It ain’t the heat. It’s the lack of humidity that’ll kill you. But until then, your party might as well discover a few interesting while lost among the dunes. We speak not of mirages, but of oddities! Strange objects, events, and encounters that turn any old adventuring environment into a thrilling vista your players will never forget! So the next time the heroes in your campaign are crossing a sandy wasteland, roll on the table below and catalyze a whole new adventure!

1. For the next 1d4 hours it snows, each flake sizzling away in a puff of steam the moment it touches the ground.

2. The ground rumbles as a titanic camel with 1d6 humps crosses the desert.

3. The sand in this part of the desert is an unnatural color. Roll 1d6 to determine its current tint 1) green, 2) silver, 3) purple, 4) pink, 5) blue, 6) plaid.

4. Up ahead the sand stirs and swirls, forming a whirlpool of burning grains threatening to draw the unwary down deep below the dunes.

5. A lone cactus follows the party. Wherever they go in the desert, the cactus is 1d100 paces behind, though it only moves when they aren’t looking at it.

6. A pillar of salt roughly in the shape of a woman.

7. A jackal picks the last strips of flesh from the remains of a pack animal that died mid-crossing of exhaustion and dehydration. After licking it’s muzzle with gusto, the jackal picks up two femurs and plays the beast’s rib cage like a xylophone.

8. A lone figure dressed from head to toe in black robes stands atop a dune regarding the party the way a buzzard regards a carcass. The figure ignores all hails and threats, even when in arms reach of one of the party. If touched or struck by an attack the robes blow away in a sudden wind, leaving nothing but a swirl of dust as if they contained nothing at all.

9. A sandworm bursts forth from a dune as a winged sandwyrm streaks down from the sky. The two join in titanic battle and the desert trembles for 1d4 days.

10. A wandering illusionist ensorcells a field of sun-bleached human skeletons bone by bone, giving the parched landscape the appearance of a welcoming oasis.

And that’s only the beginning! Check back over the coming days and weeks as your favorite d-Infinity contributors add their own oddities for a desert! Why not add a few of your own? Let’s see how quickly we can get to 100 original oddities!