Weirdcrawl: Generating a Weird Wonder

In my previous post I talked a bit about what I thought were some baseline qualities for a weird wonder. These weird wonders would serve as the object of quests in a campaign based around venturing into the wilderness to seek out and explore places of weird wonder. Kind of like Indiana Jones combined with the Dreamlands of H. P. Lovecraft.

Click here for the index.

The Paradoxical Duality of the Weird

There are many ways to think about 'weird' things, what they are, and how to define them. I have done so already in my blog, mostly in service of how to create a creeping or gradual sense of the weird where if you have some weird wonder as the object of a quest, the focus of the campaign and play should not just be the final encounter with the weird thing but the journey itself. A journey that has a sense of rising weirdness and tension as the players venture deeper and deeper into the unknown wilderness and away from normalized civilization. So far I have yet to attempt to really define what makes a weird wonder weird and how to go about creating or generating that. I will attempt to do so now.

At heart, I think weird or unsettling things are paradoxical in nature. They exist and yet everything we know about the world, our knowledge, our past experiences, our primordial instincts, tell us they should not exist. This creates a cognitive confusion, a cognitive dissonance that causes emotional reactions that tend to range from awe, to fear, to anger. (I don't have a background in psychology so am probably lacking in the correct terminology but if anyone has any ideas please leave a comment! It's something I'd love to read up on more but have a hard time finding good sources.)

To this end I think the best way to achieve a sense of the weird is to have some object straddle two different containers in our mind about what is known or real.

For example, ghosts. We know that people live and what living people are like. We know what dead people are like also. In our brain we have formed two containers for these two concepts. A ghost straddles these two containers because it is a person who appears both dead and alive at the same time. Our brain doesn't know what to do about it and so we tend to react in an emotional manner.  In the moment we tend to be terrified and repelled, outside the moment curious and attracted.

The mental overload and cognitive dissonance resulting from a very close straddling of two different containers is also why I think there tends to be a limit of believability to weird things and what separates the weird from other things. Ghosts are believable because they paradoxically combine the categories of life and death, things which seem to form an opposition or duality. When something tends to straddle multiple categories it tends to come across more unbelievable than believable and weird. Like the idea of a ghost, something dead yet living is believable, but the idea of a ghost who is dead which has leathery batwings seems a bit more silly even though it's all equally unreal and impossible.

Furthermore, I think the strangest things tend to be those which combine the paradoxical. A river flowing uphill defying gravity, that is odd. However, I think something that is far more strange and interesting is a river of flowing liquid fire. It flows like water and feels like water, yet glows and wavers like flame and even though it feels cold to the touch things soaked in it too long seem to turn to ash. When you combine things of apposing or opposite qualities, you don't just create something that is behaving in an odd fashion, you create something that our brains think fundamentally shouldn't exist. And yet does.

Weird Wonder Generation

The following is a large table that helps create the basic weird wonder. There are three columns.

Feature: this is the actual physical thing that comprises the wonder, constructed or natural. They are things of a singular nature that would lend themselves to a smaller adventuring site rather than something sprawling.

Duality:  the source of the weird, the duality. It will take some imagination and abstract thought in this column are listed two opposites. The wonder should in some way or another embody these two opposites.

Guardian: the guardian of the wonder presented as a list of archetypes. As mentioned before, I am using the term guardian very loosely. They may be a single individual, group of people, monster, etc. They serve to create player interaction and a probable reason why the wonder has remained isolated and hidden.  Their motivations and intent when interacting with the party may vary.

