Dice-math & Decimals
This post is going to be a bit more noodly than my others, so I'm going to start calling this its own little sidequest - Building the Game. Purely talking shop, rather than talking about themes or philosophies. This week, I'm working on my random encounter tables for the wilderness. I've done a lot of reading on this subject, and it seems like something that a lot of other people have anxiety about. There's a lot of advice out there about dice probabilities, using reactions and other social mechanics to liven up the typical encounters beyond how many HD or CR or whatever the monsters on the list have.
If you're reading this I doubt I have to explain to you how dice work. Many people have extolled the virtues of using 2 or 3d6 for your encounter tables. However, 1d12+1d8 is recommended in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual II. It generates a range from 2-20, with a wide plateau in the middle. There are four results of equally common occurrence, making space for two somewhat good and two somewhat bad encounters followed by a range of decreasingly common good and bad encounters on either side.
| 1d12+1d8 | Percent Chance |
|---|---|
| 2 | 1.04 |
| 3 | 2.08 |
| 4 | 3.13 |
| 5 | 4.17 |
| 6 | 5.21 |
| 7 | 6.25 |
| 8 | 7.29 |
| 9 | 8.33 |
| 10 | 8.33 |
| 11 | 8.33 |
| 12 | 8.33 |
| 13 | 8.33 |
| 14 | 7.29 |
| 15 | 6.25 |
| 16 | 5.21 |
| 17 | 4.17 |
| 18 | 3.13 |
| 19 | 2.08 |
| 20 | 1.04 |
Blending Tables and Procedures
I decided to combine the Monster Manual II1 method with an golden oldie post from The Retired Adventurer. which uses a 3d6 table, designating one die as a "special" roll determining the type of encounter. The AD&D method is nice because it creates a probability curve that flattens out for five results, I just roll an extra d10 to determine the type of encounter. Worlds Without Number advises one encounter check per day of wilderness travel, and one per night camping out, with foraging proccing an additional check. A result of 4-6 makes the next2 d10 roll at a penalty equal to the result, since "spoor" typically means that the monster passed by really recently. So if I roll a 5, when I roll the next d10 and subtract 5.
Because the table is split in half by the "plateau", I wanted to divide it into "generally peaceful" and "generally hostile" encounters. The very center of the table is another party of adventurers, who are essentially "neutral." This presented a problem, because a lot of the adventures I have seeded on my map features many different kinds of enemies and I wanted to make sure that they get represented in the regional tables. I will be marking out an area around certain adventures where the regional encounter table is replaced by one specific to the adventure, to clue the players that something weird is going on, but for the more general tables I decided to use the d8 to determine if certain similar encounters would happen instead of others; for example, the table I'll be talking about this week is for the Lössea Urun region and result 8 calls for 3d6 goblins led by 1d6 hobgoblins - but if the d8 is odd they encounter 4d6 gnolls3 instead.
Lössea Urun
This region is the western half of a mountain range bisecting the continent of Almorin. It's also where the players will begin play - at a fort called Caer Eastweald smack in the middle of the mountain range. It is very rugged terrain, densely forested in most areas, and has a very wide array of weather over the course of the year. So I wanted the encounter table for it to be relatively diverse. I based my choices off the MMII and various other sources from around the internet - such as Lone Horizon's Hexcrawl Horrors and, weirdly, the Xanathar's Guide to Everything encounter charts...but mostly as an example of what I didn't like.
The Table
| 1d10 → | 1 | 2-3 | 4-6 | 7-8 | 9-10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1d12+1d8 ↓ | Monster | Lair | Spoor | Tracks | Traces |
| 2 | Shambling Mound + 1d6 Plant Blights | A twisted mass of Razorvine. | Withered plant life, choked in budding razorvine. Desiccated corpses. | Long trails where the mound has dragged itself, chunks of trees ripped out shaped like people. | Needles approximately 2d6 inches long embedded in animals. or surroundings |
| 3 | 1d3 Owlbears | Shallow cave, hollowed out stump, or steep ditch. | "Pellets" of fur, bone, coins, etc. from digested prey. Roll on pocket change table thrice. | A bear's pawprint in the ground with much larger claws, each one followed by brushing or left behind feathers. | A rock with deep gouges carved out and oversized feathers scattered around. |
| 4 | Fell Bear | A large cave filled with the blackened bones of hundreds of kills. | A corpse with necrotic rot around its wounds - it is much more advanced in decay than normal. | Grass is withered away in the footprints of an absolutely massive bear. | Someone notices it's been hours since you saw any deer. |
| 5 | Groundhawk | A large mound with a hollowed out center. In the hollow, a groundhawk whelp peeks above the ridge of the nest. | A crushed animal with two sets of four converging slices and large chunks torn off its upper body. | A set of bipedal footprints with three distinct toes and a claw mark on the inside of the foot. | The distant sound of three distinct warbling calls. |
| 6 | 1d2 Perytons | The nest is tucked into a high-up cliff or outcropping; or a large tree. There is a 1-in-6 chance the adults are away. | A human corpse showing signs of goring with antlers and its heart torn out. | A lone traveler comes from out of the brush, desperate for help - he was attacked and separated from his group. | Rough, foul smelling velvet left behind by a molting peryton. The distant sounds of a wounded animal. |
| 7 | Ogre | A lone ogre is cooking a stolen livestock animal over a fire. During the daytime, the ogre is away and its treasure is ripe for the taking. | A goat's torn-off head, a smashed shepherd, a crushed traveler, etc. | A wide-set, plodding path with repeated signs of a large object being dragged behind. Bits of discarded food and other detritus. | Small groups of stacked cairns - the remnant of a ritual ogres perform a few days after a kill. If the party stumbles upon this during a new moon, there is a 1-in-6 chance of 1d10 ogres being present. |
