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<blockquote data-quote="Hassassin" data-source="post: 5823918" data-attributes="member: 6675228">That something is a random encounter in no way implies a lack of rationale. It is the DM's job to determine the rationale, if it is not readily apparent. The examples I gave have an implied rationale behind them.I would phrase &quot;abdication of responsibility&quot; in a more neutral way, but yes: they allow the DM to avoid using his fiat when determining what happens in a certain situation. If the party treks through the Troll Mountains, an encounter table allows the DM to model the risk they take without having to just choose if the party meets an overwhelming force.Just like I don't want to choose if a troll hits and kills a PC, I don't always want to choose if the party meets a typical troll gang or exactly how many trolls there are in one. I only want to choose the chances, based mostly on the setting and party actions.(BTW, I roll without showing the dice to players and do that even for encounters already in place. They don't know how relevant an encounter is to the big picture.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hassassin, post: 5823918, member: 6675228"] That something is a random encounter in no way implies a lack of rationale. It is the DM's job to determine the rationale, if it is not readily apparent. The examples I gave have an implied rationale behind them. I would phrase "abdication of responsibility" in a more neutral way, but yes: they allow the DM to avoid using his fiat when determining what happens in a certain situation. If the party treks through the Troll Mountains, an encounter table allows the DM to model the risk they take without having to just choose if the party meets an overwhelming force. Just like I don't want to choose if a troll hits and kills a PC, I don't always want to choose if the party meets a typical troll gang or exactly how many trolls there are in one. I only want to choose the chances, based mostly on the setting and party actions. (BTW, I roll without showing the dice to players and do that even for encounters already in place. They don't know how relevant an encounter is to the big picture.) [/QUOTE]

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