Incidental Injuries

 They don't happen in combat. They happen when climbing a wall in a hurry, escaping down a steep incline in the dark, climbing through a window from a bedroom. These aren't serious injuries, but they let people know they've been in a scrape. useful for partial successes/fails or consequences, for games that have those.

A few of them lead to interrupted sleep - I suggest no natural healing until treated by someone skilled in healing.

d8

1. Sprain/Strain

2. Knee injury

3. Fracture (1: wrist, 2: ankle, 3: foot, 4; collarbone, 5: hand, 6: toe)

4. Dislocation (1: ankle, 2: knee, 3: shoulder, 4: elbow, 5: finger, 6: toe)

5. Rotator cuff (shoulder - leads to pain, weakness and poor sleep)

6. Tendonitis (pain and swelling)

7. Groin strain (difficulty walking, pain)

8. Hip flexor strain (swelling, pain)

9. Stove finger (poor grip)

10. Concussion (d6 - 1: dizziness (reduced Dex), 2: weakness (reduced Str), 3; confusion (reduced Int/Wis); 4: any two that add to 4; 5; any that add to 5; 6: gone quiet (reduced Cha))

*"Any two" - each reduction is a reduction of -1 and they accumulate, so a '4' can mean 2 x reduced Dex and 1 x reduced Str or 2x reduced Str, etc.

Mysterious Artefacts With Wierd, Unpredicatable Powers

For when you need a magic item that is cool and distinctive but isn't going to dominate your game. 

Roll 2d12 and a d8:

1. An animal skull                            1. Control...                                    1. Haste

2. A dragon's tooth                           2. Become...                                   2. Blurred

3. A fossil ammonite                        3. Steal...                                        3. Shadows

4. A stone hand axe                          4. Summon...                                  4. Breath

5. A necklace of teeth                       5. Inflict...                                      5. Silence

6. A shrunken head                           6. Detect...                                     6. Thoughts

7. A whistle to                                  7. Reduce                                       7. Vision

8. A rabbit's foot                               8. increase                                      8. Undead

9. An octopus tentacle                                                                             9. Incorporeal

10. A dried bat                                                                                        10. Hearing

11. A necklace of frog skulls                                                                  11. Lightening

12. A broken knife                                                                                  12. Water

Table for animals, if needed:

1. Griffon

2. Rabbit

3. Dog

4. Horse

5. Cat

6. Frog

7. Bird

8. Rat/mouse

Yiks

 Yiks resemble baboon-sized arthropods, or larger, with chitinous exoskeletons. Hell, maybe they are actually arthropods. They look a like bugs with body armour and powerful mandibles. They don't spin webs and they don't tend to live in the dark, dank places that many types of giant spider favour (although there is nothing wrong with placing them there, if that's what you like), and they don't tend to be venomous, although of course there could be species or sub-species I don't know about. Greater Yik are the size of a 

They do, however, dwell in numbers, like clans, and they are intelligent. Clans can range in size from a dozen to fifty or so, perhaps even more, although they will be spaced out across their territory, and a party of adventurers are more likely to encounter a scouting party of 1-6 than large numbers. At least the first time. If an individual escapes such a confrontation, it will return with larger numbers. Usually as many again plus 1d8. 

And did I mention that they're smart? There is no doubt about this: yiks are clever in the way they go about engaging with those that enter their territory and cause harm to their kin. If they know where you are, they will consider their options before assaulting your position. If they charge headlong, in one unit, consider yourself lucky. This is a false charge: they intend for you to run away, preferably out of their territory altogether. The use this tactic mostly when intruders are still on the fringes of their hunting grounds and a direct exit is available. otherwise, if they con

They would prefer to steal supplies and equipment than to go toe-to-toe with an armoured fighter. But they set a trap if they can, lead you into traps built by others, or just steal all your rations while you're asleep. They will try to take advantage of wounded parties and even steal weapons, just to leave them less well equipped when the attack finally does come. 

Yiks don't bear humans (or any other race) any ill will. They're just trying to get by. But in the jungles and forests they tend to inhabit, there's a lot of competition for food. That said, if they can see an advantage in allying with a party of humans, they are capable of doing so. And just as capable for betraying them later.

