Community Random Effects Table

[Trufflehound]

Let's make a random effects table!
It should not be artifact-specific. It could work when you drink witches brew or look into the magic mirror. When you break the glass or push the shiny button.

Guidelines:

I think we should aim for 30 good effects, 30 harmful, and 40 miscellaneous. >Try to balance more and less powerful effects.
>The effects should not be game-breaking for a low-level party or insignificant for a high-level party.
>Try to be original. Do not copy or imitate the Deck of Many Cards or the Rogue's Dice.
>If two effects are similar, they should be dramatically different in at least one way.
>It is ok if the effect seriously inconveniences players, but it should not make their characters much more powerful then the rest of the party.
>If you make a quite good or very bad effect, include a tradeoff. If you give the player permanent flight (good), have his legs shrivel up and become useless.

Only post good effects for now; we'll do the bad and miscellaneous later.
Deadline is Whenever we reach about two hundred total effects, and at least 60 of each type. I'll put all the effects that have been submitted and seconded up into a chart for voting then.

Have at it!

EDIT: If you want to submit bad or miscellaneous effects now, use red font for bad, and blue if it's neither good nor bad. Just so they are still easily sortable.

[Chess435]

1. The character's skin stiffens and hardens, granting them a +2 increase to their natural armor, but decreasing their Dexterity by 1.

2. The character gains a piece of long-forgotten arcane knowledge. They gain a randomly determined first level spell off of the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list to use once per day as a spell-like ability. (Save DC's are Cha-Based) Alternately, if they are capable of casting arcane spells, they may choose to gain an additional 1st level spell slot instead. (Treat as if gained through a high ability score)

3. The character's nervous system is altered, making them less receptive to pain. They gain a +4 bonus to saving throws vs. pain related effects, as well as DR 1/-.

4. The character's body is infused with elemental rock, increasing their Constitution by 2. However, instead of normal food, they must derive sustenance by eating rocks and metal. Once per day, if character comes across any sort of precious metal, they must make a DC 15 Will save or be compelled to eat it.

5. The character's body heals quite rapidly. Natural healing to both hit points and ability score damage takes place at twice the normal rate. In addition, all magical healing is 125% effective on the character.

I'll think of some more good ones later.

[Combat Reflexes]

My first thoughts, probably more to come:

6. all the character's hair falls out, and he grows reptilian/draconic scales instead. Roll a d%:
1-29: Lizard scales - The scales are soft (like normal human skin) and provide no particular bonus or penalty.
30-59: Fish scales - The scales are wet to the touch and slippery. The character gains a +4 bonus on Escape Artist checks
60-90: Dragon scales - The scales are hard and tough and provide a +6 natural armor bonus, but they impose an additional -3 armor check penalty and top the Dex bonus to AC at +2. The character also suffers a 20% spell failure chance.
90-100: Improved Dragon scales - as dragon scales, but the character gains DR 2/magic as well as energy resistance 5 to a randomly chosen element (fire, cold, electricity, acid, sonic, force, or DMs call)

7. the character gets an extra feat and an extra flaw. The player may choose the bonus feat, but the DM must choose the flaw.

8. the character now has a severe phobia of d%:
1-10 spiders (or another kind of vermin)
11-20 blood
21-30 a specific race
31-40 a specific gender
41-50 cramped spaces
51-60 open spaces
61-70 heights
71-80 darkness
81-90 natural sunlight
91-100 any other (DMs call)

9. the character recieves the effect of a 3rd-level spell (roll randomly as you would roll the spells for a scroll in the DMG)

10. the character falls in love with the next person they see.

11. the character grows gills and can now breathe both in and out of water.

12. the character grows (nonfunctional) bird or bat wings. They can easily be concealed.

13. the character's facial hair is transformed into moss.

14. the character grows an extra 1d2 fingers on one hand.

15. the character speaks in riddles, rhymes, or other language-artforms like alliteration. Every time the player forgets this, the character is dazed for one round.

16. the character can bind a 1st-level vestige but automatically fails any Binding check.

17. the character contracts a random disease.

18. the character receives the effects of a Heal spell and a Power Word Stun spell.

19. the character is now drunk.

20. the character grows a fancy moustache (+2 on Diplomacy and Intimidate checks, but -4 to Disguise checks). If the character already had a moustache, it disappears.

some of them are a bit harsh, but that's how Gygax would have wanted it

[Moose Man]

21: The character changes genders.
22: When hugged by a member of the opposite sex, the character turns into an animal from the Chinese Zodiac. (Shameless rip, I know)

[Immonen]

23. The character is suddenly very hyperactive. The character cannot (and does not have to) sleep for 1d6 days, but is fatigued for an entire day thereafter. No amount of magic can remove this condition.

[Trufflehound]

I second 1,2,3,4,5,7,18,20, and 23 for voting.

A lot of the others are excellent, imo, but are not 'good' effects, per se (Unless the character/player likes being drunk).

24. The character can mysteriously fly, with good maneuverability. However, his legs wither and become useless.

BTW, anyone can second something they like.

[Combat Reflexes]

I second 23. Take that, trancing elves!

also:

25. the character changes race (as the reincarnation spell)

26. the character becomes insane. If the character already was insane, he now becomes sane.

