Jack and the beanstalk is the obvious example. Cloud and storm giants in DnD we are told live in cloud castles. These are a few scenarios featuring this environment. The magic faraway tree by Enid Blyton has the various cloud worlds that are temporarily accessible from the treetops. If you visit too long you can be trapped. I like this last approach especially as I have made a cosmic tree related to faerieland already. I guess you could find a gate or a magic mountain or just fly up too. SOme cloud lands wander into contact with other planes even the lower or elemental planes. Some are copies or remnants of various heavens and paradises but often flawed or deceptive. Giants are fairly common encounters here but fairies and gnomes and other creatures might live in the forests on cloudland. Some cloudlands have ruins remnants of giant civilization from when they were smarter and more supreme. Clouds sometimes crash or collide with fragments of the abyss that that also float around the multiverse usually full of demons. Some beings close to heaven might dwell here for some reason usually because they are close but not quite on point with elastic dogma. There are angels for example who are not willing to return to their kingdom and disagree with home order.
So this is a bunch of tables to generate a cloudland to adventure on with some local life and other details. On one note In my setting dragons and even gods tend to attack balloons and airships. Human attempts to fly with apparatus like tying geese to your chair or jumping off a mountain with fake wings tend to end in failure. Beings in the upper world often use chariots pulled by griffons or other magic animals and some have magical ornithopters, golem like mechanical winged creatures.
You can run amok using various bridges to the sky lands and exploring the upper realms. You can taste what its like to invade another dimension or world but with limited foes and a chance of winning. Heroes from earth You could even colonise a cloud land.
Cloud lands in a world over mobile cities in the lower world would be bonkers. Perhaps burrowing cities in the deep and giant submarine mobile cities. Only dead cities sit still.
Clouds might collide which creates some good adventure opportunities. This could be war or disaster. Once you control the helm of a cloud you might try and annex some smaller cloud lands or give up on bothering with the mortals world on the surface.
Sky people call mortals of the surface groundlings, mortals, earth folk, midlanders, centrelanders, middlemarchmen, groundhuggers, children of earth, those from below, earth grubs, smallfolk and other derogatory names.
Could expand terrain table to have d12 entries each or something like my other terrains
Future Cloud Land Sections
d100 tribes and peoples for cloudland faction
d100 encounters for cloud land areas
d100 wandering strangers of cloudland
d100 magical ruins and remnants for cloudland
d100 strange magic mysteries found on cloudland
d100 magical hazards on the cloudlands
d10 How Big is the Cloudland?
1 Smaller than a sports field only a hundred yards or less (One faction one features)
2 Size of a oval 300 yard or so (One faction one feature)
3 Half a mile across (One faction two features)
4 One d4 miles across (d3 factions two features)
5 Group of d4 x 4 mile hexes (d3 faction three features)
6 Cluster of 3d6 x 4 mile hexes (d4 faction four features)
7 Small kingdom of ten times d4+2 lots of 4 mile hexes (d4 faction four features)
8 Medium kingdom of ten times 3d4 lots of 4 mile hexes (d6 faction five features)
9 Large kingdom of ten times 4d6 lots of 4 mile hexes (d6 faction five features)
10 Very Large kingdom of hundred times d4+2 lots of 4 mile hexes (2d4 faction six features)
Quick Common Factions on Cloudland
1 Giants with d4 pet types or servitor races
2 Remnants of giants, degenerate giant kin like ogres
3 Trolls, often long extinct civilized trolls long gone from the mortal world
4 Faerie folk or sylvan beings of the forest
5 Beastmen especially bird related tribes are the most common
6 Demi humans including elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings of exotic tribes
7 Strange abhuman tribes kin of elements or other materials even cloudfolk
8 Overrun with monsters possibly even demons
9 Race of changeling spirit folk kin of animals, plants or heavens
10 Beings from the upper worlds like angels or archons, often distant
d10 How do we get up there?
1 From branches of the cosmic world tree that touch clouds (seasonally)
2 Find a gateway or teleporter pad built by ancients and learn to activate it
3 From top of a holy magic mountain where clouds come in contact (yearly)
4 Find magic stairs that go to a cloud kingdom, possibly inside a tower or into a hill
5 Find a rope or ladder or anchor chain or something hanging from a low cloud
6 Grow magic beans which latch onto a cloud (live d4 days)
7 Through a fairy ring gate (Once a year)
8 Through an ancient stone gateway (once a month)
9 Have a wizard or magician or use a magic item send you there
10 Find visiting creatures or beings from cloudland and hitch a ride
d10 How Mobile Is the Cloudland?