Yik #2d3 AC 15 HD 3 Bite 1d8 Nat 19 Blade Trauma

Str14 Dex16 Con12 Int4 Perc12 Will10 Cha4 Luck5,

Climb Norm. 

Greater Yik #1d4 AC 16 HD 4 Bite 1d8+1 Nat 19 Blade Trauma

Str16 Dex16 Con14 Int6 Perc14 Will10 Cha4 Luck8, 

Climb Norm. 

Brood Mother Yik #1d2 AC 18 HD 8 Bite 2d6+2 Nat 19 Blade Trauma

Str18 Dex16 Con16 Int8 Perc16 Will15 Cha6 Luck10,

Climb Norm. 

Islands As Random Encounters

This isn't something I have actually had a chance to try yet, and when I do, I'll update this post. But I think islands as random encounters makes a lot of sense . Although the islands themselves don't move (for the most part), everything around them does, which is kind of the same...? 

Note: The islands are only random the first time they are encountered; after that, they are fixed, unless magical.

Here's why I think this ought to work well:

1) This is basically like a dungeon, where islands are really really big rooms. Only the corridors aren't fixed and mapping is tricky. But there will be monsters and treasure and traps in the form of sudden squalls...

2) Magical, enchanted, lost and forgotten isles are a stock in trade of sword and sorcery fiction, as well as myth.

3) Until the 16th Century, there was no Mercator projection (the most common format for modern maps) and older 'Portolan Charts', in use from the 13th Century, were usually restricted to coastal areas, compiled from observations. 

4) The unpredictability of currents, wind, weather, etc, means sailing ships in  the Age of Sail, even when they were not lost and were entirely aware of where they were, often did not follow an exact route. Especially on the 'high seas' over long distances. And those small variations in route might lead to odd discoveries. 

5) In game terms, randomised islands means you can include them without railroading. There is a chance that if they use route A to B, they will encounter X. Like historical explorers, PCs who travel by sea don't know what they might encounter, or where they might end up. The campaign becomes much less predictable. If players actually fully intended to get to B, then this becomes more like a Sinbad tale: their characters really wanted to get to B, but... life. When they eventually do get to B, of course, all the villains will have progressed...

6) The hierarchy onboard ships might be reflected in the level system of some rulesets, especially those that enjoy player character Titles. You might want specialist ones for a ship: Captain, First Mate, Second Mate, Ship's Wizard, Bo'sun, Navigator, Midshipman, Able Seaman, Cabin Boy, etc. As PCs advance, they can climb this hierarchy.

Islands

For the shorelines of islands encountered, see my post Types Of Shoreline. For what's on the island, roll a d8 or choose from below. 

1. Lost Civilization. A civilisation thought extinct still rules here. 

2. Lost Race. As above, but serpent folk, or tiny cavemen.

3. Ruins. Crete, etc. 

4. Wilderness. Predator-filled jungle.

5. Lost Ecosystem. Dinosaurs.

6. Hidden Enclave. Pirate republic. Amazon Fortress. Wizard stronghold. 

7. Hunting Ground. On this island, the centaurs call the shots...

8. Haunted. Ghosts of a lost age; related to the first three, above. 

Events At Sea

To keep things fresh, alter the 'register' of adventures or encounters, including ideas of different 'magnitudes'. Don't always make everything earth-shattering. There are three categories I think of in terms of events at sea: Mundane, Dramatic or Magical.

Mundane Events

Even fairly mundane events at sea can get pretty life and death fast. And in their own way tense. When becalmed, PCs might play a major role in maintaining morale, preventing mutiny or coordinating repairs. Mouldy food becomes the seed for the next quest. Storms are pretty dramatic and ought to take up a session, in my view, a lot like a battle against an army of elementals (which perhaps it is!), run in much the same way, with specific incidents demanding the PCs' intervention. A whale might prove adversarial. there are pirates, obviously. 

Dramatic Events

Some events are naturally going to take up more than a session and prove more dramatic than the day-to-day dangers and hardships encountered. Encountering a pirate is one thing, but what if the pirate pursues? Many critical choices are provoked by this: Run or fight? Continue on route or head for safety? The ships takes damage and must be repaired. A mutiny kicks off (as opposed to threatening to) and PCs must choose sides. An island is encountered unexpectedly. Or wreckage. Or sargasso. Something unusual climbs aboard. Something unusual is already aboard. War breaks out. An enemy ship is found floundering.