d100	Feature	Duality	Guardian
1	Pool	water/fire	The Fool
2	Standing stone	Beast/man	The Mother
3	Glade	Darkness/light	The Father
4	Fortification	Depth/surface	The Magician
5	Boat	Death/birth	The Scribe
6	Bridge	Wealth/poverty	The Warrior
7	Mist	Dream/reality	The Specter
8	Garden	Fullness/emptiness	The Priestess
9	Tree	flesh/stone	The Abomination
10	Wall	Solidness/fragility	The Emperor
11	Waterfall	Flat/round	The Land
12	Arch	Fornication/chastity	The Lover
13	Burial grounds	Forever/temporary	The Prophet
14	Door	Fresh/rotting	The Hermit
15	Statue	Horizontal/vertical	The Devil
16	Pillar	Infinitesimal/infinite	The Leper
17	Pyramid	Male/female	The Messenger
18	Fungus	Old/young	The Knight
19	Tower	Mind/body	The Bishop
20	Cliff	Collectivism/ Individualism	The Captain
21	Petroglyph	Trust/betrayal	The Gardner
22	Vault	Problem/solution	The Artist
23	Dam	Love/hate	The Soldier
24	Crystal	Creation/destruction	The Smith
25	Sand Dune	Thought/emotion	The Giant
26	Whirlpool	Child/adult	The Dead
27	Dry Lake	noise/silence	The Forgotten
28	Glacier	Imagination/reality	The Lady
29	Island	Passion/apathy	The Monk
30	Cave	Vision/blindness	The Executioner
31	Plateau	Tradition/spontaneity	The Seer
32	Valley	Freedom/imprisonment	The Conqueror
33	Mountain Summit	gas/solid	The Conquered
34	Tepui	Heavy/light	The Angel
35	Volcano	Material/spiritual	The Peddler
36	Crater	Cold/warm	The Templar
37	Spring	Fear/calm	The Herald
38	Lava lake	Frozen/liquid	The Betrayer
39	Fissure	doubt/faith	The Scapegoat
40	Lighthouse	Shame/delight	The Sacrifice
41	Mausoleum	Remembering/forgetting	The Leviathan
42	Fountain	Surrender/triumph	The Trickster
43	Flame	Tragedy/comedy	The Torturer
44	Labyrinth	Illusionary/reality	The Nymph
45	Causeway	Hunger/satiation	The Wild
46	Grotto	Past/future	The Thief
47	Shell	Fate/chance	The Warlord
48	Well	Pleasure/pain	The Ferryman
49	Urn	Justice/corruption	The Hero
50	Amphitheater	Clarity/obscurity	The Witch
51	Lightning	Loneliness/togetherness	The Dog
52	Library	indestructible/weakness	The Scholar
53	Nest	Pride/abasement	The Killer
54	Hive	Truth/lie	The Healer
55	Colonnade	civilization/savagery	The Collector
56	Road	Affliction/cure	The Siren
57	Cenotaph/Stele	Concentration/scattered	The Starved
58	Stairway	Anarchy/order	The Watcher
59	River source	Grandeur/simplicity	The Awakened
60	Salt flat	Multitude/singular	The Revenant
61	Taproot	Insular/inclusive	The Mentor
62	Meteorite	Ascent/descent	The Omniscient
63	Canyon	Flesh/spirit	The Sisters
64	Observatory	Writing/speaking	The Order
65	Rough statues	veiled/naked	The Master
66	Waystone	Black/white	The cowardly
67	Loadstone	Natural/unnatural	The Betrayer
68	Monument	Abundance/famine	The Betrayed
69	Sewers	Expansion/contraction	The Nurse
70	Canal	Protection/destruction	The Shepherd
71	Palace	fertile/barren	The Automaton
72	Shrine	Crisis/challenge	The Sacrifice
73	Arena	Defiance/submission	The Saccharine
74	Migratory grounds	Mastery/incompetence	The Unborn
75	Cairn	Hospitality/hostility	The Brute
76	Totem	Flying/crawling	The Miser
77	Pyre	Sharp/dull	The Architect
78	Tar pit	Clever/stupid	The Wanderer
79	Lagoon	Melodic/discordant	The Invisible
80	Spire	Fading/coagulating	The Reaper
81	Burial Mound	Fostered/condemned	The Ravenous
82	Leviathan	Programmed/random	The Undertaker
83	Orrery	Adorned/empty	The Enslaved
84	Axis Mundi	Depleted/energized	The Slaver
85	Pit	Guide/mislead	The Fraternity
86	Spawning grounds	Lost/found	The Prisoner
87	Roost	Gentle/rough	The Fallen
88	Beach	Advanced/primitive	The Cursed
89	Obelisk	Distant/close	The Forgetful
90	Ship wreck	Fabricated/biological	The Forgiven
91	Sigil	Learned/innate	The Widow
92	Meadow	Cooked/raw	The Warlock
93	Battlefield	Herded/directionless	The Withered
94	Mine	Neglected/pampered	The Maiden
95	Stone Works	Interlinked/unwoven	The Elder
96	Ziggurat	Wide/narrow	The Tyrant
97	Monastery	Falling/rising	The Child
98	Forge	Human/inhuman	The Traveler
99	Bell Tower	Withered/lush	The Undying
100	Hunting Grounds	Defeat/Victory	Death

Enigmatic History

After rolling on the above chart you should have the basics of a weird wonder. In some way the wonder should be momentous. It is a place where something happened. Something long ago.  It should have a sense of scale or of time, evoke a feeling of awe and mystery. It should have a past that the players will never be able to fully unravel as it's history is lost, but glimpses of that history, of its scale and timelessness, lay all about it.

Roll on the following chart until you get something that makes sense for the weird wonder. You may have to do this several times. Remember, it's the wonder itself that is weird, not it's history, it's history should be simply unknown. 