1 Wanders aimlessly to new adventure constantly
2 Follows winds and can be predicted circle each year around world
3 Orbits the world tree interacts with other planes seasonally
4 Their is a ruined structure that operated as control and propulsion system
5 Their is a magical helm control room in the cloud but lost or secret
6 A faction control a hel and sort of understand how to use it but with problems
7 A helm is guarded by ancient defences like a dungeon complex
8 Intersects with various mountains every year
9 Spends part of the year in the lower realms fending off demons or invaders
10 A powerful being drives the cloud to some secret plan and others dream of siexing it
The land has a dominant or several competing terrain types on each hex.
d6 How Many Terrain Types in a Kingdom
1-2 One dominant terrain type
3-4 d3 terrain types but one is dominant5 2d4 terrain zones but two are dominant
6 One hex of each type at least and a d6 most common
12 Quick Common Hex Terrains on Cloudland
1 Mountains often with snow capped peaks
2 Grassy hills and meadows and woods and hedges
3 Thick wild forest with scary animals
4 Well kept woodland with magic animals
5 Rich grassy plain with some lakes and ponds
7 Rich jungle and wetland swamp thick with dangerous life
8 Windy ice swept plateau
9 Desert of coloured sand or salt, some scattered or hidden oases or lush canyons
10 Water, fresh or sweet with islands and possibly underwater secrets
11 Fluffy cloud mass and fogg banks
12 Magical terrain something exotic and strange
A feature might be surrounded by it's own bubble of terrain of varying size up to a hex
d100 Exotic Features of a Cloudland
1 Luscious rich forest often with long extinct plants and animals
2 Fluffy edible clouds of manna decent from heaven to feed creatures
3 Rough rocky terrain with gorges, canyons, mesas and butes
4 Cloud material is workable like stone and easily carved
5 Cloud material is edible and nutritious
6 Ancient cave paintings and stone ruins from ancients
7 A rich garden once ordered now increasingly out of control
8 Single huge cavern inside the cloud hides a dread secret
9 Ruin covered from ancient giant civilization
10 Honeycombed with caves and room for a hidden faction
11 Glacier of ice with a cave system within
12 Volcanic smoking with mineral hot springs and visible lava flows
13 Mountains of skeletons, graves and ruined tombs possibly all giant
14 Geysers and mineral springs leaving increadible crystal deposits
15 Agrarian farmland where common folk in villages work, possibly vassals
16 Area has a town and numerous villages
17 Area has a citadel possibly inhabited possibly in some state of ruination
18 Area has a large town or small city and numerous towns and villages
19 Area has a castle or fortress or more for various factions
20 A structure from which the clouds were controlled from once
21 Dungeons are fairly common within the clouds
22 Fungus forest of mushrooms and slime and possibly goblins or faerie folk
23 Crystals over the area in formations, some possibly magic or valuable or living
24 A great crumbling ancient library possibly hidden or desired by factions
25 Has ladder, anchor chain or remains of some contact with the surface
25 A flying monster species likes to roost and breed here possibly locals use them
26 Storehouse of the gods with some kind of monster guardian or even a race
27 Gateway to the borders of heaven, the celestial city or one of the upper worlds
28 Palace of some supernatural being like a star or elf noble a giant or a dragon or angel
29 A sleeping kaiju lays here awaiting the prophecy
30 Gentle grassy hill country with wild flowers
31 Pleasant wetlands with lakes of water lillies and sweet water
32 Remains of ancient walls surround and possibly divide the cloud
33 Fortified mountain possibly abandoned or crawling with monsters
34 Area where landmass covered in flesh and living meat and strange creatures
35 Foul primal bogs with oozes and slimes and simple life forms
36 Pleasant forest of fruit and nut trees, with some magical fruit trees
37 Pleasant grassy meadows and fields with a few streams and ponds
38 Many haunted houses and cottages and other ruins
39 Remains of a great magical engine which once caused chaos long ago
40 Stone monoliths, lines of menhirs, stone circles and other ancient monuments
41 Giant trees surrounded by rich forest
42 Living forest, many are tree men or tree spirits or dryads or treants
43 Huge craters from some explosion or starfall or volcano or disaster long ago
44 Cursed sleeping beings here awaiting freedom form long ago
45 Cloud has a spirit and some awareness and history and possibly can appear in a mortal form
46 A deity often stays here and has a house which is off limits to mortals
47 Numerous petty gods come here often and easy to find one
48 Sleeping titan possibly overgrown or chained or in statue form
