The ruined factory stood three stories high in an otherwise featureless landscape. Although somewhat imposing on its own terms, it occupied only the most unobstrusive place within the the gray emptiness of its surroundings, its presence serving as a mere accent upon a desolate horizon. […] the whole of the Red Tower, as the factory was known, had always been subject to fadings at certain times. This phenomenon, in the delirious or dying words of several witnesses, was due to a profound hostility between the noisy and malodorous operations of the facility and the desolate purity of the landscape surrounding it, the conflict occasionally resulting in temporary erasures, or fadings, of the former by the latter.
Thomas Ligotti, “The Red Tower”
Here there are houses which dribble pale mucus, an organic daubing that smears base façades and oozes from top windows. Extra storeys are rendered in the cold white muck which fills gaps between houses and dead-end alleys. The landscape is defaced with ripples as if wax has melted and set suddenly across the rooftops. Some other intelligence has mad these human streets their own.
China Miéville, Perdido Street Station
This is background set and setting toolbox for a dark fantasy setting. Inspired by the desolate spectrum from RuneScape’s Morytania to the paintings of Zdzisław Beksiński, these random tables should help you build a setting of any level of structure or detail.
Other media that may be inspirational:
+2 Immune System
+1 Anatomy
+1 Navigation
You work directing the shambling masses to someone deserving of this fate.
Possessions: Ten-foot shepherd’s crook, pet vulture, leather coat (modest armour)
+1 Reflexes
+1 Sword
+1 Acuity
The portraits under guard here must not be viewed nor listened to. Nor may they be allowed to leave.
Possessions: Sword, blindfold, skeleton key
+2 Crow Speech
+2 Evasion
They have always spoken to you. They never stop. Even when you scream and cry, they never stop.
Possessions: Many black feathers, 3d6 stolen coins, croaking voice
+3 Glide
+3 Survive Wound
You have survived a long time. You have lost limbs, taken hits, but you can keep crawling.
Possessions: Golden wings, exoskeleton armour (heavily armoured), lance
+2 Divination
+2 Entertain
You don’t move the puppets, though it seems like it. In reality, the puppets move the world. Sometimes they portray the truth.
Possessions: 3 Marionettes, cane, pet monkey
+3 Disguise
+2 Impersonation
You have many names, many guises, and many masks. You have an unrecognizable face.
Possessions: 3 monstrous masks, robes, beast claw dagger
+3 Clairvoyance
+2 Rituals
You know the esoteric rituals to release souls from any bonds tying them to torment in the mortal realm.
Possessions: Ritual knife, candles, ghostspeak amulet
Special: With several hours and your starting possessions, you can release a tormented soul into the beyond (or lack thereof).
+3 Riding
+1 Sculpting Stone
+1 Shooting
+1 Monster Taming
Have you seen stone move so fluidly? Float like a feather? Chip and shatter when struck wrong?
Possessions: Gargoyle steed, metal crop, crossbow
Special: Your gargoyle steed may be driven beyond a walk with the crop, but striking requires a successful Riding test lest a chip break off. After 5 breakages, the next hit shatters the gargoyle after its last ride.
+2 Digestive Constitution
+2 Regeneration
+2 Fungal Communication
Your wide cap and deep gills let you breathe deep the stench of all that rots. Your mycelium picks up scant traces of fungal delight. You crave the coolness of grave earth.
+3 Pounce
+2 Bite
+1 Speak Bat
You are so hungry. Nothing appeases it. You lack the strength of your more powerful siblings, but you are clever. You survive.
Special: When you drink the blood of a warm creature, gain d6 stamina, 2d6 if the creature is a sentient humanoid.
+3 Torment
+3 Telepathy
You have no body. You inhabit the minds of dreamers, until their consciousness collapses and you may direct their body.
Possessions: None.
Special: On a successful telepathy test on a sleeping person, you transfer hosts. After hours of nightmare, you control the new host.
+3 Evil Resistance
+3 Monstrous Transformation
+3 Divination
Born of a holy thing, but then infected with something dark and evil, you are a walking paradox. Your presence is rejected by all, good and evil, but the powerful fusion in your soul left you immensely perceptive.
Possessions: Robes, Incense
+3 Impale
+3 Bear Weight
You have a collection. Your extra bones protrude from every bare inch of skin, shredding any that approach you.
Possessions: Bones, oversized femur club
+3 Suffocate
+2 Tracking
+1 Squeeze
You are coated with ooze, slime, and sludge of every putrid kind. You are filled with it. You are immensely flexible, and vulnerable to lacerations.
Possessions: Curved knife, loincloth, walking stick
+3 Claws
+3 Chase
You transform into a monstrosity - its form mangled, bony, and flabby. Lanky clawed arms extend from odd places and bend in the wrong directions. You are an expert tracker as well.
Possessions: Ragged remains of clothing, maul, decapitated snack
SPECIAL: At character creation, choose one of the following as a transformation trigger: anger, hunger, or regret.
+3 Physicality
+3 Eloquence
Flesh collage reanimated, you were brought back to be the ultimate being. It was almost successful. Though you cannot fulfill your glorious destiny, you will do anything to crush the sentient vermin that scuttle across the world.
Possessions: Bloodstained book of poetry, bone saw, claw hammer
+3 Sword
+3 Drain Energy
You once set out to this land to cleanse it of evil. You were transformed into a vengeful wight for your hubris.
Possessions: Sword, Armor, Holy symbol
+3 Climb
+2 Bite
+1 Sense Movement
Too many limbs, too many eyes. You are formed of an experiment, one that met its desired end.
Special: You can spray silk once per day, restraining or pinning an opponent.
Possessions: bits of leftover prey
+3 Impersonate (by voice)
+2 Steal voice
You have taken the voices of many. You use them to your own ends, despite how much the consciousness protests within you.
+3 Entertain
+2 Bend Reality
You danced for a now forgotten god. You were given powerful gifts, bringing you further influence and power. You wrested a small fraction of your master’s power, giving you unnatural abilities.
Possessions: Vampiric spear, amulet of deception.
+2 Transform other
+2
| 1 | Plague-ridden village |
| 2 | Dangerous, fetid swamp |
| 3 | Barren, wind-swept tundra |
| 4 | Dense, thicketed forest |
| 5 | Barren, xeric desert |
| 6 | Abandoned castle |
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