27. the character's beard falls out. -10 to all Cha-related checks with dwarves.

28. the character can cast summon monster III by spitting on the ground as a standard action 1/day.

29. the character's blood transforms into poison (DC 10+1/2HD+Con mod; 1d4 Con/0). He takes 1d4 Con damage per day due to his mutating metabolism but is further immune to his own poison.

30. the character loses the level last gained and contracts lycantrophy (d%)
1-25: wererat
26-50: werewolf
51-75: wereboar
76-99: werebear
100: weresaxophonist or DMs call.

[Moose Man]

Wouldn't it be lyncanthropy (not lyncantropy)?
I nominate 23 for serious consideration.
31: the character gains a familiar, regardless if he can cast spells. The familiar is chosen randomly from this lis (d%)t:
1: Hummingbird (dragon mag, #?), +X to initiative
2-25: Painted Turtle, (described later), +4 to Natural Armor
26-30: Lizard
31-35: Bat
36-40: Cat
41-45: Hawk
46-50: Owl
51-55: Rat
56-60: Raven
61-65: Snake
66-70: Toad
71-75: Weasel
76-80: Eagle, +2 Balance and Jump
81-85: Monkey, +2 Dex Checks
86-95: Pony, +2 Cha Checks
96-97: Badger, Endurance and Diehard
98-99: Horse, +10' speed
100: Elephant, +8 NA
Will do turtle later

[Doorhandle]

ooh! ooh! Can I help?! I love tables!

32: The creature screams in agony as his veins glow and his blood boils!
It causes 1d12 damage for every hit-die the creature has, in a burst equal to 5ft/hit-die. If the creature make a fortitude save equal to 15+ his hit-dice, he only takes half-damage, and the burst effect is nullified.

33:The character sudden sickens, and hocks up a huge mass of black bile, snakes, organ-chunks, and other assorted nastiness. It then promptly faints. it is immediately reduced to 0 hit-points, and remains stable unless jostled. the effect requires magical healing to undo.

What? Negative effects are needed too!

[Trufflehound]

Yes! Negative effects are needed too. Just put them in red font, and the merely inconvenient ones in blue so that I can sort them out later, and make sure that the good and bad ones are balanced.

34. The character grows thick, plush fur. This grants +6 to saving throws made against cold and -6 against heat or fire.

Like so.

[Yitzi]

35. The character is affected by timelessness, as though he were on the Astral Plane. In addition, any healing effect used on the character has a 50% chance of failing.

[Combat Reflexes]

36. the character doesn't believe in the gods anymore. He can no longer be healed by divine magic, but his natural healing rate is increased by 2 points per level.

37. the character is teleported away to a certain location and replaced with an illusion.

[Chess435]

38. Cleansing power rushes over the character, removing 10 points of taint. If they have no taint, they instead get Pure Soul as a bonus feat. If you are not using the Taint variant, roll again.

39. The character is magically slimmed, removing excess body fat and reducing their weight by 20%. In addition, they gain the Slight Build special quality, allowing them to count as a size category smaller whenever it would be convienent for them to do so. (Special: If the character has Willing Deformity: Obese, they instead lose all benefits of that feat as the effects cancel each other out. At the DM's discretion, the character may regain the feat by eating excessive amounts of food for an extended period of time.)

40. For a brief moment, the character is mentally joined with another (randomly determined). During this brief experience, their two minds are as one, and they can read each others thoughts and memories. Even though the experience only lasts for about 30 seconds, it has a lifelong effect on both targets. As long as the two targets are within 10 feet of each other, they both gain a +1 insight bonus to attack rolls and saving throws. In addition, if one uses the aid another action to assist the one they bonded with, the bonus from the aid another is +4 instead of +2.

[Trufflehound]

41. The character gains a free tribble familiar.

42. The character's arms become unbalanced, like those of a crab. His right arm gains +4 str, and his left arm takes a -4 str penalty. This does not affect two-handed weapon attack or damage rolls.

43. The character attracts area burst spells. Any aoe spells cast in his vicinity appear ten feet closer to him than intended.

44. The character's beard gains damage reduction 10/silver. He grows a beard if he does not already have one.

[Yitzi]

The character's capabilities change utterly, in body and mind: his race changes randomly (as though he were under the effect of Reincarnation) and his ability scores are randomly reassigned (roll 1d6 to determine which of the six becomes his new strength score, 1d5 for which of the others becomes his new dexterity, etc.) Afterward, he may replace any number of classes, skills, and feats with new ones as he wishes, essentially rebuilding the character from level 1.

[TheLonelyScribe]

I second everything except Yitzi's (no offence, I just think that it would be not only a pain for the player but a pain for everybody else as they have to go through the whole of character creation again).

45. The character grows antennae. These are difficult to cover, but grant the character 15ft blindsight.

[Combat Reflexes]

*seconds 42* - but it needs some more work:
a shield held in the strong arm provides a +1 bonus to AC (you can swing it faster)
a shield held in the weak arm imposes a -1 penalty to AC.

