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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7125579" data-attributes="member: 20323">I haven't seen many official 5e encounter tables, besides the example one in the DMG. Most of the AD&D encounter tables I've seen included a wide spread of monsters, some "under level" and others (usually the rare/very rare kind) "over level."I think you hit the nail on the head about giving fair warning. If there are really powerful monsters on an encounter table, there should be legends and hearsay about those monsters that the DM makes readily available to the PCs.On my own encounter tables, particularly when it comes to "fly over" encounters, I typically mention something like the bolded line below...[SECTION]RocA roc soars through chilly mists on the hunt, preferring elephants and yaks (giant goats), while avoiding giants and jann. Tracking the roc back to its lair (or being carried there) has a 25% chance of locating 1d4+1 man-sized roc eggs worth 2d6x100 gold each. A DC 15 group Dexterity (Stealth) check hides from the roc.      If encountered at night, the roc merely passes high above as a chilling silhouette that blocks the moon and stars fleetingly. It does not attack as its vision is poor at night. There is a 50% chance it is ridden by one of the yikaria’s Seven Sages (see Chapter 9) surveying the lands of men.[/SECTION]One of the keys to a successful encounter table is to introduce dynamic verisimilitudinous behaviors for the monsters – ideally that's baked into the tables themselves, but sometimes it needs to come from the DM's own improvisational genius.I'd have the "few lowly kobold ambushers" act like scouts. They're hidden and are watching the PCs, planning to report back to a larger group of kobolds. If noticed, they flee through small-sized tunnels. Now there's an interesting challenge! Do the halflings & gnomes in the party give pursuit? Does the druid (or other caster) expend shapechanging resources to pursue the kobolds in a form more suited to the claustrophobic tunnels? Does the ranger try to scout out a way to cut them off? Do the PCs squeeze through the cramped tunnels, expending extreme effort to try and reach the kobold scouts?You could just handwave the encounter to "you beat up some kobolds, now interrogate them." Nothing wrong with that. But look at what you'd miss out on.I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment. <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=":)" /> Some of the best roleplaying exchanges I can remember came from the PCs speaking with "under level" or "over level" monsters.Totally!I really like to include a variety of encounters. Sometimes that means monsters/NPCs you fight, monsters/NPCs you talk to, and sometimes it means environmental encounters. I love it when the adventure site itself bleeds into the encounter table. For example, on one of my recent tables for a Tibetan-inspired mountain range, I have an entry for "Ruins"...[SECTION]Ruins (d4)<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Rock-carved yikaria citadel destroyed during the War of Seven Thunders. Exploring the ruins for 1 hour reveals a minor treasure (see Appendix B).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Old aarakocra aerie with a shattered portal desecrated with geomantic symbols, and occupied by 2d6 gargoyles. Casting gust of wind or wind wall on the portal instantly conjures an air elemental as per the conjure elemental spell. Only one elemental may be conjured using the portal once every 24 hours.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Old ruined dwarven tower built with halls suited to Large creatures. Dwarvish inscriptions tell of a terrible foe poisoning the mind of the dwarven high king and destroying them from within. There is an elongated window facing north in the tower and astronomical engravings on the floor. A DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check realizes this is a “lunar window” which, if gazed through on a full moon, points to a spot in the Galuil Mountains (an entrance to the duergar fortress Aelinvaast).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Ancient labyrinthine ruins sunken into the rock as if by an earthquake. The walls are inscribed with Abyssal pictograms proclaiming the glories of Bathl-Aramat. A gorgon stalks the ruins (see pg. 16 for its unique description). Characters exploring the ruins for an hour may make a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check to find a secret passage leading into the Labyrinth of Bathl-Aramat (see this chapter).</li> </ol>[/SECTION]</blockquote>

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