Portents at the Crossroads: 50 DnD, Pathfinder & RPG story hook Ideas

Portents at the Crossroads

Mysterious Signs, Strange Encounters & Curious Choices

In lands woven with magic and myth, even the road may whisper secrets. A faded signpost might lie. A raven might caw three times — or none. And sometimes, the choice isn’t between left or right... but between truth and story.

This scroll gathers 50 curious portents, omens, and signs that appear at or near crossroads. Use them to stir the winds of fate, open strange paths, or confuse your bravest adventurers. Some may be warnings. Others mere distractions. But each is a doorway into deeper tales.

Sometimes the road gives signs. Sometimes, it plays tricks. And sometimes, it just waits to see what you'll do next...

50 RPG & Storytelling Crossroad Encounter Ideas

• A single boot, polished and upright, sits at the intersection. It faces north.
• A child’s voice sings from beneath the cobbles, soft and echoing.
• Three crows sit upon the signpost. One speaks a name.
• The southern path smells faintly of cinnamon. No one else seems to notice.
• A blindfolded man offers a coin toss. Heads, you follow him. Tails, he follows you.
• A woman with a fox’s tail paints symbols on the dirt road. She vanishes before someone reach her.
• A skeleton plays a flute beside a worn milestone. The tune seems familiar.
• A goat blocks the eastern path. It refuses to move unless given a name.
• An old man sleeping beneath the signpost mumbles a player mother’s maiden name.
• Every traveler here has forgotten where they were going — or why.
• A tree grows at the very center of the crossroad, bearing glowing blue fruit.
• The signpost now has five arms. One points upward. One inward.
• A jester hung upside down from a lamp post insists: ‘The left road eats shoes.’
• A note pinned to a dead bird: ‘Wrong turn. Try again.’
• An invisible voice keeps asking to choose... but gives no options.
• A puddle reflects a starry sky — even during daylight.
• A merchant offers one map for free. It shows no roads, only regrets.
• A turtle crossing the road hisses: ‘Don't trust the sunrise.’
• Two identical travelers argue about which road is real. Both claim to be kings.
• A weathered sign reads, ‘To Home, To Glory, To Doom, To Tea.’
• We can hear hoofbeats. Then laughter. But no one rides past.
• An hourglass lies shattered in the dirt. The sand flows uphill.
• The shadow of a tree points east. But there is no tree.
• A statue of a fox-faced god holds one hand out, palm up. A coin lies waiting.
• The western road hums softly, as if breathing.
• A stone that sighs and whispers, ‘Finally.’
• A red ribbon flutters from a thorn bush. It smells of salt and longing.
• The crossroads feels colder than the air around it.
• A bell ring once. Somewhere, a door has opened.
• A fox watches from the treeline. When someone look again, it's a man.
• A set of footprints leads to the center of the crossroad… but none leave it.
• A dagger sticks out of the signpost. The blade hums when someone speak.
• A poem scrawled on a rock: ‘Three went west and none came back / Two went east and cracked.’
• A traveler offers a peach. Inside is a key.
• Lightning strikes the same tree again and again, without sound.
• A figure wrapped in wool sits beneath a sign, knitting endlessly. The thread vanishes into the dirt.
• Someone built a tiny door into the signpost. You hear knocking from within.
• Every time someone blink, the path behind looks… different.
• A ring of mushrooms encircles the center of the crossroads. Each glows faintly.
• A singing kettle boils with no fire beside an old teacup.
• A message is carved into a stone: ‘The road to answers runs backward.’
• A blue frog talking in a tongue no one remember.
• A young girl walks past, holding a lantern and a fish. She says, ‘Too late,’ and vanishes.
• A dog with three tails digs at the north path. Buried there: a sealed letter.
• A man offers directions — but only in riddles. Then demands you pay with a secret.
• A sneeze, and every raven in the trees flies away.
• A cracked mirror leans against a rock. It shows one path as burning.
• A rainbow appears… but only over the road behind.
• A lone sock dangles from the signpost. It is warm, and purring.
• A faded poster reads: ‘Reward! Lost Time. Last seen heading west.’

Beware, sometimes the road you don’t take keeps walking behind you in whispers...