Adventurers can leave a lot of chaos in their wake. It is rare that a party has time to stop and clean up its own messes. Even so, the world continues to turn after monumental battles and heroic feats. For this exercise take the scene of one of your hardest-fought battles. Follow the scene through time to see what that place becomes.
Describe a place that you and your party have left behind. This can be an in-depth image or bullet points of different details that stand out in your mind. Having a clear sense of place is important because it will give you a good foundation for the exercise. You could start anywhere:
• The tavern where you first met
• The room where you all first confronted the primary villain of your campaign
• The field where your camp was ambushed by monsters
• The inn you stayed at a few towns back
• The home you left behind
Roll a d6 to determine the force that causes change:
1 Weather: The area is changed by the power of the earth: wind, rain, fire, lighting, or any nonliving natural force. There are signs of flood, ashy waste, sun-bleached bones, frozen tundra, or bog-preserved corpses.
2 Life: Changes are made by nonintelligent living things such as plants and animals. You see moss, flowers, bodies picked over by scavenging beasts, and new life.
3 Individuals: The area has been changed by intelligent creatures working alone. Memorials, graffiti, and small efforts to clean and rebuild are all present.
4 Industry: Changes have been made by large groups of organized, intelligent creatures working toward a common goal. There are new developments paving over what once stood and large monuments.
5 Magic: Changes were brought about by supernatural or divine forces without individual intervention. Miracles, hauntings, and magic phenomena abound.
6 Entropy: Change has been made by erosion, rot, and death. The absence of growth and the destruction of what remains are the most striking features of the area.
Now, depending on what agency of change you picked, describe the main changes after each of these periods.
1 Week
1 Year
10 Years
100 Years