Your character is lost in the wilderness. 120 ideas for what happens next
So… yeah… your character is lost in the wilderness. You might be stuck for ideas for what happens next, so below is a list of ideas.
Some things your character sees, some are things that happen, and some are barely anything, just a tiny seed which might grow into an idea in your mind.
120 benign wilderness encounters
- Large patch or hill of flowers
- Squirrels chasing each other
- Something stirs below the water’s surface
- Birds of prey circling overhead
- An earsplitting squawk
- A shadow passes across the ground
- Smoke rises in distance
- Deja vu
- Many thousands of ants crawl
- Howling/barking in the distance
- Patch of vines strangling a tree
- Skeleton of an animal
- Skeleton of a humanoid
- Writing carved into tree
- Large patch of brightly colored mushrooms
- Few scattered and broken arrows or bolts
- Snake slithers away
- 1′ hole penetrates the ground
- Rainbow in the distance
- Group of bats rise in the distance
- Tree falls in the distance
- Broken, rotted wagon wheel
- Bear tracks
- Deer tracks
- Wolf/dog tracks
- Unusual patch of very lush growth
- Sudden sun shower
- Wind kicks up
- Dead, rotted, burnt, headless troll body
- Giant mushroom grove
- Discarded, tattered cloak
- Rusty weapon
- Dark storm cloud approaches
- Large beetle buzzes around head
- Large boot tracks in mud
- Dug, shallow hole
- Remnants of old campfire
- Sandstorm
- Small dust whirlwind
- Puddle/nearly dry watering hole
- Few sun bleached papers
- Large bird (heron) seems to follow you
- Stack of rocks piled high
- Giant feather
- Sweet smell of honeysuckle
- Small pond
- Bog
- Stand of birch trees
- Stench of feces
- Ray of sun light hits tree or bush
- An unusually cool breeze
- Couple of rats are following you
- You get a dull, throbbing headache
- Injured woodland creature lies helpless
- Skunk smell
- Eerily quiet
- Field of dead trees
- Humanoid statue (flesh to stone)
- Stung by a bee
- Arid dust coats your mouth
- Odd crystalline growth
- Ogre skull
- Abandoned shack
- Very friendly skunk
- Wild boar
- Wild horses
- Find a copper piece
- Caterpillar or grub-infested tree
- Coyotes fighting over a kill
- Mother bear protecting cubs
- Hatched eggs below abandoned nest
- Large insect moult
- Something scurries away (chipmunk)
- Patch of berried bushes
- Large splatter of bird droppings
- Old, rotted horse carcass
- Large tree with face image in bark
- An oasis
- A rusty suit of armor
- Active bees nest
- Howling gust of wind
- Approaching lightning storm
- Crow squawks repeatedly on approach
- Disabled wagon with nearby dead campfire
- Disheveled shrine or grave marker
- Rats are rummaging through PCs’ food
- Cloud of insects moves across path
- Rocks falling in the distance
- Pair of small birds harass PCs
- Feral cat trails the party
- Large animal crashes through the brush
- Cloud shaped like a holy symbol scuds out of sight
- Shopping list for potion is found
- Old ring sticks out of the dirt
- One person’s ears begin to ring
- One person has an intense itch
- Hawk takes mole/mouse near party
- Stick-figure voodoo doll(s) found
- Tornado
- Earthquake (mild, moderate, or severe)
- Great toppled tree, roots outstretched
- Creek bars path
- Fern-filled clearing
- Beaver pond/dam
- Rocky outcropping
- Ancient snag filled with tiny holes
- Carpet Of spongy moss over large area
- Cave or large den
- Groundhog colony: big holes, mounds of dirt
- Tree with bark chewed or clawed off the bottom
- Picked mushrooms laying on stump to dry
- Sentry animal (probably bird or rodent) raises alarm
- Burned area (trees standing, no undergrowth, all black)
- Fool’s gold sparkles in the dirt
- Huge spider’s web
- Huge stick insect or mantis moves into the foliage
- Pleasant voice seems to chant on the breeze
- Fish bones
- Punctured waterskin or flask on path
- Forgotten dagger jammed into stump or earth
This list was collated by Chris Buono, and comes from RoleplayTips (see the article here) (you didn’t expect me to come up with my own list did you?!!
If you’d like to send us a list of ideas like this that might help other roleplayers, please do! Send it via the form here – link.
Top image is by TiamatZ – Link
