# Random Encounters: Friend or Foe?



## Ahnehnois

> But that's just me -- What's your take on Random Encounters? Do you use them? Why or Why not?
> 
> Read more: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?340466-Random-Encounters-Friend-or-Foe#ixzz2dY9r9JR6



All my encounters are premade, often months or years before the session. However, they are not purpose-built, meaning that I do not always know which combination of creatures I will use, or when, or what I will use them for exactly.

So it depends on one's definition of "random". I won't roll on a table to see what the party encounters. However, I will sometimes throw in an encounter with no real plot-driving purpose, simply to get in some combat or get rid of some old stats.

To me, the goal is making the world feel natural. On one hand, this means that I don't use monsters out of the book and need to prepare them in advance. It's very important to sell the notion of each creature being an individual with slightly different statistics, rather than a faceless minion. Conversely, it's also important to sell the notion that encounters just happen randomly, rather than being part of a tailored game experience. That's how I get to where I am.


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## billd91

When I use random encounter tables, I'll typically roll them ahead of time to save me time at the table. I'll prep them for the region and climate and then I'll roll the chance of having an encounter, then roll the specific encounters, and jot down the timeline in which they will be encountered. That allows me to engage in a little foreshadowing too. If they have a encounter with lions coming up, I may include a spotting from a distance, or an eaten carcass lying around several hours of travel before they have the actual encounter.


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## Argyle King

Depends upon what I'm playing.  It's been a while since I've used random encounters in D&D.  I like the idea of them, but for a while now they seem to be somewhat at odds with the direction the game(s) are going in when it comes to D&D.

Other games? Certainly.  

Though I'll also say that my "random" encounters are usually well informed by the world around them.  If a particular area is known for a lot of a particular creature type, those will come up more often.  If recent events say that that creature type migrates somewhere else during this time of the year, random encounters might happen less; include less of those particular creature types, or both.


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## frankthedm

Random encounters were far less intrusive in games with lower HP totals and less emphasis on inch by inch tactical movement.


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## Morrus

billd91 said:


> When I use random encounter tables, I'll typically roll them ahead of time to save me time at the table. I'll prep them for the region and climate and then I'll roll the chance of having an encounter, then roll the specific encounters, and jot down the timeline in which they will be encountered. That allows me to engage in a little foreshadowing too. If they have a encounter with lions coming up, I may include a spotting from a distance, or an eaten carcass lying around several hours of travel before they have the actual encounter.




For me, a random encounter was for when I didn't have one prepared. If I have time to roll them ahead of time, then I'm choosing them , not rolling them.


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## Radiating Gnome

Morrus said:


> For me, a random encounter was for when I didn't have one prepared. If I have time to roll them ahead of time, then I'm choosing them , not rolling them.




There is to be a tradeoff when you prepare the encounters ahead of time.  On the one hand, you can have a better encounter, because you've prepared it, but you also lose the tension and game drama associated with actually rolling the dice.  

One of the things I look forward to with D&D Next is the idea that encounters might again be simple enough that preparation is not critical for a good encounter. 

-rg


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## Gilladian

I have random encounter "tables" created - but a "table" entry may have 5-6 lines of text describing what it is and how it works in the given region. In other words, I don't have a chart that says "6 orcs". I have an entry that says "Red-Axe orc hunting party. Preferred game: deer. Preferred method: stalk and drive towards waiting archer. 3 beaters, 3 archers typical. Might also contain one shaman. Lvl 1-3". 

A description like this tells me what the encounter is doing, how to set up running into it, and why it exists in the campaign world. And yeah, I will often preroll random encounters, weather for the day, and other minor bits and pieces, when we're doing long travel scenes... if we're in town, I may take the time to roll random street scenes, too. Though in town and in dungeon, I'm more likely to just ad-lib "color" scenes. And sometimes those become the whole adventure! Yikes!

I'm really enjoying Dungeon World right now, which really makes using these sorts of tables VERY much a part of the game, with its underlying commandments of "leave blanks" and "ask the players questions".


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## Radiating Gnome

Gilladian said:


> I have random encounter "tables" created - but a "table" entry may have 5-6 lines of text describing what it is and how it works in the given region. In other words, I don't have a chart that says "6 orcs". I have an entry that says "Red-Axe orc hunting party. Preferred game: deer. Preferred method: stalk and drive towards waiting archer. 3 beaters, 3 archers typical. Might also contain one shaman. Lvl 1-3".




That sounds great -- a lot of the really effective uses of random encounters I've seen have had approaches like yours. So the encounters are a real reflection of the region and what's going on in it -- not just a collection of monsters that inhabit that type of terrain. And many of those encounters will tie into a specific plotline. 

-rg


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## Jhaelen

billd91 said:


> When I use random encounter tables, I'll typically roll them ahead of time to save me time at the table. I'll prep them for the region and climate and then I'll roll the chance of having an encounter, then roll the specific encounters, and jot down the timeline in which they will be encountered. That allows me to engage in a little foreshadowing too. If they have a encounter with lions coming up, I may include a spotting from a distance, or an eaten carcass lying around several hours of travel before they have the actual encounter.



That's exactly how I'm using random encounter tables 
Basically, they serve mostly as a way to give me ideas. I'm using the randomly rolled encounters and see if I can turn them into a kind of narrative, although that more often develops while we're playing. I take note of what seems to catch the interest of my players and will create follow-up encounters or even a complete adventure around it.

I also roll up about two times as many encounters as I think I'm going to need. This means that I will always have something ready when the players are doing something unexpected. 

Since I'm not rolling for anything during the actual game session a major advantage of the approach is that it's difficult for the players to decide how important an encounter is. It's rare that they will just handwave it as 'just another random encounter'.


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