Who Killed the Mayor?

          

          Murder is easily the most serious crime that humans are capable of, at least on a personal scale. It deprives another of their very existence. Certain settings trivialize this to a one degree or another, but even campaign settings with the most liberal of interpretation on resurrection still attach great weight to death and murder. Murder comes in as many varieties as there are victims, from the coldly calculated assassination, to the robbery gone wrong. They're committed by individuals, groups, and sometimes even entire organizations. As long as there are three people left in the world, odd are one of them is going to want one of the other two dead.

          The seventh in my overall series on rolling up the goings on of a city, this entry focuses on rolling up a murder at random in the city at large. These can be used to kick off a plot based around a murder investigation, suggest the activities of some nefarious group, or even to just use as the backdrop of a particularly gritty world. To use this generator, simply roll 4d8.

d8	Who got killed?
1	Mayor/Village Elder/Chief
2	Magic User
3	Local Hero
4	Noble
5	Vagrant/Visitor
6	Notable Criminal
7	Well-to-do Citizen
8	Poor Citizen

d8	Who killed them?
1	Notable Criminal
2	Obscure Criminal
3	Well Known Citizen
4	Obscure Citizen
5	Kin to Victim
6	Vagrant/Visitor
7	Someone at the behest of another. Roll twice on this table, ignoring this result, as well as the following. The first result is the murderer, the second is the one who asked for it.
8	A number of people; this can be as few as a pair, as many as a conspiracy. Roll 1d6+1, that's the number of conspirators. Roll again on this table that many times, ignoring this result and the previous (unless you'd like the possibility of Dune level shenanigans)

d8	How'd they do it?
1	An animal, whether it be magical or otherwise. Kicked them in the head with a horse, had a dog maul them, hid a basilisk in their closet...
2	A directed weapon, from a candlestick, knife or firearm - perhaps even just a large rock - the variations are endless, but the results are the same.
3	Something which initially seems like an accident; a fall, drowning, or an overturned candle turned inferno.
4	With their bare hands, by strangling or beating them to death.
5	Poison, whether in their food, drink, or something more exotic.
6	A trap, whether that be a literal booby trap or sabotage to make something mundane into something dangerous.
7	Deprivation; this can be by starvation, dehydration or exposure. This also generally implies some sort of imprisonment or form of restraints.
8	Magic. A spell, a magical item, a curse, or some other manifestation of unnatural power.

d8	Why'd they do it?
1	Money
2	Romantic differences
3	Fury
4	Religious reasons
5	Compulsion - magical or otherwise.
6	Property
7	Secrets
8	Accident and cover-up