What's In the Shuttered Room? (Wermspittle/Random Table)

In the course of Roofcrawling, there is a chance of either falling through a section of ceiling, the roof collapsing and exposing some stuffy old attic, or perhaps one of these shuttered rooms that someone deliberately closed-off from everyone else, whether to protect what was locked away inside, or the rest of us...

What's In the Shuttered Room? (D20/Table I)

1. (1d100) Monkey corpses half-buried in a mound of wadded-up paper covered in gibberish surrounding a single, manual type-writer.
2. A Hasnamuss has been shut-up in this room and held at bay by the wards and other protective devices or hastily scrawled diagrams the locals can beg, borrow or barter for from the Midwives, apothecaries, and others. Quite a collection has been building-up around the door to this room. Some of the less cautious types are starting to look at the pile of wards and talismans as a possible bit of easy loot.
3. (1d4) Plague-Carriers are quarantined in this room. They learned how to use the one window to sneak in and out at night and have been living off of pigeons and roof-clams for quite a while now. None of them have had it this good in months, if ever. Their plague is saturating the walls, floors and ceilings of this space. They are mutating into full-blown vector-collaborators: their own symptoms are lessening, but their contagiousness is escalating. The disease is taking over their minds. There's only (1d6) minutes left to them until the mental take-over begins in earnest.
4. Everything is just like the master left it before he left to go investigate the ruins reported to be on the other side of a recently discovered Weak Point. A diligent, but dim-witter Hunchback will answer all your questions to the best of his very limited ability. He will become violent if provoked, but otherwise he welcomes the opportunity to talk to someone during his lonely vigil.
5. The door has been nailed shut by well over a hundred nails. So far the (2d4) Molg who lair in this room ignore the door, as they tend to use the broken-out window to go leave their nest and go hunting.
6. You don't often see three distinct Wet Spots all right on top of one another, but perhaps it has something to do with the confined space? There is a rather stout lock on the door and the walls are still quite firm and unyielding, despite the water stains, accumulated debris blown-in through the windows and a patch of scarlet mold along the baseboard starting at the near window. The boards are starting to sag beneath the pooled fluids that have accumulated in the middle of the floor. It'll start leaking into the room below, if it hasn't already. Funny how no one has noticed that, or reported it yet...
7. This room is covered with a massively over-grown Philosophic Mold that has been trapped here for far, far too long. It is so integrated into the walls and floors of this space that it is starting to seep down through the plaster and lathe structure to fill every internal nook and cranny. It now occupies the house from the attic down (1d4) stories. It will probably never leave this place ever again. It would, however, like to engage the services of a few reliable retainers who might be willing to carry out various errands or tasks on its behalf. It will offer to become a mentor and teacher to anyone interested in learning the art of sorcery and spell-casting.
8. A group of local busy-bodies rounded-up and confined (2d4) Unfortunates in this attic space. They sealed them in there with enough food and water for a month. It has been three months now...
9. A Weak Point anchored here leads across to a similar attic room that is missing one entire wall and most of the ceiling. This provides a vantage point from which to look down upon an even more devastated and ruined Wermspittle than the one from which you just came. The skies are red with the reflected flames of thousands of campfires, burning buildings, and barely controlled infernos stalking from place to place under the direction of strangely garbed technicians. The smell of charred flesh is heavy in the air and it is hot, despite the swirling snows of winter. What remains of the floor in this partial attic is splintering and will collapse in (1d4) minutes. Through the smoke it would appear that nearly every building surrounding this position is either bombed-out, smashed by artillery, or collapsing in upon itself due to some catastrophic failure of the support structure. There are few screams any more.
