D&D 4E 4E Wilderness Adventures

[TikkchikFenTikktikk]

It just struck me that for supposedly being a "points of light" setting, 4E doesn't really have any rules for "classic" wilderness exploration. I'm thinking of hex maps, terrain types, and random encounter and monster tables, with some hexes having predefined encounters.

I have run wilderness exploration in 4E, but it pretty abstract. I never used a hex and the players never saw one. There was a sketch of a map I had of the area. I used the skill challenge framework to set up encounters, encounters were predefined by me (failures resulted in getting lost or combat encounters that interrupted extended rests). I think it worked very well.

Have you run or played in a wilderness adventure with 4E? How did you do it? Was it fun? Would you consider it a success?

 

[Zaran]

In the campaign i'm doing now I have used very little in the way of rooms. Quite a few of my encounters have been outside or in ruins with many of them in a forest. I don't really mark areas of my map where encounters will happen though. If I want them to happen they will no matter what the players do.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Yeah, my wilderness exploration story arcs have worked out pretty well. That being said the PCs always had a fairly well-defined goal, even if they didn't always know exactly where to find it. So like you I ran them mostly on SCs. I do have extensive wilderness maps though, so I can pinpoint specific locations that will show up. If the PCs got lost I just decided where they ended up, partly at random but mostly based on what they told me they were doing. I did build a little random encounter table just to spice things up a bit, but then I never used those things without a big grain of salt anyway and it was mostly just a list of fun things I could toss into the mix when it struck me as appropriate.

Overall it seemed pretty much like my old time overland adventures, except with some SCs tossed into the mix. I guess it might be interesting to see what take the 4e devs would have on that kind of adventure, but I'm pretty satisfied. What rules there are for movement and whatnot seem to work OK. Perhaps a rehash of the old 1e WSG wouldn't be bad, some weather tables and whatnot, maybe some nice example skill challenges and a few stock encounters to use when you need them, etc.

 

[TikkchikFenTikktikk]

Are there any good random encounter/monster tables for 4E? I don't recall any in the PHB or DMG, but I'm AFB too.

 

[Scribble]

Are there any good random encounter/monster tables for 4E? I don't recall any in the PHB or DMG, but I'm AFB too.

In the back of the first DMG there is a random encounter generator. It's not great, but it's a starting point.

I would put together a number of encounters ahead of time based on that of various levels. Then pick results from the levels based on the area your players are in. (IE the swamps of Hazzard might be level 7, while the streets of happy might be level 2.)

 

[TikkchikFenTikktikk]

I would put together a number of encounters ahead of time based on that of various levels. Then pick results from the levels based on the area your players are in. (IE the swamps of Hazzard might be level 7, while the streets of happy might be level 2.)

That's a good idea, and what I've been doing in general (usually as the result of a failed skill challenge check.

But if someone has a great example of this it can save DMs a lot of work, at least giving them a stating point with which to tinker. My encounters have been pretty specific to our adventures.

 

[Scribble]

That's a good idea, and what I've been doing in general (usually as the result of a failed skill challenge check.

But if someone has a great example of this it can save DMs a lot of work, at least giving them a stating point with which to tinker. My encounters have been pretty specific to our adventures.

I don't at the moment... Do you have a setting you use?

If so I'd look into seeing what level you want to set each area to, then start creating encounters tailored to that area... Like if you're in the swamps set up a number of generic "swamp" encounters using creatures of the appropriate level that feel "swampy."

 

[Mengu]

As elaborate as the 4e encounter design system is, I've never even considered using a random encounter. It's often much more fun for me as a DM to construct an environment, monsters to fit that environment with an appropriate role distribution, and a purpose for the fight.

Edit: And before clicking post, what I meant to add was, I build just a set of 3-4 encounters to use at skill challenge failure points, and pick one that is appropriate.

 

[LostSoul]

I made random encounter tables for various terrains (plains, forest, hills, mountains, moor, swamp, desert, coast, dungeon) - basically just a list of monster names - and I've written up a few pre-built encounters by level. I started a thread on it a week or so back but haven't built any more encounters.

My system for random encounters is: roll 1d6 once per 4 hours outdoors, on a 1 there is an encounter. If there is activity in that hex (from a nearby lair) then there's a 50% chance it will be with those creatures; otherwise, roll on the random table.

I can't remember exactly how it works in dungeons.

 

[the Jester]

Here's an excerpt of the swamp adventure I'm running tonight and tomorrow; this is how I like to do random encounters:

Along the way, they may have random encounters; check once each day, with a 1 in 12 chance; an encounter occurs at a random hour of the day, and when an encounter occurs, there is a 1 in 12 chance of a second encounter that day. If an encounter is indicated, it will include 1d4+1 encounter elements from the chart below; roll each one separately. Indicated encounter elements might be stalking one another or the pcs, working together, simply at the same place at the same time, etc.

Then I have the chart, which includes hostile, friendly and, er, neither elements. The elements could be something like "1d3 ghouls" that provides a chance of multiple monsters of a given type.