Eyes of the Hidden

 This is a table of d6 x d20 sixth senses all adventurers may have.

As a reminder to potential aliens or gelatinous cubes in the audience, all senses give information, just through different ways. With this in mind, this table is divided into two pieces. Roll 1d6 on the first table to get the way something is sensed, and 1d20 on the second table to get the information sensed. Combine the two results for fun and profit:

5/6ths Of The Way To True Attunement
(Art by the wonderful Konstantin Vavilov)

If you...

1. See something very closely
2. Smell something
3. Taste something
4. Touch something
5. Hear something
6. Read about something

... you can intuitively determine...

1. Who created it
2. Its exact weight and height
3. Its name (not true name) and any nicknames
4. Its purpose and its thoughts on the meaning of life
5. If it is magical (not how, just if)
6. If it is cursed or blessed
7. What diseases it carries
8. Its greatest deed
9. Its most shameful secret
10. How many lives it has taken
11. Its closest friend
12. Its worst enemy
13. Its strongest desire
14. Its worst fear
15. Any languages it speaks
16. Where and when it was created
17. Everything it has done in the past hour in chronological order
18. Its recurring dreams
19. Its exact monetary value
20. Its emotional value to its owner (if it has an owner)

Closing Thoughts

I find that gifting these senses to adventurers can be done in three fun ways:

• Through magical or alchemic mutation. This is obvious but also a tried and true classic.
• Through birth. Perhaps if you have these senses, you are bound for the grim gold-laden path of being an adventurer. This obviously has implications on your setting.
• After your first successful adventure. Perhaps the dungeon changes you and you leave with a piece of the Mythic Underworld with you. If you want to go real crazy, roll a new sense each level-up.

Odd scenarios will arise when your player asks you "I lick the mushroom, who is its closest friend?" Feel free to give an odd response back like "Sarro Fogmoon, Druid of the Stonewood, Ally of All Things Fungal and Creeping". Giving information like this is a great way to plant adventure seeds and give information about the mechanics and places of your world at large.

Although, you don't need to give some groundbreaking information through these senses all the time. Perhaps the answer to "I lick the mushroom, who is its closest friend?" is "I don't know, it's a mushroom, most mushrooms don't have friends,"

To cut the work on yourself, you don't need to describe every instance of when something is tasted, touched, smelled, etc. Only give out this information when a player asks for it and takes the appropriate action with the appropriate sense deliberately. Additionally, make sure that the players know that you will not be automatically describing whether every meal they eat is magical and whatnot and that they must explicitly ask if they wish to receive information.

Feel free to add to the list. Nothing is stopping you from putting "Kill something", "Kiss something" or even "Prank something" on the d6 list, or "Its response to the trolley problem", "Who it has romantic feelings for" or "The last lie it told" on the d20 list as well. Just be aware that these will often be more specific than the classic few senses listed up there and it will also encourage your players to interact with the world in certain ways.