10. (3d20) Gore-worms lie scattered across the floor. All of them are desiccated and inert from having been shut-up in this space for nearly a full year. Three skeletons are jumbled in the corner.
11. A failed student from the University lies sprawled in a dried pool of blood still clutching an expensive-looking personal Journal bound in elegantly filigreed wermhide. The journal is signed 'Helen,' and it seems to be written in the spidery script of a cultured young woman. The student tore their fingers to shreds trying to tear down the barricaded door. They were locked inside this space by someone who also took the time and effort to ward the walls with a potent sorcerous defense that collapsed once the room was breached. The body casts two distinct yet slightly over-lapping shadows.
12. A Red Shadow has been sealed in this room by use of a dozen or more tenebrous tokens. Each token is formed from lead foil-wrapped zinc and stamped with the image and sign of Saint Adeline. Someone has been leaving a new token nailed to the door of this room every month on the night of the New Moon.
13. A Wet Spot.
14. Three Vilg, each with its tongue nailed to a different part of a crude wooden triangular frame. Three overturned old braziers are set in-between each Vilg. A chalk diagram on three inter-nested triangles is precisely marked-out on the floor. There is a base 30% chance of any one of the Vilg recovering for 1d30 minutes. They can only chant in a garbled manner and their brain is severely damaged by whatever was done here. The nails used are hardened bronze and have tiny barbs shaved into the shaft. They were not intended to be pulled back out.
15. Grallemajji of Pasikoom, a Refugee Somnambulist of no small renown in his plague-ravaged homeland, has paid good money to enjoy some privacy that he might complete his most recent masterpiece--four Feral Children that he is the process of converting into somnambulistic servitors.
16. (4d4) Ractur have broken into this closed-off room, murdered the Patients who were herded into the place by a conniving Landlord and abandoned. The Ractur have developed a taste for human flesh and use this place as their nest. Their regular comings and goings have attracted the notice of a clutch of harpies near-by.
17. A lonely old man lies in his filthy bed, muttering dire imprecations as he slowly succumbs to a Verminomorphosis spell that his enemies cleverly built-up within his aura one step at a time over months of careful, painstaking efforts at constructing the curse well within his otherwise once formidable defenses. His Last Will and Testament is on the floor. He signed it and placed a magical seal upon it before his mind cracked under the strain of the spell's overwhelming influence. A packet containing three spell books (all warded), a personal journal, and the ledgers for his estates are hidden under the bed. His familiar, a Mumbler named Jools, keeps watch from a secret vantage point behind a ragged tapestry. The old man has taken a draught of poison so as to spare himself of the indignity of living through the degrading effects of the spell cast upon him. The name of his lawyer is clearly marked-out on the parcel. He never finished the letter of instructions. No one is coming to deliver these things--the Landlord has been lying to the old man all along and was in on the whole thing, hoping to collect a rich reward for turning over the old man's research to his enemies.
18. A Loathsome Mass.
19. A large, undead rhinocerous stands guard over an ancient chest.
20. (1d4) Cows have fallen ill and been taken over by Gore-Worms (3d12). The block and tackle used to hoist the cows up to this room is still intact. There are three bales of hay not ruined by the blood and effluvia. The owner of the cows will arrive to check on them while the player characters are in the room. They'll very likely charge the trespassers with malicious parasitism or worse...

