Does Your Game Have Random Encounters?

[p_johnston]

For me its an odd mix. I'll typically run a normal adventure/campaign with all the scripted encounters and then throw in a random encounter mechanic when appropriate.

For instance right now my players are in a mega dungeon and so when the first enter an area for a day, stay super long in an area, make loud noises (like thunderwave), etc they tick up a clock (stolen from Blades) and when full get an encounter. For more wilderness travel campaigns ive had players make survival rolls where failure is a random encounter.

 

[Celebrim]

They are an important part of my commitment to not overly rely on my judgement or plans but to allow the world I'm presenting to happen organically. That said, they are more interesting and important to me than in D&D than in most other systems. When we enter into a sandbox in any system though, random things that aren't entirely of my design or arrangement happen and combine with the players unexpected choices to create something that isn't scripted at all.

 

[SkidAce]

The encounters aren't random, but when/if they occur may be.