Magical Events

See pirate events above: Is the pirate living? Undead? Phantasmal? The Captain is haunted. The ship is haunted. The ship or the Captain is cursed. Officers become possessed. A storm blows the ship through an ancient portal. Some of the crew turn out to shape-changing serpent-folk. Or a walrus revenge squad. Or sharks. Crew rescued from a floundering wreck turn out to be sharks/were-sharks. Etc. 

Factions

Ships lend themselves to factional play. there are always at least two factions aboard any ship: Officers and Crew. In addition, the crew will often contain factions of its own. Beyond merely pro- or anti- the Captain, there will be rival leaders, different agendas (such as the 'We should head home now' faction, the 'We should become pirates' faction, the 'Discipline onboard is too severe' faction and the 'Use the map to get the treasure' faction. 

These factions won't all agree with each other and who they favour at a given time among the Officers will depend on which agenda the Captain or Officers favour. PCs should be given opportunities to engage in this sort of factionalism, maybe even taking over the ship if they choose to.  

Adventure Seeds

Something evil is onboard, as cargo. In the restricted space aboard a ship, horror ensues. Roll a d6:

1. Vampire

2. Mindflayer

3. Giant, psychic crab monster

4. Troll

5. Lich

6. Ooze

Somebody onboard has a map showing treasure. 

1. Captain

2. First Mate

3. Faction leader

4. Player character

5. Political prisoner

6. Monstrous prisoner

7. Ship's Wizard

The Captain isn't who he said he was. Who (or what) is he instead? And who else isn't what they seem?

1. Long lost heir to the throne.

2. A banished necromancer.

3. Avatar of the sea god.

4. A doppleganger.

5. A magically disguised serpent man.

6. An agent of the monarch, on a quest to save the realm.

7. A slaver

8. A pirate of high repute.

The Ship isn't what it seems. The PCs have taken passage on a ship headed for stranger seas. 

1. The ship flies

2. The ship travels between worlds

3. The ship is alive (and is its own Captain)

4. The ship travels between planets

5. The ship travels across land.

6. The ship travels across ice. 

Frog Lord

The Frog Lord bites but does not devour. He finds mail armour difficult to digest and anyway, his taste runs more to giant insects that to mammal flesh. Instead, he hurls intruders to his grotto against the cavern wall, breaking bones and tearing flesh and leaving their bodies to bleed and feed his parlour.

You may survive if you can crawl away. You may bind your wounds and mend your armour. You may slink off into the shadows or rise to arms and fight again. But beware the new moon and the first rays of a new crescent, for they will have power over you now, and your flesh will crawl and shift, your blood run cool, and when the ponds and streams of your homeland echo with the throb of amphibian throngs, you will hear them. You will hear them calling and you will itch for the feel of cold mud on your skin.

FROG LORD #1 AC 16 HD 4 Bite 1d12 and Tongue (Close range, dragged into Melee + Grabbed, Str contest resists, no action) 

Nat 19 Grabbed in teeth and shaken and flung: 2d6 on Toad’s turn, then thrown at nearby wall for 1d6.

S18 D12 C17 I3 P10 W14 Ch5 L7, Leap Close. Reac 2-5 Combative 6-8 Hungry 9-12 Languid.

Frog Lords are 9 ft behemoths, fat amphibians with lumpy skin, a great, toothy maw, and an evil intelligence. Their colouration runs the gamut of sickly greens and yellows and some exude a toxin onto the surface of their skin . When a victim survives the bite of a Frog Lord, they undergo a transformation on the next New Moon. Roll 1d3:

1: No physical transformation takes place, at least not externally, but the victim loses all sense of their humanity and retreats into wetland or at least muddy areas, submerging themselves as far as possibly in the cold slime and behaving, to all intents and purposes, like a frog. 

2: The victim transforms into a frog-like humanoid, gains the tongue attack of the Frog Lord and a bite attack. Can also leap anywhere within Far range as a move and leap over obstacles. Their bite can also pass on batrianthropy (a word I made up - shape-changing into a frog), if the victim fails a Luck (Con) save (each time bitten) but the victim always adopts the characteristics of 1, above.

