Do you use Random Tables?

[Lanefan]

It's situationally dependent.

I used to use random tables much more but now in the same situations I often just wing it.

Most of the randomness now comes from things players roll: various aspects of character generation; fumble effects; wild magic surges; effects caused by revival from death, and so forth.

I randomize weather - I once made a big set of weather tables, but over the years I've vaguely memorized them such that now I can tell them the weather without consulting the tables.

For treasure and monsters I usually decide what such things will be but it can get kinda random where they'll be.

That said, if I'm running a canned module and its wandering monster chart makes sense I'll use it.

Lanefan

 

[Vegepygmy]

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

Hmmm...the Dark Lord's One Ring just lying on the floor of this pathetic Gollum's cave? And the halfling rogue is only 3rd level! It would absolutely ruin my campaign if I let this happen...

 

[howandwhy99]

"Yes, I use random tables in my games."

But I only use them when I understand what the roll is meant to represent in the game.

 

[S'mon]

Re Bilbo and the One Ring - I've seen a lot of posters on rpgnet'd d20 forum appalled at the idea that one PC could have a better magic item than the one the others have access to. For them it would presumably ruin the campaign.

 

[Tallifer]

Many Old School products including the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons dungeon master's guide have a great assortment of tables. These can give me the beginnings of an idea. Visually they can be an easy way to present various unformed ideas.

But I would almost never let my story get controlled by them. Mostly because the tables have no relation to my own conception of probable occurrences or possible encounters. I might roll however to make the players think that the encounter is a coincidence, or that there are a multiplicity of possible encounters.

I do sometimes roll randomly to check the weather or see if the players are lucky enough to avoid something.

 

[Jhaelen]

By using a random table, I mean you roll and take the result.

I use them. But not during play. I use them to guide my adventure design and when prepping for a session. Random rolls often give me the basic ideas for interesting encounters.

 

[Deset Gled]

Re Bilbo and the One Ring - I've seen a lot of posters on rpgnet'd d20 forum appalled at the idea that one PC could have a better magic item than the one the others have access to. For them it would presumably ruin the campaign.

1. When Bilbo found it, the ring only functioned as a ring of invisibility. It didn't grow in power until a later campaign.

2. Bilbo was traveling with a party that was a higher level than him. The rest of the group all had more experience than him, so giving him a little boost via a magic item was a way of balancing the party.

3. Bilbo was filling a niche in the party that no other character had (stealthy thief), and the ring only advanced his ability in that role. It didn't challenge the powers of any other party members.

4. It was a story, not a campaign. As a campaign, the Hobbit and LotR have a lot of potential to suck. Would you want a powerful NPC to come and slay the dragon at the last minute? Would you want two PCs to be separated from the party for a majority of the game, including the climax?

 

[S'mon]

As a campaign, the Hobbit and LotR have a lot of potential to suck. Would you want a powerful NPC to come and slay the dragon at the last minute?

I thought that was pretty cool, actually. Much better than if Gandalf had killed the dragon.

 

[rogueattorney]

I love random tables for stocking wilderness and dungeons. The fun is in figuring out how seemingly incongruous results can function.

The Storm Giants live next to the White Apes. Why? The Whites Apes used to be their pets until they rebelled. Now they live in a state of tense cease fire. Do the pcs help the giants re-establish control, help the apes gain their freedom, or play the two sides against each other for their own gain?

A blue dragon in a 10 x 10 room? Well, obviously, he's polymorphed himself. He's probably disguised himself as one of the nearby cultists. But why? Join them, conquer them, or defeat them?

etc.

Yes, sometimes results are so out of whack, I've got to throw them out. But in a fantasy game, where by and large anything can happen, I've seldom found results that couldn't be used.

 

[Rechan]

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.

At my table I prefer to burn simulationism at the stake, so that's ok.