Do you use Random Tables?

[fba827]

I create my own random loot tables as appropriate to a given location
(i.e. if you're crawling through an abandoned mage tower, the random loot table i make up is going to be stuff that i could justify in-story for being in the tower). so i have some for 'abandoned temple' 'wizard tower' 'catacombs under city' 'palace' 'wilderness' and so on.

And then I usually roll the random loot before the session so that i can describe it as part of the room's description as needed.

So it is random loot but it may not appear random to the players since i do the randomization before hand and on top of that, it isn't the premade randomized tables but rather custom made ones for different locations.

 

[Ranes]

Hmmm Axe of the Dwarfish Lords in this Orc lair? The party's only 3rd level but oh well...

Make sure any result your table can generate is one you can live with but don't worry if the result suddenly demands a down payment of inspiration. That's one of the reasons I like random tables; they make me feel like the system is throwing me interesting, unexpected bones and waiting for me to put the meat on them. It can lend the game a, "Behold, the monster I have created," moment. But, yes, I re-roll things that I can't accommodate without worrying about the consequences.

I don't use random tables that much during the game (although I love the opportunity) but I do use them when I'm preparing a session.

 

[Oryan77]

There is no rule that enforces you to use what you randomly rolled on a random chart.

Using a random chart can be pretty random when you can randomly pick and choose what you randomly roll on your random chart if your randomly choose to roll again randomly. Ya dig?

 

[SteveC]

But whoever put the item in the chest did not intend for the PCs to have it. Your approach works against simulation of a plausible world. Which is ok I guess, but it's one of the main benefits of random tables for me - they increase, rather than decrease, versimilitude.

This is something I just don't get: for me, random tables create a sense of randomness and whimsy. which are the very antithesis of any immersion. The randomly assembled monsters have a random treasure ... it reminds me too much of a game like Diablo, not a living and breathing world.

 

[Jacob Marley]

This is something I just don't get: for me, random tables create a sense of randomness and whimsy. which are the very antithesis of any immersion. The randomly assembled monsters have a random treasure ... it reminds me too much of a game like Diablo, not a living and breathing world.

This could largely be from a failure to ask the question Why (and also what, where, when, and how)? Why did this group of monsters assemble here? Why was the great dwarven weapon left here? Where did these monster originate? What is there purpose here?

If one is answering these questions as little more than "just because," then I agree that the game will feel an awful lot like Diablo. However, once one starts giving some serious thought to these types of questions, then you begin to develop a history of the region and motivations for adventure. In my opinions, these are the elements that create a living, breathing, immersive world.

For me, random encounters spark a sort of creativity that I have been unable to harness using any other method of adventure design.

 

[Deset Gled]

The trick is intelligently designing the random tables.

My tables weren't always intelligently designed, but over the years I've amassed a collection of them. By dropping out ones I don't like or use, and holding on to all the ones that work out well, my collection of random tables has evolved a the highly intricate, well balanced system.

Joking aside though, I do like random tables when used in moderation. Tables are a great way to add a little random flavor, and can even send you in new directions, but they shouldn't be the basis for an entire game. It's also perfectly acceptable to fudge a random table roll if you end up one or two numbers away from a better result. It's also highly acceptable for a DM to say that he's using random tables when he really isn't.

 

[kiltedyaksman]

Yes. For me, randomness and random tables are an essential element of D&D.

 

[DnD_Dad]

I love random tables. I make lots and lots of random tables for just about everything.

 

[kitsune9]

I like creating and using random tables. I tend to go for d30 and d12 tables just as an excuse to use the dice.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Y'know, this is one of those areas which I've found myself totally reversing my younger self's position on. My teenage self loathed them, now I find myself drawn to them, but don't really know how to implement them.