What's In The Attic? (Wermspittle/Encounters)

What's In the Attic? (D30)

1. A huge tank of carp being raised for food by a family of refugees. They can't afford to let anyone else know about this tank. Especially in the Winter.
2. A Loathsome Mass with only 1d20 minutes left to it before it deliquesces into a toxic Wet Spot.
3. (1d4) Tiny Slasher hatchlings dancing a gory jig upon the corpse of what used to be a particularly large and bloated rat.
4. The desiccated and partly-mummified husk of a Queen Lobster that has absolutely no business being lodged firmly into this small a space, this far from a body of salt water.
5. This attic has been converted into a massively filthy harpy nest.
6. This attic is crawling with rats. Lots and lots of rats. Big rats. The kind that sit up on their hind legs and cast spell--
7. A well-fed Mind Slime inhabits this attic. It does not like to be disturbed.
8. (2d4) Gargoyles have made a nest here. So far, they've eluded the Gargoyle-Hunters. Half of them are sick with some form of the Gray Pox, the others are either wounded or show signs of having been scorched by some sort of pyroclastic spell. They are not in any condition to fight and will attempt to parley with intruders. These particular creatures have been through enough hardship and turmoil that they can be negotiated with, and there is a good chance that they might even become allies with someone who shows them some consideration and does not divulge their location to the hunters. The hunters will, of course take a very dim view of such collaboration and collusion...
9. (1d4) Students from the local Academy have set-up a clandestine laboratory in this attic. This week they've been dissecting a humanoid being with the head of a shark.
10. A huge termite queen is firmly ensconced in this attic, surrounded by an army of normal termites that have completely infiltrated and tunneled their way throughout this entire building.
11. Bats. The guano is more than six inches deep in the low spots.
12. (1d4) Giant Attic-Spiders, the prowling kind that hunt along rooftops for anything smaller than an ox.
13. A Crystallized Skull left-over from a bunch of students who were experimenting with a spell that one of them stole from his mentor's library. The skull in question belongs to a missing teaching assistant.
14. Three Koponu-cages are stacked in the corner. Otherwise the attic in empty.
15. This attic used to be an alchemical lab. Now that it has been disturbed, the fluid that was being used to cover up the white phosphorus is draining all over the floor. A raging fire will start in 1d4 minutes.
16. Books. Lots and lots of books have been systematically moved into this cramped attic and stacked against all the walls in a makeshift library under the triple-gaze of a Triloo. They were sacked from their day-job as a librarian and are now trying to set themselves up as a private research library. They have a job for some burly, tough-looking types who don't ask too many questions...
17. A crate is set off in a corner. An attached manifest scrawled in hasty but legible script identifies the contents of the crate as being: (1) Phorain egg recovered from the high plains of Davigarri.
18. (2d6) Corpses lie scattered randomly across the floor of this attic. All of them are quite bloated. Once the window or door opens, or the bodies are disturbed by outside air, they will erupt into clouds of nacreous black moths that will flutter and swarm madly out any and every opening available.
19. (1d4) Molg lair here in-between stints in the rafters of the local Opera House.
20. A horribly mutilated cadaver is chained down to a salvaged, antique operating table. Someone has crudely and sadistically removed the bodies' legs and arms. The cadaver is some sort of Zombie, but it is extremely weakened as it is infested by a Macroceum that is growing very large, and very smart as it slowly feeds on the undead victim provided for it. Who would do such a terrible thing? How long until they come back?
21. Rats. Many, many mangy, scraggly scrawny ill-fed and worse-tempered rats, all of them wielding short bows crafted from delicate bones...
22. (1d4) Lurm contemplating a hovering orb of green-tinted quartz that they just stole form the neighbor.
23. The dead body of an Orang in a sailor's uniform. The back of its head has been caved-in with a blunt object. It is still smeared with ashes as if from a chimney.
24. The body of a Liboorean Acephali hangs upside-down from the rafters with its throat cleanly cut. There is not a drop of blood anywhere.
25. The bones and moldering remains of over a hundred different victims have been methodically, even pain-stakingly stacked one alongside the other across the floor of this attic, forming several overlapping layers.
26. (1d4) Giant Albino Penguins have been living here for the last year. Some of the locals have been feeding them in the hopes of fattening them up...
27. A gold and ivory pentagrammic diagram mounted upon a low dais of once aromatic cedar blocks has been set-up in the most geomantically opportune position within this attic. It holds a Hagtessa inside it...the summoner succumbed to a heart-attack and she has been trapped here for 1d100 years...
28. A bronze medallion inscribed in Etrurian 'Hic Bibitur Est,' lies on the floor amidst the accumulated debris and junk of a hoarder. The medallion is the only really valuable item in the piles and piles of rubbish, but only to someone who knows how to use it as a Moon Key to gain access to a certain Brazen Tomb.
29. (2d4) Flutter Worms are prowling about the edges of the attic, looking for a way out since one of the neighbors sealed-up the windows and boarded over the door.
30. A Vilg squats atop a lectern, eyeing you suspiciously. The foul reek in this place is nearly unbearable (Save or be incapacitated by choking, coughing or even vomiting). The Vilg was the primary familiar to a sorcerer who ran afoul of the Goules of Latterkamp. The Vilg is looking for a new employer. It will leave out the part about how it conspired with the Goules to get its previous master delivered into their unkind hands. It had something to do with a mislabelled shipment of questionable meat last winter...

Roofcrawling IV (Random Table/Encounter Table)

Roofcrawling Encounters (IV)