49 Imprisoned being of evil chained here and possibly tormented by venom or lava or monsters
50 Giant edible plants wild from some giants garden, possibly giant bees and other creatures
51 Ancient gate complex difficult to operate or understand
52 Weather control pylon often built in tower or temple at giant size
53 A great vault with sleeping race awaiting some event in the future
54 Corpse of a god or ancient being possibly mutant creatures living off remains
55 Inflicted by chaos with strange auroras, alchemical pools an blasted terrain
56 Huge burned areas from some ancient conflict possibly dangerous remnants of some war
57 Pleasant snowfields plains possibly higher than other areas
58 Foul swamp tainted by evil long ago
59 Area rich in minerals, precious metals and stones in veins unseen on surface world
60 A huge statue built long ago possibly hollow or with some adjascant buildings
61 Plateau area frozen with strange creatures and ruins
62 Plateau with jungles and dinosaurs
63 Plateau with ruins and monoliths and tombs from some ancient civilization
64 Gravel covered region of crumbled rock possibly a crushed civilization or glacier path
65 Giant fossils of ancient life turned to stone and killed in primordial wars
66 Multidimensional garbage dump where filth rains from gateways over the filth pits
67 Gigantic pits of filth with formarians wallowing and abusing mortals
68 Glass castle with faerie folk inside partially in another dimension
69 A race of golems in a citadel who replaced their creators aeons ago
70 Sacred pool surrounded in magical sylvan beings and guarded by unicorns
71 A magic tree with divine fruit reserved for immortals guarded by kaiju or colossus
72 Magical animals sacred to a god live here with magical guardians
73 A great dragon with lair lives here possibly with some offspring as followers in own lairs
74 A mighty colossus was made for war aeons ago and makers long gone but it remains
75 A great stone table with giant chairs where giants met long ago
76 A giant castle of powerful giant nobles who see the whole island as property but seldom intervene
77 Shimmering rainbow on a faerie outpost where great treasure is protected
78 Sphynx sages give riddles, important sage lore and eat the unworthy here
79 Huge stone monumental construction like a pyramid, ziggurat, colosseum,, tomb, temple or wall
70 Great tree which can be used to access the cosmic world tree
71 Gateway to human city on the mortal world in some cupboard or the sewers or a palace
72 Gateway to the underland caverns near a great trading city
73 Gateway portal to hell in form of a monsterous devil face or buttocks
74 Gateway arch to paradise require right alignment to operate
75 Gateway to faerie land with giant standing stone faerie circle
76 Gateway to the dreamlands with dream creatures, illusions and phantoms
77 Gateway to the nightmareland with dream creatures, shadows and terrors
78 Gateway to pure null force and darkness attracting necromancers and undead beings
79 Gateway to land of light the source of life, a great healing shrine guarded by the good
80 Elemental node of metal with a gateway and various metal beasts
81 Elemental node of lightning with a gateway and various lightning beasts
82 Elemental node of magma with a gateway and various magma beasts
83 Elemental node of fog with a gateway and various fog beasts
84 Elemental note of radiance with a gateway and various radiant beasts
85 Elemental node of crystal with a gateway and various crystal beasts
86 Elemental node of ice with a gateway and various ice beasts
87 Elemental node of earth with a gateway and various earth beasts
88 Elemental node of water with a gateway and various water beasts
89 Elemental node of air with a gateway and various air beasts
90 Elemental node of fire with a gateway and various fire beasts
91 Dimensional fortress with outpost of archons or angels keeping look for chaos and evil
92 Dimensional fortress with outpost of lizardmen with dinosaurs patrolling the time zones
93 Dimensional fortress with outpost of giant nobility of a more advanced tribe
94 Dimensional fortress with outpost of demonkind guarding a portal of chaos
95 Dimensional fortress with outpost of hell with a petty noble of hell as a commanding officer
96 Dimensional fortress with outpost of serpent men wizards from another plane or time
97 Dimensional fortress with outpost of psionic eldren void knights from another plane
98 Dimensional fortress with outpost of knights of the cosmic balance here to rest and heal
99 Dimensional fortress with outpost of undead overlords led by powerful intelligent horrors
100 Dimensional fortress of primal chaos crawling with shoggoths and alien architecture
Broodmother Skyfortress but every single day. Awesome.
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