Crystal clinks against crystal. Violin music weaves through perfumed air, laughter, and whispered schemes. Silks rustle and candle smoke drifts over the Baroque noble party. Every smile conceals calculation. The event glitters with opportunity and danger. What bargains will be struck before dawn?
How do! This is the sixth in the series of MGS tracks inspiring an encounter generator. These [nearly instant] encounter generators are for GMs in a rush, or just want a platform to build new ideas.
Ben Milton’s Knave 2e and Kevin Crawford’s Without Number books were the main inspiration for this series. Both have created great sources of worldbuilding and encounter ideas—check them out if you can!
How It Works
All you need are six dice—a d20, d12, d10, d8, d6, and a d4. Roll everything all at once, then check the tables below. After that, link the results where it makes sense. The tables go from atmosphere (d4 environment, d6 aspects) to scene (d10 features, d20 creatures). Last comes narrative developments (d8 complications, d12 secrets).
Pick and choose the tables if you want; do whatever suits the creative flow. More complex encounters generate through multiple rolls (or picks) and combining together. Just to stress, there’s no need to link every result together. Some results will work better as separate hooks.
Today’s track is Baroque Noble Party. It’s available on the MGS store here. Alternatively, it comes as part of the 50 track album RPG Ambiences Vol. 4 which you can find here.
Here is the generator:
Baroque Noble Party Roll Tables
d4 – The Environment
1. Powder keg politeness – tense negotiations with shark smiles and hawk eyes. Compliments carry barbs. Factions rub shoulders; servants navigate invisible battle lines. Someone finds the tension most exquisite.
2. Bacchanalian excess – the wine flows; guests become louder, bolder, sloppier. Respectability erodes with each toast. Masks are slipping; by midnight, dignity will be optional. The host looks on. Chaos serves purpose.
3. Social combat – everything is performance. Guests duel through fashion, with wit, unleashing scandal. Calculated entrances, dramatic exits. The audience is merciless. Combatants goud each other to more and more dangerous levels of theatre. Where will it end?
4. Conspiracy drenched – hushed pairs and murmured huddles form and dissolve. Notes pass between gloved hands. Glances carve with meaning. Alliances form and fold over champagne. Betrayal is for dessert.
d6 – Baroque Noble Party Aspects
1. Foreign fare– servants stalk with platters of food no one has seen before. The host says cuisine from a country no one is familiar with. Tastes delightful. Irresistible. Addictive.
2. Peacocks – live birds roam. Wealth and exotic tastes on show. Wildly impractical, they defecate everywhere. Guests pretend it’s charming, for now. Their feathers give off an unusual perfume.
3. Heady scents – ceiling lost from sight from the cloud of censor smoke. It shimmers as it shifts. Figures start to become visible within: dancers, artists, and soldiers.
4. Armour suits – on the perimeter of every room, spaced evenly and heavily armed. Most have a mirror-shine, two do not. Unflinching, tireless, and waiting.
5. Paintings focus – every wall, every ceiling bears portraits of all manner of people and animals. Guests believe the eyes follow them. They are wrong. The paintings only have eyes for the countess.
6. Polyrhythms – wondrous music, tapping into every emotion in the room. Are the guests experiencing the same sounds? It’s somehow personalised. Unique. Tailored.
d10 – Features
1. Seating chart – placements reveal alliances and insults. Snubs for some. Others elevated above their station. Obsessively analysed by the guests.
2. Champagne tower – a pyramid of glasses, servants pouring from the top. Proximity grants social visibility. But someone is planning to knock it over. The question is when.
3. Ice sculpture – banquet centrepiece. Elaborate, haunting. As it melts, new details emerge. A message will emerge for certain guests as the sculpture weeps its cold tears.
4. Confession booth – “reclaimed” from a monastery. Guests use it ironically for private conversations. Of course, someone is always listening.
5. Locked room – sealed, entry forbidden. Competing groups are planning to try to get inside. Some think they know what’s there. They are dangerously wrong.
6. Portrait – a huge painting of the dead heir. Fresh flowers daily. The host’s grief is real, and weaponised. Sympathy is required. The eyes make the skin creep.
7. Ledger – heavy leather tome recording bets on everything: horses, politics, romances, death dates. Legally binding amongst the nobility, scandals and feuds are rife.
8. Servants’ stair – narrow passage for service and secrets. A place for illicit meetings and escape for guests. Coin will buy the servants’ silence. Or get them talking.
9. Mirror maze – new entertainment. Guests get lost, encounter themselves, or have chance meetings. Paranoia and flirtation thrive. Some mirrors are two-way. For amusement, and blackmail.
