Thalian Musings: Writing a Rumor Table

I am an advocate of Rumor Tables in the various DnD-related FB groups I am a member of, often linking back to this post I wrote last year. While I think it does a good job of explaining Rumor Tables and how to make them work, it doesn't really explain how to generate the rumors on them.

Hence this post.

Markets are a fine place to hear rumors - Watermarket, by Simon Dominic, Wizards of the Coast

First I start with lists. A list of individuals locals would know about, a list of locations locals would know about, a list of monsters in the area that locals would know about, and a list (or pile, if printed) of published adventures I think would be fun for my players.

Second, I keep the area map (starting town, hex, hexes, whatever) available to help with placement, mostly for those published adventures.

Before I put pen to paper, I recall this definition on the purpose of rumors from the blog Alone in the Labyrinth (emphasis mine):

In an OSR/OS-adjacent sandbox rumours provide PCs with leads or hooks which are then investigated at their discretion. The purpose of this is two-fold:
To drive investigation and/or exploration of the sandbox
To present a simulacrum of a living world
(Note that this is distinct from the purpose of rumours in a "trad" campaign, where rumours are used to steer the party onto the railway tracks set down by the module or the GM's story "arc")

That in mind, I turn the map and lists into 20 or 30 actionable rumors. If I get stumped before reaching 20, I just write out whatever crosses my mind, knowing I can use it as a false rumor or let it inspire me if the players pursue it. That is key - accepting that the players won't go after every rumor, or perhaps any of them.

Tools in hand, I write up my rumors. Then I go back through and change bits of some (or all) of them to make them false or partially false. Just like real world rumors - there is often a grain of truth behind them.

Once I have my 20 or 30 rumors, all I need is players and the game is on. I strongly recommend that at the end of each session, the DM survey the players to determine their plans for the next session. Don't be afraid to remind them of (some of) the rumors they have heard if the players don't know what to do.

Good rumor tables are dynamic so need regular updating. To do so, I remove things the PCs have investigated and add new bits using the same methods I started with, but adding two lists: PC activities and NPC activities.

EDIT: a solid source of rumors comes from Courtney Campbell's book Bestial Ecosystems Created by Monster Inhabitation. While the chapter headings are familiar (basilisk, djinn, ixitxachitl, and many others - 49 total if my math is correct), each entry provides a few known facts about the critter in question, followed by rumors about them. Sometimes pages of rumors.

Now that I own it, I can start making use of what's within for my rumor tables. Give it a look.