| 8 | Odd, 4d6 Goblins + Hobgoblin fusilier; Even, 4d6 Gnolls | A small, well defended camp. At night, it is vacant, but during the day half the enemies will be asleep. | If goblins, there will be discarded powder horns, wadding, and rotting flesh; gnolls, gnawed bones and barbed arrowheads. | Goblins leave behind well-ordered marching tracks; gnolls leave obviously bipedal dog-like prints. | Goblins: an abandoned campsite, some places obviously had tents while others seem to have been masses of little sleeping people; gnolls: clumps of fur, splatters of blood, and flattened grass where the pack slept. |
| 9 | 2d6 Bandits + 1d6 Mercenaries | A bivouac, add an additional d6 bandits. Half the total are asleep or resting. | Recently abandoned camp, discarded food, poorly doused campfires, and other random bits of human occupation. | Disorderly tracks of walking men. Discarded tobacco, empty bottles of tincture, a sock. | A lost scrimshaw project, a scrap of a letter displaying disgust/contempt to the recipient, a shredded remnant of a banner. |
| 10 | 1d6 wild animals: reeth, goats, deer, rabbit, marmot, etc. | A shepherd or ranger watches over the group at the watering hole. | Piles of dung. | Game trails leading off in indeterminate directions. A footpath worn with repeated journeys. | Gnawed plants, trampled grasses, tree bark rubbed away. |
| 11 | 2d6 Adventurers + 1d8 Henchmen | Their camp. They are not prepared, but are wary. | Abandoned campsite, a hastily drawn map of some structure, empty potion bottles, or a burned up calyx. | Signs of a single file line of people on foot. All different sizes, different types of footwear, and much deeper than they normally would be. | A completely burnt out torch, a bloody handprint, a scorch mark on a rock shaped like a rune, a frayed section of rope. |
| 12 | 2d4 Merchants + baggage train | Their camp. They are resting, consulting a map, or discussing news from the last town. | Signs of the baggage train - discarded food scraps, broken dishes, a doused campfire, etc. | Donkey hoofprints, footprints beside them, wagon wheel ruts. | Flattened grass, a deep wheel rut, several old campfire pits. |
| 13 | 1d6 + 1 Pilgrims | Several sleeping mats arranged around a firepit. The pilgrims are not armed, and half are either asleep or in prayer/worship depending on the time of day. | Signs of burnt offerings, a small shrine erected from rocks and sticks in the Istilean style, alms left behind for those who may pass and be in need. | Either barefoot or sandaled footprints. The scent/ashes of incense can be detected. | Anointing oil on a rock, sage left behind in a small firepit, a tattered prayer not fully burned up. |
| 14 | 3d6 Dywleadh Scouts + 1d6-1 Arquebussiers | Several small, single occupant tents arranged to best avoid wind and deter creatures from passing through. The dywleadh themselves are quietly attending their studies with one guard on lookout. | Mathematical equations written in charcoal, discarded tins of food, wadding or imperfect bullets, a broken inkwell. | A well ordered march, with scouts ranging ahead and a vanguard holding up the rear - to the untrained eye it seems like a chaotic procession. | Chalky handprints, an oddly shaped depression in the dirt or grass like an oversized sleeping mat, a scrap of strange cloth fibers. |
| 15 | 1d3 Hippogriffs | Hippogriffs live in small hut-like structures with their mate and their young. During the day the female goes out to hunt and the male protects the nest. | Hippogriffs are omnivores, but favor plants - their scat is like a horse. | When not flying, they leave distinctive hooved and clawed tracks. | They often break or disturb the treetops when they roost. |
| 16 | Pixie | A tiny mushroom house, a door in a tree, a hut woven from flowers, etc. | Fresh dew on foliage, glittering lights at dusk, | Pixie dust | Foliage is slightly oversaturated in color. Fairy rings. |
| 17 | Dryad | A tree in the middle of a clearing, or a tree much older than those around it. | None | Grass growing taller than the rest. | The feeling of being watched. |
| 18 | Ghost | The site where they died. | None | Movement in the corner of the PCs' vision, disappearing behind the trees, strange whispering. | Cold sensation, no breeze, animals grow quiet. |
| 19 | Degom-hesth | A quiet stream carving a path through the mountains, the crumbled side of a cliff wall, a field with stones peeking out of earth and grass. | Crumbled rocks, overturned trees, fresh-turned earth. | A long, solitary path carved into the ground. Short, plodding, wide-set footsteps. | A shallow, wet depression where the Degom-hesth once laid. |
| 20 | Pegasus | An idyllic glen, a place where the trees are young, or a cliff before a large valley. | Horse manure. What did you expect? | Hoofprints that mysteriously disappear. | A perfect, white feather - too large for a bird, too clean for any other creature. |
Conclusion
For most of these encounters, I wanted things that emphasized the fantastical nature of the setting. I could have easily populated it entirely with merchants (albeit ones who aren't human), bandits, bears, wolves, etc. and it would have worked just the same but there's tons of great monsters from more than 50 years of gaming history. However, I have a few old favorites that I tend to gravitate towards4 and I wanted to make sure that they got spread out among the different regions of the campaign. However, I wanted to base some of this in reality, and so I designated a spot for mundane animals. I didn't really feel the need to differentiate between different kinds. There is one thing I may change, however, and that is the fact that there are no real competing factions. I guess the gnolls and hobgoblins fill that role, but they're sharing a spot as well. That being said, I think overall this is a good procedure and a good table.
What are your favorite procedures for random encounters? How much do you hate the d20? Let me know on Bluesky.
Until next time, keep your eyes on the skies.