Generators

1. Generators

   #1

   I guess I must go public now. I like those little generating programs, or at least some of them. Generators can create things you would not think of yourself, and inspire you this way. If it doesn't help, you just click the button again to get a new chance (or think of something yourself!).
   
   
   A Rant at GameGrene complains about the quality of some of these tools... and is quite right.
   
   
   A few pages with lots of generators, some excellent:
   http://www.seventhsanctum.com/
   - MANY. Oh so many. Much anime for my tastes, but some are quite good and useful.Naming and Equipment seem to be most useful to dig into.
   
   http://www.squid.org/tools/random/index.php thank goes to Moon for this one.
   
   http://spitfire.ausys.se/johan/
   Try the Village or the Names or NPC (group) Generator.
   
   http://www.irony.com The good old Irony Games webtools.
   
   http://www.heromachine.com/ Not truly a generator, paint yourself a character. Saves me from players that want their PC have shape.
   
   A neat Cave Generator. There is more to see on that page.
   
   2 online weather Generators:
   http://www.tomeoftrouble.com/rpgtools/tools/weather.html
   
   http://www.sdzc.net/weather.html
   
   
   Now, let me add a few of my own little creations:
   
   http://generating.strolen.com/gen/persona.html Generates the hair- and eye-colour, and the relative weight and height of a humanoid, depending on its race.
   
   http://generating.strolen.com/gen/npc.html NPC characteristics from Strolen's Citadel, you can now generate them!
   
   (comments welcome...)

2. Generators

   #2

   Took some time, but it looks great:
   
   A new Personality Generator inspired by the well-known RPG Tips.
   
   
   Try it!
   
   (And if you know of other links to good generators we can use, add them here.)

3. Re: Generators

   #3

   I
   http://spitfire.ausys.se/johan/cave/default.asp
   Try the Village or the Names or NPC (group) Generator.

   
   
   Dead Links... at least for me they are.

4. Generators

   #4

   http://spitfire.ausys.se/johan/cave/default.asp doesn't resolve as a page, but the others do, and the rest of the site seems to still be there.

5. Generators

   #5

   Fixed. Looks like some update or other problems caused by the author. ;)
   
   But the generators work. Anybody knowing other ones?

6. Generators

   #6

   See Dr. Unheimlich's Disease Registry, a funny page that tells you what your actual problem is...
   
   

   I'm afraid it's bad news. You are suffering from
   Manfred's Disease.
   
   Cause: psychological
   
   Symptoms: mild stiffness, extreme nice dreams, wheezing
   
   Cure: attempt to repeat cause

   
   
   Simply input your name, or whatever random text. Incidentally, it is also an interesting idea generator. Can't think of something new for your players? Here you go.
   
   ---
   Note: there are also many others generators on that page... each weirder than the one before.

7. Re: Generators

   #7

   I'll put myself in the firing line here -
   
   http://www.marnok.com/adventure/
   
   My random adventure idea generator. Constantly being updated and tweaked, so if you have a suggestion I'm happy to listen.
   
   ((strolen: edited link))

8. Re: Generators

   #8

   http://www.marnok.com/adventure/101npcs.php
   
   prototype of another generator : 101 NPC personalities. DM's need never be stuck with dull, lifeless NPCs again! instead they can be stuck with dull, repetitive ones (until I load more data options in)
   

9. Re: Generators

   #9

   More self-advertising, this time surprisingly from me.
   
   
   After long months, nay, weeks, of hardest labour, I present my very own amazing Generator page!
   
   
   Therein shall I gather the odd little programs I produce now and then. Therein you shall find them for your personal enjoyment and unending hours of unhindered inspiration.
   
   My newest addition, small by size, but gigantic by its technological leap, is the Public Servant Generator. My unique Make-A-Table technology released to the public makes it easy to adapt the simple concept to many a set of tables which are nested together. Even non-programmers find it easy now to create new generators - try to make your own!  :up:
   
   
   *breathes deeply for a while, and calms eventually down* Enough advertising. Hope you find it useful!

10. Re: Generators

    #10

    the generator page is really cool.
    
    I've never played with one before. Nice page :up:

11. Re: Generators

    #11

    Some of you have already noticed our new part of the Citadel - Random Generators.
    
    Sure it is under construction, and always will be. But now it is officially a part of the website! Go play.

12. Dave's Funky Setting Generator, v 0.1

    #12

    Since we seem to be having another spate of random generatiors going around, I thought this would be an opportune time to go "public beta" with a little project I've been tinkering with for a while now:
    
    Dave's Funky Setting Generator, v 0.1
    http://www.penguinking.com/setting.php
    
    
    It's quite basic at the moment, mostly owing to the fact that I'm not really sure where I'm going with it; if you have any suggestions or feature requests, please, I'm all ears.
    
    (I was thinking of an option to make the generated premise alliterate, but I'm not certain there'd be much interest in such a feature...)
    
    
    Related rpg.net thread  http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=305688

13. Re: Generators

    #13

    A linear, but well-composed generator with plenty of weird options is bound to generate some interesting stuff.
    
    
    Looks pretty. :)

14. Re: Generators

    #14

    A few cosmetic changes were done, and a 1dAnything was added to the dice roller. Let me know of any ideas to expand it all further.
    
    
    Also have discovered the Generator Blog - a listing of various generators to be found on the Web, that goes very far beyond RPG needs, you can find stuff for mere entertainment or your website. From the usual story elements/names through the ninja text generator... up the Alcohol Abuse-Excuses generator. :)
    
    ---
    
    The A-Team Episode generator. Now that's a killer.
    
    The A-Team is hired by EchoMirage to go to Botswana to rescue manfreds brother from Gordon, who is intent on taking control of Botswana.
    B.A. is afraid to fly ,so they stop him drinking milk and Murdock flies them to Botswana.
    They arrive and go into the nearest Oaty Bar where they get into a fight after asking about the clients brother.
    They are overwhelmed by twenty or thirty really big villagers.
    The little village in Botswana is living in terror of Gordon and the accompanying band of thugs.
    Murdoch convinces the villagers to let them go by saying - "Let's do it for the kids!"
    Hannibal comes up with a plan. He has B.A. turn a bottle and a big can opener into a deadly truck.
    Face pretends to be pimp, but Gordon catches on and tries to kick Face. Hanibal rescues Face at the last second.
    Then Hannibal goes in their front door in their deadly truck. They manage to defeat all the thugs.
    Gordon holds a gun to Murdochs head and escapes using the deadly truck as transportation.
    The A-Team pursues them.
    Hanibal shoots out the side window. When Gordon slows down to take a turn EchoMirages brother jumps out and is helped up by Murdoch.
    Face throws explosives, causing the deadly truck to crash and flip over . Gordon climbs out unharmed. Face says "Gotcha!".
    The A-Team leaves Gordon tied up for the authorities.
    And in the little village in Botswana there is much rejoicing. In order to get B.A. to fly home though the A-Team has to stop him drinking milk again.
    
    [The End]

15. Re: Generators

    #15

    By courtesy of Wulfhere, here comes the They Fight Crime! generator.
    
    He's a Nobel prize-winning skateboarding inventor with a mysterious suitcase handcuffed to his arm. She's a provocative kleptomaniac mechanic in the witness protection scheme. They fight crime!
    
    
    Now that's a neat one. :)

16. Re: Generators

    #16

    For the record (and for the Bump). the generators have been updated where updates were necessary.

17. Re: Generators

    #17

    Fractal Worldmap Generator:
    
    http://www.lysator.liu.se/~johol/fwmg/fwmg.html
    
    Been playing around with this one.  It's pretty cool, and gives you a bunchload of options.

18. Re: Generators

    #18

    
    The Surrealist Compliment Generator
    http://www.madsci.org/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/~lynn/jardin/SCG
    
    Troglodyte kidneys measure sardonic spasms not unlike the movements of an albatross buried in creosote.
    You meander through love as a river delta contemplating levitation.
    Your eyes flash upon my cathode ray flesh in a manner that propels my viscera into an eternal state of turgid flux.
    Your skin emanates such a porcelain sheen that I am tempted to stamp WC under your bosom and across your armpits.
    Your face is like an imperfectly shaven tennis ball.
    You are as dazzling as a pregnant cow attired in electrical sockets.
    

19. Re: Generators

    #19

    Pardon me if either of these has been mentioned, but:
    
    http://members.aol.com/yavashred/generator.html
    
    A personality generator which requires you to think up numbers for yourself. The traits are good, the quirks are ok.
    
    http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/
    
    A name generator, but a good one. Gives a lot of options, as well as the power to create a template for the name.

20. Re: Generators

    #20

    Courtesy of AG, here comes the Insanity Generator:
    
    

    As you lose Sanity, you suffer from an inability to focus. You become especially distracted in the presence of any smokers, or by open flames, seemingly becoming stupefied by the fire until it is extinguished. Temporary insanity causes you to obsessively insist that fire is the only way to deal with the problems. You attempt to obtain or create Molotov cocktails or other incendiary weapons. Indefinite insanity results in pyromania, which manifests in a conviction to burn everything to the ground. Once your Sanity has reached zero, you try to commit suicide by immolating yourself.

    
    
    The set is unfortunately very small, what is pre-compiled is quite good, however. Let's hope they grow beyond twelve results.

21. Re: Generators

    #21

    Wulf described something in chat, Valadaar was talking generators, and I thought this would make a great one!
    
    Not sure what to call it, other than "Cooler Descriptions". It would go something like this:
    
    GM: You find a sack
    PC: *sigh* fascinating
    GM: Err, hang on
    
    *Hits Generator*
    
    --moth-eaten burlap potato sack or maybe saddlebag, with something wriggling inside
    --fine silken satchel, embroidered with silver thread, initialed I.I.
    --huge holdall, with intricately knotted pull-strings most likely intended for kidnapping diminutive humanoids. Dried blood stains can be seen on the outside.
    --a weird haversack, purple cloth on the inside, red-ochre on the outside. The lining feels strangely sticky.
    
    
    etc
    
    good idea? (not just for sacks obviously  :P)

22. Re: Generators

    #22

    Trying AG's insanity generator, I got:

    (CELL LEADER ONLY) Your early Sanity loss manifests as paranoia about your authority being undermined. You react angrily to any questioning of your decisions, becoming even more a martinet than usual. Temporary Sanity loss causes you to deny anything unusual is going on. Contradictions will be met with hysterical accusations of insubordination. With higher or indefinite Sanity loss, you become convinced that your cell menbers are mutinying. You arm yourself with weapons and attempt to kill the mutineers.

    I didn't know that AG knew my old boss...
    
    

23. Re: Generators

    #23

    It isn't my generator. I just found the link. :)
    
    The first half fits my current boss as well, but the second part is what makes your ex-boss truly scary, wulf.

24. Re: Generators

    #24

    Working with me, it's only a matter of time before the sanity starts to slide...
    
    Wulf at work:  SAN loss 1/1d6

25. Re: Generators

    #25

    
    Wulf described something in chat, Valadaar was talking generators, and I thought this would make a great one!
    
    Not sure what to call it, other than "Cooler Descriptions". It would go something like this:
    
    GM: You find a sack
    PC: *sigh* fascinating
    GM: Err, hang on
    
    *Hits Generator*
    
    --moth-eaten burlap potato sack or maybe saddlebag, with something wriggling inside
    --fine silken satchel, embroidered with silver thread, initialed I.I.
    --huge holdall, with intricately knotted pull-strings most likely intended for kidnapping diminutive humanoids. Dried blood stains can be seen on the outside.
    --a weird haversack, purple cloth on the inside, red-ochre on the outside. The lining feels strangely sticky.
    
    
    etc
    
    good idea? (not just for sacks obviously  :P)
    

    
    
    The idea is good of course. And it's not that hard to make an impromptu Sack Generator, for example (or something more encompassing).
    
    We just need a large enough data set. :)

26. Re: Generators

    #26

    As a programmer at heart, I've been thinking of something more ambitious.  The detailed flavour text is more difficult, but a list of random attributes - type,color,size, distingishing marks, condition, contents (sourced from another generator, filtered by container size), etc, would be neat, but you would need a fairly detailed database to avoid Cast Iron saddlebags full of baby elephants.
    
    Once you have the attributes, the hard part would be generating a description which was not just a list.
    
    
    
    
    

27. Re: Generators

    #27

    Perhaps this explains why most random generators out there keep roughly the same format for their entries. "You see a , with [special quirk]." That sort of thing. Perhaps if we could come up with a list of phrasings, we could then randomly choose one, then plug in values. That way we're not just giving a static list of nouns and adjectives, but we're also not trying to come up with an entire linguistics engine.

28. Re: Generators

    #28

    
    As a programmer at heart, I've been thinking of something more ambitious.  The detailed flavour text is more difficult, but a list of random attributes - type,color,size, distingishing marks, condition, contents (sourced from another generator, filtered by container size), etc, would be neat, but you would need a fairly detailed database to avoid Cast Iron saddlebags full of baby elephants.
    
    Once you have the attributes, the hard part would be generating a description which was not just a list.

    
    
    A bigger and more detailed generator is easily possible, no problem there. As for the second part, I've been pondering that for quite some time, but it's too much trouble for my comfort. There would have to be a record for each and every word that you want to use - doable for a small set maybe, but troublesome for extending.
    
    But I would love to be proven wrong. ;)
    
    
    

    
    Perhaps this explains why most random generators out there keep roughly the same format for their entries. "You see a , with [special quirk]." That sort of thing. Perhaps if we could come up with a list of phrasings, we could then randomly choose one, then plug in values. That way we're not just giving a static list of nouns and adjectives, but we're also not trying to come up with an entire linguistics engine.

    
    
    Yep, that is the easiest way. And yes, several phrases are great to make things fancier (it's also very much possible to code it - just create those phrases).
    
    
    Anyway, more opinions are always welcome (as would be assistance)!

29. Re: Generators

    #29

    To be honest, I used to use tons of online generators, but once I discovered TableSmith I found true joy. There is a bit of a learning curve, but with hundreds of available random tables to choose from ( see TableSmith Yahoo Group which requires registration) there are plenty of examples (and online help from the Yahoo Group) to aid you in developing your own automated random tables.

30. Re: Generators

    #30

    
    To be honest, I used to use tons of online generators, but once I discovered TableSmith I found true joy. There is a bit of a learning curve, but with hundreds of available random tables to choose from ( see TableSmith Yahoo Group which requires registration) there are plenty of examples (and online help from the Yahoo Group) to aid you in developing your own automated random tables.
    

    
    
    I think that was it... the registration... I couldn't find any accessible content, and had to consider whether to register or not, and then, then it was too late. I was distracted.
    
    But I guess it is an interesting platform. I'll just wait until it exports tables straight into JavaScript. :p

31. Re: Generators

    #31

    
    I think that was it... the registration... I couldn't find any accessible content, and had to consider whether to register or not, and then, then it was too late. I was distracted.
    
    But I guess it is an interesting platform. I'll just wait until it exports tables straight into JavaScript. :p
    

    That or PHP would be nice.

32. Re: Generators

    #32

    http://www.therpgsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9419
    
    There is some fun stuff there. And I posted some things up from Manfred.

33. Re: Generators

    #33

    Serendipity has loads of useful generators.

34. Re: Generators

    #34

    An impressive collection, Prowler!
    
    :) I could even generate a review of the site:
    "lololol!!!!! keep up the good work!!! ENJOLRAS IS MINE thx for r&ring mah story! but UR GONNA WRITE MORE RITE?!!! well byez! u no who!"
    
    I really liked some of those. Keep up the work.

35. Re: Generators

    #35

    http://www.colugo.org/jmcmurra/generators/
    
    Quite a few and some pretty complex.

36. Re: Generators

    #36

    Another nice collection - The Swami's Generators:
    
    http://www.geocities.com/roboswami2001/generators.html
    

37. Re: Generators

    #37

    An intriguing monster-making sort of thing:
    
    http://www.apolitical.info/webgame/creature/

38. Re: Generators

    #38

    One thing I liked Magic the Gathering cards for, was the inspirational value. Draw a random card, see what happens. Of course, that gets old soon with any limited number of cards... how about generating a card from all of them?
    
    http://generating.strolen.com/gen/card.html
    
    (Note: quite a few are invalid, but that's life. Still a nice toy.)

39. Re: Generators

    #39

    i agree on the inspirational aspect of Magic, but five hits in a row landed on invalid cards.

40. Re: Generators

    #40

    I had to click myself to near death to get even one valid card. Back to coding, manfred!

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