1. Three dead fish, gutted and strung on a length of rusty chain dangling from a nail. Who would leave something like this hanging off of the eaves of a house? Why?
2. Surface of rooftop is crumbling away. Anything weighing over 60 pounds will break through the surface. The hole that forms expands by 1 square foot for every failed Save or DEX Check, eventually dropping them into an abandoned attic that has become a hidden pigeon coop. There are close to 700 pigeons in this place.
3. (1d4) Roof-Rats scampering away from something else...
4. Dozens of small, dull-brown snails are clustered in a spot (1d4) feet wide. Their slime-trail smells strongly of kerosene and is extremely flammable. Any open fire-source within a 10' radius will cause it to erupt into flames causing (2d4) to everyone caught within a 20' radius, Save for half. The snails will be unharmed.
5. A patch of very sticky tar. Contact with it will cause the stuff to adhere to flesh, armor or clothes. It has a tendency to get on everything. It will cause a -1 penalty to DEX until removed with turpentine or some other solvent.
6. Loose tiles shift under the weight of any passerby with a 1 in 20 chance of breaking loose, causing a tile-slide that will carry anyone caught within a 10' radius right over the edge. Hello falling damage.
7. Not all those flapping sheets and shirts are just simple laundry--there is a necromancer's cloak hanging here that is still under a Sheeted Form spell.
8. Three separate sections of stout rope, six pitons, a light-weight hammer, and one glove all lie here in a pool of dried blood.
9. The body of a dead apprentice. If someone checks, yes, they are dead, that writhing motion is caused by Gore Worms.
10. An arrow is stuck firmly into the roof. A tough, silken cord dangles down over the eaves. Perhaps this is here for a reason?
11. A Flutter-Worm has been staked to this spot. Literally. Someone has deliberately driven a heavy iron spike through its tail. It is slowly starving to death.
12. This area is covered in a layer of greasy-looking orange ice, probably the after-effect of some spell or Damned Thing.
13. The facade in this area is completely riddled with termites. It will all fall away with just a little bit of pressure.
14. Three frogs have been nailed to a rough section of planking. There is a very sharp knife stuck into the plank as well. Someone was in the process of skinning these frogs...but that had to be several hours ago, as the frogs are all dried-out.
15. A bucket full of slops. It's for the Roof Pigs...
16. (1d4) bales of hops wrapped in burlap with a tag pinned to one of them. The tag is scrawled with the name of a local tavern.
17. A hand. Just a hand. Still clutching the edge.
18. A nest. But not just any nest. This is a nest close to 6' in diameter. There are green feathers mixed in with the debris, leading most people familiar with the area to suspect that this is the nest of a Green Sparrow--those really big sparrows some folks ride.
19. (1d6) eggs, all of them broken and sucked clean by some scavenger, probably a reptile. There's a scale stuck in the dried goo.
20. (1d20) strands of dried-out strands of old, abandoned webbing. These can be harvested, if one knows how. Properly collected and spooled, these are valuable.
21. Three lead balls from a Feral Child's sling. Each is slightly chewed. They are arranged in a triangle.
22. (1d4) broken and dirty old bottles of some obscure, off-brand Black Liquor. There's a 10% chance of enough being left between the bottles for one mild dose.
23. Six locks, all fastened together and rusted into a lump.
24. Some animal has burrowed under this section of roof to make a den for itself. Make a Save or DEX check to not have someone's foot break through the undermined surface. It's probably an empty den. Probably.
25. The skeleton of a rather large python is curled around the chimneys. The bones are all intact. It seems to have died of old age.
26. A dirty, ripped in half Aerial-Navy Officer's hat is caught in a drain spout. There might be a name inscribed within the band. The brass emblem is worth a little bit, if only to a collector of foreign and obscure militaria.
27. (1d4) boots. None of them match. None of them fit.
28. A sagging section of the roof has become a stagnant pond filled with mosquitoes and leeches. There's a small crate nearby and (1d4) glass jars and a pair of leech-tongs. Someone has been collecting the wriggly little monsters, probably to sell to a barber or surgeon.
29. The next 30' in each direction is caked in a thick, filthy coating of bird droppings. On one end there is a pair of spades, a trowel and (1d6) buckets where someone has been collecting this stuff for some reason.
30. A lightning rod juts from the roof in this spot, but the copper cable has already been removed. It'll take a bit of effort (combined STR of 36) to remove the rod, but it could be valuable, if you know where to sell it. (There is a base chance of 20% that someone might recall that such things are often sought out for the core of special wands used by warmages and the like.)

If you're looking for some way to bring a little more Roofcrawling into your game, Johnathan Roberts of Rite Publishing has produced an excellent set of maps 'Over the Rooftops,' that is perfect for a bit of Roofcrawling. We highly recommend it.

