So I see a lot of OSR modules games with rumor tables. These are great except one problem
Rumors should NEVER be declared False by a rumor table. That's right, it was important enough to give it all four barrels of the Reggie Bannister shotgun. Declaring a rumor false is the same as punching a potential session in the face and tossing it overboard. That doesn't mean there aren't any false rumors, it's just that it's much more interesting to leave "false" rumors open to interpretation and vaguery. They are rumors, after all.
So it's example time. Say you've got a dungeon with a lich just chillin' out and waiting to get his face stomped by a cleric. The rumor table says that the undead is a ruse, it's really lizard men in dark catacombs painting skeletons on themselves with phosphorescent paint or using skeletons as impromptu armor. That silly rumor SHOULD COME FROM SOMEWHERE. People don't 100% make shit up entirely. Maybe there is a secondary nearby dungeon with (unpainted) lizard men. Maybe the undead servitors of the lich are harder to turn, making people think it's a wasted effort and come up with a likely excuse. Either of these leads to a better place than "nope, FALSE"
Never close the door to adventure.
