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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sword of Spirit" data-source="post: 7957037" data-attributes="member: 6677017">I designed the very first adventure for our on-going campaign using the random dungeon generator at the back of the 5e DMG. I can't remember which parts I pre-established (other than the prelude that culminates in the PCs each being sucked through a portal from their different home worlds and deposited in the bottom of the dungeon) and which elements I made sense of afterwards. But I do know that I used the tables pretty faithfully for the map, and made a 4 level dungeon temple complex. If I recall, I first made all the rooms, using the random maps and contents rules, and then "ruined" the dungeon. I had half of one of the floors collapse into the floor below, and I went through and rerolled the contents of rooms to determine how their usage had changed from the original (I think that part was actually from the DMG). I do know that for this particular dungeon I selected what types of monsters would be present during the non-random phase, as well as creating random encounter tables for each floor (or area) and figuring out how everything worked (where did creatures get food and water, where did their waste go, etc). However, I think I did go with the room generation tables as far as which rooms had monsters or other hazards in them. I don't think I had to overule the dice much at all after putting some creative interpretative polish on to it.I really like the way it turned out. I'm actually converting it to an RPGMaker game so my players can enjoy it again with some good old fashion SNES style tech.I love using random encounters and events and such. I use them extensively. My rules of the realm are that anything that has been firmly established by me (either by simply acknowledging published lore as accurate, or by actual design) is true for the world, whether the players know it or not. I do not allow myself to alter that on the fly (or even in advance, without a very compelling reason, like a got a new book with conflicting lore and I have to decide which (if either) version I want to go with). When I introduce new elements, they are introduced in context of the already established world. This firm foundation for what exists actually makes it easier to use random tables to add content, because that content is already constrained by clear boundaries and isn't going to create chaos the way it otherwise might.I was going to explain that last sentence more, but it hit me that there is something deeper going on there (cue tangent). It occurs to me that sometimes when people disagree about the value of certain stylistic play elements, it can be influenced by not seeing the whole picture of how various other elements fit together. To appreciate different ways of role-playing, you kind of have to have a complete picture of what is going on--you can't just assume element X is added to your current play style. For instance, if one's normal style is to customize the adventure to the players and characters, then adding in randomness might seem like more trouble than it's worth. Now you just have something that you have to put extra work into customizing. Whereas, if you don't customize anything to the players or their characters, random content is great (assuming good random generation) at making a world interesting while reducing creative load on you (freeing it up for other areas).Tangentially, one fun thing I'm wanting to try with 5e is a totally random adventure (designed from random tables in the DMG) with totally random PCs. The idea is the players get together and roll up some random characters, and everything is random. Class, race, skills, feats, gear, name, etc. I'm even using Xanathar's Guide to Everything to roll detailed random backstories for the characters. I figure the best way is to make a number of characters equal to the players + 1, and then let them choose their characters from the options. I already rolled up one totally random character, and she turned out a completely workable character, so I have high hopes for it actually working.All that being said, I think doing an adventure that is completely randomized on the go would be difficult. The biggest issue is simply physical dimensions. Trying to fit randomly sized rooms into a dungeon without time to work with would be a pain (it would be easier in a more vaguely defined environment like a city). I don't know that that particular element would be worth it. But if you had the physical dungeon drawn up and you simply randomized the contents of the rooms on the go, that's completely doable. Or what might be more fun would be to pre-map a variety of room-complexes (let's say they all take up a 200'x200' area) and then during play randomly roll which room complex is next when you get to the edge of the map.The key is to determine what role random content is intended to play in the game, and then find out the most efficient way to use it in that role.</blockquote>

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