My first random forays into the Isle of the Unknown were successful, but I tend to agree with the detractors of the book that the ‘animals’ presented are pretty unusable. That said, I do not run gonzo campaigns so the particular style of wierdness as presented in Isle of the Unknon was never really going to work for me. Still, the reason I picked it up (apart from the brilliant production values) was for inspiration on how to add a little of that weirdness to my setting so let’s see how I go with my second random selection.

Hex 0910 – A statue of wood-hued tone depicts a man holding a hammer and a needle, bending over an empty table. Any damaged mundane item placed upon the table will cause the statue to animate and repair the item as swiftly as could an expert craftsman of the most consummate skill. - Isle of the Unknown p. 40

I am not going to parapharase or modify that one bit. It can slot into pretty much any place in any setting. That said, I will place it somewhere appropriate in the city; the day palace.

Nanny to the Tollard children, Old Granny Feggins has served three generations of Tollards. Nowadays she can barely potter around the family rooms but she still insists on mending all the family clothes. Somehow she gets it all done despite spending hours each day on her ‘walks about the place’ as she calls them. If someone were to follow her on these walks they would follow her into a seemingly abandoned building. Up five flights of stairs to a light and airy attic filled with strange objects. She walks to the statue and pulls the day’s mending and darning from within her skirts. After placing the items on the table, she settles into a convenient rocking chair to wait.

Hex 2112 – A man sized monster looks like a slightly elongated raspberry with vaguely lizard-like head, tail, and four legs, all raspberry-like in color and texture.

Ouch! I honestly can’t deal with this in a way that draws any inspiration from it. I don’t think I can take it seriously and I am pretty sure that players won’t.

I feel inclined to keep going, but I think the last entry illustrates one point that the book’s detractors are making. Most of the other monster entries are just as useless for my setting, and indeed, my campaigns. That said, three out of four randomly picked entries led me within seconds to a cool use for my setting and I still consider Isle of the Unknown to be one of the most interesting rpg books I have read recently.

You can buy Isle of the Unknown from LotFP