Random Encounter Tables in 4th

[LostSoul]

I use random encounters; they are an important part of the economy of my game. I do a whole bunch of things differently in my hack, and in that context random encounters work. I use reaction rolls, a quicker combat resolution system, different reward system, different extended rests, and a bunch of other things.

Overland/Wilderness: I make a check every 4 hours. 1 on 1d6. This goes for any hex that hasn't been "cleared". The level of the encounter is based on the level of the hex, modified (-2 to +4) by a d20 roll.

Dungeons: I make a check every 5 minutes. Again, 1 on 1d6, encounter level generated the same way as above.

I think the lists that I roll on are pretty lame, but they seem to work pretty well in play. I would like to re-do them but eh...

 

[the Jester]

Random encounters is a complete no-go in 4E as far as I'm concerned. Combat is so time consuming that I can't get players to dedicate 1-2 hours to a combat that has nothing to do with advancing the story.

While I understand this perspective, I think it's illustrative of one difference between a sandbox and a more story-based game. In my campaign, the players don't have a "story" to advance, they have dozens of threads to pick and choose between. Often a random encounter is the seed of a new one!

Here's an example of how I do random encounters in 4e:

Reaching the Ziggurat of a Thousand Serpents requires an arduous journey into the swamp. Even with the map that the pcs claimed from the yuan-ti they intercepted, the party must succeed at a skill challenge to reach the step pyramid. Along the way, they may have random encounters; check once each day, with a 1 in 12 chance; an encounter occurs at a random hour of the day, and when an encounter occurs, there is a 1 in 12 chance of a second encounter that day. If an encounter is indicated, it will include 1d4+1 encounter elements from the chart below; roll each one separately. Indicated encounter elements might be stalking one another or the pcs, working together, simply at the same place at the same time, etc.


d% Roll --- Encounter Element (level/role) --- Source --- XP
01-10 --- Will-o'-wisp (level 10 lurker) --- MM2 209 --- 500
11-16 --- 1d4 visejaw crocodiles (level 4 soldier) --- MM 45 --- 175
17-19 --- 3d4 swamp stirges (level 6 minion lurkers) --- See below --- 63
20-26 --- Greenscale marsh mystic (level 6 controller) --- MM 179 --- 250
27-33 --- 1d4 blackscale bruisers (level 6 brutes) --- MM 179 --- 250
34-42 --- 1d4 greenscale darters (level 5 lurkers) --- MM 178 --- 200
43-49 --- 1d4 water moccasins (level 8 minion controllers) --- See above --- 88
50-53 --- 1d3 ghouls (level 5 soldiers) --- MM 118 --- 200
54-61 --- 1d4 giant wasps (level 3 lurkers) --- See below --- 150
62-64 --- 1d4+1 snaketongue initiates (level 7 minions) --- MM 272 --- 75
65-71 --- Vine horror (level 5 controller) --- MM 260 --- 200
72-77 --- Shambling mound (level 9 brute) --- MM 232 --- 400
78-82 --- Myconid rotpriest (level 3 brute) --- MM2 164 --- 150
83-89 --- 1d4 myconid guards (level 4 soldiers) --- MM2 164 --- 175
90-92 --- Half-orc death mage (level 6 controller) --- MM2 140 --- 250
93-97 --- Yngmar of the Willow (see below) --- See below --- 350 (see text)
98-00 --- Sweltos, swamp hermit (see below) --- See below --- 350 (see text)

So some of these were kind of "automatically hostile" but only a few. One of the actual encounters the pcs had while in this adventure was with some lizardfolk and a myconid. The pcs ended up making an ally of the myconid. Likewise, both Yngmar and Sweltos offered the pcs opportunities for gaining information (or aiding them in a skill challenge).

 

[UngeheuerLich]

random encounters can be used in dungeons, and you can draw on the normal encounters. It would be a way to make it much more dynamically feeling.

In the wilderness, a random encounter needs to be either tough or very easy. You could argue, that every encounter should advance the story, but random does not always mean meaningless... in fact, random encounters can be used to "hide" more important encounters in between them...

The last important role, random encounters fulfill is showing players that they are becoming more powerful: Use a standard array of monsters in a particular region. When you first meet those monsters, you barely survive. Later you fend them off quite ok. The third time you meet them, you easily flatten them.
You may even preview a later plot branch with a random encounter, or a random encounter can spontaneously evolve into a little plot.

Pre-planned encounters are fine and good. (Semi-)Random encounters do have their place in the game, to spice it up.
(If your players like it. If they are bored of them... let them skip them)

 

[Dannager]

As a rule of thumb, I avoid random elements whenever possible as a DM. There is often little point in rolling to see what your PCs encounter (and, accordingly, having to develop the map, terrain, tactics and treasure on the fly) when you can just say "Okay, they're going to have an encounter here," and plan for it when you would plan for the rest of your encounters.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I guess this is personal preference. Noone knows how the suroundng looks like in most cases. So you can prepare some "random" encounters and roll, what you encounter, and when.

The important thing to remember is ignoring unfitting random elements and adjusting rolls if it would otherwise decrease the fun.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I guess this is personal preference. Noone knows how the suroundng looks like in most cases. So you can prepare some "random" encounters and roll, what you encounter, and when.

The important thing to remember is ignoring unfitting random elements and adjusting rolls if it would otherwise decrease the fun.

See, back in the OLD OLD days of dungeonhacking I certainly used random encounters, pretty much right out of the back of the 1e DMG (a utility that book provided which at the time was much appreciated). Then I began to notice that you really wanted to fudge the rolls because no encounter table would really always make sense or always produce the most interesting results.

This lead me to the conclusion that 'random' isn't really exactly what you want. A 'Wandering Monster' can be good, but then if it is good why just roll for when they appear? So I took to simply noting that within a given area such a monster would exist or not exist, or would appear if the PCs lingered, or would always show up in one of places A, B, or C.

Now, given that wilderness exploration in 4e is, like anything, fairly skill focused and often involves extended SCs I've integrated these kinds of things as elements of the overall exploration/travel effort. I'll work up some number of these encounters that I figure will work as elements of the story and for example have them show up as consequences of skill check failures, or sometimes have them show up as a advantages (say a weak encounter that can be overcome to negate a failure that just occurred).

So I wouldn't call them random, but from the player's (and certainly the PC's) perspective they are chance encounters, and certainly wandering monsters in many cases. Not really sure where that fits into other people's notions of random encounter tables either. I end up with lists. I do usually make the 4, 6, 8, 10, etc items long and might roll on that table now and then for the heck of it when I am going to pull one out. They are terrain specific in that each area generally has a story and moving through it will trigger things.

Maybe at some point I'll write something up...

 

[UngeheuerLich]

in my previous post i was more spcific. I called them semi random. Wandering monsters are a part of that.

Just rolling on a list somtimes can result in a lot of fun. But as with most things, the dose makes the poison...

 

[TheClone]

Seems like nobody mentioned it here, so I just wanna hint to the PoL random encounter system from Arlough. Find it here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan-creations-house-rules/304366-points-light-replacement-random-encounters.html