10. Terrace – overlooks the estate. Escape from the crowds for smokers, brooders, and plotters. Privacy is an illusion, but the stars are real at least.
d20 – The NPCs
1. Count – courting friendship. Bankrupt, desperate, running out of time. Charming, but doomed.
2. Social climber – flirting shamelessly. Overdressed, overeager, mocked. Underestimated. Wily.
3. Ambassador – watching the room. Easily switches languages, including forbidden ones. Venal.
4. General– telling war stories. Disgraced; invited as a figure of fun. Broken, but honourable.
5. Cardinal’s niece – talking politics. Intelligent, technically neutral, loyalty is plain. Formidable.
6. Courtesan – sipping wine. Scandalous, feared, indispensable. Both used and user. Relentless.
7. Boy genius – playing piano. Prodigy in maths, music, and philosophy. Bored, brilliant, tempted.
8. Spy – chatting with dukes. Forgettable in nearly every way. Remembers everything. Trustworthy.
9. Ruler’s bastard – laughing nervously. Asset or liability? Powerful or dead man laughing? Tense.
10. Merchant prince – admiring art. Resented by old money. Has most in his pocket. Brash.
11. Poisoner – sniffing a drink. Helpful, kind, contract killer. Off duty, perhaps. Concerned.
12. Duellist’s second – fixing a duel. Symbol of honour. Relishes instinct and violence. Pragmatic.
13. Poet – reciting poems. Bad, but prolific. Self-publishes. Barely tolerated. Oblivious, confident.
14. War widow – listening to suitors. Beautiful, wealthy, wanted. Knows her power. Calculating.
15. Alchemist – chatting awkwardly. Too science-minded, but needs funds; on the brink. Distracted.
16. Drunk – drinking hard. Talks too freely to the wrong people. Rambles about visions. Uncanny.
17. Music teacher – assessing the orchestra. Beneath most people’s notice. Useful position. Crafty.
18. Kept secret – trying to avoid attention. A hidden lover soon to be exposed. Quiet, but vengeful.
19. Twin – staring at their mark. Noble twin switched with servant. A prank? Or revenge? Decided.
20. Cultist – recruiting. The convergence is nigh; stars are right, signs all over the mansion. Giddy.
d8 – The Complications
1. Accusation. A guest accuses another of a crime. Factions form; the party stops. Blood is at stake.
2. Party crasher. Unwelcome, provocative, lethal. They won’t leave till they have taken their due.
3. Duel. Insult, challenge, no waiting for dawn. Blood boils. Bets are taken. Honour is on the line.
4. Poison. Collapsed guest. Foul play? Doors locked, questioning begins. Suspicious looks reign.
5. Theft. Heirloom or diplomatic letter gone. Servants searched. Guests questioned. Chaos is cover.
6. Exposed. Secret meeting discovered. Conspirators rounded up. Time for judge, jury, executioner.
7. Silence. Something has frozen the musicians, shining with frost. Upturned faces frozen in horror.
8. Fire. Accident or arson? The flames spread with the screams. Smoke obscures, chaos provides opportunity.
d12 – The Secrets
1. On a dresser, an invitation with hidden message. An initiation pass for a new cult rising.
2. On a chair, a blackmail portfolio. “Dropped” full of compromising letters and documents.
3. In a jewellery box, a precious ring. Contains a hidden compartment with one shot of poison.
4. In a bejewelled scabbard, a mastercrafted rapier. Perfectly weighted. Someone scries on it.
5. In a false drawer, two silver bullets. Blessed by local priests, a name is scratched into each.
6. On a bookshelf, a revolutionary pamphlet. Calls for the overthrow of the current order. Provocation, recruitment, or warning?
7. In a velvet pouch, a laudanum bottle. Pain and anxiety relief. It will be sorely missed.
8. In a drawer, an unsigned confession. No name, but grievous crimes detailed. Plea for help, attempt at catharsis, or blackmail bait?
9. On the wall, a forged masterpiece. The fake is brilliant, but not perfect. Where’s the original?
10. On a bloodied dress, royal favour token. The ribbon denotes the crown’s protection. In theory at least.
11. On the banquet table, a memento mori. The locket has a portrait of a dead girl. She whispers to the wearer what her body hears. It’s on the move.
12. Wrapped in silk, a sky blue diadem. Exposed to moonlight, points to the lost Temple of Stars.
Example Encounter for Baroque Noble Party
Roll Results:
d4: 3 – Social combat
d6: 5 – Paintings focus
d10: 1 – Seating chart
d20: 7 – Boy genius
d8: 2 – Party crasher
d12: 8 – Unsigned confession
My Idea for the Encounter:
Crystal clinks against crystal. Violin music weaves through perfumed air, laughter, and whispered schemes. Silks rustle and candle smoke drifts over the Baroque noble party. Every smile conceals calculation. The event glitters with opportunity and danger. What bargains will be struck before dawn?
The Martells, de Voights, and Pergraves are jockeying for favour with the Countess, as usual. The seating chart, with the empty space next to her, has caused a stir. The party find themselves seated next to Francis Jorl. The boy genius is losing his look of boredom and getting more and more excited.
After the first course is served, Caroline Cathys bursts into the hall demanding repayment for a murder declared in the unsigned confession. Jorl has planted the unsigned confession and pushed Cathys into fury. His plan is to discredit the Countess, create a power vacuum, and provoke a turf war between the noble factions. He has grown tired of this world of waste, and he’s tickled by the idea of seeing it burn.
Tips for Using These Tables
I wrote some tips on using roll tables here. However, some important things to highlight:
– Try using awkward results before tossing them away. Often it’s the unexpected combinations that build the most memorable stories.
– Modify the tables as you like. Change them; add to them; mix them up. GMs will know what will work best for their own group.
Finally, for anyone curious about or missed the previous encounter generators, here is a list with links:
Old Fort
Temple of the Stars
Ship in Blizzard
Snowing
Forest River
Have a lovely day!