Roofcrawling: Intro (and Links)

'The science of the great city; the physiology of London; literally and metaphysically the greatest subject that the mind of man can conceive. What an admirable _salmi_ this is; undoubtedly the final end of the pheasant. Yet I feel sometimes positively overwhelmed with the thought of the vastness and complexity of London. Paris a man may get to understand thoroughly with a reasonable amount of study; but London is always a mystery. In Paris you may say: 'Here live the actresses, here the Bohemians, and the _Ratés_'; but it is different in London. You may point out a street, correctly enough, as the abode of washerwomen; but, in that second floor, a man may be studying Chaldee roots, and in the garret over the way a forgotten artist is dying by inches.'

from The Inmost Light by Arthur Machen

Again and again, as one more city or village or urban site is presented for role playing purposes, the vertical element is almost always forgotten or completely overlooked. Most cities, even medieval ones, had more than one level above ground. It's not just what's in the basement or sub-basement or pseudo-Parisian-esque sewers that we need to consider, but also what is going on up on that second floor above the ground floor, and whether there are any third floors or fourth floors. What goes on in those shuttered rooms, who lives in those vermin-infested garrets and what strange things lie forgotten or sealed away within all those dusty attics? There is serious potential for plots, complications, unexpected encounters, and even whole new scenarios and adventures that take place within crawlspaces, attics, balconies and other such elevated spaces. Think of a dungeoncrawl -- an Attic-crawl -- that takes place and across several floors above the street-level shops and homes.

Developing your urban areas along the lines of Neighborhoods and Streets is a great start, Judges Guild did this with The City State of the Invincible Overlord. They set up unique neighborhoods and streets where special encounters could be had based on where you went within the city. Each street had its own unique encounters and thus a unique personality unto itself. The infamous chamber-pot encounter is another one of those bits of local 'color', but like punctuation or punchlines, you don't want to overdo it. Judges Guild did a great job in establishing this approach. It worked then, it works now.

So after setting up a bunch of tables for basic encounters for the major streets, alleys, squares, etc. you might want to consider expanding those encounter tables to encompass a few of the various levels above ground that are available. There's something going on up on those roof-tops. How many times has a thief, spy or assassin used the roofs to gain access to a victim's abode or to escape from a job? Ever see Hitchcock's classic To Catch a Thief or the famous rooftop fight scene from Dario Argento's Cat O' Nine Tails or what about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Rooftops are cool. They are at least worth including as a sub-type of urban terrain, with appropriate encounter tables and maybe some specials like weak spots, construction, broken or loose tiles, sneaky thieves, lurking assassins, snipers, or whatever.

Roof-tops are cool. Go exploring above the street-level for a change...

• Roofcrawling Table I
• Roofcrawling Table II
• Roofcrawling Table III
• Roofcrawling with Porky
• Roofcrawling Table IV

Roofcrawling: Table III

Roofcrawling Table III (D30)

