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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 1812783" data-attributes="member: 18280">I'm with Crothian here as well, at least as far as wilderness travel goes.  Most of my "random" encounters are "planned but not placed" encounters.  That is, I have a number of set up encounters that could be dropped into any appropriate location, as needed.  I include in these encounters some minor lairs.In dungeons, I use random encounters, but these come from a set number of potential encounters, and sometimes killing a "random" encounter depopulates a lair in another section of the dungeon.  I.e., if you kill the manticore now, then when you reach the manticore's lair, it's not there.  I have produced similar tables for wilderness settings, when the setting is limited (i.e., an island).Sometimes I also use things that are designed to seem like random encounters, but are not.  I don't want the PCs to easily be able to determine which encounters are significant, and which are not.I skipped the player questions because I never get a chance to play.   <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown    :("  data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" /> If only someone in the Toronto/Scarborough area would offer to run a party through the World's Biggest Dungeon, and invite me to join.   <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />   I'd even be happy to play online.   <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> In answer to the question, I enjoy them.  My players seem to enjoy them.No.  Using them slavishly?  Yes.  Random encounters are one of those few rolls I will "fudge" in order to make the game more fun.Not in my experience.  Here are some things to think about, though:(1)  Not all random encounters should be baleful.  Try to include a few "interest" random encounters -- noises, smells, piles of dung, and the like -- that the PCs can have, which also act as clues to nearby encounters.(2)  Random encounters should be run as though planned.  I.e., all the stats are worked out ahead of time, and some description of creatures as well as what they are carrying (if anything).  It should be difficult for the PCs to be certain which encounters are random and which are planned.RCEDIT:  Honestly, it hadn't even occurred to me that anyone would use random encounter tables straight from the book!  Which goes to show that I should have read through the thread before posting.Random encounter tables should be tailored to the area, and should include enough detail to run a comprehensive encounter.  Example:  I made a random encounter table for ships crossing Lake Elidyr in my campaign, because the lake is very large and I wanted it to seem as though things were "going on" in the area that had nothing to do with the PCs or their current adventure.My encounters list "tribesmen", and go on to describe that these are Lakashi tribesmen in birchbark canoes, who are either travelling or fishing, and are probably not hostile.  Roll X for the number of canoes, with 1-3 passengers per canoe on average.The "lake monster" encounter gives stats for the lake monsters (basically plesiosaurs) and notes that most encounters are simply sightings or soundings.  It goes on to describe what lake monsters do in spring and autumn (when they are most likely to be encountered -- my charts are seasonal), and how they react to attacks.For another area, where lizard folk may be encountered, I have several pregenerated lizard folk groups to be encountered, including classed individuals, treasure, and so on.  Then I roll to see which lizard folk band is encountered.  The encounter is "random" but it is also thought out.RC</blockquote>

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