How I Use Rumor Tables to Create a Living Campaign

I wanted to share a tool I used to keep 1:1 (ish) time running and my Silver Gull Swords & Wizardry campaign a living thing: My rumor charts. these were posted every game day that the players were not starting in a dungeon, to give them something to do. (Finch's player has established that he would carouse once a week at least to keep the table fresh.)

The Original Table

Things to do in Orhan:

1. Wild ax beaks hatch late in the spring. Their eggs are now reaching maturity. Stealing eggs from Wild ax beaks is incredibly dangerous, but exceedingly profitable. The locals are planning an expedition to the grasslands to steal some eggs from the ax beak nesting ground

2. There is another ruined temple in the cactus Forest to the South just past the petrified wood. The terrain is too risky to navigate by foot. But some of the locals believe you might be able to reach it by ornithopter.

4. The Red Church is currently searching for a missing caravan. But there's a lot of ground to cover between here and the nearest sari.

5. Reine  has heard the locals talk about Oracle to live up in the hills who can tell the future from gazing in a sacred pool.

6. Giant insects are a constant problem for the Jade collectors. There is a bounty for the mandibles of the giant burrowing creatures that have nested at the heart of the petrified wood.

7. One of the locals claims to be a descendant of the prison colonists from the far side of the desert. He has approached Finch, offering to sell him information on a cash of loot his great-grandfather head that he is too lame to collect for himself.

This table gave the PCs a list of options to follow. By then they had been in town several weeks, and already discovered hte origin of the stone-tongue, reversed engineered a cure for it, and freed the Gorgon. The PCs were looking for gold at this point.

Second Table

Things to do in Orhan as of the 8th of the Height of Cath:

1. Wild ax beaks hatch late in the spring. Stealing eggs from Wild ax beaks is incredibly dangerous, but exceedingly profitable. The locals who ran an expedition to capture eggs are a few days overdue on returning.

2. There is another ruined temple in the cactus Forest to the South just passed the petrified wood. The terrain is too risky to navigate by foot. But some of the locals believe you might be able to reach it by ornithopter.

4. The Red Church has discovered that someone is pillaging local caravans. They need help tracking down the culprits.

5. Reine  has heard the locals talk about Oracle to live up in the hills who can tell the future from gazing in a sacred pool... the Frog Demons want you to destroy them.

6. Giant insects are a constant problem for the Jade collectors. There is a bounty for the mandibles of the giant burrowing creatures that have nested at the heart of the petrified wood.

7. One of the locals claims to be a descendant of the prison colonists from the far side of the desert. He has approached Finch, offering to sell him information on a cash of loot his great-grandfather head that he is too lame to collect for himself.

Here, one of the rumours the players ignored has changed: They didn't join the Axe-Beak unt, so it went on without them and went wrong. The theft mission became an investigation.

I also used it to remind them of the date. (Each month has 24 days set into three 8-day weeks labelled tide, height, and flow.)

The Next Stage

Things to do in Orhan as of the 1st of the Tide of Shen-Maia:

1. Wild ax beaks hatch late in the spring. Stealing eggs from Wild ax beaks is incredibly dangerous, but exceedingly profitable. The locals who ran an expedition to capture eggs are missing and presumed dead. retrieval of their body will come with a reward of blessings from the Red Church.

2. There is another ruined temple in the cactus Forest to the South just passed the petrified wood. The terrain is too risky to navigate by foot. But some of the locals believe you might be able to reach it by ornithopter.

4. The Red Church has discovered that a bandit group has established themselves in a ruined watchtower halfway on the trade route to Casselani

5. Reine  has heard the locals talk about Oracle to live up in the hills who can tell the future from gazing in a sacred pool... the Frog Demons want you to destroy them.

6.  An Ankheg nest has been discovered at the heart of the petrified wood. Several collectors have been killed by the beasts,  and now there is a large portion of the forest that no one dares enter. The bounty on the head of the Ankhed Queen sits at 5,000go worth of jade.

7. One of the locals claims to be a descendant of the prison colonists from the far side of the desert. He has approached Finch, offering to sell him information on a cash of loot his great-grandfather head that he is too lame to collect for himself.

In this table the axe-beak egg-collectors are presumed dead. the objective of the rumour changes again. The community also gathered more information on the bug monsters in the petrified forest and the missing caravans.

By adjusting the rumours every couple of weeks, the player-characters get a sense that some of these rumors are urgent, and that the world goes on even without them. If a rumor has moving parts (like the ankhegs, axe-beaks, and bandits,) if I am not sure if it shuld evolve, I roll a d6 and on a 1-2 I advance the rumor.

New Rumors

Things to do in Orhan as of the 4th of the Height of Shen-Maia:

1. Wild ax beaks hatch late in the spring. Stealing eggs from ax beaks is incredibly dangerous, but exceedingly profitable. The locals who ran an expedition to capture eggs are missing and presumed dead. retrieval of their body will come with a reward of blessings from the Red Church.

2. There is another ruined temple in the cactus Forest to the South just passed the petrified wood. The terrain is too risky to navigate by foot. But some of the locals believe you might be able to reach it by ornithopter.

4. The Red Church has discovered that a bandit group has established themselves in a ruined watchtower halfway on the trade route to Casselani

5. Reine  has heard the locals talk about Oracle to live up in the hills who can tell the future from gazing in a sacred pool... the Frog Demons want you to destroy them.

