dmtreat
Squire
Posts: 48
Favorite D&D Class: Ranger
Favorite D&D Race: Dwarf
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Post by dmtreat on Mar 31, 2017 20:13:35 GMT
Im not sure where to put this but it is a homebrew subject so here we go, lol.
I am working on creating random encounter tables for my world. I dont mean just bad guys of different types to fight, but actual encounters. For instance I have a 1d20 chart of random encounters while in towns around my world, like "guard chasing a bandit" or "cutpurse", etc.
My problem is I have no other encounter tables created for my world, especially for road travel. So im trying to put together generic encounter tables for different areas/environments. I.E. Forest Swamp Road Travel Mountain Open Ocean
I realize that I could just put down a list of monsters, but that is a repetitive encounter table in my opinion. Such as for the Mountain, could do one roll "rock slide", then in the swamps one roll is "quick sand" They dont need to all be serious, some can be downright funny.
Anyway, just looking for some suggestions/ideas if anyone has them.
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Post by randosaurus on Apr 2, 2017 5:04:33 GMT
Random encounter tables seem to exist specifically for those times when you want an un-planned challenge or scene for your players. Trekking through wilderness tends to be monotonous, and a random encounter breaks up what otherwise would just be hand waved away for narrative expediency. They're useful for making up something on the fly- typically they are only stock monsters, not modular scenes like guard chase or cut-purse.
I think my advice would be don't think of a table full of monsters as being purely combat encounters. Meeting a sphinx could mean solving a riddle or puzzle. Meeting lizard folk could involve tracking them to a hideout. Maybe the centaur you encounter has druid levels. In general, intelligent creatures might have intelligent interactions, if the PCs engage with them. What you have happen in the scene should best meet the needs of your campaign / narrative -- in a novel, very few random encounters do not serve some larger purpose for the story (excepting red herrings).
If you want an organized approach to coming up with more varied encounter tables, you could break it into categories / types of scenes. I usually aim for a balance of combat, skills/exploratory, roleplay encounters. Your wilderness hazards would count as skills challenges, or could even be puzzles. Knowing the right mix of encounter types will depend on the tastes of the players, and what you want to accomplish with your session. As I mentioned, the tables you can find all over the internet are just the basic seed of an encounter. You can overlay whatever type of encounter best suits your needs.
I usually avoid scenes like 'cutpurse' and the like, because then I feel compelled to have a whole backstory & motivation for the thief, and because I want it to serve my narrative I have to come up with that relationship on the fly. This can be fun, don't get me wrong, but I'm not always the best improvisor. FWIW, in my campaign travel between locations is all instantaneous via portals of various types so I avoid the entire issue.
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