D&D 5E Help making chaos tables

[Lanliss]

Yet another thread to assist with my world building endeavors. This one is looking for some help on the mechanical and organizational parts. I need random encounter tables, but have no experience with with them. I know that I will be making different tables for different areas, and some will be removed from the list after they happen once.

For example, it will be possible for the weather roll to bring down a rain of Healing Potion, where it will be nearly impossible to die except from massive damage. Or the weather roll could bring down a rain of mud Golems, who attack the first thing in sight, and dissolve shortly after.

My problem is, how do I do it? How many random encounters might I need? How likely do I want them to be? I know that both examples above will be the result of multiple die rolls (one for how "chaotic the weather is, then one on the "extremely chaotic weather table"). Maybe I am already answering my own question, or don't really need help, but I want to see what others have to say on the subject.

 

[not-so-newguy]

I would lump the unusual weather events with random overland encounters. If you use a random encounter table similar to the DMG (1d8+1d12), then you get results skewed towards the middle. I would place "Raining healing potions" and "raining pissed off golems" at either extreme (2 and 20).

ETA

Maybe have a random weather event using d8+d20?

Keep the center encounters as normal weather (sunny, overcast, light rain) with more extreme weather at either end (in between "light rain" and "pissed off mud golems" there could be "it's raining men!...Hallelujah?!")

 

[dmnqwk]

If you're looking at Chaos Tables, best thing is to remove the dice roll entirely.

To create chaos, simply "feel" like using the table, and then have a player name you a colour, or an animal, and use that!

Example:
Red/Elephant - Nothing happens
Blue/Monkey - The weather shifts abruptly. If it was raining the sun comes out, if it was hot snow begins to fall etc
Purple/Snake - A group of religious pilgrims are seen coming over the hill dragging a member of their organization in chains
Lavender/Duck-billed Platypus - As the players walk they suddenly get a sinking feeling...
(If the player asks why) - Ambushed by Goblins! (because that's why!)

Try not to let the players see the random tables, but also consider anticipating how they might react and put your favourite events next to those keywords/phrases.

 

[Lanliss]

If you're looking at Chaos Tables, best thing is to remove the dice roll entirely.

To create chaos, simply "feel" like using the table, and then have a player name you a colour, or an animal, and use that!

Example:
Red/Elephant - Nothing happens
Blue/Monkey - The weather shifts abruptly. If it was raining the sun comes out, if it was hot snow begins to fall etc
Purple/Snake - A group of religious pilgrims are seen coming over the hill dragging a member of their organization in chains
Lavender/Duck-billed Platypus - As the players walk they suddenly get a sinking feeling...
(If the player asks why) - Ambushed by Goblins! (because that's why!)

Try not to let the players see the random tables, but also consider anticipating how they might react and put your favourite events next to those keywords/phrases.

One of the reasons I was iffy about making tables to begin with is because of the chaos thing. one repeated roll and it all goes out the window. Of course, I could combine your system with my idea of removing an item once it has happened. We shall see, if I can get the group all at the same time again. I also need to start actually making events to add to these tables.

 

[GMMichael]

Let's observe that "chaos" is why so many parties waste ten minutes of game time opening a door. I recommend conservative use, whatever you decide on.

 

[Lanliss]

Let's observe that "chaos" is why so many parties waste ten minutes of game time opening a door. I recommend conservative use, whatever you decide on.

Oh yeah, I don't plan to use this too often, or at least not more often than normal tables. I was planning on having a d100 roll to see how chaotic things were gonna be, and the really weird things would only be rolled for if it was something in the 95-100 range, or maybe even a smaller range.

Although, it would be funny to see my players argue for a few minutes over whether they should be stealthy or just charge in, and when they open the door it turns out to be a Giant Gelatinous Cube that heals damage instead of dealing it...

 

[Imaculata]

What I do, is first roll a D6 on a table to determine the type of encounter. I then roll a D20 to find out what kind of encounter it is exactly. Only one of those options is an 'exotic encounter'. If I happen to roll a 20, then I have an extra table to determine what exotic encounter it is. For example, rain in the form of money, or blood, would not be an common occurrence. So I try to make my random encounter tables reflect that.

So basically, I have one D6 table, and seven D20 tables.

The D6 table would look like this:

D6	Encounter type
1	Friendly encounter
2	Hostile encounter
3	Discovery
4	Obstacle
5	New landscape feature
6	Landmark