OSR: Tent Fairs & Inhabi-tents

My players have been voyaging beyond the confines of Shaxecan city in search of a mysterious temple adorned with the images of snakes and recently stumbled across a sprawling, semi-permanent encampment around a junction on the imperial highway. This tent fair has a constantly shifting population as merchants, pilgrims and travellers pass through and something changes every time they visit. I use the system below to determine the rough number of camps, what proportion have something interesting to find and what the rough layout of the fair is at any given time. I have a vague plan to expand this into a neighbourhood system for the city that exists at the centre of all realities.

Any numbers below are, as is usually the case, pulled out of my arse.

Credit, Philip V.

POPULATION
Roll 1d100+25 for the overall number of encampments.

Take the result and divide it by 10 - this is the number of oddities, specialist merchants, mercenaries and other parties that have things the players might reasonably be interested in, as opposed to regular travellers and merchants. It can be assumed that there are any numbers of tinkers and poorer merchants who can sell basic goods.

Once you've found the number of interesting parties, roll on the table below and note the results:

D50 Roll	Interesting Campsites
1	A scholar of the arcane covered in shifting, swirling tattoos sits before a campfire that burns with emerald flames. Glyphs shimmer in the air around them.
2	A pair of masked elves spit into an empty cauldron and read fortunes in the wisps of steam that rise from it.
3	A band of 1d20+5 wild-haired warriors drink and boast loudly of their conquests. Their armour is decorated with the bones of their enemies.
4	A lord dressed in finery lounges in an immaculate pavilion, surrounded by his retinue of 3d10+5 servants and men-at-arms. They jealously guard their lord's space.
5	A soot-stained apothecary mixes vials of smoking liquids as their tent emits billowing clouds of noxious fumes.
6	A troupe of circus performers have pitched their tents and are practising fire breathing, acrobatics and pickpocketing.
7	A train of heavy wagons carrying hissing, caged beasts have drawn up in a laager. The silvered cages hold the magical ones.
8	What appear to be three goblins sitting on each other's shoulders in a long robe have pitched a miserable attempt at a tent.
9	A small gathering of pilgrims crowd around a wagon-borne idol of a deity of travellers. Priests burn incense and offerings on mobile braziers.
10	A simple tent holds a furiously scribbling monastic scholar laden with books, paper, spare quills and other trappings of the scrivener's trade.
11	A white tent decorated with twisting serpents is home to a group of mendicant healers who are tending to the sick and wounded.
12	A tightly regimented group of 2d20+10 pikemen in gleaming armour have pitched their tents in orderly lines.
13	An armoured cleric offers benedictions and blessings from the entrance of their simple tent.
14	A richly decorated canopy covers a vintner bearing exotic liqueurs who looks to make some money on the side.
15	A soft-voiced merchant hawks intoxicants both somniferous and stimulating from the shadowy depths of their tent. Sweet vapours wisp from the entrance.
16	A band of 1d20+5 crossbowmen from afar, dressed in extravagantly bright clothing, are busy training with some rough targets.
17	A knight from foreign lands with a bizarre steed, polishing a strange weapon, has unfurled their bedroll beneath the open sky.
18	A musclebound smith hammers at the anvil of their mobile forge that unfolds from the side of their wagon. Weapons and armour of masterful quality gleam in the forge-light.
19	A robed mage speaks with the many songbirds that have landed on their tent and guyropes.
20	A handler in thick canvas coveralls carefully arranges sturdy glass jars beneath their wagon's awning. On closer inspection wriggling slimes can be seen inside the jars.
21	A veiled traveller sits beneath a dark awning, tending to a collection of curios and oddities.
22	A gang of 1d8+2 bravos have attracted a small crowd who watch in astonishment as they duel with each other in a flowing, graceful bout.
23	A large pavilion holds a number of leashed animals. They're well trained, and several are performing tricks for onlookers.
24	A group of skeletons dance in a ring around an old, tattered tent. No one knows where they came from and no one wants to get too close.
25	A beautiful, imperious elf oversees the erection of their tent by the help. They've been at it for hours and have had to disassemble and reassemble it several times because it's not quite right.
26	A trio of blindfolded figures chant in a sonorous tongue. The air around their campsite chills to the bone.
27	A thin, wiry gardener tends to a bountiful patch of various fungi. Their small tent is covered in lichen and moss.
28	A travelling brewer has pitched a large pavilion and opened it to travellers, forming a makeshift ale house. It's packed with people.
29	A group of 1d10 armed and armoured figures have secured a prisoner to a stake with a chained collar.
30	A caravan of slavers has stopped to resupply. There are 1d10+5 slaves being watched by a quarter as many guards, plus the caravan master.
31	A series of lifelike statues inhabit a quiet patch of tents. Some of them are discoloured and weathered with age.
32	A particularly zealous pilgrim has erected a rickety platform atop a wooden pillar some 10' in the air. They rant and rave about the evils that plague their land, beseeching all who pass for aid.
33	A band of 1d20+3 horsemen have erected a picket and are re-shoeing their horses. They have been entertaining travellers with their skill at horseback archery.
34	A travelling wizard has erected suitably flashy tent. It is much bigger on the inside and they claim to have magical wares for sale.
35	Several tents are floating roughly 20' in the air, their inhabitants nowhere to be found. No one remembers them arriving.
36	A traveller from afar has set up a small camp filled with peculiar brass devices that play a pleasant, resonant music.
37	It just so happens that [NPC the party was looking for] has set up a camp here!
38	A tattooist has erected a wide awning covered in intricate designs and pictures. Rumour says that their tattoos have magical powers...
39	A caravan of the king's tax collectors has stopped to make camp. They're laden with gold!
40	A small hut sits in a clearing, wicker wooden legs curled up beneath it. Sometimes an old witch comes out of the forest to trade...
41	A haunch of exotic meat spits and sizzles over a roaring fire next to a merchant's wagon. They say it'll fill you with power!
42	A fighting pit has been set up in the middle of a circle of wagons. It's attracted quite a crowd, and bets are flying as thick and fast as the fists.
43	A cloaked and hooded figure has set up a secluded tent away from the others. Rumour has it that they deal in poisons and venom.
44	A finely dressed scholar sits in a luxurious pavilion, carefully marking a sheet of parchment. Their pavilion has maps and keys stitched into the patterning of the fabric.
45	A group of 1d20+5 mercenary sappers have formed a tight-knit encampment, keeping their supplies of blasting powder under close watch.
46	A brightly painted wagon adorned with fluttering pennants. The vexillographer within enchants the images they embroider onto the fabric so that the shimmer and dance.
47	A barber surgeon sits in a red and white tent, sharpening their instruments.
48	A tottering wagon full to the brim with books and scrolls. An elderly collector is searching for more, and is quite knowledgeable about local lore.
49	A silver tent stands alone. The glittering of light reflected by many mirrors can be seen from the open flap.
50	A travelling artist is displaying their latest paintings. The landscapes are of vivid, alien places and the portraits move about.

