Designing Random Encounter Tables

Random encounter tables often get a bad rap - and undeservedly so, in my opinion. I talked to a friend about it, and he said he didn't like it when the GM used random encounter tables, because he felt that he could end up encountering 2d6 goblins, 1d6 wolves, a T-rex, or Pippi Longstocking - all while inside a dungeon. And yes, I would agree that such a table is randomly designed, which isn't a good idea. A random table should be thoughtfully designed to give you a random result which still makes sense in the context of the game world.

I use a few ideas when I design my random encounter tables, both for group and solo play; these are not rocket science, and most of them probably didn't originate with me (I honestly don't remember), but here's what I do to make random encounter tables give you good results.

Make the table make sense in its context

Here's a few ideas on how you can do that.

• Tie random encounter tables to the terrain type. Have one for forests, one for grasslands, one for mountains, one for dungeons, and so on. Perhaps even one for settlements? Dryads make more sense in forests than in mountains, and vice versa for giants. These random encounter tables become your "generic" tables which you can use anywhere in the world.
• Have certain specific areas have their own random encounter tables. Having generic tables is fine, but for some locations you want specific ones. The haunted forest's random encounter table should probably have ghosts, and the mountain hexes around a dwarven fortress should probably have dwarf patrols or dwarven hunting parties, and so on.
• The most dangerous encounter on a table is probably notorious in the area. A manticore, sitting in the top slot of a random encounter table for a province will be wildly feared by the local populace, with rumors spread far and wide about all the people and livestock it has killed.

Make it possible for PCs to affect the random encounter tables

Consider allowing the party to affect the contents of the tables with their actions.

• When a random encounter signifies a specific individual, strike it off the table once it has been dealt with. In the example of the manticore above - once the party has dealt with it, earning the admiration of the locals, it should obviously be taken off the random encounter list.
• For small areas, it's okay to have the same encounter twice on the same table. For example - there might be two goblin patrols in the dungeon and thus "2d6 goblins" appear twice on the dungeon's random encounter table, one for each patrol. Each of them is taken off the table after the encounter has happened. If the now empty encounter slot is rolled again later, then nothing happens; the party is thinning out the horde!
• Strike the 2d6 bandits off the forest encounters table when the party clears the bandit camp. It makes sense to have such an act have a lasting effect on the area. No more bandit camp means no more bandits.

Use a danger level modifier

A danger level modifier is a number from 0 and up - if you're using the D12 Tension System, you can use the Tension value - to affect the result of the roll. That is, there should be more results on the table than the range of the dice in question allows, since you will be adding the danger level modifier to the roll.

You can add up various factors to get your danger level modifier:

• The distance (in hexes) from the nearest settlement. A location two hexes away from the nation's capital is probably safer than another one which is eight hexes from the capital in the wilderness.
• Add two to the danger level modifier when the party isn't traveling along a road. Guards patrol the roads, making them safer than the wilderness.
• Add two to the danger level modifier during nighttime. Traveling at night is more dangerous than traveling during the day, after all.

Here's an example of such a table from my Uldorion campaign:

1d6+ mod	Encounter
1	Merchant caravan
2	Guard patrol
3	1d4 Elks
4	1d4 Giant wolf spider
5	2d4 Goblins
6	1d6 Wolves
7	2d6 Bandits, 1 Bandit capt.
8	2d4 Blink dogs
9	2d6 Goblins, 1 Hobgoblin
10	2d6 Orcs
11	Troll
12+	Ghost

Things to note about this table:

• You will never encounter a merchant caravan or a guard patrol during the night, because of the +2 modifier during nighttime never allows a result below 3.
• Additionally, you will only meet them while on a road, since not being on a road also gives you a +2 for a minimum possible result of 3.
• And during the day in the same hex as a settlement, you will never encounter anything more dangerous than what's in slot number 8, even if you're off-road.

Not all encounters have to result in combat

• A family of farmers traveling along a road looking for work is a perfectly fine random encounter. Who knows what rumors they might be able to tell the party? Or what dark secrets they keep? And what's making those muffled sounds coming from their covered donkey cart?
• Guard patrols around cities make sense, especially on roads. They also provide reason for why it's safer near the settlement.
• Even monsters and obvious enemies don't necessarily have to attack right away. Consider using Reaction rolls. Perhaps this particular group of orcs is rebelling against the other orcs, and is therefore open to talking rather than fighting?

Use complementary Doing / Complication tables

Rolling a 2d10 (one for Doing, one for Complication) on the following table can give you a sense of what is going on with the monsters the party is encountering.

D10	Doing	Complication
1	Fleeing	Equipment
2	Hiding	Injury
3	Resting	Infighting
4	Eating	Stuck
5	Building	Starving
6	Moving	Being hunted
7	Scavenging	(No complication)
8	Pursuing	(No complication)
9	Ambushing	(No complication)
10	Fighting	(No complication)

Use your imagination to figure out what these mean. 2d6 goblins who are "resting" with an "equipment" complication? That probably means that they have stopped ("resting") to fix broken equipment. A damaged cart wheel, perhaps?

Consider pre-rolling encounters

If you're running a group game, and you know the party will travel through a forest at night during the next session - perhaps using the D12 Point-based Hexcrawl System - then you can pre-roll some nighttime forest encounters along with their Doing / Complications, as part of your session prep. That way you don't have to spend time doing so at the table.

Conclusion

Random encounter tables, when designed well, will add life and danger to the world. With random encounters, and rules for when to roll on them, the world becomes more risky. Do we dare to go deeper in the dungeon? Sure, we're not completely tapped yet, but what if we run into more of those pesky goblins (read: a random encounter) on the way out?

This creates tension, because there are stakes involved. This gives the party a chance to make meaningful choices, with real, mechanical effects. Should we really travel at night, even if we're in a hurry? Don't you remember that rumor we heard about the manticore which stalks these lands at night? And should we really take that shortcut through the forest instead of going around, through the less dangerous grasslands?

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