3: The victim is transformed into a Giant Toad (ToA 201) with 3 HD and Bite 1d10.

The Carcajou

 

Carcajou haunt the high and the cold places, the places with snow for whatever reason, where others struggle to eek out a living and where forests grow stunted for the lack of northern sunlight. They prey on karibou and any other herbivores that venture into their territory, but also other warm-blooded mammals; humans and demi-humans have been known to fall foul of the carcajou. The Carcajou don't understand what the fuss is about. Its not like they're cannibals. That only happens in extreme circumstances.

Many human lords have tried to recruit the carcajou to their cause. Many have discovered they cannot afford to feed them.

The carcajou are stocky, powerful and ferocious-looking warrior-folk, that usually stand no higher than 5,6, with long, thick, brown, oily fur and short but powerful claws on big hands and feet.

Life expectancy 40 - 50 yr.

They make good barbarians, fighters and rangers.

Their diet is varied and opportunistic, including small mammals, birds' eggs, berries, and carrion, which they are adept at tearing with their strong jaws and a specialized upper molar. 

They are well-suited for cold conditions, with the ability to find food even from frozen carcasses. 

Powerful Build: Advantage on all saves relating to Strength and Constitution.

Lack charm: disadvantage on Charisma based saves and checks.

Natural Armour: (thick fur): +1 AC

Frenzied Bloodlust: When they become Wounded, Carcajou gain an additional free attack. This resets when they are no longer Wounded.

Scent: gain advantage on Perception if scent is present.

Gluttonous: Carcajou cannot let potential food go unassessed for edibility; that includes almost any carcass they come across. Such potential food items do include humans except among individuals acclimatised to human company. The habit requires a fairly thorough assessment by sight and smell, eating as much as can be eaten at a sitting (raw), taking what can be carried and hiding the rest for ‘on the way back’. This is a compulsion and attempting to ignore it will lead to an inability to sleep. Sleep is impossible  until a course of action is taken that will lead to the compulsion being fulfilled. This negates all the usual benefits of sleep, including natural healing. E.g. on passing a potentially edible carcass, a carcajou won't sleep until they decide to go back and check it. After that point, they can sleep until they reach it. If it is gone, they now cannot sleep until they find it. If they do find it they must assess it and deal with it immediately. If they cannot find it because it has been moved they must determine what happened to it and if it has been eaten, the issue is resolved. If not, GM's discretion. 

Most carcajou cannot ride horses, as the mounts bolt, and most carcajou would rather eat a horse anyway. Carcajou Rangers can get round this by making their horse their animal companion. Some clans breed their own ponies, that are not skittish around them. These are tough mounts but give no warning when Carcajou are nearby.

 

Encounter Table for travelling within the old dwarf mines of Mons Argentis.

Encounter check table for Mons Argentis tunnels:

1. Encounter. Roll below.

2. Spoor. Roll below for species.

3. Troeg  (troglodytes) send reinforcements to their nearest position.

4. Ghost Face hobgoblins ambush nearest troeg outpost.

5. Grulock band ambush troeg patrol. 

6. A currently active faction have set a new trap (1: troeg, 2: hobgoblins, 3: grulock)

 

Encounters 

1. d8 Troeg scouts (troglodytes). They carry no light source and sense prey by scent alone. 

2. d8 hunting lizards. Roll again for type:

3. Vermin. Roll again for type, according to system. 

4. Slug watcher keeps vigil on a stretch of the tunnel, alerting its superiors of any who approach. Hard to spot, but will not attack except in self-defense. 

5. Grulock raiding party, approaching the nearrest Troeg outpost. 2d8 warriors and a High Grulock. d4 are Brutes. All wear +d3 armour. 

6. Blue Jar hobgoblin Trade Wagon plus family of 2d4. Peaceful traders seeking modest profit.

7. Ghost Face hobgoblin raiders seek Troglodyte hides. 3d4 warriors led by a chief, in mail armour, with short swords and shields. PCs are not their target but will attract their suspicion.

8. A lone slynth traveller, scouting Troeg movements.  

Centipede Variants

 Centipedes are predators and they are always venemous.

