pales in significance.
17When cut down or picked it lets out a strange screeching sound that can be heard for miles.
18It is unusually resistant to damage or ecological conditions – it can survive sweeping fires that cleanse the land, resist steel axes or survive once in a lifetime drought or floods
19The plant exudes a powerful odor designed to attract or repulse. It might smell: sweet like honey, pestilent like rotted flesh, invasive like burnt rubber, acrid like sour milk and burnt fat, a nostalgic memory of a comfortable chair and blanket, like divine coconut, vanilla, mint or spices.
20It grows and dies extremely quickly but only when conditions are perfect. Alternatively, it grows or blooms only once a decade or century.

Magical or significant properties

This table is for more significant, magical or fantastical properties. Each of these is designed to add a strange and wondrous element to the plant. Maybe they will just inspire you to come up with your own weird ideas. The properties are not specified in game terms so they should be adjustable to any system, I hope. This is about ideas and not mechanics. In general one of these features should be enough to inspire or create a memorable plant. Most of these ideas started with a simple idea that was then pushed into weirder territory.

D20Significant Properties
1The plant grows in such a way that it creates tableaus of historic events. These events may be pulled from the collective memory of the world or they may be events that happened in the area. The plant does this without intervention but rather as if intimately connected to memory. Ingesting the plant is dangerous, especially without the right formulation. However, if done correctly, one can experience the tableau personally as if in a cloudy dream. Afterwards, the PC may be unsure of who they are or if the memory they experienced was not actually their’s.
2The plant gradually grows to mimic the shape and features of a creature that frequents the area. After a long enough time has passed and if the creature is there frequently enough, eventually the plant becomes an arboreal clone of that creature. It mimics its behaviour but its thought processes are alien. It still sustains itself in the manner it did before. If the creature could speak, the plant can only communicate using words that it heard the creature speak, limiting its vocabulary.
3The plant is sentient and can be communicated with. This communication may take the form of psychic images, strange haunting creaks, slow twisting sign language or other alien means. Alternatively, it can reshape itself over time to form words in an ancient language. Communication may take a long time. The plant may be overly concerned with things beyond the care of PCs such as soil quality, the quality of sunlight this year, the presence of invasive weeds or the unwanted attention of local animal life.
4When disturbed, harvested or killed the plant violently explodes killing creatures around it and regrowing from their corpses.
5The plant is made of a fantastical substance such as stone, gems, metal, solid angular lightning in balls and bolts, animal-like flesh perhaps bones and blood, its sap is extremely strong acid
6All plant life in the area is gradually co-opted and infested by this plant. Eventually there is only one plant in many forms, joined by root, branch, pollen exchange. This plant is all plants, this plant will be everything.
7Once you see it up close you can’t forget it. It is visually poisonous. It may haunt your memory, grow across your waking vision like ivy or substitute itself for other plants you can see. The effect is gradually maddening but those who succumb completely attain a nirvana like attunement to nature.
8The plant seems completely unremarkable. In fact, its unremarkability is extremely remarkable. The paradox is confusing to the mind and causes great psychic pain to sentient creatures. Its nature makes it extremely difficult to pinpoint the source of this pain.
9The pollen creates heightened emotions when inhaled. Many creatures in the area will be immune but some of the PCs will be super affected. The knowledge to refine this into a powerful drug is hidden in a forgotten, ruined tower on a tablet of stone in a dead language.
10The Plant feeds on colour absorbing a specific pigment from everything in the area. This happens gradually over time but a noticeable dulling occurs when entering the area. The colour is replaced with a strange, indescribable shade of off white. Eventually over time creatures in the area will forget that the colour ever existed at all.
11The plant infects local animal life either through ingestion, psychic suggestion or spores. The animals will protect the plant at all costs even forming unusual bonds and pairings to do so. The hawk and the dove will fly in attack formation, the bear and the salmon will converse on defensive strategy and the wolf and the rabbit will pray to the plant together.
12The plant is incalculably old, dying and being reborn over and over. It can communicate flashing psychic images from history it has witnessed over its life span. The images are somewhat vague having captured psychic impressions of living things or physical sensations of events but perhaps without hearing or seeing. Those of weak mind will end up re-enacting those events in strange memory plays as the sun sets.
13It will only grow in locations where something intangible or meaningful has occurred – where lovers lay, a liar told their greatest lie, where tears were shed or someone lost their faith.
14It grows exclusively where magic has been used, the residual energy helps to germinate its seeds or feed its growth. It will slowly twist, turn and grow towards sources of magical energy. It may grow large, unruly and terrifying in the presence of a strong source of magical energy. If the magic is of a particular type the plant may take on some of its character. For instance, in the presence of a magical flame the plant may exude heat and light.
15The plant is entirely unique. It does not require pollination or engage in reproduction. There has only ever been and only ever will be one. When it dies, it will eventually sprout up in another location. Its life cycle varies, sometimes it grows fast, sometimes it grows slowly, sometimes it lives for an age, sometimes it lives for a day or an hour. Its choice of location is always important. It has not been seen in this area in millennia.
16The seed pods explode covering a wide area around the plant. These form a beautiful display of colours and scents that may or may not be fatal or psychoactive – the seeds may be like flechettes, nails or buckshot, they may burrow into the skin and nest there eventually forming a parasitic relationship. The seeds’ coating may cause indelible marking or exude a scent attractive to certain predators in the area. Despite this effect the seeds are considered to be lucky charms.
17When inhaled, exuded pollen clouds cause the affected to flee. The afflicted move with a subconscious drive towards the nearest plant of the same species. The effect is subtle and hard to notice like half remembering the correct turn at a crossroads. Once the nearest plant is reached, the PC may be affected again. Those who are unlucky spend their lives moving in winding trails through the landscape. They pollinate and move on, pollinate and move on in an endless life cycle that is not their own, unaware of their true purpose. Roll a d6 to see how far away the nearest plant is:
1 : 10 miles
2-3: 1 mile
4-5: 200 metres
6: 10 metres
18It is invisible unless looked at through a special glass or by arranging the fingers in a particular manner and looking through them. Alternatively, one must smear black powder made from another local plant under their eyes or ingest part of an animal that feeds on it. The latter two also provide protection from its attempts to charm you.
19The plant straddles between planes. Part of it exists on the plane the PCs are on whilst the rest exists on another or multiple other planes. It is native to all of these, a hybrid, a fusion of ideals, ideas and archetypes it is like plasma is to solid, liquid and gas. The plant can be interacted with by different entities on different planes at the same time, if time exists on the other planes. It may provide a conduit for communication between, a means of travel to and from or simply drink from both like an alcoholic drinking two drinks at once. Gemstone nutrients drawn from elemental earth produce succulent fruit on the plane of water.
20These plants were genetically engineered, shaped by magic or whispered into being by an ancient alien race. If one can learn their dead language of clicks, creaks, whistles and quiet thoughts you can coax the plant to activate. If activated incorrectly a void expands from the plant, which slowly pulls in and swallows all living matter within 100 metres. After an hour this void swallows itself leaving behind only a faint whiff of loss and regret. When it is awakened to its true purpose again it creates a portal. This portal shimmers with vibrant chlorophyll light and looks waxy and solid or resinous, amber and viscous. The portal may exit out of another plant nearby, on another continent, another world or may transport you to the gravelands out of time and space of this elder, extinct race.

