Describing the Door
As you probably know, we at Inkwell Ideas love random charts. (Some prior examples: Spicing Up the Empty/Mundane Room, Random Charts for “Spell Accents”, Coin Description Generator (Random Table), Random Unusual Weather Table, Random Magic Fountain/Pool Effects Chart, Hexmap Alphabetical Random Charts: Ruins, Random Omens Charts, Fun With Potions: Random Charts for Expired Potions, Random Potion Description Charts, Random (or not) City Name Charts) Not that we use them randomly, but they are useful for inspiration either by looking at the options or by rolling a few and finding a result that triggers an idea.
Most of the doors in a castle or dungeon are going to be similar to each other and fit the architecture of the building. However, some are going to have something unusual about them either “just because” or due to the plot. On the chart below you can roll randomly if you want an unusual door “just because” or look the ideas over to fit one that fits a plot point. If you want ideas for some unusual doors, roll first in the “Columns” column of the chart below, then roll for each other column as directed.
| d12 | Columns | Column A: Built-In feature (locks/peakholes/bars) | Column B: Add-on (blood/condition/magic) | Column C: Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | Sturdy lock | Blood splattered on door. | Has an engraved magic eye that allows a distant person to monitor one side of the door. |
| 2 | A | Easy Lock | Damaged from being kicked in, barely repaired. | Mist or smoke wafts from the the door (from under it, where it meets the walls, keyhole if it has one, etc.) |
| 3 | A | Lock is a puzzle (press a pattern, etc.) | Door was broken down, now reasonably repaired. | Much larger than a typical door in this structure. |
| 4 | A | Tiny 1-way peakhole | Clue (name/keyword) hastily scratched into door’s surface. | Unusual Shape (1d4: 1:Circle, 2:Triangle; 3:Hexagon; 4:Weird) |
| 5 | B | Small glass or open-air (50/50) window on top | Magically trapped | Transparent from one direction. |
| 6 | B | Broken Lock | Magically locked | Opens in an unusual way (rolls up into ceiling, slides to a pocket in the wall, etc.) |
| 7 | A&B | Barred 1’x1′ window on top | Frosted & unusually cold | Opening it rings an audible bell (50% in the room/50% in another room.) |
| 8 | A&B | Small 1’x1′ pet trapdoor near bottom | Painted with a historical/mythical/religious scene. | Hinge has been tampered with. |
| 9 | A&C | Barred/Reinforced from other/this (50/50) side. | Engraved with the coat of arms of the structure’s ruler or the occupant. | Hinge squeaks loudly when opened. |
| 10 | B&C | No handle. Opens by just pushing it or perhaps only when one feature is pushed if it has an engraving, painting, etc. | Mechanically trapped. | Unusual Material (1d6; 1:Bones; 2:Ivory; 3:Granite; 4:Glass; 5:Marble; 6:Onyx; |
| 11 | B & C | Roll twice for this column. Ignore this result if already rolling twice. | Roll twice for this column. Ignore this result if already rolling twice. | Roll twice for this column. Ignore this result if already rolling twice. |
| 12 | A, B, & C | Roll twice for this column. Can get this result multiple times for 3+ effects. | Roll twice for this column. Can get this result multiple times for 3+ effects. | Roll twice for this column. Can get this result multiple times for 3+ effects. |
Using the chart above, we can come up with a few examples:
- Roll 4 & 8 (col A): The door has a small 1’x1′ pet trapdoor near the bottom… I wonder what uses it…? Or can the PCs use this to peak in the room?
- Roll 8 & 6 (col A) & 11 (col B: roll 2x) & 7 & 2: The door has a broken lock. It is frosted over and cold but it looks like it was kicked in and hastily repaired. Why did that happen? What is the back-story? Does that lead to a new encounter idea?
- Roll 12 & 6 (col A) & 4 (col B) & 11 (col C: roll 2x) & 12 (roll 2x more, so 3) & 5 & 6 & 1: The door has a broken lock and a name/keyword is scrawled into the door. It also is transparent from one side, opens in an unusual way, and has a magic eye that lets someone see from one side of the door. It seems like there is some magic or sci-fantasy going on!
