How To Fix Random Encounters
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- čas přidán 19. 04. 2024
- We sometimes think of random encounters as time wasting resource drains that take away from the narrative of your homebrewed campaign. But I think if you do them in the right away, they increase the narrative scope of your game and provide you a chance to work on your GM skills.
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amzn.to/4085L0KMany RPG systems are built around balancing encounters to match a party's current level. But this practice can create boring entounters and ignores a vital aspect of a fun campaign: player agency.
Join me on Discord: / discord
Check out my podcast with Daniel Norton of @BanditsKeep. We talk about D&D and being a GM and a whole lot more.
Monsters and Treasure Podcast
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Anchor: anchor.fm/monsters-and-treasure
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/5ATvkJK...
Here are some of the products you can use to start playing D&D and create your own homebrewed campaign.
Player's Handbook 5e, Amazon Affiliate Website Link:
amzn.to/43xZaiU
Monster Manual 5e, Amazon Affiliate Website Link:
amzn.to/3zTjr55
Dungeon Master's Guide 5e, Amazon Affiliate Website Link:
amzn.to/3o9OOpn
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
amzn.to/3zX5i6Y
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse 5e
amzn.to/3zTjWft
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons 5e
amzn.to/3Uxfaxu
Xanathar's Guide To Everything 5e, Amazon Affiliate Website Link:
amzn.to/3KrKJEs
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes 5e, Amazon Affiliate Website Link:
amzn.to/3mtGsZf
Volo's Guide To Monsters 5e, Amazon Affiliate Website Link:
amzn.to/3MBpNgZ
Dungeons and Dragons 5e Core Rulebooks Gift Set, Amazon Affiliate Website Link:
amzn.to/3oeOu8Y
Sword Coast Adventuring Guide, Amazon Affiliate Website Link:
amzn.to/4085L0K - Hry
The compilation video I talked to you about has started. We've got most of the videos done just need to get yours and hopefully we can get this up next week thanks
One thing that has helped my random encounters go to the next level is rolling them before the session. It helps me really flesh out the encounter and give it some depth as well as tie it into main story hooks and lore occasionally
I like this: you get the best of both worlds without spending too much prep time.
I enjoy your videos. You explain your ideas in a no nonsense way and I appreciate that very much. Random encounters, to me, are a common sense opportunity to make a setting "come to life." Keep up the great work and HUZZAH
Glad you like them and I hope it helps your game!
All Random Encounters are not monsters, but running into monsters is an Encounter. Running into bandits in the middle of nowhere? Maybe they are taking a shortcut, hiding treasure, following a bad leader, chasing someone or something, being chased by someone or something, following the players and just got ahead of them, or the players notice they are being followed. Just because an encounter is called for the first thing is not "roll for initiative". Thanks for the vid.
Totally agree.
Running random encounters for a fledgling DM can build improv skills.
I'd suggest to that fledgling DM, write down some simple stats for the items in their list on 3x5 cards so they don't have look up those items on a computer. Over time & practice the improv skills start to flow because long pauses at the table are the bane of every DM, regardless of experience level.
@@helixxharpell Great advice! I used to use those back in the day: my whole campaign was done on those before computers.
@DDHomebrew I still use them. 😃👍🏻 even tho I use 2 laptops linked to 3 monitors!
In playtest for our *Khor The World of Many Portals* Kickstarter I've found photos & artwork from the internet that represent locations & creatures the players will encounter. Even tho it is a playtest it's something extra that I do for my players that aid immersion and I'm including those photos (with credits) into the modules.
I also use tons of 3d printed terrain & minis despite my over-narrative DMing style. 🤣
@@helixxharpell I'll bet your players appreciate that extra effort! And they work as a cool game aid.
biggest weakness of using a ChatGPT-like source is that, as an AI text transformer, its answers will literally be reductive, hence the need to take what it spits out and work it yourself instead of verbatim
Exactly. It's goed for collecting stat blocks, but you really have to work to get satisfying content.
@@DDHomebrew have you used it at all for converting stat blocks between systems? I wonder how well it would perform
@@kadmii I have tried a little between earlier editions of D&D with so-so results.
Hi KR, I like that you drew a distinction between wandering monsters and random encounters. I see them as very different. To my mind, the former are denizens of the "dungeon" and the list of possibilities is more limited. While the latter are denizens of the world at large and therefore have a much wider spectrum of potential entries on the tables. Random encounters are far more likely to be combat-optional -- or even no combat option at all, like the obelisk example.
Awesome content, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it! I use wandering monsters in mega-dungeons or mega-caverns environments that could support them. Because you're right: wandering monsters are just patrolling their territory looking for their next victims! And these might be sentient creatures who want to know who's in their area of the dungeon, or the usual resource drain creatures like oozes.
Cool ideas! Thank you! I like those additional tables for what a random monster is doing. I do enjoy coming up with stuff on the fly and random encounter tables are a great tool for that.
