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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 9896835" data-attributes="member: 7035894">Okay, I follow. So, it depends on the nature of the encounter. Let's say it's a travelling carnival, or maybe a maurauding giant. The only skill check I am likely to make is perception, to see how far in advance it is spotted, allowing the party to decide earlier how to react.In the harpy scenario posited, that seems like something the party member would be doing specifically in anticipation of entering a known "harpy zone." In which case, in addition to having a potential harpy encounter or two pre-prepared, I would adjust the random encounter table accordingly, and then take skill checks and advantage/disadvantage into account after I roll a relevant encounter.When I roll a random encounter, the players always have the option of figuring out how to react, so it's best to think of these as potential encounters. Really, I should rename them "potential plot complications," as the word "encounter" is misleading.Here's an example of one from a recent session: a rogue/warlock PC decided to stay out for awhile and explore after the rest of the party had turned in for the evening. They rolled an encounter that was simply coming across a discarded newspaper story about oddities at a mysterious local tower. This led to them deciding to investigate said tower, which eventually led to an encounter with a reclusive archmage, and a potential future story hook. Nothing much happened in terms of the main plot (yet), but it was a shot, fun, entirely improvised piece of adventure and roleplay. And now there's another piece in play for the story.Another random encounter literally was harpies, who stole a keg of very valuable liquor from the deck of a ship the party was traveling on, leading the captain to order them to retrieve it. The harpies themselves were not much of a challenge for a level 5 party (at the time), but getting to their nest made for a short but memorable adventure.For me, the whole point of random encounters is to let the players really drive the plot by leaving the encounter open enough so that the players usually have many options.</blockquote>

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