The Villages Infinite

The villages of the countryside are too small and too numerous to count on a map. They are infinite, stretching out in all directions, so long as crops can grow and livestock can feed. They are not important enough to name. Without them, nobody eats. They are home to almost everyone.

For a three-mile hex with arable soil, there is always at least one village.

For a hex with marginal soil or unfavorable terrain, there is a 3-in-6 chance of a village. In the deep wilderness, that chance is 1-in-6.

For a hex along a river or road, on particularly good soil, or near a town, there is a 3-in-6 chance of two villages.

Roll 2d100 for the village’s adult population. They are almost all subsistence farmers, fishers, or herders. Many of them might be tenants or unfree laborers working on a landlord’s estate.

Roll 1d8 for the appearance of the village to passers-by.

1. Wretchedly poor and desolate. Only a few villagers are strong enough to work in the fields.
2. Burnt and broken. A conflict recently took place, and the villagers are recovering from the damage.
3. A husk of its former self. Villagers live amongst the ruins of an older, larger settlement.
4. Quiet and spooky. The villagers glare at each other and at outsiders with suspicion.
5. Struggling, but not destitute. There are too few hands for all the work that needs to be done.
6. Prosperous and growing. The villagers are hard at work bringing new land under cultivation.
7. Generous and welcoming. The villagers cheerfully welcome visitors to their community.
8. An oasis of pastoral beauty. The fields are humming with activity, and folk look happy and well-fed.

This village has a distinctive feature which immediately sets it apart from its neighbors. Roll 1d12 to determine what that feature is.

1. A lodging house sits at the center of the village, offering food, drink and rest to travelers.
2. A small river cuts through the village, dotted with fish traps and canoes.
3. The local landlord’s estate is impressive in its size and prominence. The building oversees vast tracts of land worked by the village population.
4. A stone stele towers over the village, carved with the decrees of a long-dead king.
5. The village shrine is unusually large and meticulously maintained by a few custodians. People come here from miles around to say prayers and make offerings to the local spirit.
6. Just outside the village lies the ruined columbarium of an extinct aristocratic family. The site has fallen into disrepair after decades or centuries of neglect.
7. The village is surrounded by a wooden stockade — an adequate defense against brigands, but poor protection against a committed force of arms.
8. A layer of gardens surrounds the village, where people grow fruits and vegetables.
9. A large number of bees, birds, cats, bugs, or other small animals are kept by the local population.
10. The villagers live and work amidst the skeleton of a long-dead giant. They’ve painted the exposed bones, wrapped them in cloth, and hung lanterns off them.
11. A small monastic society sits just outside the village. There, the monks tend to their gardens, educate children of noble families, make dedications to their saints, and live out a strict code of ethical conduct.
12. This community is a seasonal home for semi-nomadic herders, who live here for part of the year and graze their herds of sheep and goats in the nearby grasslands.

The village is ruled by one or perhaps two large landowning families, each with a sizable farmstead. They have draft animals, storage facilities, political standing, and market contacts in the nearest town. They probably employ a few millers, bakers, butchers, brewers and distillers, plus some (free or unfree) domestic servants, and a handful of armed retainers.

Roll 1d6 for the general character of each landlord in the village.

1. Cruel and spiteful
2. Generous yet patronizing
3. Industrious yet greedy
4. Lazy and self-absorbed
5. Bitter and hot-tempered
6. Gruff and unrefined

There may be one or two craft specialists in the entire village. They are employed by a nearby landowning family. Roll 1d20 to determine who they are.

1. Armorer
2. Blacksmith
3. Bowyer
4. Candlemaker
5. Cooper
6. Chef
7. Embroiderer
8. Furrier
9. Glazier
10. Jeweler
11. Painter
12. Poet
13. Physician
14. Ropemaker
15. Saddlemaker
16. Sculptor
17. Shoemaker
18. Tailor
19. Tanner
20. Witch

The village is currently dealing with a problem. It could be trivial or severe, but it is mundane, beneath the notice of most adventurers. Roll 1d12 to discover what ails the village.

1. Someone’s run off with all the pigs! The local lord has arranged a search party to retrieve the stolen animals and apprehend the pig thief.
2. A troll has migrated into the area around the village, devouring livestock at night. Attempts to scare it off have thus far failed.
3. A dispute over land boundaries has erupted into a full-blown feud between two peasant families. The lord stepped in to adjudicate, but the animosity lingers, threatening to devolve into open violence.
4. An outbreak has left half the village bedridden and miserable. A witch or priest might heal them, but there are none to be found in the village.
5. The local landlord is double-taxing the peasants, taking over the farms of anyone who can’t or won’t pay. The villagers are furious, but none dare to challenge the landlord’s power — yet.
6. A villager is inert in their home, eyes rolled back, speaking in tongues — possessed! The spirit responsible refuses to let them go until it is placated with gifts of wine, silver, and slaughtered animals.
7. The nearby river is flooding, threatening to wash away part of the village unless the water is contained.
8. Some herders’ sheep got loose and trampled a farming family’s crops. The peasants demand restitution for their losses, but the local landlord is unresponsive. Exacerbated, they’ve turned their anger toward the herders, threatening their lives if they return to the village.
9. Bandits on the road are harassing travelers to and from the nearby town. They’re stashing their ill-gotten goods in a safe house somewhere in the wilderness, a place the local lord’s retainers haven’t found yet.
10. A child has gone missing after straying too far into the wilderness. The village organized a search party to find the kid, but to no avail.
11. A fire burned down a few homes in the village, leaving several peasant families homeless. They need wood to rebuild, but good timber is hard to find.
12. The lord’s teenage child accidentally killed a local villager after a heated night of drinking. The peasants demand punishment, but the teenager is legally protected as a scion of an aristocratic family.

There’s almost no real commerce in the village, but itinerant merchants do circuit the countryside, buying whatever looks likely to turn a profit and selling at each town and market along their way. Their wares are limited beyond agricultural produce and maybe meat, but they might carry some odds and ends.

At any given time, there is a 2-in-6 chance that an itinerant merchant is in the village, driving 1d4-1 donkeys or other pack animals.

Roll 1d10 twice to determine what other goods the merchant is carrying.

1. Alcohol
2. Clothing
3. Glassware
4. Furs or leathers
5. Jewelry
6. Pottery
7. Rugs
8. Rope
9. Spices
10. Weapons

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