I also like to roll random weather separately so it sometimes also lends to interesting events when weather interacts with the environment like a snow storm when the PC are walking a narrow ledge in the mountains or heavy rain causing a flash flood in a canyon.
I love using weather, though typically I have it in specific areas: desert, jungle or the classic Arctic! In the day to day running it can be a bit of a chore to be constantly rolling for weather.
@@DDHomebrew Yeah. Depends on the play style and situation like with everything. I've mostly used very simple d8 roll where 1 is really nice and 8 is extreme, leaving the specifics to improv.
@@paavohirn3728 I always like that randomizer so I don't fall into patterns.
@@DDHomebrew yup
good video!
I've been designing random encounters in my new campaign and spent a lot of time thinking about them. I'm using Foundry, so I'm able to automate the system with good scripting/triggers. As you've mentioned, it's a mix of combat/non combat randomness. One thing I'm doing which I feel like is a game-changer in terms of dealing with random encounters with fights, is having everyone roll perception checks (including the enemy if there is)--typically the players will score higher. If so, they'll have the choice to engage in combat or not. So even in a really dangerous area (lets say 30% per square), battle or encounters become mostly opt-in. Then the players can talk amongst themselves if they wish to skirt the situation, or not based on their situation.
On the more technical end of Foundry, I've made it so that there is increased probability in specific zones and time of day. Also the roll table which the encounter is pulled from is classified into zones--so like, you won't have a wandering merchant in the swamp. I'm using GPT to create the script for this, which is hard to do--but it's kind of amazing what you can do with it! Cheers!
I think giving the players the chance to opt out of a combat is a great idea! You might also give the enemy that option as well, especially if you find yourself in a battle heavy environment that feels like a slog. I've picked up Foundry but not yet played a game with it, though I'm suppose to soon. Looking forward to it!
@@DDHomebrew Nice! I just switched to foundry from roll20 about a month ago. The learning curve on Foundry is substantially higher than roll20, but it's just a far, far superior system--and you get the source books without a subscription and a dedicated team with endless support/growth. What you can do is only limited by your imagination--if you're a coder, it's a playground running in the background that you can access. It's fast, stable, and beautiful. I just can't go back to roll20 now, nope nope.
I'm a big fan of the Shadowdark random encounter tables. Most are more like mini adventure hooks, and they have tons of variety.
I will check those out!
I unfortunately don't have a group to play with:(
But I have created 12 different Lvl 1 Characters in case I found a group.
Although, a couple years ago I was possibly going to be a Gamemaster for D&D at my local library. But no one signed up to play:(
1 of the things I was planning on for the game was a traveling family caravan. It had an Elderly Matriarch Druid & Cleric who could tell fortunes as well as provide Alchemy Concoctions and Moonshine (inspired by a combination of Granny from Beverly Hillbillies & the song These Old Bones by Dolly Parton). It also had a newly married couple and a few animals. The wife in the couple being a descendant of the Elderly Matriarch (the wife being a combination Ranger & Druid inspired by Ellie May from Beverly Hillbillies as well as a few other things combined). The husband would sell & buy various things as well as a combination Warlock & Paladin (inspired by a variety of things/characters from various shows/movies/etc).
This caravan would be a Random Encounter that you may see multiple times or only once.
I like the family caravan idea, especially when connected to something familar like a TV show or just TV/movie tropes. The trick here is to make them level appropriate to survival on the road in your world. If it's fairly civilized, then it would be a problem for a couple of 3rd level characters to wander the roads. If it's a brutal area, they'd need to be a bit higher, and possibly have a larger family!
@@DDHomebrew Excellent points, this idea was that the family caravan they would be around lvl 20+.
@@morrigankasa570 They could defend themselves!
Whenever I come up with random encounters, I end up with one I like more than the others, so I just put that one in the game
I get it: I've done the same. Though I've also found that sometimes the roll you didn't like can be more interesting than the one you preferred.
Sinking time only happens if there is no reward. There should be some type of reward to stop what they are doing. Also I limit the battle a number of rounds. Then the creature leaves or create a exit for the players
Anything over five rounds and it better be an epic battle!
For me you simply cannot have an organic, natural or real feeling world without good random encounters. I like to use d6, d8 or 2d6 tables that scale, 1 or 2 being the worst (likely combat) and 6 being something that might be great depending on how players interact ( it might be role play, social or an opportunity to help). I do day and night variations, all to the theme. So road encounters, forest, wilderness far from town, in town, etc. Done well they make the world feel alive beyond the players and moving on its own just as the real world does.
It's interesting that random encounters have a gotten a bad rap in some circles. They just seem am essential part of creating a world and moving the narrative in unexpected directions.
@@DDHomebrew perhaps too many look at the gonzo random encounters of BX and 1E with all monsters and all danger. And as you pointed out, some see them as distracting, time hogging detours, instead of being pieces of the world to experience or explore. As you said, a location can be the encounter! An abandoned temple of just 5 rooms, something worth finding or ignored, players choice.