1. Shoddy workmanship has left a portion of this roof looking far more sturdy than it actually is--roll Reflex Save or it collapses out from under your weight. A second Reflex Save determines whether you fall (taking 2d4 damage), or just manage to hang on to the edge enough to climb back out. A little assistance would be appreciated, no doubt. Climbing back out on your own entails a wandering monster check and will take 1d8 turns due to the very treacherous, slippery and unstable hole that you've re-opened. Anyone helping you to climb back out reduces the time needed by one turn per helper, with only a base 30% chance that the hole collapses out from under them each turn spent trying to extricate you.
2. (1d4) Roof Rattlers have made a nest within a caved-in section behind the eaves of this building. They do not like visitors.
3. Roof is made up of extremely dry thatch behind a false facade. This stuff will go up in flames with just a little help...
4. A very young Purple Worm writhes and wriggles within a sort of make-shift pen. Someone was raising the thing in order to harvest its hide for use in very special leather armor. A thin red cord connects the pen's trap-door to a set of crusty old bells. Disturbing the pen will ring the old bells, but will anyone hear the signal? Will anyone come?
5. Pigeons. Literally hundreds of plump passenger pigeons have taken to nesting behind the broken-out windows of this attic. They come swarming out like a fluttering cloud of feathers and beaks, inflicting no real damage but causing a lot of racket and possibly knocking someone off of the roof as the torrent of disturbed birds crashes into them. Reflex Save or fall for 1d4 damage.
6. (1d4) Skeletons have been set upon this roof to drive off birds, rats or other vermin. They wield short bows and/or spears. They will ignore anyone who doesn't interfere with their duties.
7. Rotten wood. The timbers beneath the slates of this roof are rotten and weak, they will not bear your weight and begin to slope in a random direction as each support begins to collapse. Perhaps you can guide the roof as it collapses towards a more stable foothold...
8. (1d4) Roof Leeches wallow languidly in the stagnant pool of water that covers about a third of this roof's sagging middle-section.
9. Four stacks of forgotten bricks await a work-crew that has since gone off to join a bandit gang. The chimneys nearby remain in very poor condition, some perhaps are so far gone as to be fire-hazards.
10. (1d6) Giant Geckos slumber just beneath the crumpled facade of this roof during the day. They are nocturnal and voracious hunters of insects that will seek to hide from torches or lanterns.
11. The roof collapses into dust and rubble, depositing everyone on it into a fetid, moldy attic crawling with 4d100 rats of every shape, size and color. It would be wise to summon a vermin-hunter or rat-killer immediately. There are clear indications of Ratterkin vermilotrists and worse amongst this seething horde of unclean rodents.
12. (1d4) patches of Black Mold fill and infest the shadowy gaps in-between the uneven tiles of this storm-damaged roof.
13. A 4' tall alabaster statue wrapped-up in heavy blankets and trussed with straps and ropes so as to be lowered off the roof by way of a winch or block and tackle lies here abandoned. There is no winch, no block and tackle near-by, but a trail of blood leads to the far side of the roof before it is obliterated by weather or vermin-tracks.
14. A filthy, mangy and slightly singed Black Bear is sleeping off a recent feeding frenzy over behind the local tavern where it thoroughly demolished the trash and was able to snatch away two rather nice hams from the open window before having been driven-off by the cooks.
15. A small, fur-lined yurt has been set up on this roof to serve as a small campsite for some demihuman.
16. (1d4) Hunchbacks hang within a stout, sticky web that stretches clear across this roof, down into the near-by alley and across to the next roof, possibly beyond. One of them might still be alive. Removing them from the web will take some ingenuity as they are positioned at an awkward angle and disturbing the net will alert the very, very large glossy black spider that spun the web in the first place.
17. (2d12) Spitting Beetles are swarming over the corpse of a horse that was tossed up here by a half-ogre mercenary on a bet last night.
18. You pass a window that opens onto a chamber that could not possibly be in that location, and in truth it is not--it is a forgotten  portal to an abandoned Scientists's Laboratory up in the mountains over a hundred miles from here.
19. Ropes, pulleys, a rough plank-seat only partly suspended by the ropes, and a set of toppled paint-cans, snapped brushes and some loose tools scattered across the plank and the windowsill before it are all that remain of the recently-murdered sign-painter. Perhaps he ran afoul of Hunchbacks or Gargoyles?
20. A small child's kite is lodged in the eaves. They are down below, crying and tugging vainly on the string, trying to recover their toy.
21. A Gronk Sword is firmly embedded in the roof. It will take a combined STR of 27 or better to remove it. but then you run a 40% chance of causing this section of the roof to collapse.
22. (1d4) Glimp Shells are milling about on this roof. This might be the work of some rustlers who possess a small aerostat or possibly a large winch.
23. Jeekra the Harpy Talonist has made her nest just behind the next chimney. She is not expecting any callers. Pray it is not bath-time...
24. (1d6) murky, smoky off-white pods or capsules have been left within the scattered and piled straw packing material within the last of three crates. Each one of these pods will produce 1d4 Urglun before going sour and collapsing into a puddle of horrid-smelling nastiness.
25. The tattered shreds and remnants of a hot air balloon flap in the wind. There is no sign of the basket.
26. This section of the roof is still under the influence of an Unfix Boundaries spell.
27. 6d100 feet of rope, all of it cut into 50' lengths.
28. A rusty grapnel is firmly stuck in place, but the cord is rotted away. It might be worth a few coppers, but only the most desperate thief would trust it in anything but the most dire circumstances.
29. The section of crawlspace just behind where you are now is crawling with 4d12 giant spiders. They've been very, very successful in acquiring prey of late.
30. A completely dismembered Octoscholar has been scattered across this rooftop. Whoever did this did a thorough job. But why?

