Villages and Oddities

Filling out fantasy maps can be difficult work. In my experience, describing all of the various villages and hamlets in detail is not only a waste of time (what are the odds your players will visit even half of them?), but also counterintuitive. Better, I think, to create a list of interesting places and drop them along your PCs' path as they travel. Sort of like a random encounter table, but for settlements.

To use this kind of mapping/travel method, you'll need (probably) at least three things: the name of the community, the name of the tavern, and something interesting to keep your PCs from just moving on without hesitation. If you recall, I've previously tackled some tavern names, but today I'm going to present tables on village names and on oddities; oddities are those unique features that will (hopefully) draw in your players.

Villages

1. Hillhold
2. Strawton
3. Riverway
4. Woodbury
5. Bellhome
6. Stonewood

Oddities

1. A traveling merchant selling one-use wands
2. A magical talking scale that settles trade disputes
3. A tree that bears "ironfruit" (nuggets of refined iron ore)
4. A seamstress who can sew enchantments into wool cloth
5. A bronze pole 10' high, 1' in diameter that emits a subtle hum as the PCs walk by
6. A talking dog
7. An ogre helping build a barn
8. Constant, never-ceasing rainfall