Ghoul-bite Centipede: Bite has a venom that paralyses, much like a ghoul.

Mage-hunter Centipede: Smells magic. Becomes the most likely encounter on the next Random Encounter check, after any magic user casts a spell.

Mind-eater Centipede: Venom causes brain damage. Drains a point of Intelligence on a failed Con save.

Acid-bite Centipede: acid venom reduces armour by 1 AC after the attack and causes 1hp damage per round for d6 rounds. 

Blood-hunter Centipedes: tracks by scent once they have it. Used by evil sorcerers, dark lords and anybody else with the means to train them.

Centipede Kings: their bite transforms victims into a centipede, either permanently or temporarily or as a were-form.

Crawlswarm Centipedes: have the ability to dissemble into a swarm of smaller centipedes.

Mindlord Centipedes: their venom makes victims susceptible to their psychic power, which they use to enslave humans and other species.

I will add to this list as and when I come up with more. 

 

Text of a Fragment of Parchment Found in a Ruined Dwarf Scriptorium

Their chief shows himself, to make us pause,

Then his packmates leap with teeth and claws.

We rend the dark with screams and howl

As they tear our fesh with talons foul.

 

Encounters with the hunting lizards seem more frequent of late. It makes me feel as though something were coming. Something terrible. 

Text Fragment found in the abandoned scriptorium of Minera Argentum within Mons Argentis.

 

 

 

Cold Goddess Mountains

The Cold Goddess Mountains stretch over 2000 miles north to south, to the west of the most settled areas in my 'known lands' setting. They are characterised by steep mountain slopes and dense, lush forest, as well as bleaker colder landscapes in places of higher elevation. This region is dotted with both recent and ancient dwarf mines, as well as more recent human mines. 

The Cold Goddess moutnains are reputed to be haunted, and are home to a number on non-human peoples.

A small number of dwarves roam the region, the last vestiges of their dwindling population. They sell their skills where they can and try to avoid places they might be enslaved. 

There are elves.  Specifically two warring races, the Sidhe (pronounced 'Shee'), who arrived here with the last wave human migrants and the Manavargr, a northern race who are hostile to humans and Sidhe alike. 

Blue Jar hobgoblin folk trade here, both above and below ground and maintain positive relations with most of their neighbouring nations, though even they struggle with some of them. 

There are occasional incursions from the troeg, troglodytes who live in warrens beneath the mountains and see all their neighbours as food or resources. These are actually the main species in the region, possibly aside from humans. Numbers are unclear on both sides. But the troeg live in great numbers beneath the mountains, in tunnels they cut themselves, when their race were slaves. They raid the surface for slaves themselves, now, and for food and raw materials such as hides and wood and human hair.

Carcajou are present in the region and various attempts have been made to constrain them with treaties, but they are a disparate and diverse folk and while a single group or tribe might be bound by the terms of a treaty, others often don't feel the same way.

Rivers flow east to the sea and south, from the Cold Goddess range. Along these arteries of trade and colonisation travel humans, in boats or on horses along their banks. Those who cannot settle the fertile floodplains of these rivers, either through lack of resources or lack of interest or will, may travel beyond the settled lands and find themselves in the shadow of the Cold Goddess. Here, they often become hunters or trappers, traders to the few and far between settlements and outposts, loggers, or else are lured by the rumours of lost dwarven treasure beneath the cold and unforgiving mountains. Most find the going hard, the climate treacherous, the terrain difficult, and the isolation close to unbearable. No small number find it impossible to bear and succumb, in one form or another, to despair. They might turn to the dark idols said to be found in the high, windswept ruins that dot the region, or else become killers, when hunger overwhelms their humanity. Or else they give in to the dark and silent calling that some claim to hear, echoing from the high valleys and the deep gorges and which some say is the sound of the Cold Goddes herself, weeping they say, at the fragility of humankind. Or, say others, laughing.