Roofcrawling: Table II

Roofcrawling Table II (D30)

1. (4d6) Giant Ants have set up a nest inside the crumbling facade of a storefront. So far they have confined themselves to preying upon the few derelicts, bums or stray dogs that they have been able to grab from the near-by alley, but as the nest expands, they'll need more fresh meat.
2. A Gelatinous Cube has learned to shape itself so that it now fills the troughs and eaves around 1d4 buildings that lean against one another. Because it is spread out so much, it only inflicts 1d4 damage on initial contact, and takes 1d4 turns to gather itself together enough to swallow a human-sized victim. There is a base 20% chance that the Gelatinous Cube will expand too quickly or too heavily and break the eaves loose, spilling it and its victim into the street or alleyway.
3. (1d4) Albino Apes have made a sleeping-area within a caved-in section of this building's roof. They wait here for their master to come at night and give them orders, such as what homes to break into, or whom to stuff up a chimney.
4. (2d4) Pixies have set-up a small little fort within the overhang of this building's roof. It looks like a clever child's play-fort, but is in fact protected by a set of caltrops, snares, and at least one deadfall trap. The Pixies are also likely to have 1d6 belled cats prowling the area to warn them of any potential intruders.
5. (2d4) Molg prowl this rooftop in search of stray wisps of ectoplasm.
6. (1d4) immature, recently hatched baby Basilisks clutch tightly to a chimney for warmth. Their gaze still petrifies, but victims get a +2 on their save as the youngsters haven't fully come into their powers yet.
7. (2d4) Giant Centipedes have been burrowing under the shingles of this house. They will erupt forth from the rotten tiles and attack anyone who walks on this rooftop with almost complete surprise.
8. A lone kobold with a light crossbow and a dagger is carefully picking his way across the rooftops in order to take a pot-shot at one of the local Guards or Constables on a dare with his friends. He knows where another 6d10 kobolds are holed-up within the rafters of an abandoned building near-by and he'll sell-out his buddies at the first sign of trouble if it'll save his scaly hide.
9. Insect Swarm (see sub table)
10. The bones of a long-dead Hippogriff are lodged behind a cluster of chimneys and a section of false fronting. A crude, but still intact cold iron manacle is locked around the beast's left hind-leg and the rotting shreds of a leather muzzle dangle from the thing's beak.
11. (1d4) Vilg have made a fetid nest next to a stagnant pool. Someone seems to deposit dead bodies here every few days. The trail of dried blood might lead back to Encounter 3 above.
12. (1d8) Shriekers are growing quietly and unobserved just beneath the collapsed awning of this shop that has been closed for months, if not longer. There might well be something nasty lairing within the abandoned shop that gets awakened by the shriekers.
13. (2d6) Higher Baboons, all of them descended from a mated couple that escaped from a traveling circus, have taken to a life of casual thievery from the rooftops. So far very few people have ever seen the Baboons, and those few who have are not believed.
14. A wounded Blink Dog lies in the hollow behind this facade. The blood is still fresh on the roof surface  revealing where it crawled into this space. A little kindness could earn the creature's trust...
15. (1d3) Carcass Scavengers have been attracted to the rotten bodies that have been getting dropped off at Encounter 11 and they want their share. Now.
16. This rooftop is in actuality one rather old, almost senescent Gray Ooze that generally contents itself with preying upon small birds, insects, and bats. It has grown very large and very contented by the success of this more stealthy, patient approach and is unlikely to get overly involved with larger prey unless the opportunity is just too good to pass up, or someone riles the Big Ooze by setting fire to its rooftop, or something similarly stupid as that.
17. A swarm of (1d100) normal bats will stream forth from this broken chimney at dusk, just as they stream back in at dawn. They've been nesting here for years. But who -- or what -- would live in a place that's filled with bats hanging from the rafters?
18. (1d2) Dapple-gray coated panthers have taken to prowling the rooftops at dusk. They hunt pixies, kobolds and avoid the Vilg at Encounter 11 as much as possible.
19. A Dryad has taken up residence within a sapling that is growing from out of the detritus and debris accumulated in the crook of this sagging roof. She is on good terms with the Pixies at Encounter 4 and can call upon the Higher Baboons from Encounter 13 for a favor, if needed.
20. (1d6) Giant Carnivorous Flies are buzzing about a recently killed body that someone left here in a hurry--perhaps the characters scared-off someone on their way to feed the Vilgs at Encounter 11?
21. (2d4) Fly-Taurs are in the process of hatching from translucent pupae, all of this has been carefully arranged and set-up, but by whom? To what end?
22. The carcass of a Wall Horse has been left here by some gargoyles.
23. A profoundly lost Marmoset in chain mail lugging a massive pot of mustard across the roof-tiles. It is grumbling in archaic Francais.
24. (1d6) Necro-Pixies are having a game of tag with a will-o-the-wisp.
25. (1d4) Koponu are hidden beneath and behind some rubble. They only come out at night. Unless disturbed. They will attempt to get anyone they recognize as adventuring-types to hire them on as quiet, non-flammable and self-propelled torches. (60% chance the little thing have an arrangement with some local gang of ruffians and thugs to deliver said adventurer-types into their trap.)
26. A Daemonical Cyst has become lodged in the eaves. There appears to be something, or someone, trapped within it.
27. A green spindle of polished bloodstone mounted in an assembly of thin, brass hoops hangs off of a protruding mass of broken roof-timbers by a delicate chain. Every time it is disturbed, roll on one of the Damned Things tables to determine what sort of things begin to fall from the sky...
28. An Ordrang is hovering about this rooftop, devouring bits of ectoplasm left-over from a fight between a Fantomist and some now very, very dead scavengers.
29. (1d4) Rulak hover here entranced by the subtle emanations of a peculiar tenebrous red triangular object (It is a portal.)
30. A Blatherer has been trapped up here all week and it is simply dying to tell you all about it...

