The following is a randomly ordered table of various items, events, names and creatures that would appear in sword and sorcery tales. Use the table to spur your imagination when designing or running sword and sorcery adventures.
For example, rolling three times on the table gives me “Amoth“, “human vice or addiction“, and “Amoth” (again!). What do I get out of this? Well, perhaps there is a minor noble called Amoth who is secretly addicted to some kind of insidious lotus drug. He has an unknown twin brother (also called Amoth, see!) who commits heinous crimes in an attempt to blame and depose his brother. Amoth the innocent does not remember anything because he was drugged out when the crimes were committed, so he hires the player characters to investigate before he is lynched by the angry mob. Or something like that… got your creative juices rolling?
Update (March 10, 2010): I have incorporated the suggestions left in the comment section, and split the list into multiple tables (each having a maximum of 100 entries).
TABLE I
1 curved dagger
2 Dao-Khee
3 caravan or caravanserai
4 jewelry or gem
5 pirate ship
6 corrupt advisor
7 sewer tunnel
8 temple guardian
9 feat of desperate strength
10 cursed artifact or weapon
11 burglary or kidnapping
12 treachery or betrayal
13 naked female captive
14 perverted aristocrat
15 Amoth
16 sorcerous trap
17 drunken orgy
18 ancient law that demands a life be taken
19 blood-red
20 gladiatorial pit
21 mad magician or ancient mummy
22 old god from the stars
23 Pathar
24 maze of city streets
25 barren wildlands
26 savage or neanderthal
27 girdle of silk
28 elaborate human sacrifce
29 double-crossing
30 smuggler
31 peacock feathers or ostrich plumes
32 ancient chariot
33 spider or spiderweb
34 escape under of cover of night
35 well-guarded fortress
36 oath or exclamation
37 human vice or addiction
38 living for the day
39 port
40 concubine or temptress
41 black
42 dungeon
43 high priest
44 pyramid or ziggurat
45 forbidden tower
46 local guide
47 chance meeting
48 chieftain or prince
49 ghoul
50 pantherish grace
51 poisoned weapon or drink
52 cannibal or head-hunter
53 tent city
54 masked nomad
55 winged demon
56 slaver or kidnapper
57 arrogant noble
58 tyrannical government
59 wealthy merchant
60 secret society or hidden complex
61 carnivorous ape
62 king of thieves
63 slave
64 yellow
65 grinning bronze or ivory idol
66 inhuman skull
67 Zhuul
68 lotus-flower
69 two-handed sword
70 fist-sized gem
71 blue and gold tapestry
72 prison
73 ambush
74 sleeping giant snake
75 Ykhanthra
76 duel
77 eunuch
78 marketplace or bazaar
79 incense-burner
80 voluptous princess
81 raiders or brigands
82 steaming jungle
83 forgotten tomb
84 shipwreck
85 scroll or book
86 battle or battlefield
87 were-beast, she-wolf or half-human hybrid
88 strange stone or metal
89 pygmy or dwarf
90 wine or drunkenness
91 cult or secret organization
92 revenge or blood feud
93 heresy or persecution
94 murder or slaying
95 mystic from the East
96 perverted or degenerate entertainment
97 Urkhab
98 T’ntaa
99 cold iron
100 lost or degenerate civilization
TABLE II
1 oath or honor
2 blood
3 mammoth or elephant tusks
4 legend or lie
5 dying or inherited curse
6 betrayal or deception
7 temple prostitute or temple virgin
8 plague
9 servitude or captivity
10 banishment or exile
11 king of kings
12 desert or wasteland
13 corruption
14 dragon or giant reptile from a lost age
15 moon or moonlight
16 tentacled monstrosity
17 arcane or sacred ritual
18 snake-people
19 heir or chosen one
20 childbirth
Can you help me fill out the last next 20 entries? Leave a comment below!
Raiders
Steaming jungle
Forgotten tomb
Earthquake
Shipwreck
Scroll or book
Battlefield
Were-beast
Strange stone or metal
Pygmy
Flagon of wine
Cult
Revenge
Another campaign in the World of Xoth
Heretic
Murder
Head-Hunter
She-Wolf
Eastern Wizard
Bard/Skald
Steel
Ivory idol
Civilization (Ancient & Perverse)
Honour
Blood
Primitive People/Neanderthals
Sword
Slavers
Mammuth
Giant Snake
Legend
Ancient Sword
Curse
Battlefield
Betrayal
Plague
PC are captives/slaves!
Banishment
King/Prince/Emperor/Khan/Marajah/Pharaoh
Priest/Priestess/Shaman
Desert
Corruption
Dragon
Ancient/Degenerate Race
Cthulhoid Gods/Monsters
Wild People (e.g. Picts, Darfari, etc..)
Sacrifice
Ritual
snake people
mysterious/veiled stranger
apes
heir to ruler
A false god or false priest.
The nobility of barbarians, contrasted to the vices of the civilised.
…or the honesty of thieves, contrasted to the hypocrisy of honest men.
‘Magic’ which is strongly hinted to be technology.