Random Tables - Following History

 

 

Recently I was reading an issue of Worldbuilding magazine focusing on history. The magazine is a great free read and resource. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone building worlds and universes. Afterwards, I jotted down an idea to create a quest or adventure around history, the way it’s recorded and the significance this can have in any world.

 

Not to repeat the Orwellian phrase about controlling the future through the past, but our societies are shaped by the interpretation of history and the teaching of various which shape it. You can consider how differently World War II is taught about, interpreted or segmented. Even the dates are often different. Where I come from, it’s from 1st September 1939 to 8th May 1945 (VE Day); in the US, it would be from 7th December 1941 to 2nd September 1945, and in Vietnam or China, it would be a whole different thing. How we perceive history and the myths we talk about shapes how our society looks, what's considered important and what those who rule base their legitimacy on.

 

Fantasy worlds would be the same. A good quest hook for this can be tracking down a historian that has written and published an influential book or article which totally shatters the way history was perceived up to then. The party needs to track them down for one reason or another.

So if you feel this can be an exciting adventure or quest to involve in your games, I’ve put together these three random tables to help you shape these quests.

 

 

 

Who is The Historian?

1. A timeworn elf who witnessed the events first-hand but hides their actual age.
2. A disgraced and compromised academic.
3. A hermit who only publishes in a specific almanac.  
4. A very young and ambitious member of the faculty at the prestigious University.
5. A virtual nobody from a small remote hamlet few have even heard of.
6. A sentient book (containing an ancient conscience) working through its agents, which pose as researchers.

 

What did they write about?

1. The start of recorded history, revolutionizing the way people view society.
2. The founding myth of the nation, discrediting it completely.
3. Life of A/The Prophet, undermining the church’s teachings.
4. The recent war, exposing some hard and ugly truths.
5. People’s history, the common folk and all they’ve had to endure.
6. The genocide that preceded the expansion of the nation/kingdom, in its complete brutality.

 

Where are they located?

1. At the University, of course!
2. They took up residence at the court of a local lord.
3. Somewhere under the protection of their affluent patron.
4. On a small island in the sea, known for fishing, sheep and goats.
5. The truth is no one really knows their current whereabouts.
6. A few weeks ago, they were seen fleeing the country westwards.