I’m excited to tell you about our favorite site for November because it’s one of those gaming sites that I go to often. I don’t go there because I like the owner, because the site is pretty and shiny, or because they are an authority on a specific gaming topic. I go there because the site has concrete, useful gaming information that directly improves my game. 
What is Chaotic Shiny, exactly? In the words of Swordgleam (Hannah)…
Chaotic Shiny is a generator site aimed at people who write, game, or live in fantasy worlds of their own creation. Grappling with writer’s block? Need a character on the fly? Party just walked into a tavern and you want it to be a little more exciting than normal? Want to flesh out a setting with some detailed religions? Chaotic Shiny is the site for you.
Generators are divided into rough categories based on what they come up with. Some of them, such as the drink and name generators, are simple, whereas others, such as the civilization and pantheon gens, are much more detailed. If you want a generator that you can’t find here, you can make your own with the custom gen builder, or feel free to drop me a line with suggestions or feedback.
Enjoy!
I enjoy the results of the generators, because they put in overtime. What I mean is, I clicked on the “Law” generator to give me a random law for a region in my game…
- “The penalty for a member of a lower class offending a nobleman is execution.”
- Another law came up as, “The penalty for a free woman smuggling artifacts is whipping.”
How cool is that? Not only did it give two different laws, but I can also make up entire adventures or encounters based off of these laws.
And that’s only one generator out of what must be a hundred. Here is the result for a single merchant, using the Merchant generator:
| Merchant Gen v0.4.1 | ||||
Specializes In: spell components Also Provides: enchanted items, protective magic itemsQuality: cheap knock-off Price: a steal Variety: very goodHaggling: is treated with contempt Haggling Effectiveness: very goodDaily Special: 20% off of a relatively cheap item |
ShopkeeperName: Magath Gender: female Race: elfMood: miserable Currently: snoozingPhysical Trait: very masculine Behavioral Trait: no sense of personal spaceAffiliation: political |
ShopSize: very large Interior: poorly decorated, dark, cool color scheme Occupants Include: a group of young women, several half-orcs, a city officialSecurity: obvious guard(s)Reputation: honorable |
||
Seriously, I could design an entire world with this stuff. Scratch that… I’m sure the Chaotic Shiny generators would do all of that for me. Prophesies, Poisons, Taverns, Adventures, Names, Insignias… you name it, it’s there.
This is the type of stuff that I like. I like getting all kinds of role-playing game material, either to use directly, or to draw inspiration from.
Thanks Hannah!
Incidentally, Hannah will be posting a Steal this Adventure article here at the Shack on Thursday. Make sure you come back and check it out!
Chris Stevens
In Chris's opinion, the very best vices are dirt bikes, rock music, and gaming, while the very best medicine is fatherhood. If he could just learn to balance them all, he'd live forever. He's much more creative than intelligent, often wakes up belligerent, and ponders many things insignificant. Lastly, in an effort to transform his well-fed body, P90X, Roller Blades, and Food are all laughing at him. And the pain continues.
I whole heartedly endorse Chaotic Shiny. Great site and Hannah’s pretty darned cool too.
Hannah’s Chaotic Shiny generators were one of the very first blog roll links I had on Leonine Roar at launch back in February, and made sure to mention them on my first Leonine 12 List: D&D’s Top Blogs & Creative Minds here: http://www.leonineroar.com/?p=295
Is there a more brilliant, rich and, most of all, *faster* way to D&D and RPG ideas and inspiration than Chaotic Shiny? Random generators for RPG bits are flat out awesome – and there’s a billion of those bits at Chaotic Shiny! Absolutely love Hannah’s generators, so helpful.