1

The area is disturbed: clear-cut, dug up, scorched, or waterlogged. The cause could be animals, humans, a magical event, or natural disaster.

2

A bag, barrel, basket, chest, or similar lies in the road, apparently dropped from a wagon. it may be empty, old, rotted, or full of intact valuables.

3

Bandits, or bounty hunters.

4

A battlefield, or traces thereof - blood, bones, broken arrows, scraps of armor, and/or signs of magic use.

5

A camp - it may be occupied by travelers, hastily fled, recently cleared, or long-abandoned.

6

A cart, wagon, or war machine is broken down, stuck in the mud, or overturned. The contents may have been transferred to another vehicle, hastily picked-over, or abandoned intact.

7

A cave.

8

Children; they may be lost, at play near their village, or wild.

9

A coin or other valuable object is lying by the side of the road. A trap?

10

Corpses, apparently killed by bandits. Or just left for dead?

11

Corpses, apparently killed by the environment - dehydration, drowning, frostbite, heatstroke, lightning, a rockfall, etc.

12

Corpses, apparently killed by law enforcement, or perhaps just lynched. They may be hanging from a tree, with an optional placard indicating their crime. Were they guilty? Are they maybe still alive?

13

Corpses, with no obvious cause of death.

14

Corpses, apparently killed by poisoning. A basket of red berries is spilled next to them.

15

Corpses, apparently killed by sickness. Could it be contagious?

16

Corpses, apparently suicides. Why?

17

Corpses, apparently killed by wild animals or magical beasts.

18

A criminal, or group of criminals, fleeing justice; it may be a more civil matter, involving insulted parents, a jilted bride, or an angry husband.

19

Dangerous animals - bears, giant spiders, wolves, or worse. They may be stalking the party, a chance encounter, or defending a kill, their lair, or their young.

20

Edible plants or mushrooms. Very little chance that they're poisonous.

21

Game, such as deer, elk, fowl, frogs, rabbits, squirrels.

22

A gathering of locals, holding a barn-raising, excavating a well, or other construction project.

23

A gathering of locals, holding a festival - a feast, games, a holiday, or a wedding.

24

A gathering of locals, holding a funeral.

25

A gathering of locals, as it's harvest time, either in the fields or for wild food.

26

A gathering of locals - it's market day.

27

A gathering of locals, plowing, planting, or weeding the fields, as appropriate to the season.

28

A gathering of locals, putting out a fire or fighting some other disaster.

29

A gathering of locals, conducting a trial, or a lynching.

30

A ghost or spirit haunts the area.

31

Herbs - good for cooking, incense, magical purposes, or medicine.

32

A horse, without a rider. It may be saddled up and ready to go, wild, or wounded.

33

Hunters, beating the bushes for small game.

34

Hunters, farmers actually, trying to flush out a strange beast which has been killing livestock.

35

Hunters, looking for a missing child.

36

Hunters, conducting an English-style formal hunt.

37

Hunters, on a manhunt for a serious criminal.

38

Hunters, poachers specifically; they may kill to protect themselves, if poaching is a serious crime.

39

A landmark - an enormous rock, tree, waterfall, etc.

40

A magical location - an ancient null magic zone, a barren area thanks to an ancient curse, holy, a ley nexus, or correspondent to a type of magic.

41

A monument to recognize a battle, a common person who did something extraordinary, a god, a lord, a lady, or a spirit; it could be brand new, ancient, or too worn to read; it could be an arch, cairn, pillar, shrine, standing stone, or statue.

42

An obstacle, such as a broken bridge, fallen tree across the road, flooding or washout, giant spider webs, deep gravel, mud, sand, or snow, a pit in the road, a rock fall, or a toll gate.

43

People in danger - bandits have captured people, or scared them away.

44

People in danger - beasts or monsters have them cornered, or are dragging people away during the night.

45

People in danger - a bridge or weir has collapsed, or is close to it.

46

People in danger - rising water has people trapped on rooftops and up trees.

47

People in danger - livestock are stampeding.

48

People in danger - a mine or quarry has caved in.

49

People in danger - a mudslide or rock slide has trapped or buried road workers.

50

People in danger - a storm threatens to destroy boats.

51

People in need - dehydrated, in desperate need of water.

52

People in need - dismounted. If the party has a spare horse, or have time to find the critter, he or she may pay handsomely.