1d50	Enigmatic History
1	Immense in size
2	Markings in a dead undecipherable language
3	Partially buried in the earth
4	Crumbling and derelict
5	Made of ultra-durable materials
6	Path to it is footsteps worn through stone
7	Choaking dust and debris
8	Rain eroded and wind worn
9	Sealed off and purposely blocked
10	Signs of long ago civilization collapse or disaster
11	Lots of art by unknown culture
12	Disrupted weather patterns due to site
13	Landscape shows signs of massive alteration
14	Everyday remains of ancient visitors fragile to touch
15	Carving and scripts so worn they are unreadable
16	Scale of steps, hallways, pathways, trails, is too large to be for a human.
17	Scale of steps, hallways, pathways, trails, is too small to be for a human.
18	Has reoccurring symbol of unknown or forgotten god
19	Layers and layers of bloodstains from sacrifices
20	Reoccurring name and history that has been defaced and scratched out
21	Ancient refuse pits dot the landscape around it
22	Mass graves with thousands of bones
23	Astrological alignment of site based on how stars were long ago
24	Construction breaks the laws of physics
25	‘Grown’ from natural materials by the gods instead of built
26	Partially destroyed by some massive creature or god
27	Site seems to be built by advanced technology
28	Art from a proto-civilization or culture that is father to all civilizations
29	Covered in layers and layers of soot and grime
30	In a cold place buried underneath ice and snow
31	Previously looted many times over
32	Fossilized remains
33	Perfectly preserved remains frozen in time
34	Lots of strange jewelry from unknown cultures left as offerings
35	Graffiti in several different languages, some from long ago, some more recently
36	A written warning to all those who explore the site
37	Animals avoid the place
38	Animals of a certain type are attracted to the place
39	Covered in thick vegetation and greenery
40	Covered in moss and lichen
41	Covered in slime and mold
42	Full of broken religious symbols and iconography
43	Made with materials from far away lands
44	Area is expansive and empty, stripped to the bones
45	Nothing grows
46	Area is contained with some toxic material
47	Signs and leavings of visitors of many different times and cultures
48	Contains strange geometric features or motif that hints at advanced mathematics and intelligence
49	A written curse upon all those who explore the site
50	Made over oversized materials impossible for humans or even basic machinery to manipulate

Defining a Weird Wonder

To keep things simple and avoid creating too much lore or backstory weird wonders should seek to concisely answer the following questions. Some of them may not be applicable to all wonders. You also only really need to answer a handful, in creating a sense of the weird and unknown it's better to give out less information than more. Overall the questions help prompt thought and break down information about the wonders into tidbits that can be given the players as they decide to seek it out and investigate it.

• Who: 
• Who knows more about it's existence?
• Who guards it?
• Who else seeks it?
• Who else has been there?
• What: 
• What is it physically?
• What happened to it over the ages?
• What strange qualities does it posses?
• When: 
• When was it forgotten? 
• When was it last visited?
• When is the best time to visit it?
• Where: 
• Where is it located?
• Where are clues to its location?
• Why: 
• Why was it created?
• Why was it destroyed?
• Why was it forgotten?
• How: 
• How do you get to it? 
• How do you survive the journey to it?
• How do you interact with it?
• How can you possibly exploit it?

Putting Everything Together!

Rolling, on the above charts I got the following:

• Feature: Pool
• Duality: Flesh/spirit
• Guardian: The Forgetful
• Enigmatic History: Lots of strange jewelry from unknown cultures left as offerings

Using the setting that I have been creating as I go in this blog series, I came up with the following:

The Moon Pool

What is it physically?

Few know about it, but deep within the Black Basin lies a pool of silver water so bright and luminous it looks like a sliver of the moon. In tales told by the drifting gypsies of the swamp, it is said to have been sacred long ago when the moon was young and the swamp a forest.

Who guards it?

Now it is a haunted place, a place where a race of strange creatures called the Forgotten dwell. Watery empty hollow men and women who walk about in strange legion forever seeking to remember who they once were. Strange tales abound about encounters with them.

Who strange qualities does it posses?

The howling of vengeful spirits can be heard all about the pool, heard in the day, in the night, under the soon and amid the stars. They howl for they know the awful bargain of the pool. From spirit to flesh, and flesh to spirit. Into the pool they dive and from it they arise, once again clothed in flesh. But with all memory of their awful grudge struck from them. As one of the Forgotten they are doomed to roam. And so the vengeful spirits swirl about the pool desperately wanting the flesh to wreak their vengeance, but unwilling to forget, until desperation mounting, they enter, hoping that as one of the Forsaken they will encounter something that reminds them of their grudge.

When was it last visited?

The eldest of the Peatsmen matriarchs visited it long ago. With her she brought the body of her disgraced son who died in a duel. When she placed his body into the waters of the Silver Pool his flesh sank away from his bones which turned to shimmering moonlight. From dead flesh to gentle spirit he arose, his burden lifted, his spirit freed to drift with his ancestors among the stars.

When was it forgotten?

Once long ago there were people who dwelt in the forests before the swamp. They worshiped the Moon Pool. Necklaces of gold with images of the bear and auroch they threw into the pool and waters around it in funeral rite as they placed their tormented dead within it's waters. Every so often their strange necklaces turn up, dredged up from the bottom. Every so often one of their crumbling moon markers can be found in the swamp.

When is the best time to visit it?

It is said the Moon Pool can only be found on lights of a full moon and that one can only be lead there by the urging of the tormented dead.