One Thing Led to Another… The Seemingly Unconnected Events that Lead to Someone Becoming a Villain – An All Dice Table

Nobody wakes up a villain. It’s often a series of events that starts small and escalates. One thing leads to another, and the BAM. They’re the baddest threat in all the realm.

So we made an All Dice Table of cascading events. One thing leads to another, and now you have a story and motive for the villain just by rolling 6 dice.

This post was lovingly put crafted by u/RexiconJesse, u/PaganUnicorn, u/DougTheDragonborn, u/InfinityCircuit, and u/famoushippopotamus.

It all started when…

d4

 – A minor problem…

1The bottom fell out of their grocery bag, and they couldn’t salvage any of their food
2They spilled liquid all over their shoes at a pub, embarrassing themselves in front of their crush
3They are caught by the city watch in the act of a harmless prank
4Their parent remarries a distant, cold person, uninterested in parenting the young soon-to-be-villain

d6

 – … leads to an unfortunate compilation.

1which led to their cat meowing for forty-eight hours straight.
2and that made them miss an important meeting.
3which caused them to forget their house key.
4and embarrassed themselves in front of their crush.
5which ruined their chances at a second date.
6which left them absolutely knackered.

d8

 – Which is quickly followed by a personal problem.

1Then their landlord decided to double their rent due to an exploding influx of wealthy people moving to the area.
2Then it happened five more times.
3Then their face broke out in hives.
4Then their ex married the richest person in the region and invited them to the wedding to show off.
5Then a sinkhole opened up, destroying the hobby project they’d been working on all year.
6Then their stomach growled way too loudly which got the attention of some ruffians.
7Then a bird pooped in their meal.
8Then they accidentally signed a devil’s pact by insulting them.

d10

 – A terrible event changes their life.

1A new source of revenue for the city created a booming market that caused them to lose their job.
2An honest mistake on their part drew the attention of a group of adventurers. The adventurers labeled them a villain and destroyed their home, threatened them, and soiled their name in the region.
3A position they’d worked their life to obtain was given to a bumbling idiot who was friends with one of the people doing the hiring.
4A group of adventurers slaughtered all of the village’s livestock, claiming the animals were infected with lycanthropy. The adventurers demanded payment and then left, causing mass famine and financial hardships in the town.
5A royal member of the family traveling through the town got drunk at the tavern and started a fight. Demanding justice, they had everyone but the soon-to-be-villain killed for assaulting a member of the royal family.
6The actions of a careless spellslinger caused everyone in their town to physically fuse with two other people, making everyone a three-headed, twelve-limbed abomination.
7A prankster put the minds of all of the townsfolk into local cats, and all of the cat’s minds into the people’s bodies.
8They were mistaken for a fugitive and decided to take up the mantle, as they could do it better.
9The leader of the religion they deeply believed in admitted he made the whole thing up. Everything they said was a lie to get money, fame, and power.
10Shortly after someone mentioned Balog the Spoon Thief, every spoon vanished.

d12

 – A horrible event upsets a larger part of the realm.

1At the same time, a swarm of magically engineered dire geese created by a politically untouchable mage in a neighboring empire ravaged their hometown and killed many loved ones.
2Shortly after that, a kaiju-sized monster trashed their entire hometown because it was running from a group of adventurers who were trying to kill it. Those adventurers were later praised for slaying the beast, after it destroyed another three cities.
3Later that same day, an old wizard mistook them for a snooty member of the royal family and put a curse on them.
4Sometime later, a group of people came to town and purchased a few million gold worth of goods, which ultimately destroyed their economy.
5Just when they thought things couldn’t get any worse, a necromancer raised their buried pets and used them as cannon fodder in a war.
6Not long after, something erased them from the memories of the living.
7A few days later, a dentist discovered that all of their teeth had been replaced by mind-altering parasites of extradimensional origins.
8On vacation, they found a small town where the entire population were copies of themself.
9After which they learned everyone believed a particularly nasty rumor about them was true.
10Then the days started repeating themselves, and they lived through it all a thousand more times before figuring out how to break the cycle.
11Before long, civil war broke out because of what happened. They were close to people in positions of power on both sides of the war.
12Their entire homeland is invaded and overtaken by a neighboring empire who was at peace with them. No one held the empire accountable and now the empire is prospering.

d20

 – An absurd conclusion to this string of unfortunate events.

1One thing led to another and now they’re teaming up with the Arch Demon of Greed to demand back payments for all of the wishes for wealth and prosperity people prayed for. Everyone must offer monetary tribute or their soul.
2One thing led to another and now they’ve caused the closest star to careen toward the world. The heat from it is causing lakes to evaporate and the light is blinding people during the day.
3One thing led to another and now they’re flying around in a sky city built on the backs of fifty mechanical dragons, tearing holes in reality so demons from an alternate past can devour the present.
4One thing led to another and now they think they are the hot new teen sensation, Strapped Von Gotchabitch.
5One thing led to another and now they’re impersonating a powerful demonologist and are commanding an army of demons who think they’re somebody else.
6One thing led to another and they can command every size small and tiny creature within five miles of them to do their bidding.
7One thing led to another and now they’ve transformed themselves into a colossal hornet, laying waste to all who oppose them.
8One thing led to another and now a cult made of living and undead folk have mistaken them as the prophesied leader foretold in the ancient texts and are following their every command.
9One thing led to another and they convinced death to take some time off, meaning no one can die until death comes back.
10One thing led to another and now they’re on their way to ruling a neighboring kingdom so long as they can win a cooking competition against the king.
11One thing led to another and their hosting the Twisted Iron competition: A destruction derby-like contest where heroes must mount creatures and battle each other. The winner gets a single wish.
12One thing led to another and now they’re the most renowned bounty hunter in the country.
13One thing led to another and now they’re known as the “Fortuitous Rascal Of Tarterus” and their expertise in monster hunting trains ne’er do wells across the land.
14One thing led to another and their stomach doubles as a bag of holding, which they hoard gold.
15One thing led to another and you cannot kill them, as doing so would also kill your grandparent in the past, causing a temporal anomaly.
16One thing led to another and magic no longer exists in a 500-foot radius around them.
17One thing led to another and there are three high level spells named after them, that when cast causes them to grow in power.
18One thing led to another and that is how talking to them now makes you an accomplice to all of their crimes.
19One thing led to another and now they are a Plane of Existence.
20One thing led to another and the Tarrasque now has a pet. Mostly a pet.

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