Begin with the place
Choose the site type, age, environment and danger. Review its builders, original purpose and what remains for explorers to find.
Tabletop ruins and exploration
Ruin &
Lost Site
Generator
A vanished purpose.
A surviving clue.
A place to explore.
History. Discoveries. Exploration.VISINVOKE account and Desktop Control Centre.
A place with a past
Give exploration something to uncover.
Prepare the lost site and the expedition together.
Prepare a reason to investigate
Review the discovery hook, clues, inscriptions and relics. Decide what draws the characters in and what they can learn through exploration.
Old stones. Present occupants.
Read the layers of the site.
The illustration shows explorers examining inscriptions, fragments and notes among ruined columns, with camps and occupants beside a river and waterfalls.
Prepare the builders, destruction, later occupations and present inhabitants. Review the evidence and decide how each discovery helps the characters understand the place.
Lost site preparation
History. Structures. Discoveries.
Shape the ruin for your expedition.
Choose the lost site
Prepare an ancient city fragment, temple, fort, mine, sunken complex, overgrown ruin or crashed arcane structure. Choose its age, environment and danger.
Builders and purpose
Review who built the site, their culture and its original purpose. Give the place a reason to have existed before the characters arrived.
Layers of history
Prepare a timeline, later occupations and the cause of destruction. Review the history against the established facts of your campaign.
What survives
Choose preservation and collapse, then review surviving and fallen structures. Prepare the routes, obstacles and places worth examining.
A changed environment
Consider how the surroundings changed and how explorers reach the site. Tie the ruin to its present landscape and access routes.
Clues and inscriptions
Review inscriptions, evidence and discovery hooks. Choose what the characters can examine and how it points towards the past.
Relics and hidden areas
Set clue and relic density, then review discoveries and concealed spaces. Decide what belongs in the expedition and your campaign.
Occupants and rivals
Prepare current occupants, hazards and competing explorers. Consider what they want and how they affect exploration.
Unusual phenomena
Choose magic, optional curses or unusual phenomena during setup. Review their role alongside the site history, danger and discoveries.
Keep useful site material
Save and reopen useful site records, review earlier versions and prepare alternate expedition notes. Print or export the material you choose to use.
Build your exploration material
Shape the site before the session.
The illustration shows a group arranging a layered miniature ruin, surrounded by occupants, structure pieces, tokens and preparation cards.
Choose the culture, preservation, collapse and current occupation. Review the structures, clues, relics and hazards together, then edit the material to fit your adventure.
From the first hook to the ruins
Choose. Generate. Review.
A focused exploration workflow.
Choose the setting
Set the type, age, environment and danger. Give the site a place in your campaign world.
Add its circumstances
Choose builders, culture, destruction and preservation. Add occupants, magic, clues, relics and rival explorers as useful.
Review the archaeological key
Read the history, surviving structures, access and evidence. Decide what each discovery means for the characters.
Prepare the expedition
Review the Dungeon Master key and player handout. Keep the material you need for the session and check it before sharing.
Gather the expedition notes
Bring the past to the table.
The illustration shows a layered ruin model beside a history timeline, relic fragments, inscription rubbings, site cards and a separate guardian scene.
Review the site record, evidence and discoveries as you prepare exploration. Decide which occupants or hazards belong in a scene, and keep the history and private notes close at hand.
Keep useful lost site material
Save. Revisit. Prepare.
Keep the ruin with your campaign notes.
Save a useful site
Save the site record and reopen it for later preparation. Keep the material you want to use in your campaign.
Review earlier versions
Reopen earlier site versions while reviewing your preparation. Compare the material before choosing what belongs in the adventure.
Prepare alternate expeditions
Keep alternate expedition notes for a return visit or a different approach. Review the site and discoveries for that session.
Print and export
Choose the Dungeon Master key or player handout for printing and export. Review the exact contents before sharing with the group.
Your workspace and related tools
Continue the adventure.
Open your tools through your VISINVOKE account.
Desktop Control Centre
Open Ruin & Lost Site Generator in DCC. Get the desktop workspace through your account installer page.
Redemption Generator
Prepare a separate story about making amends, its cost and how others respond. Use that material alongside your adventure.
Product illustrations show archaeological discoveries, layered ruins, expedition preparation and site notes.
Questions and answers
Know the exploration workflow.
Site preparation, review, records and account access.
What kinds of sites can I prepare?
Prepare ancient city fragments, temples, forts, mines, sunken complexes, overgrown sites, crashed arcane structures and buried ruins. Review the history, structures, discoveries and current occupants.
How do Quick and Deep setup differ?
Quick setup covers type, age, environment and danger. Deep setup adds culture, destruction, preservation, occupation, collapse, magic, clue and relic density, competing explorers and optional unusual phenomena.
What does a site record include?
Review identity, builders, purpose, timeline, occupations, destruction, surviving structures, access, clues, inscriptions, relics, hidden areas, occupants, hazards and the Dungeon Master archaeological key.
Can I revise the material?
Edit the result or reroll a section during preparation. Review the site identity, history, discoveries and inhabitants together before using the revised material in your campaign.
How do I prepare material for players?
Choose the player handout or Dungeon Master key and review the exact contents before printing or exporting. Decide what the characters know and keep private preparation with your own notes.
Where do I open the generator?
Open Ruin & Lost Site Generator in VISINVOKE Desktop Control Centre. Create an account or sign in and get DCC through your account installer page.
Continue in VISINVOKE
Your account. Your workspace.
Create an account or sign in. Get Desktop Control Centre through your account installer page and open Ruin & Lost Site Generator.
Keep useful site records and expedition notes with your desktop preparation.