I wrote previously about using puzzles and about playground rooms. This is another playground room for fantasy heroes to explore.

The Orcs’ Refuse Pile

The heroes assault a band of orcs, invade their lair, and at one point come across a side chamber where the orcs have piled up their refuse for years. If they spend time searching the musty, decaying pile, they find some things of interest. If the heroes are searching for something or someone as the main plot of the adventure, they should find a clue here after a couple of tries (entry 21).

For each character searching for 10 minutes, roll on the table below, but count duplicates as wasted time. If you want to specify some things the heroes find while searching for valuables or what they find on a wasted time roll, you can consult an actual junk table.

Found Items

2d20	Item
2	The character is attacked by rot grubs among the decaying refuse.
3	A book of dirty poetry worth 20 gp.
4	A romantic letter from someone named Goren to a paramour named Helta.
5	A brass prosthetic nose, perhaps the very one worn by a famous dwarven hero.
6	A desiccated human hand wearing a 5 gp ring that might identify its unfortunate owner.
7	A heavy woman’s belt with 18 gp sewn into the back side.
8	The skull of a giant eagle, worth 15 gp to the right buyer.
9	10 feet of good chain, a little rusty.
10	The character is attacked by rot grubs among the decaying refuse.
11	A wooden bucket in good condition.
12	A good lantern.
13	A smith’s hammer.
14	A tiny vial of perfume worth 30 gp.
15	The elaborately carved top of a staff (player should describe) that can be added to any staff.
16	A fine-quality flute worth 15 gp.
17	A silver holy symbol (worth 35 gp) of a different faith from the party’s cleric(s).
18	A fine dagger (worth 25 gp) wrapped in a common cloth.
19	A good set of thieves’ tools in a leather bag.
20	A clue about the person or thing the heroes are after. (If none, a small carved owl worth 1 gp.)
21	A wooden bucket in good condition.
22	A small box containing a pen, several nibs, and some ink.
23	An idol of a… (1d4: 1=evil deity; 2=neutral deity; 3-4=good deity).
24	Something you thought looked good but actually just junk.
25	A high-quality mirror of silvered glass worth 20 gp.
26	A small brass bell.
27	Good leather gloves.
28	Fine silk gloves worth 20 gp.
29	Pewter tankard in good condition.
30	Small sack containing a fire-starter kit.
31	A rag-wrapped bundle of 3d4 candles.
32	A random potion in a pewter flask worth 5 gp. It… (1d10: 1=smells fine but is actually just going bad; it works but also produces a minor wild magic effect; 2-9=stinks and is spoiled; 10=is fresh).
33	A small bundle of exotic, colored feathers worth 10 gp, wrapped in wool.
34	A pair of fine boots in quite good condition. Roll 3d6 for the size; they fit a character whose strength is the same or off by 1.
35	A good spyglass worth 50 gp.
36	A pewter bottle labeled “TROLL”–enough troll blood to make 2 potions of healing (10 gp each to brew or sell the blood for 50 gp).
37	A unicorn’s horn. Very valuable, but trying to sell it could draw a great deal of suspicion.
38	A tome of old history worth 500 gp.
39	A random potion in a silver flask (worth 15 gp alone). It… (1d10: 1=smells fine but is just going bad; it works but also produces a minor wild magic effect; 2-9=stinks and is spoiled; 10=is fresh).
40	A fragment of a map of this very dungeon.