Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Monte Cook On Fumble Mechanics
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 7694653" data-attributes="member: 6775031"><p>I'm not familiar with wilderness encounter tables other than the ones in the AD&D DMG, so I can't comment on those, but the ones cited are meant to impartially represent what you might encounter in an area.</p><p></p><p>A lot of it comes down to world-building, though. There aren't any giants in the Keep on the Borderlands, because it wouldn't make any <em>sense</em> for one to be there, given the way that the world is organized (unless it's just poorly written, which I can't speak to because I don't play modules). One of the skills of a Game-Master is to create a world that is conducive to adventuring, which means you can't have ancient dragons <em>everywhere</em> because nobody would get past level 3, to say nothing of the ecology of such a world!</p><p></p><p>Instead, regions tend to be fairly self-balancing. You don't run into level 19 dragons in the middle of a forest filled with level 2 beasts, because there's no reason why those dragons would evolve to be so big and strong if their only challenge to survival was overcoming level 2 beasts. Powerful demons are off on another plane of existence, and summoning one would require a powerful spellcaster, but powerful spellcasters are busy opposing <em>other</em> powerful spellcasters instead of wasting their time with the PCs.</p><p></p><p>It's not that campaigns should subsist entirely on random encounters, so much as that the characters and creatures which inhabit the world (and which might eventually oppose the PCs) should exist independently of who the PCs are and what they can do. Ancient dragons should exist where it makes sense for them to exist, and not simply in the vicinity of level-appropriate PCs.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Crimson Binome, post: 7694653, member: 6775031"] I'm not familiar with wilderness encounter tables other than the ones in the AD&D DMG, so I can't comment on those, but the ones cited are meant to impartially represent what you might encounter in an area. A lot of it comes down to world-building, though. There aren't any giants in the Keep on the Borderlands, because it wouldn't make any [I]sense[/I] for one to be there, given the way that the world is organized (unless it's just poorly written, which I can't speak to because I don't play modules). One of the skills of a Game-Master is to create a world that is conducive to adventuring, which means you can't have ancient dragons [I]everywhere[/I] because nobody would get past level 3, to say nothing of the ecology of such a world! Instead, regions tend to be fairly self-balancing. You don't run into level 19 dragons in the middle of a forest filled with level 2 beasts, because there's no reason why those dragons would evolve to be so big and strong if their only challenge to survival was overcoming level 2 beasts. Powerful demons are off on another plane of existence, and summoning one would require a powerful spellcaster, but powerful spellcasters are busy opposing [I]other[/I] powerful spellcasters instead of wasting their time with the PCs. It's not that campaigns should subsist entirely on random encounters, so much as that the characters and creatures which inhabit the world (and which might eventually oppose the PCs) should exist independently of who the PCs are and what they can do. Ancient dragons should exist where it makes sense for them to exist, and not simply in the vicinity of level-appropriate PCs. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Monte Cook On Fumble Mechanics
Top