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Hey #ttrpg friends, I'm embarking on a new personal project to write a #SettingADay for use in tabletop scenarios. Partly a writing exercise and partly for fun! Give me a 3-word prompt and I'll describe a setting in detail for you:
LOCATION / FOCAL POINT / MOOD
Example below:
LOCATION / FOCAL POINT / MOOD
Example below:
SWAMP / THRONE / HAUNTED
A thick blanket of heavy, sticky air clings to your skin as you glide through dark waters in your canoe. Towering cypress trees choke out any light from the moon and stars above. An island rises before you, an overgrown mound fifteen feet across. 1/
A thick blanket of heavy, sticky air clings to your skin as you glide through dark waters in your canoe. Towering cypress trees choke out any light from the moon and stars above. An island rises before you, an overgrown mound fifteen feet across. 1/
At its center sits a throne of twisted bones, gleaming stark white in the light of your lantern. As you step ashore, boots sinking into the grasping mud, an unnatural chill settles over you, and the trees come alive with unintelligible whispers, growing louder by the moment. 2/2
001. DINING HALL / SPORK / MYSTERIOUS #SettingADay @Dustehill
The academy's dining hall, normally abuzz with the lunch-hour chatter of students and faculty, is uncharacteristically quiet when you pass through the arched entryway. Plates of food sit untouched on long tables, 1/
The academy's dining hall, normally abuzz with the lunch-hour chatter of students and faculty, is uncharacteristically quiet when you pass through the arched entryway. Plates of food sit untouched on long tables, 1/
as though the people sitting down to eat from them had simply vanished without a trace. Pristine, starched linen tablecloths billow in a summer breeze drifting through open windows, carrying the faint aroma of honeysuckle. 2/
In the very center of the hall, resting in a small pool of blood soaking the mahogany hardwood floor, is a single, silver spork. 3/3
002. TOWER / HUNGER / SILLY #SettingADay @HeartBeatsCast
You arrive in the next town after three weeks of hard travel on dry, dusty roads. Hunger has been your constant companion for the last few days, and the heady aroma of fresh-baked apple tart, pumpkin pie, 1/
You arrive in the next town after three weeks of hard travel on dry, dusty roads. Hunger has been your constant companion for the last few days, and the heady aroma of fresh-baked apple tart, pumpkin pie, 1/
and spiced cider draws you to the tents and stalls of a harvest festival in the town square. A local band is playing merry music, and two farmers are arguing over who grew the biggest squash this year. The main attraction appears to be a wooden platform 2/
stacked high with a tower of pies, leaning precariously to one side. A sign tacked to the platform, which you can just make out over the heads of festivalgoers, announces sign-ups are open for a pie-eating contest at noon. 3/3
003. CLIFFTOP / A STATUE / TENSE #SettingADay @OccasionalGM
Biting winds whip past you on this clifftop of gray and white stone, carrying the taste of salt on the air. A storm roils on the horizon — flashes of lightning race through gunmetal clouds. 1/
Biting winds whip past you on this clifftop of gray and white stone, carrying the taste of salt on the air. A storm roils on the horizon — flashes of lightning race through gunmetal clouds. 1/
At the edge of the cliff stands a sun-bleached statue, a monument to coastal wars of generations past, sword and shield raised. The ground at its feet is in the process of crumbling away, and broken rocks tumble into the churning, waiting sea below. 2/2
004. CATACOMBS / LABORATORY / MORBID CURIOSITY #SettingADay @MStrocks
Deep beneath the city, you follow branching, twisting passageways lined with bones of the forgotten. The air hangs motionless and stale, and your footsteps echo off earthen walls where empty eye sockets 1/
Deep beneath the city, you follow branching, twisting passageways lined with bones of the forgotten. The air hangs motionless and stale, and your footsteps echo off earthen walls where empty eye sockets 1/
of countless skulls seem to follow your every movement. Shortly after taking a left turn – or was it right? – you stumble upon a circular room of stone tables carrying bloodied instruments, lit by torches. Several more tunnels lead from this room, but they all return here. 2/
The only way out is back through the passage you came in and to the right... or was it left? 3/3
