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<blockquote data-quote="5ekyu" data-source="post: 7637039" data-attributes="member: 6919838">I think the OP hits a very informative point - seeing &quot;matters&quot; only in terms of threat. I frequently make these &quot;environmental&quot; random encounters matter by toeing them into stuff that matters - giving them ties to the PCs (backstory, race, background or class) or ties to the setting.Whst if your random goblin encounter is not a small band of goblins attacking/stalking you, but instead attacking or besieging or carting back prisoners? What if those pridoners include&nbsp; elves or halflings like the PCs. What if they have info thats important? What if instead of stalking or attacking thry are seeking help? What if this encounter spotlights divisions in the local area that can be exploited or just be interesting?What if their loot includes old dwarven coins that are out of place but meaningful to one of the PCs?&nbsp; What if it's an elven coin with an image engraved that is meaningful to another? Obvioudly, some of these examples wont specifically carry thru to that setting but those that dont likely have analogs that do?Its in my experience when &quot;random&quot; encountered are approached from tacticalzonly blinders that one starts to see these as &quot;not mstter&quot; or &quot; meaningless&quot; and in my experience that fosters an environment where &quot;engaging&quot; and &quot;combat&quot; are treated as synonyms. Non-life-or-death encounters are perfect places for &quot;meaningful&quot; encounters that &quot; matter&quot; a lot and tie in with the PCs.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="5ekyu, post: 7637039, member: 6919838"] I think the OP hits a very informative point - seeing "matters" only in terms of threat. I frequently make these "environmental" random encounters matter by toeing them into stuff that matters - giving them ties to the PCs (backstory, race, background or class) or ties to the setting. Whst if your random goblin encounter is not a small band of goblins attacking/stalking you, but instead attacking or besieging or carting back prisoners? What if those pridoners include elves or halflings like the PCs. What if they have info thats important? What if instead of stalking or attacking thry are seeking help? What if this encounter spotlights divisions in the local area that can be exploited or just be interesting? What if their loot includes old dwarven coins that are out of place but meaningful to one of the PCs? What if it's an elven coin with an image engraved that is meaningful to another? Obvioudly, some of these examples wont specifically carry thru to that setting but those that dont likely have analogs that do? Its in my experience when "random" encountered are approached from tacticalzonly blinders that one starts to see these as "not mstter" or " meaningless" and in my experience that fosters an environment where "engaging" and "combat" are treated as synonyms. Non-life-or-death encounters are perfect places for "meaningful" encounters that " matter" a lot and tie in with the PCs. [/QUOTE]

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