46. The character is overcome with feelings of mistrust and paranoia. He gains a +4 bonus on Sense Motive checks and saves versus illusions, but suffers a -1 penalty to all other rolls, saves, ability checks, skill checks and AC.
The character also automatically recognizes Shadow X spells (but not Shades)

47. The character drops to -[1d8] but is stable.

48. The character is now a gnome.

49. The character gains the Celestial (1-40), Fiendish (41-80), or Dark (81-100) template.

50. One of the character's ability scores (randomly determined) is replaced with the ability score of the nearest living creature and vice versa. Scores of lower than 1 or nonexistent (-) scores are not effected.

[magic_unlocked]

I nominate number 50! ^_^

51. You become angry, so angry in fact, that you gain the barbarian's basic rage feature in all respects. However, This rage is mindless and you attack the nearest moving target. A will save, DC 20, changes the target to your choosing, but it must be moving.

If you already have the rage or frenzy feature, you instead get:

1-30: +5 rounds of rage/frenzy
31-60: +1 str/con while raging
61-90: +2 dex while raging
91-100: Immediately go into a rage until you have no more rounds of Rage left.

[TheLonelyScribe]

I second 46, 47, 49 and 51.

I think that 48 is cool, but should be miscellaneous (being a gnome isn't all that bad).

[radmelon]

This looks fun! I fondly remember the chaos effects from ADOM, with their mixed benefits and curses.

52 - The character gets Abberation blood as a bonus feat.

53 - The character gets resistance 5 to a random kind of energy. Roll 1d6:
1 - Fire
2 - Cold
3 - Acid
4 - Electricity
5 - Sonic
6 - Negative Energy if living, Positive Energy if undead

54 - The character's legs weaken. - 5 ft. to base land speed.

[Immonen]

Seconding 53 and 54. Simple is better.

[NeoSeraphi]

Alright! Let's see what I can do!

55-The character has angered one of the gods with his actions. The god dispatches a powerful Aleax (Book of Exalted Deeds) to deal with him. The Aleax receives a +2 bonus to one of its stats (Roll 1d6, ignoring 6. Str = 1, Dex =2, Con = 3, Intelligence =4, Charisma =5). If the character manages to defeat the Aleax, he gains a +2 sacred (if the deity is good or neutral) or profane (if the deity is evil) to the same stat that the Aleax had.

56- The character's racial blood is especially pure. All of his racial traits are doubled, including penalties and bonuses to ability scores, the range of visions, and skill bonuses. (For example, a high elf who rolled this trait would have a +4 bonus to Dexterity, a -4 penalty to Constitution, +4 to Listen, Search, and Spot, and lowlight vision with double the range)

[byaku rai]

57: The character now glows like a sunrod, shedding light out to 60 feet and shadowy illumination out to 120. This can be covered only by wearing very thick clothing.

58: A red dragon (DM determines age) falls deeply in love with the character. It attempts to woo the character through gifts of dead commoners and pretty shinies. If spurned, it attempts to kill the character and anyone else close by.

59: The character is affected as by the spell baleful polymorph as cast by a level 20 character.

60: The character catches on fire. This does no damage to the character, but they are constantly under the effects of produce flame, and in addition cause any creature which attacks them in melee 1d6 fire damage. However, any item they use which is made out of a very flammable material (unenchanted paper, cloth, or wood) automatically catches on fire and is destroyed utterly 1d10 rounds later.

[NeoSeraphi]

58 is AMAZING. I vote for it

[Moose Man]

58 is seconded by me, thirded by my dog.

[radmelon]

I fourth 58. That is an EPIC plot device. I just may spring it on one of my players.

[Chess435]

I fifth number 58, lol.

[Combat Reflexes]

Ptah, a good DM doesn't need a random table to install plot device #58

Oh, and I second 56. That one's awesome. Think of the possibilities (Goliath!)

61. The character grows colourful fur (and/or big round eyes)

62. The character and the DM switch places for 1d6 minutes.

[Dawn-Dusk]

I sixth 58!

And yes that does work... Though it was a White Dragon that fell in love with a Human Rogue. Oh the shenanigans that ensued... of course until they found out the only reason the white dragon was in love with the guy was because he was destined to become the prized sculpture in this White Dragons Ice Sculpture room.... Oh that was a good year.

[Qwertystop]

63: The triggerer loses knowledge of the use on one weapon he used to be good with, and gains immense skill with one that he could never use before. Choose a random weapon that the triggerer is proficient in, and that is within 15 feet of them, and their proficiency becomes non-proficiency. This means that they lose their proficiency in that weapon, and take an additional -4 to attack rolls with it for being exceptionally terrible with it. If they had any feats that are specifically set to that weapon, those are reversed too. For example, the Improved Critical feat would instead halve the threat range for their use of that weapon.

However, they also gain proficiency with a weapon within 50 feet of them that they are not proficient in. They also gain knowledge of what this weapon is, and know where the nearest one is until they get one. They also gain Improved Critical, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Greater Weapon Focus, and Greater Weapon Specialization for that weapon, even if they do not meet the prerequisites. They are also treated as having a BAB 2 higher than their character level for attack rolls with that weapon.

I second 60!