09/24/2026

Happy Thursday, and welcome back to Tabletop Thuoghts!

This month’s Thursday Drop-In is The Crooked Mile, a short roadside encounter built around one very simple piece of advice:

Once you enter the ravine, don’t stop until you reach the other side.

The Crooked Mile is a narrow, winding road running between cliffs. Locals know the stories and travelers know the warning, but there’s nothing particularly difficult about following it. Just keep walking.

At least until the party gets halfway through the ravine.

That’s where they find an overturned wagon blocking the road. One horse is dead, cargo is scattered across the ground, and a badly injured traveler is trapped beneath the wreckage calling for help.

And he’s not a monster. He’s not an illusion. He’s not trying to lure the characters into a trap.

He really needs their help.

The problem is that helping him means stopping.

And once the party stops, they may notice a motionless figure standing on the ridge above them.

Then another.

And another.

The Crooked Mile is designed as a quick drop-in encounter for a low-level party that you can place along almost any wilderness road. It gives the players a straightforward problem, a difficult decision, and something increasingly unpleasant watching them from the cliffs while they try to figure out what to do.

Grab the adventure, drop the Crooked Mile somewhere along your party’s next journey, and give them one piece of advice before they enter:

Whatever happens, keep moving.

Keep on gaming!