d10 Ruins Locations

Give your PCs a map (or even don't) and they're bound to stray off the several paths you've set. When you tell them about the gnoll encampment to the north, the treasure-laden mountains to the south and the humble, yet inviting town the east, they'll go west. Maybe they'll find the abandoned ruins of a keep, a town, a temple and I could go on but won't.

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1. Corrupted goblin outpost. Long ago, the daelkyr brought an end to the goblin inhabitants (the Goblin Empire was a great, terrible one) of this tower and an end, of course, is just another way of saying a 'new beginning'. All that remains now is corruption - every stone brick, every corroded fixture and every memory warped.

2. Cultists waiting for their messiah to arrive. It is prophesied that the messiah will be brought to them by her captors, deprived of her memories. These villains must be sacrificed to return her memories and usher in the beginning of a new era.

3. Desecrated altar. An angry, broken goddess demands compensation from whoever crosses her path. If she can't be whole, no one else can be either.

4. A banshee haunts the ruins. Hunters and travellers have heard her cries. She's looking for her beauty long lost.

5. Savages have taken up residence. They've grown accustomed to a certain standard of living and demand homage from house guests.

6. A washed up magician has locked himself up in solitude here, taking his last shot at making the big time. He's not a bad guy really, just under a lot of pressure. Semi-competent homunculi assist him and keep him from being disturbed. A well-spoken group of adventurers might make for better assistants. Or test subjects.

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7. Juliet's locked Romeo in the dungeon. He's sweet and all, but his entrails fetish is a bit much for her. She'd leave, but he gave her a draught that's dissolving her bones. The antidote is on Romeo's lips.

8. Juliet's locked all her Romeos and Rosies in the dungeon because she's a hag who's proud of her ever-growing stash of lovers and admirers. Gender doesn't matter as long as you tell her she's beautiful and never leave her. Ever.

9. Exhausted soldiers from the next kingdom over have taken refuge against assassins. The assassins have the place surrounded and some have snuck into the ruins with their pet spiders. Every morning, another soldier is found dead. 3 remain. Actually the soldiers are half-ghouls in armour that have been charmed into thinking that they're regular soldiers on their queen's orders. The assassins are mere delusions.

10. Not actual ruins, but the back of a giant butcher demon collecting stock for his customers. Each room contains different cuts of various meats. The butcher is very discerning - not every part of a creature is up to standard. Clientèle with slaves look forward to wholesale meats from the off-cuts bin, especially when they can walk unassisted.