Roofcrawling I (Random Table/Encounters)

Roofcrawling: Table I (D30)

1. Loose tiles, Make Save or slide off of roof
2. (1d4) Gargoyles
3. You disturb a flock of pigeons, Make save or lose grip/footing
4. (1d6) Thieves (30% on way back from heist, 30% trailing a potential victim other than your party, 40% trailing the party)
5. A lone assassin on a tight schedule, enroute to target
6. (2d4) Street Urchins hunting pigeons with make-shift slings
7. Weak spot in roof, Make save or fall through to floor below
8. Area under repairs (40% workers present, 40% scaffolding empty, 20% Aerial Critter has taken up residence in scaffolding)
9. Hive of normal bees or wasps
10. Birds nests. (30% chance of eggs, 30% hatchlings, 30% empty)
11. Rooftop hermit with sea captain's spyglass
12. Hole leads to crawlspace infested with bats, rats or other vermin
13. Stagnant puddle, Save or chance of disease (cholera, etc.)
14. Weak timberwork, riddled with normal termites or carpenter ants, Save or it crumbles and you fall
15. Broken glass scattered to deter thieves, does 1d4 damage
16. (1d4) giant spiders have webs anchored from the local chimneys, eaves and roof peaks
17. Weather vane, worth 2d10 gp, with a 25% chance to be recognized
18. Lightning rod, worth 4d20 gp, with 10% chance of being enchanted
19. (1d4) Hunchbacks
20. (1d6) Rooftopi armed with javelins.
21. (1d2) Gargoyle eggs in seemingly abandoned nest...
22. Tar paper surface bubbles up a bit upon contact inflicting 1d4 damage to anyone coming into contact with it. It is boiling hot due to a magical lens left lying here after some students attempt at a prank. (20% chance that it starts a fire while you're on the tar.)
23. Roof tiles shift. There is a massive nest of carpenter ants all through this structure. (40% chance to fall through roof)
24. An animated Hangman's Noose slithers across the roof before you like some hungry snake. It might reconsider you as a victim if you prefer to push the issue.
25. A clandestine rooftop hot house has been set-up here, out of sight, in order to provide food to a band of scrawny-looking urchins or feral children. But who is their benefactor? And why?
26. A foamy mass of discarded and still-wet chrysali dangle from the support structure. What kind of moths have a 5-6 foot wingspan?
27. Hundreds of small bones litter the edges of the gutter. Some sort of rodents seem to be using this as a feeding-grounds...
28. You find yourself looking at a group of adventurers about to break into a place through the roof-top skylights. Are they competitors, rivals or enemies? Do they spot you?
29. Someone or something has been tending the deep, stagnant puddles atop this sagging old roof. Lots of squiggly-things squirm around in the filthy water...
30. How about something really special? (See Special Rooftop Encounters Table).

Roofcrawling With Porky

Roofcrawling Tables by Porky: Fiddlers on the Roof (1), More Fiddlers on the Roof (2), and Even More Fiddlers on the Roof (3).