D&D 5E How do you think Wandering Monsters fit into modern 5E styles?

[Don Durito]

And of course if you're in a dungeon and roll a wandering monster encounter with a patrol and that patrol turns and run at the sight of the PCs...well that becomes more interesting.

Do the PCs chase and try to prevent the alarm getting out (in which case future encounters will get more dangerous)? Or do they let them go and conserve resources?

But this way they get a choice, so it doesn't feel like a filler combat.

 

[Thakazum]

I love the use of random encounters in old school D&D to shape the setting and act as a resource/time drain. I've used them with 5e where they added an element of danger in early levels. It quickly turned into just more time in combat and bonus XP for the party.

 

[Helldritch]

In 5ed, I use the random encounters as a filler for the 6-8 encounters per day. Sometimes, this lead to a fight. Some other time it leads to a helpful encounter for the players. Whatever the outcome, it counts as one of the 6-8 encounters.

This help a lot in avoiding the 5MWD and the Nova style of play that comes with it. It also help classes that work with powers that reset with a short rest. No one feel left out in the mud this way.

 

[Burnside]

I think Tomb of Annihilation and to a lesser extent Curse of Strahd handle random encounters very well. Not all of the things in those tables are “wandering monsters” and all of them include context that contributes to the adventure’s story or atmosphere.

 

[robus]

I usually roll once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once during a long-rest.

That’s great when traveling, but not so good when spending a few hours in a dangerous lair or dungeon.

 

[The Green Hermit]

That’s great when traveling, but not so good when spending a few hours in a dangerous lair or dungeon.

Then, I frequently roll as we enter new rooms and add the result to whomever is in the room. For those, I usually plan on easy to medium encounters.

 

[Arilyn]

Not a fan of wandering monsters, if they're just meant to be mostly combat. A list of a mix of interesting encounters is much more likely to grab my interest. I remember an old Paizo module that had the best random encounters I'd ever seen, from an ogre searching for his lost wedding ring to weird hexy things hanging from trees. Added a lot of flavour, without just being, a collection of critters looking to make a meal out of the player characters.

 

[Nebulous]

I like a mix of combat encounters and non-combat encounters. The latter is more difficult as it takes some thought, although probably more rewarding than just rolling initiative and killing something. But overall I do think random encounters make the world seem more alive. I've adopted something one of my players started talking about one day: "Let's hope the DM doesn't roll a 20 on the random encounter!" Now of course there is no such thing in the rules as a "critical random encounter" but since then I've been doing exactly that, making a natural 20 a more dangerous or adversarial result than it would normally be.

 

[Nebulous]

I think Tomb of Annihilation and to a lesser extent Curse of Strahd handle random encounters very well. Not all of the things in those tables are “wandering monsters” and all of them include context that contributes to the adventure’s story or atmosphere.

The Tomb of Annihilation Companion on DMGuild had an entire sourcebook devoted to random encounters in the jungle. Not just things to fight but little interesting quirks and secrets. They also introduced the Sewn Sisters far earlier than the PCs would meet them in the dungeon.

 

[Helldritch]

That is why I miss the initial encounter reaction rules we had in the 1ed. Not every encounter had to be a combat. Sometimes, especially in the case of NPC groups, it could led to an alliance, simple friendship, an uneasy truce, a friendly competition as to whom will get to the final vilain first to even a rescue of said group a bit further in the adventure.

I had over the years many recurring NPCs that were originally only random encounters in a dungeons (or more often, in the underdark).