Motivations

Motivations are important. Sure we can drop the plant into our games for some interesting colour, fantasy character or magical ecology but it would be nice if PCs had a reason to care about it. The preceding tables may give or naturally produce reasons to interact with the plant but this table is for extra interest.

d20Why it is of Interest
1It grows, blooms, produces fruit only extremely rarely and legend speaks of its prophetic significance. It must be checked and is in a hard to reach place.
2Its skin, bark, roots or other part of its body are extremely valuable and potentially extremely dangerous
3It changes the behaviour of a particular creature that lives nearby. It may may make it more dangerous, aggressive, docile, breed more rapidly or other problematic behaviour.
4When the plant is dissected, its inner parts can be read in a prophetic ritual like a more accurate reading of tea leaves or coffee granules. Does the act of performing the ritual make the events unfold?
5The plant is a symbol of authority and must be brought back to the lord or king. Perhaps another has already claimed some of it as a symbol of their competing authority.
6The plant can be rendered down into a drink that when it touches the lips reveal the heart or intentions of its drinker. The drink changes colour – red for violence, blue for good purpose, yellow for greed. The other myriad shades are harder to interpret.
7An NPC desires it or a villain needs it to advance their plan. They may need any, all or one particular plant among many.
8The plant is not supposed to grow here. What has caused it to spread?
9The plant forms a barrier between the PCs and one of their goals. It may function as a trap that causes damage or status impediments.
10It is associated with a particular god or religion. It is important to the people who follow or worship. It is important to a PC due to their religious convictions.
11The plant features in the backstory of one of the PCs and triggers a memory. This memory may have been repressed. Possessing the plant may provide additional clues over time if smoked, ingested or contemplated upon.
12It is a vital ingredient in a cure for a disease or an alchemical concoction.
13The plant is endangered – changes in ecological conditions, predatory animals, humanoids over harvesting, an industrial process or accident is poisoning it or it is infected by an organism.
14An evil doer or entity has seeded the plant in this area as part of a broader plan.
15It is attracting monsters to the area who feed on it.
16The plant is a warning sign of a nearby planar gate or ancient power source leaking. This may be hidden.
17It is valuable for mundane processes or craft – used as a dye, spice, industrial agent, minor medicines/drugs, paper, weak poison.
18It is extremely valuable for rare goods or arcane craft – ritual spell casting, spell components, alchemical ingredients, kingly dyes, jewellery, rare medicines or drugs, construction of a magical item, powerful poisons.
19It can be used as bait or feed for some rare creature or as a gourmet bargaining chip with an intelligent one.
20The plant is considered sacred or is culturally important to locals. It may form some part of a ritual that will allow the PCs to gain acceptance by them.

