I've kept the following "Grook" in mind when making random "seed" tables for Eldritch Gambit. Everyone already knows that with tables you can either take what is rolled, choose what you want, or make up something yourself. I think there is another element to tables that I want to support, which is revealing your hopes.
In a role-playing game, the moment the die is rolling, you are hoping. For checking success and such, this is no mystery. You usually want to succeed. For a random table or as a GM, things aren't so clear. Often you have no idea what you really want. It is a secret from yourself.
I find that a creative and interesting table reveals your desires. At this sort of liminal pause in time you have the chance to realize what you actually wanted deep down, not just what you could get. You could say it breaks analysis paralysis but I think it is more than that.
After all, the table becomes immaterial at that moment. Your hope might not even be on it!
Note: the page above is from "Grooks" by Piet Hein, a weird little book of poems I liked as a child and onwards. It's an influence on me, I think for the better. I recently became curious about Piet Hein and he's more interesting than I thought. Some of his poems that I thought were just twee are actually veiled allegories about being part of the resistance to the Nazis in Denmark. Whoops!
Any tables out there that had you HOPING when you rolled?
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