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It's a sad pattern in human behavior that we distrust anyone who lives too far outside society. We're nosy bastards and if you have the temerity to live alone in your little cottage in the woods or seclude yourself in your grand old ancestral home (that neighborhood kids insist is haunted) and just exist without regularly coming out to make the right sociable noises people start to talk. They've got to know what your story is, even if they have to invent it themselves.
Most of the time it's not true. Just pure fabrication or at best a misunderstanding that spiraled out of proportion.
If you ask the townsfolk about the local recluse they'll say that they...
(Roll d60 1d3 times, if you don't have a d60 roll a d30 and a d6. If the d6 is even read the d30 as-is, if it's odd add 30 to the d30's value.)
1 Are a witch
2 Have the evil eye
3 Bear an unknown curse and live apart to keep from spreading it
4 Brew medicines and potions that always work
5 Are an unsurpassed healer
6 Can lift any curse
7 Can see ghosts
8 Know the true names of several demons and spirits and speak with them regularly
9 Have a secret fortune hidden away nearby
10 Are a criminal hiding from their past
11 Are a noble in hiding
12 Are a noble in exile
13 Were a king once
14 Have a bounty on their head
15 Were a great warrior, forced to retire by a near-mortal wound
16 Have all kinds of artifacts and strange things collected during their travels
17 Are searching/digging for something in the woods
18 Host mysterious gatherings on the new moon
19 Have strange cloaked visitors coming and going at all hours
20 Are building something in their shed out deep in the forest
21 Found a lost mine in the hills and have been working it in secret
22 Sneak down to the cemetery at night, but nobody sees them come or go
23 Have an understanding with the goblins and ghouls to pass freely through their territory
24 Throw a coin in the well every overcast night
25 Can locate lost objects and property
26 Can tell the future
27 Can see when and how a person will die
28 Can read the guilt or innocence in your soul and know what you did
29 Can talk to animals and use them as informants and servants
30 Can take the form of any beast at will
31 Are a goat in human form
32 Are a werewolf
33 Are the one who leaves gifts and food around town in the night
34 Only eat raw hearts and offal
35 Are raising something out in the woods, leave food for it every day
36 Are a heretic priest in exile
37 Are the only priest of a forgotten god
38 Keep a purple fire burning in a secret altar
39 Are an alchemist working in secret
40 Have a library of priceless rare books
41 Were a pirate in their youth
42 Are a retired master thief and still maintain their contacts
43 Made an enemy of a god by stealing from its temple
44 Own a priceless work of art/ancient lost masterpiece
45 Are a retired assassin
46 Are an active assassin with a sideline in demon hunting
47 Can't be harmed by fire or water
48 Can repair anything you bring them that's broken and prioritizes fixing toys
49 Can restore the dead to life
50 Are a vampire
51 Are the keeper of a magic sword and waiting for someone pure of heart to entrust it to
52 Are a wizard and secretly guard the town from calamity
53 Mediate with the fae for the town. They can intercede on your behalf too if you ask.
54 Can call rain and cause storms and drought
55 Must be respected or they'll blight the crops again
56 Are the reason monsters don't dare come near the village
57 Are a demon/spirit/ghost
58 Don't have a face. They stole someone else's and wear it like a mask.
59 Are keeping a demon sealed away. When they die it'll be freed.
60 Are immortal. They've been living here forever, changing their identity and pretending to be their own descendants with each new generation.
It's... (d30, roll once for each rumor)
1-13 Not true
14-19 A misunderstanding
20-24 Not far off from the truth
25-29 True!
30 True and actually way weirder than they could imagine
(Roll d60 1d3 times, if you don't have a d60 roll a d30 and a d6. If the d6 is even read the d30 as-is, if it's odd add 30 to the d30's value.)
1 Are a witch
2 Have the evil eye
3 Bear an unknown curse and live apart to keep from spreading it
4 Brew medicines and potions that always work
5 Are an unsurpassed healer
6 Can lift any curse
7 Can see ghosts
8 Know the true names of several demons and spirits and speak with them regularly
9 Have a secret fortune hidden away nearby
10 Are a criminal hiding from their past
11 Are a noble in hiding
12 Are a noble in exile
13 Were a king once
14 Have a bounty on their head
15 Were a great warrior, forced to retire by a near-mortal wound
16 Have all kinds of artifacts and strange things collected during their travels
17 Are searching/digging for something in the woods
18 Host mysterious gatherings on the new moon
19 Have strange cloaked visitors coming and going at all hours
20 Are building something in their shed out deep in the forest
21 Found a lost mine in the hills and have been working it in secret
22 Sneak down to the cemetery at night, but nobody sees them come or go
23 Have an understanding with the goblins and ghouls to pass freely through their territory
24 Throw a coin in the well every overcast night
25 Can locate lost objects and property
26 Can tell the future
27 Can see when and how a person will die
28 Can read the guilt or innocence in your soul and know what you did
29 Can talk to animals and use them as informants and servants
30 Can take the form of any beast at will
31 Are a goat in human form
32 Are a werewolf
33 Are the one who leaves gifts and food around town in the night
34 Only eat raw hearts and offal
35 Are raising something out in the woods, leave food for it every day
36 Are a heretic priest in exile
37 Are the only priest of a forgotten god
38 Keep a purple fire burning in a secret altar
39 Are an alchemist working in secret
40 Have a library of priceless rare books
41 Were a pirate in their youth
42 Are a retired master thief and still maintain their contacts
43 Made an enemy of a god by stealing from its temple
44 Own a priceless work of art/ancient lost masterpiece
45 Are a retired assassin
46 Are an active assassin with a sideline in demon hunting
47 Can't be harmed by fire or water
48 Can repair anything you bring them that's broken and prioritizes fixing toys
49 Can restore the dead to life
50 Are a vampire
51 Are the keeper of a magic sword and waiting for someone pure of heart to entrust it to
52 Are a wizard and secretly guard the town from calamity
53 Mediate with the fae for the town. They can intercede on your behalf too if you ask.
54 Can call rain and cause storms and drought
55 Must be respected or they'll blight the crops again
56 Are the reason monsters don't dare come near the village
57 Are a demon/spirit/ghost
58 Don't have a face. They stole someone else's and wear it like a mask.
59 Are keeping a demon sealed away. When they die it'll be freed.
60 Are immortal. They've been living here forever, changing their identity and pretending to be their own descendants with each new generation.
It's... (d30, roll once for each rumor)
1-13 Not true
14-19 A misunderstanding
20-24 Not far off from the truth
25-29 True!
30 True and actually way weirder than they could imagine
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