Procedural tabletop RPG content?

I have a soft spot for random generators. Random encounter tables help me design adventures on the fly, random critical hit effects add flavor to the battle scenes... and so on.

My obsession with random generator really started when I discovered rougelikes in the late 90s. It was when I learned what procedural generation is and I got hooked. There seems to be something magical and intriguing in the way a simple man-made algorithm can create a variety of content from random ingredients and formulas... and it seems that I am not the only one. This aspect of digital gaming seems to be quite popular nowadays. More and more developers are jumping on the random generation train. Either creating rougelike-like games (Spelunky, Binding of Isaac) or just adding randomized elements to their creations (like equipment in Borderlands and Skyrim).  Random dungeons, random loot, random enemies. It's everywhere! Even on a tabletop...

Tabletop procedures

Randomized board of Settlers of Catan

Random elements where always present in tabletop games. From simple random number generators (dice!), through randomized elements of board games, to the (in)famous random tables from the RPGs of yesteryear. While the RPG fandom moved away from all this randomness, preferring pre-made scenarios, a bunch of players (mainly those involved in the OSR movement) continued using random tables. With time, this practice evolved from simple random encounters with a fantasy critter corresponding to a number to fully fledged adventure generators that will create a hook, twist and nemesis for your session. On a Savage Worlds side of roleplaying games like Savage Worlds of Solomon Kane or Shaintar have good examples of such.

While random tables are being sort of a niche within the RPG niche they seem to thrive. There are whole websites dedicated to them that help inspire GMs. You can find a random generator for everything, from strange fungi consumption to city generation. Internet seems to be the right medium for those, as whole generators can be scripted to work in your browser and they don't get lost in a humongous binder full of printed tables. This, however, comes at a price - we have taken it away from the tabletop. Many GMs that I know use them exclusively to create adventures before the session and not taking advantage of them "on-the-fly".

Now, years after the birth of online random generators we see next step of this evolution - decks of cards that aim to help and inspire game masters in the art of improvisation. You probably seen some of them on Kickstarter in recent past. I am talking about projects like Concept Cards, Creature & Encounter Decks, Combat Description Cards, The GameMaster's Apprentice (this one is quite cool!). If you think about it, cards are a great tool for this sort of thing. Portable, quick and big enough to pack a good amount of content. When used by a skilled GM those can make for an amazing experience.
If you are curious about improvisation, I would encourage you to check some of them out. Each of those decks has a different flavor and different uses, so shop around to see what suits you.

What do you think about those card aids? What kind of info would you like to see on them? I am toying with an idea of creating some decks like that under CC license so people could create their own - would you be interested in such a template so you could create your own cards? After all, roguelikes survived and had their re-birth thanks to Open Development, why can't random "tables" have the same?