For those for whom it is all too much, there is something else, beyond despair. The Calling, as it is known, becomes too much to resist and they give into it, running off into the night to give themselves to chaos. The darkness, it is said, finds a way inside and they are changed by it. Some end up mutilating themselves, others seem to change by no means known to them. They might bear a mark, such as eyes without whites, or overlarge teeth, a taste for human flesh or blood. Such people are known as Goblin Men, though there are women among them, and they gather in the lost and distant places of the forest at the mountains' foot, or on its high, rocky shoulder, or in its pits, and sing to the moon or other less fathomable things, or to the Cold Goddess herself, and wait for a chance to feast on their erstwhile fellows. For only human flesh, it is said, will ever make them feel warm again.

Jackdog Town

The name of Jackdog Town was inspired by this blog, "A Forgotten Monster: The Cruel Jackdog" on Save vs Worm, about a long-lost D&D monster, which I heard about here, on Blogs On Tape. I just like the sound of it.

Jackdog Town is a town within the Cold Goddess mountain range, within a silver-mining region. 

This region is dotted with both recent and ancient dwarf mines, as well as more recent human mines. 

Jackdog Town is really a supply town. It was originally conceived of as that town outside the dungeon, where player characters resupply, replace lost comrades and listen in on other people's conversations to acquire rumours. But now it has taken on a life of its own, largely through watching Deadwood and reading western-themed location modules and then kind of realising they didn't work in the 'very medieval' theme I wanted in my campaign. I'm not saying the result is 'very medieval'. I don't know what it is. It is what it is.

Jackdog Town is also something of a cultural crossroads, as it stands on the edge of 'known lands', adjacent to a region I'm going to call Cold Goddess Mountains, at least for now. There are not a great number of dwarfs in my setting, but a couple run a local supply store. Maybe the odd prospector comes through. There might be an elf, but if there is, it would be unusual - an elf more akin to a sidhe, I think, maybe an outcast, to be slumming it with humans. I'm not sure I'm not too bothered. But importantly, there is a carcajou, which is a race I'm working on and will post about, that are basically anthropomorphic wolverines. And that's a big deal (that there is one in town) because they basically don't do humans, and humans don't generally appreciate them. But I think they'll make good rangers. 

In addition, the town will have some or all of the buildings listed below and I will post on them in groups of three or four. Probably. 

Church or Temple (possibly several, not decided)
Monastery (kind of a satellite Manor - would be at some distance, really, and possibly pre-dates the town and possibly doesn't even exist)
Well, Tithe Barn, for storing the tithes that go to the church, Granary, Cattle Barns, Stables, Market, Taverns, Inn, Almshouse, Great Hall, Houses
Workshops -  Blacksmith, Woodcutter, Mill, Charcoal Maker, Fishery, Bakehouse, Brewery, Furrier, Carpenter, Barber
Arable land - Grain Fields, Vegetable Patch, Orchards
Non-arable Land - Meadows, Pasture, Woodland / Forest, Marsh, Fallow Fields, River and Pond

 

 

Types Of Shoreline (Shoreline 1)

Terrain, its impact on description and its role in campaigns, often gets forgotten. This post is part of a series on how different kinds of shoreline can be used in adventures, encounters and campaigns.  Shorelines are often overlooked as interesting locations for fictional encounters and events. I'll be updating this post a shoreline at a time.

Shorelines can be classified either by their physical features or by the processes that formed them. 

By Physical Characteristic:

Rocky Shores. Large rocks and cliffs where waves hit the hard stuff.

On rocky shores, landing a water craft of any kind would be perilous. Sailing boats are likely to want to steer clear of rocky shores, as even further out to sea, large, submerged rocks are a threat to the hull. Rowing in to shore is more practical, at least in calm seas, but actually getting ashore might still be tricky, as the water could still be fairly deep at the point you can't bring a rowing boat any closer. 

This is the environment in which you are most likel;y to find sea caves, which will be inaccessible from dry land, as will be hidden coves where pirates, smugglers, raiders or explorers might seek refuge from storms hostile eyes. Some might have deep water harbours, too: a boon to sailing ships, and to large predators.

Rocky shores are a favourite place for Wreckers, who set false beacons alight, to guide ships onto the rocks, so that they can salvage the wreckage. This would be a great basis for an Early Modern campaign, a cthulu-inspired campaign or any naval campaign. Its also a great strategy for goblins in a fantasy campaign, as it involved minimum risk and potentially massive payback. 