6.  An Ankheg nest has been discovered at the heart of the petrified wood. Several collectors have been killed by the beasts,  and now there is a large portion of the forest that no one dares enter. The bounty on the head of the Ankhed Queen sits at 5,000gp worth of jade.

7. Unnaturally fierce storms in Borea have caused flooding in the North of Cath. The Red Church is hiring anyone with automata mounts and aircraft to assist in flood relief. The bigger the ship the greater the reward. 

In this table, rumor 5 changed to reflect that the PCs now have a job to do in relation to one of the existing rumors. This reminds the characters that this stuff has been around the whole time, and all they need to do is explore to discover it.

Rumor 7 is based on event shappening in a parallel campaign where an enraged faerie queen used her control over the weather to suppress the movements of her enemies. The PCs might never know about the events of the adventure, unless there is crossover, but they can experience the fallout.

Rumors Resolved

Things to do in Orhan as of the 4th of the Ebb of Shen-Maia:

1 There is another ruined temple in the cactus Forest to the South just passed the petrified wood. The terrain is too risky to navigate by foot. But some of the locals believe you might be able to reach it by ornithopter.

2. Finally, information is coming in along the roads! Casselani seeks heroes to serve as emissaries to a dragon in the badlands to their North.

3. There is an oracle up in the hills who can tell the future from gazing in a sacred pool... the Frog Demons want you to destroy the pool.

4.  An Ankheg nest has been discovered at the heart of the petrified wood. Several collectors have been killed by the beasts,  and now there is a large portion of the forest that no one dares enter. The bounty on the head of the Ankheg Queen sits at 5,000gp worth of jade.

5. Flood  relief efforts in Borea continue, Airship crews are wanted for rescue missions.

This list is pared down. As they players showed no interest in the Axe-beak mission, I resolved it by having agents of the Red Church return with the body (and granting some XP to local NPC adventurers accordingly.

The PCs wiped out the bandits in the old watchtower, so that rumor could be struck from the list. In the meantime, with the bandits gone, i decided to give them a hook further afield if they wanted to travel. With the roads safe gossip from the West could start flowing in, after all, and I wanted to reflect that.

The Storm Gathers

Things to do in Orhan as of the 3rd of the Tide of Xen

1 There is another ruined temple in the cactus Forest to the South just passed the petrified wood. The terrain is too risky to navigate by foot. But some of the locals believe you might be able to reach it by ornithopter.

2. Finally, information is coming in along the roads! Casselani seeks heroes to serve as emissaries to a dragon in the badlands to their North.

3. There is an oracle up in the hills who can tell the future from gazing in a sacred pool... the Frog Demons want you to destroy the pool.

4.  An Ankheg nest has been discovered at the heart of the petrified wood. Several collectors have been killed by the beasts,  and now there is a large portion of the forest that no one dares enter. The bounty on the head of the Ankheg Queen sits at 5,000gp worth of jade.

5. A bizarre, unseasonal Frost has stricken some of the local Grain Fields. given that you are in the hottest part of summer, this is alarming.

6. Toad like monsters have been seen in roaming the valleys to the north of The village at night. The church is willing to pay a bounty for more information.

Once again, the PCs are uninterested in a rumor: Borea's flooding has gone on long enough that I decided to remove it. 

The PCs had been dragging their heels on two different missions for two different demons, both of which are patient, but I decided that a reminder for both was in order:

The frost from 5 is a portal to the cold hells created by an emissary of the cold hells that they have a bargain with. His personal demense now connects to that fields so he can watch them. He allows frost to escape in hopes of luring them to him to have a "chat."

The Toad in 6 are frog demonettes scouting for the demon host of the hellish Oracle that they got themselves tangled up in.

My Live Table

It has been quite some time since the PCs have had time to gather rumors. the regular carousing has been foregone as the PCs have been preparing to wipe out the demons of the Oracle.

Accordingly, I have not shared any of the gosip with them, but I am now keeping a copy of the table up to date in my notes. This lets me keep track of all the things going on in the campaign. Here is the up-to-date version:

Things to do in Orhan as of the 8th of the Ebb of Terra (Last day of Summer!)

1 There is another ruined temple in the cactus Forest to the South just passed the petrified wood. The terrain is too risky to navigate by foot. But some of the locals believe you might be able to reach it by ornithopter.

2. The Djinni who guards the holy oracle of the Water will allow you access to the cactus sages if you slay the demons of the Oracle of inkandus

4.  The Ankheg nest has been cleared by a group of local youths who consulted a sge about the timing of Ankheg molting and managed to catch them when they were soft and weak. This new adventuring party is hailed as being home-grown heroes. People are already comparing your party and theirs.

5. A bizarre, unseasonal Frost struck some of the local Grain Fields. given that you are in the hottest part of summer, this is alarming. The plants within 20' of the patch are now growing in warped and twisted shapes

6. The ancient tower by the headwaters has collapsed!

7. Gwydon the machinist is seeking away to summon objects lost into the astral plane by creating an orrery.

This rumor table omits the dragon rumor: this isn't Skyrim. Some adventures won't just sit around waiting for the PCs to resolve them. The Brass Dragon in question has been consulted and the local sage has his answers.

The Frog Demon rumors have been dleted because the PCs are currently slaughtering them all at the moment.

I will continue to update this table and show it to the PCs the moment that they take time to carouse in Orhan again.