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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 6123222" data-attributes="member: 8835">that's a clever answer, but it's also a matter of semantics.  If I'm investigating the evil gang of bank robbers, and I run into a farmer with a stuck wagon while on my way to their cave, and I deduce that the farmer encounter has nothing at all to do with the bank robbers, I am going to label it a Random Encounter.That doesn't mean that the GM didn't actually put the farmer there as a lookout for the bank robbers.  merely that to the player, it appears to be unrelated and thus is "random"Random Encounter basically means "stuff that happens that has no relation to the player's goal at hand"I think having one or two unrelated events/encounters can add local color or flavor to the setting/adventure.  Not everybody you meet on the road is going to be part of the plot you're investigating. Things would be too obvious and linear if the only encounters you had were the next ones needed to continue the quest.However, if I have to take a week long journey to another city, making me play through a week's worth of random encounters before I get to the city to effectively resume the quest is probably not the best use of my time, dramatic pacing or application of verisimilitude.Note, in the past, I've done that trick.  It basically meant that I could roll up all the random encounters needed for the trip and fill in a session's worth of material to cover the trip.  It's lazy DMing, and doesn't result in a quality experience for the player.It also artificially pads experience.  Assuming you dole out XP by the kill, you're basically giving out extra XP, which means the PCs are going to level up faster before they solve the next quest.  Being stingy on the encounters, means the PCs are less likely to level up by the time they reach the BBEG</blockquote>

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