53

People in need - somehow caught outside with little or no clothing.

54

People in need - starving.

55

People in need - wounded and needing an antidote, bandages, or other medical care.

56

Scavengers at a kill - insects, rats, vultures, or wolves; the feast could be a pack animal, wild beast, or human.

57

Scouts or outriders, from a nearby military force.

58

A structure of some sort, possibly abandoned and/or ruined.

59

Thieving animals, such as foxes, magpies, monkeys, or raccoons, try to steal from the party.

60

Tracks - broken twigs, footprints, scraps of cloth, or trampled grass indicate that someone has been here recently.

61

A trap - deadfall, magical, mechanical, pit, or snare trap; the party may blunder into it themselves, or find someone caught in it.

62

Travelers - adventurers or explorers.

63

Travelers - asylum-seekers, such as as heretics in their own land, or the losing side of a civil war.

64

Travelers - camp followers, such as barbers, cooks, prostitutes, or sutlers. They may be straggling behind while the army conducts a forced march, fleeing a loss, returning home, or camped and waiting for the soldiers their following to return.

65

Travelers - guards; this could be an informal citizen's patrol, the king's guard, or something in between.

66

Travelers - a mage, possibly with an apprentice or other aides.

67

Travelers - a merchant caravan.

68

Travelers - a messenger; he or she may be injured and needs help to convey urgent words.

69

Travelers - a monster; it may seem human.

70

Travelers - a nobleman and/or noble lady, probably with an entourage.

71

Travelers - non-humans, such as dwarves or elves.

72

Travelers - ordinary folk, on their way to an event such as a wedding.

73

Travelers - a pair of lovers, eloping, looking for some alone time, or just out to enjoy the day. Their love may be a secret, or illicit.

74

Travelers - a payroll ship or caravan, or similar conveyance of cash or other high-density valuables, it will be either very well protected, or traveling incognito. It could be a payment between two merchant houses, or a transfer within one; an evacuation of valuables threatened in some way; a ransom, bribe, tribute, or blackmail payment; pay for soldiers or workers; or taxes.

75

Travelers - a peddler, with a cart full of wares (unless he's just been robbed).

76

Travelers - pilgrims or penitents.

77

Travelers - a press gang, "recruiting" sailors, or locator, who finds would-be pioneers (or children for sale) for settling remote areas.

78

Travelers - a priest, lay brother, missionary, monk, or a whole procession of them.

79

Travelers - prisoners; a work crew, or a transfer to another prison, their place of execution, their freedom, or a slave market.

80

Travelers - a prospector. He may be flush and ready to spend, looking for partners, or willing to do anything to protect a claim.

81

Travelers - refugees, fleeing beasts, disasters, raiders, or war.

82

Travelers - seasonal workers, such as fruit-pickers or reapers.

83

Travelers - settlers, on their way to a new life.

84

Travelers - slavers; they may be looking for cargo, or transporting one.

85

Travelers - smugglers; they may be able to help, or they may kill anyone who catches them in the act.

86

Travelers - soldiers. They may be bodyguards, elite troops, mercenaries, militia, raiders, or specialists (archers, artillerymen).

87

Travelers - a spirit; they rarely go far, but they may be sent on missions by their strange masters.

88

Travelers - supplicants, seeking redress against their lord, or returning from such a journey (possible with cash in hand, if their claim was accepted by the emperor).

89

Travelers - a tinker's wagon. He or she can make repairs on mechanical devices, and may even sell some magical objects.

90

Travelers - a troupe of performers.

91

Travelers - vacationers, or possibly just an eccentric old man on a walkabout.

92

Travelers - two different groups, either traveling together for mutual support, mildly antagonistic, or about to exchange blows.

93

Water - a cataract, creek, marsh, pond, pool, spring, stream, swimming hole, or tidal pool

94

Workers - farmers, tilling their fields.

95

Workers - fishermen.

96

Workers - herdsmen, taking their livestock to pasture, or to market.

97

Workers - washer-women, either scrubbing away or on their way to or from the water, baskets on their heads.

98

Workers - wood cutters; they may not be authorized to work here.

99

Workers - a work party, clearing fallen trees, digging ditches, painting signs, or shoring up a bridge.

100

The weather changes, becoming dangerously hot, cold, rainy, dry, windy, etc.