1001 Perilous Places

1001 Perilous Places

The adventurers have been researching the whereabouts of an ancient artifact. After some time consulting their separate sources, libraries, and experts, they gather in their patron's stronghold to share information and plan their next move.

GM: An ancient book has indicated that the artifact you seek is hidden in the Caverns of Despair.

Mage: I'm not sure I like the sound of that.

Party leader: Okay, so it's in a cave? We've got this. Where do we go?

GM: Whispered rumors say that the Caverns of Despair are near the Forest of Madness.

Warrior: Um, I'm not so sure I like the sound of that either.

Party leader: Relax, it's just a name. Where's this forest?

GM: The Forest of Madness is between the Glacier of Creeping Bone and the Gulf of Desolation.

Party members (in unison): I definitely don't like the sound of that!

Welcome to the "1001 Things" collections

Some cave somewhere isn't nearly as evocative as the Caverns of Despair, near the Forest of Madness, between the Glacier of Creeping Bone and the Gulf of Desolation.

That's where 1001 Perilous Places makes your game more exciting and your work as a GM easier. Here you have a thousand and one names for dungeons and other adventure locations, ready to use in an instant or to inspire you to create elements for your game world. Each gives a name and a location, so you can use the complete description and location, pick one or the other element out of it for your needs, or mix and match.

For example, you see that the Church of the Wraiths is near the Demonic Badlands. One option would be to use that as is, describing both the church and the badlands. But you might also decide to put the Church of the Wraiths in a place that already exists in your world, and just detail what kind of a church it is (if it's even a church at all), who or what the wraiths are, and what kind of adventure will center around that place. Or, if you're looking to add some interesting places to your world map, you might put the Demonic Badlands in an empty space and describe them, perhaps as broken, almost impassible terrain of cliffs and canyons, a place that is sun-baked, desolate, and waterless, prowled by demons large and small which feel at home there. And there are a thousand more of those.

For quick use, this is the perfect list to keep in your GM's notebook (or its computer equivalent, nowadays) and have at hand when you need a quick location name. Use just one part or use a full entry to answer the question "where is it, anyway?" or browse through the list to find inspiration for new and exciting adventures to challenge your players and evocatively-named places to detail your campaign world.

For quick answers or gamemaster inspiration, there's nothing better than 1001 Periolous Places.