Cliffs are home to sea birds and other winged predators. 

moving along rocky shores on foot is a slow, preilous, usually wet experience. You cannot possibly move quickly. Once your feet are wet, you slip on moss and seaweed and you can break an ankle or a leg very easily if you try to hurry. Fighting would be awkward and treacherous (but a lot of fun for players!) and have unpredictable outcomes. Bullets richochet off rocks, arrows get caught by gusts of wind and snap when they hit rocks, big, swingy weapons are very difficult to use and people can hide. Especially small people.  

Sandy Shores. Formed from depositied sand. These often include beaches and sand ridges.

Sandy shores provide enormous visibility and also large, convenient landing points for mutiple, shallow-hulled vessels. such as viking longships or the long rowing boats (longboats) of large sailing ships.  Here, it is unlikely you will get ashore in secret unless it is at night, which is exactly what smugglers will do.  Sandy shores with long beaches are great places to set impressive 'visuals' through vivid descripion: the viking-themed orc hordelanding in their longships, the giant eraiding party wading along the shore, the approaching dragon.

Sandy shores often start shallow and steady but suddenly drop off. That's where the sharks get you. 

Running along a sandy shore is much more difficult than on firm terrain. Dry sand is the hardest, but very wet sand brings its own challenges. There is no way you can run at top speed unless you are on the perfect consistency of sand. Also tides come in and go out and litereally change that consistency beneath your feet and you can sometimes discover that the tide has come in around you, laving your feet dry but you cut off from the rest of the shore.  

Shingle Shores. Covered in pebbles and small rocks. No sand.

These shorelines are often adjacent to the rocky shorelines described above but they are very different. Open, often, but also sometimes hidden, they often form in tiers, rather than a steady incline, due to the action of the tides. You can beach a craft with relative ease, but walking across shingle beaches is hard work and slow. Extremely difficult to hurry. 

Muddy Shores. Made of mud. Usually found in sheltered areas, such as estuaries.

Anywhere with a wide, flat expanse of mud can also easily become inundated, and usually quickly. The mud here can be dangerous - deep enough to trap feet while the waters rise, deep enough for strange predatory creatures to submerge, and deep enough for ancient ruins to be mostly submerged, only exposed at low tide, when hidden features become visible. 

Going anywhere quickly on foot, or even at normal walking speed, is usuallu completely impossible, though sometimes a causeway of firmer ground becomes usable at low tide, making access to that island, or forgotten ruin or ancient temple possible. Briefly.

Tidal Marsh. Wetlands that are regularly inundated. Rich in nutrients. 

Similar to the above but with a lot more vegetation. Low troughs between drier ground provide channels for boats, low, flat islands, perhaps with a stand of trees, provide shelter for outlaws or remote chaurches or monasteries or hermitages. These areas are rich in food and foraging is easier here but there are sometimes strange creatures hiding in the dark, still pools, such as trolls. Will O' Wisp can also be found here, as can occultists seeking rare and powerful herbs or other ingredients. Many such sites once held religious significance, in the real world, and drew cultic practices and the construction of rings of wood or stone, or causeways to remote spots where sacrifices were made to unnamed powers.

The tidal marsh should be rich in wildlife and magic and should alter significantly when the tide comes in, with different routes needed to traverse it and different animals encountered.  

 

By Formation Process:

Erosional Shorelines. Shaped by the force of waves and wind.

Fjords. Deep, steep-sided valleys cut by glaciers and filled with seawater later.

Rias. Coastal valleys, flooded by the sea. They get shallower as they go inland. 

Depositional Shorelines. Formed by the accumulation of sediment.

Deltas. Large deposits of sediment at the mouths of rivers.

Barrier Islands. Long, narrow ridges that form parallel to the coast.

Spits and Bars. Sandbanks that build up from the shore due to wave action.

 

Artificial Shorelines. 

Hardened shorelines. Made by humans or other sentient creatures.

Seawalls, Bulkheads and Groins. Walls and structures built to prevent erosion. 

Random Shoreline Table (d12)

1. Rocky

2. Sandy

3. Shingle

4. Muddy

5. Tidal

6. Fjord

7. Ria

8. Delta

9. Barrier island

10. Spits or bars 

11. Reef (not included above)

12. Artificial