005. OBELISK / RUNES / OVERJOYED #SettingADay @Ballad7Dice
The obelisk rises like an obsidian spear from the desolate landscape, the only landmark visible for miles. Long-dead husks of leafless shrubs and skeletal white trees litter the dusty red plains, as the sun beats down 1/
The obelisk rises like an obsidian spear from the desolate landscape, the only landmark visible for miles. Long-dead husks of leafless shrubs and skeletal white trees litter the dusty red plains, as the sun beats down 1/
relentlessly on your head. You stumble beneath the shadow of the ancient pillar and run shaking fingers over the wind-worn runes carved at its base. As you whisper in the language of your ancestors, the carvings glow with a cool blue light. A drop of rain falls on your face. 2/2
006. FETID / GEOTHERMAL / WASTELAND #SettingADay @bwbastards
An overwhelming odor of sulfur permeates the earth here, wafting upward in great plumes of gas from encrusted vents that burst out of the ground like tumors. The terrain is treacherous, 1/
An overwhelming odor of sulfur permeates the earth here, wafting upward in great plumes of gas from encrusted vents that burst out of the ground like tumors. The terrain is treacherous, 1/
strewn with sharp, volcanic rocks and pocked with acidic pools of superheated water. A stumble in the wrong place would result in certain death. The eons have painted this land in a palette of oranges, whites and yellows, oozing in streaks down the banks of distant hills. 2/2
007. GLASS FOREST / GLASS DEER / SPOOKY PRETTY #SettingADay @AdeptXander
Snow falls in the glass forest like a whispering veil, soft white over translucent silver. Crystalline leaves, hanging over the trail of ice, tinkle like a thousand bells with each gust of frigid air. 1/
Snow falls in the glass forest like a whispering veil, soft white over translucent silver. Crystalline leaves, hanging over the trail of ice, tinkle like a thousand bells with each gust of frigid air. 1/
You hear the deer before you see it, its hoofbeats chiming between the trees. Then it steps into view, a creature of pure glass with eyes the color of a deep winter lake. It looks at you for a moment, and you catch a glimpse of sharp fangs before it bounds into the brush. 2/2
008. TEETH / YEARN / SPOTTED #SettingADay @TransplanarRPG
In the darkest, coldest hour before daybreak, your torch burns low in your frigid, cramped grip. All around you, the night is filled with ceaseless growling and snarling of twisted beasts, teeth gnashing at the edges /1
In the darkest, coldest hour before daybreak, your torch burns low in your frigid, cramped grip. All around you, the night is filled with ceaseless growling and snarling of twisted beasts, teeth gnashing at the edges /1
of your vision, kept at bay only by the ring of spotted mushrooms you fled into for protection. Huge shadows pace back and forth just beyond the perimeter, craving your blood. They will vanish into mist with the dawn, but you must stay alive until then. Your torch goes out. 2/2
009. SHOPPING MALL / MONKEYS / DREAD #SettingADay @Yagathai
Broken glass crunches beneath your feet as you cross the atrium at the heart of the abandoned mall, sunlight slanting through the shattered window dome high above. Overgrown trees, once neatly tended in planters, now 1/
Broken glass crunches beneath your feet as you cross the atrium at the heart of the abandoned mall, sunlight slanting through the shattered window dome high above. Overgrown trees, once neatly tended in planters, now 1/
stretch their branches toward the sky and form a wild green canopy alive with chattering monkeys. Abruptly, one shrieks, and two, four, a dozen of the primates leap down and run at you. And then, in a bounding blur, they run past you — as a shadow blots out the sun overhead. 2/2
010. CIRCUS / GLOWING BIG TOP TENT / EXCITING #SettingADay @GMEverest
Dazzling lights shimmer amid a kaleidoscope of colors beneath the big top's vaulted ceiling, the roar of the crowd and whistle of firecrackers filling your senses. Acrobats twirl through the air 1/
Dazzling lights shimmer amid a kaleidoscope of colors beneath the big top's vaulted ceiling, the roar of the crowd and whistle of firecrackers filling your senses. Acrobats twirl through the air 1/
in perfect synchrony with the music and one another, their breathtaking stunts met by thunderous applause. Under a dark, starless sky, the circus tent shines as a beacon in the night, a riot of life in motion. 2/2