Names

Last but not least we should make a quick way to generate plant names. I’m not bothered about latin or greek classification names, what we want are common names that evoke something. Many real plants have cool common names and these are sometimes bound up with myth anyway. A lot take the form of Roll once on each table and smash them together or pick yer favourites. If it makes sense, tweak them and reverse the order.

d20First halfSecond half
1A profession e.g. Sailor’s, Soldier’s, Barber’s, traveller’sPlant
2A rank e.g. King’s, Lord’s, Knight’s, Commoner’sAdd false or true and roll again
3A time of day e.g. Day, Night, Evening, MorningA destiny e.g. Ruin / Bane, death, fate, fortune
4A colour e.g. crimson, white, grey, sapphire, turquoiseAn emotion e.g. Delight, joy, sadness, wrath
5A verb e.g. weeping, curling, falling, laughingA term related to light e.g. Shade, beam, glare, bright, flare, glow, shimmer, dusk, gloom
6A common substance e.g. milk, cheese, breadA part of the plant e.g. flower, bark, sap, stem, fruit, berry
7An animal e.g. Hedgehog, snake, wolf, rabbit, lizard, bear, sheepThe plant type e.g. tree, grass, weed, bush
8An adjective related to its shape e.g. bulbous, gigantic, curlyA humanoid body part e.g. Beard, hair, finger, foot, teeth, navel
9An adjective related to what it does e.g. stinging, stinky, spreading, tangling, bleeding, floweringAnother common plant e.g. cabbage, onion, rice, wheat
10A fantasy creature e.g. witch’s, djinn’s, dragon’s, ghost. Roll on a random encounter table and use that resultAn animal body part e.g. wing, paw, claw
11A god or divine being e.g. Odin, devil, angel, PitfiendA colour
12A polity, a country, kingdom or other area in your game worldA made up plant name e.g. Villir, Gorda, Ibu, Shorio, Uk, Jamashivaram
13A people in your game world or a raceA mundane item that might connect to the plant’s shape e.g. poker, pipe, hat, comb, basket, button
14A historic figure e.g. Grandlin, Mortenka, Angloto, XianmaA fruit the plant resembles e.g. plum, currant, quince, pear, apple
15Something grand or important sounding e.g. destiny, eternal, ancient, magnificent, gloryA liquid e.g. wine, blood, tears, sap, brine
16A locale e.g. beach, tundra, snow plains, veldt, forrest, fieldRoll again and insert ‘of’
17The name’s origin is lost and it is simply a single word co-opted from a dead languageA word related to how it grows e.g. creeper, bloomer, choker, rot
18A fantasy class or profession e.g. bard, wizard, gladiatorA time of year e.g. summer, winter, solstice, the name of a festival
19One of the elements, forces or planes e.g. fire, astral, divine, lightning, storm, floodTake the name of two or three real world plants and mash them together e.g. dandelion, cactus and St. John’s Wort becomes Dandactus Wort
20Roll twice and combine the resultsRoll twice and combine the results

Conclusion

There we have it The Strange and Wonderful Plant Generator Thingy is done (SWPGT really rolls off the tongue). A hopefully fully functioning fantasy plant generator. We can generate a base plant, its origin, its unusual characteristics, why it is of interest and also what it is called. Obviously, the tables could be expanded but it’s good enough to work with. It also requires some buy in and thought for some of the vaguer results but if you don’t want to do that I’m not sure we are the same type of dungeon master. Perhaps in a future post or two I will generate plants with the tables and see what we end up with. For now, I hope it gets someone somewhere’s brain moving about incorporating plants into their adventures. I would be interested to hear from you if you do. See ya!


Share This Post


2 thoughts on “Strange and Wonderful Plant Generator Thingy”

  1. Amazing work. I enjoy reading your content. =)
    I have next to no experience with RPGs but I certainly would like to start playing. Your blog is an inspiration.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *