Jack Shear has perhaps the longest blog title and hostname in all of OSR.

He also has lots of really good ideas for the Weird.

Today I learned of his Random Wizard’s Tower Generator, and I like it.

The above link seems to have gone stale; the page is no longer visible on Jack’s site. However, I do see the Random Wizard’s Tower Generator in my copy of Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque II. I don’t see the PDF still available, but the books are available in hardcover and in softcover via jack.shear’s Store at Lulu.

A set of tables to generate general information about wizard’s towers, plus a few supplementary tables to round things out.

• Tower Name (in case you don’t already have one)
  • Wizard Name (again, in case you don’t already have one)
• Theme (what the wizard is really into)
• Foreboding Aspect (what keeps the locals away)
• Aesthetic (overall style)
• How Many Levels
• Types of Levels (starts with private chambers and library, and a d20 table to flesh out the rest)
• Primary Protection (what keeps him from being disturbed… more)
• Secondary Protection (roll again, but they are weaker or fewer)
• Associated Tables
  • Don’t Touch That Because…
  • You Knocked That Over And…
  • Odd Room Features
  • Abortive Experiments
  • What’s in the Wizard’s Dustbin

I love random tables that can give me direction, or jerk me out of a rut.  Let’s see what this one gives.

d12 twice, d20 once: The Cyclopean Tower of Zerio

d12: Really into Things Man Was Not Meant To Know

d10: Skeletons wander the area near the tower

d10: Overall aesthetic is rustic and charming [really?  I thought about overruling, but let’s go with it]

d4+1: (doesn’t sound really powerful to me): 4 levels

• Private Chambers
• Wizard’s Library
• Alchemical Library
• Wunderkammer – medical oddities, natural history specimens

Primary Protection: Magical Traps

Secondary Protection: Hauntings (see What Type of Haunting is Afoot Table on page 74 [of Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque Compendium — also available for purchase in hardcover or softcover, see Jack’s site for details).

I can work with this.  It gives me a good start and I can branch out to other sources and random references as I want.