Encounters in wilderness

[Connorsrpg]

Who was that that said don;t let randomness ruin it? Shame on you .

Sorry, I LOVE randomness. I have charts for everything, and I most certainly have a Random Encounter chart for each area my PCs travel through.

I use the old 2E charts rather than %. You know, 2d10 (or d8+d12)...2-20 anyway. It is easier to see where to put common encs vs rare ones.

I make up chances of having one, but basically 1in10 (10%). I roll, depending upon the terrain. In civilized areas I up the chance to 2in10 and roll for one every couple of hours (or about 4 checks a day). And only 1 or 2 at night.

Most wilderness. 1 day and 1 night (often I have a creature for each on the enc chart), but also add one add dawn and dusk which are the most active periods for many creatures (esp in jungles and deserts).

Sometimes I even have the players roll the chance. They like it.

I have played in campaigns that don;t have Random Encs and I don't really like it. I would like to think something could jump us unexpectedly. When they are all planned encs I get the feeling we are going to have them no matter what we do and that they will all be completely balanced. This just doesn't feel right with me. Random enc charts also go a long way to portraying the ecology of the area.

I love random enc so much I even have a chart I roll on to see what the random enc is doing or whether they are different from the norm etc.

Cheers, C

 

[Jhaelen]

Sorry, I LOVE randomness. I have charts for everything, and I most certainly have a Random Encounter chart for each area my PCs travel through.

I love randomness, too, but I use those charts only when preparing for a session.

That way I know which 'random' encounters they'll have beforehand which allows me to improve them, e.g. put them in a more logical order, create an accompanying lair/hoard/base and plant some additional adventure hooks or quests.

If I'm unsure where the party is going to head, I'll prepare a couple of encounters for several of the most likely choices. I also keep unused encounters to insert them in future sessions as needed, possibly advancing the monsters or increasing their numbers if they would no longer be a challenge.

Similarly, I've been using treasure parcels long before the advent of 4E. I'd determine treasure randomly for their next level(s) and distribute it over their next encounters in the way that made the most sense to me.

 

[nittanytbone]

I would move away from random encounters in 4E.

First, if you have more than one random encounter per day, it starts to stretch credulity and bog down travel. How does anyone else travel this road? Are the PCs like the Starship Enterprise, continually running into absurd amounts of trouble? Just how many bandits are there in the woods? Plus, any sort of multi-day journey takes forever to play out.

If you only have one encounter each day, then its a waste of time. Unless it is significantly higher in level than the PCs, they will dispose of it pretty handily, may even "nova" on it, nuking the foe with a few dailies, and that's that.

I would use encounters as part of the story and only include them if they advance the story somehow or use up resources in a way that matters. For example, if the PCs are slated to reach the Temple of Doom just after lunch, perhaps throw in a sunrise ambush, a mid-morning monster, and then let them face the Temple after being two encounters down.

I prefer charging healing surges as part of a skill check or challenge to random encounters. For example, if being pursued by an enemy, they might make a Nature or Stealth check to hide their camp. Failure might indicate a loss of a healing surge. It accomplishes the same thing as a combat encounter but is faster for everyone and lets you focus on the key encounters.

If you have limitless table time I guess you could play everything out. But if you are limited, like most groups are, then focusing on the cinematic, significant action is the better way to go.