@@michaelwest4325 And you can see how the game advanced im scope and convention from those earlier rules. We learned from playing the game and seeing what held our interest long term.
Random Encounters, ..
1.) One shot WotC 3e mini game at multiclass 4th-level PCs.
Mine was rogue2/bard2, the tall tale con man liar.
Random roll location, fishing/farm hamlet on a creek bend doing bridge work in waist deep water. Surplus of fishing nets, rope, tent canvases. Party pass through with our party's couple of bards doing our thing to spread good well. Then left village after some tree pulling to help with bridge work and river stone tossing.
Forest random roll encounter, small family unit of .. hill giants. Party hide but my PC fail his wisdom/will save on impulse to pull a con.
Well a couple of players had fighter2/ranger1/barbarian1 Atk+4 tanks, so this is going to be a one shot TPK. Well a few new players were a bit angry that I just got them all killed before they could enjoy their new PCs.
My PC Bluff scored high and I Con the hill giants to travel to the hamlet to trade tree hulling, stone tossing play work to the hamlet for tent clothing.
DM says, " You Know now what is going to happen ?"
Table of mix emotional faces and some confusion.
DM she says, " Now flip coin to see if you are now PCing a hill giant of hamlet worker."
New players were blasted away they could now play a hill giant.
So one shot turn into a mini campaign with two player PC groups.
Hill giant road repair crew, and Those B@st@rds out stirring up trouble.
2.) Stuck wagon, green dragon flies down and tells the panic draft animals to , oh just shut up and relax. " magic/ Charm."
Helps unstuck wagon, few charisma rolls for polite small talk, dragon laughs off coin bribe but asks for a horse brushing behind their ears and fin. Green dragon just wanted some small talk, muscle flex, and massage work. Dragon later turns into campaign plot point along with random player N/pc the green dragon between MtG card games.
3.) We came up with our D&D pcs and set them in a tavern which held Friday night magic the gathering card tournament. So multi tasking different game setting at the same time.
a.) orc strong hold with defenders holding off stander PC party troop, along with a party of hobgoblins. After the D&D adventure game of killing off the orcs, the humans & Hg sat down and played MtG in character. Londo & Han increase their Gambling/ cards after that game.
Ravenloft novella, Lord Sloth the death knight rides to a tavern one night each month and plays dice. Since WotC3e cross D&D/Star Wars with levels & skill ranks. We had a few games of Lord Sloth & Darth Vader tossing dice and playing cards. Vader vs Strahd were some interest dice fights.
Some really great ideas here. Newer GMs (and older ones like me!) can learn a lot from these examples. Thanks!
@@DDHomebrew You are welcome.
Public gaming shop who's owner/renter wife does the most D/GM.
Who has a toddler daughter who now is in the navy living as close to Star Wars/ Trek as she can get.
So she had more than a few grandparents' friends telling you tall tales of Babe the Blue Ox.
4year old playing with her stuff toy green dragon treat it like a pretend puppy at the gaming table. She is the shop's adventure plot hook. She didn't get Tv, she got live action role playing acting. It was old fashion comic skits or serious strait tone gothic horror Lovecraft. Bunch of two bit Honey Mooners stage acting. How to argue debate dice results as word math question to take every power gaming advantage you can con/hustle. Her math teachers just, .. loved her.
I was happy to know I could help.
Nice to be at a place where everyone knows your name. -- Cheers
"What was this character's name again ?"
Two guys walk in, one of them goes to say his name and his character's name is. But gets the wording mixed up and his friend Rolled with it. So did half the shop. After a few days, the people just sit through listening like it is a Live Radio performance. They got a strong vibe to Green Acers or Third Rock from the Sun.
Interesting video, it was not what I expected! Definitely a viable technique, thank you.
Just trying to give an alternative to the usual "roll initiative" model, though I admit I like those sometimes as well.
@@DDHomebrew I half expected a discussion about fudging the dice if random encounter is going badly and would screw up the adventure. I personally love random tables but as you say you need to replace entries regularly and craft the table to the area so it can be a lot of work.
@@jasonconnerley It's funny how people don't like them: I feel like random tables are like dice: a "third party" as it were that lets the GM react and adapt to chance (to play the game in another way) as opposed to thinking of them as an artificial construct. But yes, you also have to keep those tables up to date, which is yet another time sink!
Man VS man man VS nature and man VS self are your encounters. In defense of AI it's better to write your setting first and teach it the world you're playing and then make your random tables later
I hadn't thought of that. Iay experiment a little with that idea.
i found that chat gpt is great to use if you imagine it as someone like monk, from the show monk,
it has all the answers, but it really needs help and guidance to stay on track
Really good analogy. So far I don't see it replacing human creativity and inspiration, but who knows?