Generating some ghost towns

This post on Elfmaids & Octopi was perfect for an upcoming Gothic game. I was able to quickly generate a couple of abandoned villages to add to the hex map. There was one bit of method that I added which might be useful, though.

After rolling up the number of buildings and any extra features, I grabbed that many d6s plus some other shapes for the features. Dropping them all onto a piece of paper, I then traced them, but didn't hold them down. As the pencil moved them a bit some nice organic/ruined shapes appeared, plus a door naturally suggested itself wherever the lines didn't match back up properly.

Recording the number on the die also notes the building's condition based on the second table.

I took some photos of the process the second time around. It made a perfectly serviceable creepy little hamlet with a single, well-telegraphed encounter (a screaming wight).

Five buildings and a graveyard (d12).

Traced and numbered.

Noting the other effects of the tables, and generated a name. 

The two houses flanking the graveyard were "Hidden crumbling ruins are overgrown with trees and creepers", so added some trees.

The cursed item is going to be a weirdly heavy and still-warm dead owl that drags down encounter table results.

Here's one more larger village that was generated the same way, but I didn't take photos. The generated name, Kilocthwaite, lined up really well with the existing features. Added the water, docks, and well afterwards just based on the position of the buildings.

This has a cannibal, Lucy Gaur, living in the distant southern house, probably aware of the dangers in the village proper. Some wild dogs have moved into the open smithy but are only there to sleep during the day, and hunt the woods around at night.

At night the toad-creature in the well emerges and creeps about town - this is the vengeance sent by the gods of the murdered woodwoses displaced by the village. What appears as draped spider webs everywhere is really its dried slime. (I'll probably just use a red slaad for stats.)

Anyway each of these took less than 10 minutes!

Settlement name and landmarks generator

This is a trimmed down and gamified version of the Wikipedia List of generic forms in place names in Ireland and the United Kingdom. It can generate names of towns and settlements while also suggesting their major landmarks. I'm using this to generate the names of the hamlets for a hexcrawl.

Roll d66 for prefix, root, and suffix. Many real names just use two of these, some even dropping the root and becoming just the prefix and suffix together. Munge as needed.

A couple examples!
41 + 13 + 31 = (king) + (axe, exe, usk, esk) + (field). Eskfield. A river flows through a forest clearing.
35 + 46 + 52 = (kil, Cil) + (knock, cnwc) + (stead). Kilnockstead. An old church perched on a rocky hill with an enclosed pasture nearby.

d66	Prefix	Meaning	Root	Meaning	Suffix	Meaning
11	aber	a meeting of waters	afon, avon	river	-hay, -hays, -hayes	enclosed by a hedge
12	auch(en)/(in)-, ach	field	ar, ard	high, height	ay, y, ey	island
13	auchter-	height, top of something	axe, exe, usk, esk	river	bost	farm
14	bal, balla, bally, ball	mouth, approach	beck, bach	stream	bury, borough, brough, burgh	fortified enclosure
15	brad	broad	berg, berry	hill (cf. 'iceberg')	by, bie	village
16	bre	hill	cheap, chipping	market	carden	thicket
21	caer, car	camp, fortification	coed	wood, forest	caster, chester, cester, ceter	camp, fortification
22	cul	narrow	combe, coombe	valley	cot, cott	cottage
23	cwm, cum	valley	Craig, crag, creag	a jutting rock	dale, dean, den, dene, don	valley
24	dal	low-lying area by river	ey, ea, eg, eig	island	thorp, thorpe	secondary settlement
25	din, dinas	fort	firth	fjord, inlet	don, den	hill, down
26	dol	meadow	ford, forth	ford, crossing, road	dubh, dow, dhu, duff	black
31	drum	ridge	foss, force	waterfall	field	open land, a forest clearing
32	dun, dum, don, doune	fort	gar(t)	enclosed field	firth, frith, fridd	refuge
33	fin	holy	gill, ghyll	ravine, narrow gully	ham	farm, homestead
34	inver, inner	a meeting of waters	glen, glyn	narrow valley, dale	gowt	Water outfall, sluice, drain
35	kil, Cil	old church	hithe, hythe	wharf	ing	small stream
36	kin	head	holm	holly, island	keth, cheth	wood
41	king	leader	hope	valley, enclosed area	lea, ley, leigh	woodland clearing
42	kyle, kyles	narrows	howe	mound, hill, knoll	mouth	bay
43	lan, lhan, llan	church	hurst, hirst	wooded hill	ness	promontory, headland
44	lang	long	inch	Island, dry area in marsh.	pool	harbour
45	lin, llyn, Lynn	lake	kirk	church	port	port, harbour
46	ling, lyng	heather	knock, cnwc	hill, rocky hillock	rigg, rig	ridge
51	mynydd	mountain	loch, lough	lake, a sea inlet	shaw	a thicket
52	nan, nans	valley	lyn, lynn, lin	lake, pond	stead	enclosed pasture
53	nant	ravine	magna	great	ster	farm
54	pen	far end of, end of	mere	lake, pool	thwaite, twatt	a forest clearing
55	pit	portion, share, farm	minster	large church, monastery	toft	homestead
56	pol, pwll	pool or lake	moss	swamp, bog	wick	bay
61	pont	bridge	stow	(holy) place (of assembly)	wick, wich, wych, wyke	settlement
62	porth	harbour	swin	pigs, swine	worth, worthy, wardine	enclosure
63	shep, ship	sheep	tarn	lake	law, low	rounded hill
64	stan	stone, stony	treath, traeth	beach	keld	spring
65	strath	wide valley, vale	weald, wold	high woodland	tun, ton	estate
66	tilly, tullie, tulloch	hillock	ynys	Island	gate	road