These lists can be used as a supplement for games like Dungeons & Dragons™, Pathfinder™ or any other tabletop game that involves friends gathering together and improvising an adventure.
If you are completely new to TTRPG's (Table Top Role Playing Games) then you're in for years of memorable fun if you're lucky enough to pursue the topic and take it up as a hobby.
I'm completely new to all this. What are "Role Playing Games" ?
Remember when you were a kid, running around and playing "Batman" . . . or "Hermione Granger" . . . or "Legolas" . . . or "Ariel" or any character from movies or TV ?Once in a while the neighbor kid (who always played "bad guys") would INSIST that you were destroyed or knocked out by some attack or other.
You might have insisted otherwise.
Loudly.
What if that neighbor kid said
"No need to argue. Just roll these dice. I'll do the same. The highest number wins."
( That would make the neighbor kid the 'Dungeon master' or 'Game master'. )
That's the core of it.
It can be as complex as a book full of rules or as simple as a coin toss.
The MAIN difference between TTRPG's and chaotic backyard kid play, is that you and your gathered friends aren't fighting with each other.
You're all working together to create a story as you go, playing fictional characters of your own creation.
Those characters grew up and exist in a world created by and described by your "Game Master".
So, what do these 100 item lists have to do with it?
These lists are tailored toward any Fantasy Game that's got a Medieval, Western European flavor to it that allows for wild and strange Magic.Every once in a while it's more fun (and easier) to let FATE decide a story point when folks gather and play.
Your game master might need a quick name for a Tavern, a Ship, a Character, a Place, a Magic Item, an Enemy Organization, a Book Title or a Rumour.
Rather than having to make something up on the spot, These lists provide quick access to, hopefully amusing choices that will add humour and colour to the game and improvisation.
The shape of the improvisation and shared storytelling will change depending on what numbers come up when getting items or names from these lists.
Getting a random number between 1 and 100 is easy. Here's one of my favorite sites for it: Random.org
For that matter, anyone can ignore the randomness entirely and just read down the lists picking out what sounds fun. It's YOUR game.
To be fair, no two adventures in game sessions will ever be exactly the same.
Three or four folks making up what their characters say and do over the course of an evening will ALWAYS be unique and unpredictable.
The material in these lists only serves to make it MORE unpredictable.
( Dining at a Tavern called "The Royal Tankard" should be a MUCH different experience from dining at "The Violent Pig Stye" )
That short description of Table Top Role Playing Games is only a bare bones summary. It's a massive hobby being enjoyed by millions all over the world, and there are too many varieties of this type of game to describe here.
Aside from a YouTube search of the topic and watching a few of the tutorial results, the very BEST way to learn more about it is to just give it a try.
With some of the world doing whatever it can to keep people from being killed, the DIGITAL gatherings and tools for playing this type of game have become
more powerful and popular than ever.
Give them a try! If it doesn't work for you with one group, form your own with friends and family or find another.
" Now go roll dice and make stuff up! "
