I had an idea a while ago to write an ideal spark table, for a thousand or maybe even ten thousands best, most imagination-stirring words that exist. Just put all my favourite words into one place, and let it inspire wonders.
It never went anywhere and, as I think now, this approach had a mistake in its core.
It was Dominic Bailey's article in 'Casket of Fays' #7 that made me to rethink the whole idea of spark tables, and eventually this what worked better for me than just creating one giant table that is supposed to do everything:
1) Stay local;
Probably the most important realization. By 'local' I mean the specific game or world that the table is used for. Dominic Bailey's spark tables (shown below) don't aim to create just any possible world – they are made to specifically help with 'Dragon Warriors RPG' setting, which is pseudo-European, pseudo-medieval TTRPG.
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| by Dominic Bailey, from 'Casket of Fays' #7 |
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| by Dominic Bailey, from 'Casket of Fays' #7 |
Aiming to create a table without a specific world, mood, feeling or dream in mind creates a disjointed jigsaw puzzle which doesn't have an underlying picture; it is just random bits. Yes, it still can be useful, but I found that it is much better to focus the tables on a specific world/area, or a game, or a mood, or a genre. Dominic Bailey's tables didn't aim to put spaceships in 'Dragon Warriors', not even attempted to add much beyond medieval not-Britain (despite Lands of Legends having many other not-Earth realms). I found it better to narrow the focus for what is required to work right now; everything else can be added later.
2) Not too huge;
Follows from the previous: I am finding 2d20 tables a bit too small but I think spark tables should be no more than 8d20; 6d20 might be better; personally speaking, it is a drastic downsize from 1000-words table I had aimed to make but it is much better in results.
It is important to remember that these tables are not supposed to give ready-to-use detailed solutions – they are not generators – but simply to spark imagination juuuuuuuuuust enough. In the same vein, if one word works better for you than another, or if you simply like how one particular word sounds over its synonyms, put that one word in regardless if you think other might have more potential. 'Slumber' works better for me than 'Sleep' even if 'sleep' is, technically, more versatile, but I like how 'slumber' sounds way more. Even if the word is archaic or not widely used but fits right into the atmosphere and mood of the world, better use that strange word than something more mundane.
Saying this: don't be afraid to re-write if some words no longer work, or the world/mood/genre changed. Blank over the word and write a new one, more interesting or suitable, instead of putting two somewhat similar sparks just for the sake of completeness.
3) Use solid words;
Another big realization: less abstract concepts, more words for something concrete. Something tangible is better than something vague.
'Legacy' is vague, but 'heirloom' is tangible regardless if it is sword or a enchanted spindle. 'Dog' and 'blue' are good, but 'hound' and 'burning azure' is better for gothic-like world, although 'dog' is probably better for something more peaceful and cute.
4) Cheese if you stuck;
One easy, almost hack-y way I found to write a spark table (especially if one was as stuck as I was) was to mentally take a few snapshots from something similar in setting, mood or genre, break them down into tangible pieces, and write those pieces as sparks; literal pictures (as in classical Arthurian art for "Dragon Warriors") could be also used. I cheesed 'Link's Awakening' I was playing through at that time into some spark tables just by gathering all interesting bits I found in that game in a few columns, and it worked pretty well for a lighter-side setting I was writing.
Saying this:
5) There should be a measure of the unknown added to the mix.
My rule of thumb is 2/3 known and 1/3 unknown; your ratio might be different. Let 2/3 of sparks to be comfortably what the world / the mood is exactly: knights, moss-covered towers and fey to 'Dragon Warriors', radio-station, empty museum and sludge waste for Anomaly Zone, demon king, master sword and goddess for 'LoZ' games. But the rest should be something else, something from the edge of this world and a dream coming from its horizons, from not-yet-written book about is farther lands or further times. Not too far off but not yet here either – otherwise the sparks will eventually just endlessly regurgitate the familiar concepts. Add words for that 'LoZ' game that exists only in one's head, add something from Carcosa into Mork-Borg, add something from 'Planescape' to a weird city on crossroads.
additionally) Consider if you need a structure.
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| spark tables for Mythic Bastionland by Chris McDowall |
Spark tables from Mythic Bastionland are so minutely structured they are veering, in my perception, into a land of generators instead of just sparks. I tried this approach for a few tables, and my personal experience was that once I've put a specific column for, say, places, I also now needed a column for objects, people, past and way too many other things to list; soon it became more suffocating than the original approach where each word was free-floating and implied its meaning rather than was defined by its place in a structure. 'Hound' could be a literal dog, a harassing mob, a person with dog-themed coat of arms, or a haunt (which is just kind of a similar-sounding word) – whatever comes to mind.
If you want structure and it works for you then sure, use it. But please consider first if it is helpful at all.
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