Once you've noted the results down, you'll need a bit of scrap paper. Note the general terrain features down, i.e. rivers, roads, nearby forests etc., and take a d4 for each result you rolled above. Chuck the dice on sheet and note where they land and the result of the roll - this is how many 'connections' there are to the nearest interesting points or landmark features. I find it easiest to connect them from the closest tips of the d4s, branching off as many times as feels appropriate. See the example below:

Behold, my artistic talent.

I'm rolling up results for a tent fair at a branch in a highway. I rolled a result of 35 on a d100, adding 25 for a total of 60. Divide this by 10 and you end up with 6 interesting sites. Six rolls on the table later and I've got 12 (pikemen), 22 (bravos), 37 (an NPC the party was looking for), 45 (sappers), 48 (wagon of books), and 50 (a travelling artist with moving pictures). Rolling 6d4 on the map I've drawn leads to the above - each site is connected to the nearest other site at least once and I've connected one of them to the main road twice to represent a particularly busy area.

Then I decide where to place the results from the table into the available sites. I don't have a hard and fast rule for this, just whatever feels appropriate - the results from the table should give an idea of which results are more reclusive and which are more popular.

Finally I roll d6 for each of the gaps in between the sites to fill them out with other travellers, using the below:

1-2. Commoners - peasants, farmers, hunters and other travellers.
3-4. Merchants - tinkers and poorer traders.
5-6. Pilgrims - zealots, poor priests and the humble faithful.

And there you have the finished result:

Red = commoners, yellow = merchants, purple = pilgrims.

I've only had a chance to use this system a few times but it's already proven to be handy at creating a changing environment for the PCs to return to with some new hooks for them each time. I'll hopefully be adding some more results to the d50 table above - any suggestions are welcome!