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<blockquote data-quote="SteveC" data-source="post: 9317486" data-attributes="member: 9053">It's interesting that you say that. I just watched the Knights of Last Call's discussion of Dynamic Random Encounters. I found it really interesting since I hate random encounters the way they're typically used as a sort of resource drain or punishment. Derik brought out the 2E DMG and the reaction table. With it, he discussed how even if the group is being pretty hostile, that reaction roll can end up with a monster being friendly to the group. That sort of thing turns an encounter into a radically different direction than what the GM or the players anticipated. The idea is that when you make a die roll, the players and the GM likely have an outcome they want, or at least expect. Sometimes the dice have other plans, and if you run with it, you end up with something that no one was expecting. That's the random effect.Another example is if you have a random spell effect that can happen when a spell is cast. It's the sort of thing that a Wild Mage or any mage can have happen in some games (thinking of DCC here). When you cast that spell and get a truly outrageous result, you're getting something that no one expected, but now you have to deal with. It's that sort of thing that I'm thinking about, and hopefully, that makes more sense.A more Narrative game has this sort of thing happen more often and can be baked right into the rules. Maybe this is something that you hate in games. I must admit that I hate the &quot;whimsy&quot; rolls that some DMs used back in the day, but I think that bringing something that no one was expecting to happen into play can make things more interesting if it's done well.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="SteveC, post: 9317486, member: 9053"] It's interesting that you say that. I just watched the Knights of Last Call's discussion of Dynamic Random Encounters. I found it really interesting since I hate random encounters the way they're typically used as a sort of resource drain or punishment. Derik brought out the 2E DMG and the reaction table. With it, he discussed how even if the group is being pretty hostile, that reaction roll can end up with a monster being friendly to the group. That sort of thing turns an encounter into a radically different direction than what the GM or the players anticipated. The idea is that when you make a die roll, the players and the GM likely have an outcome they want, or at least expect. Sometimes the dice have other plans, and if you run with it, you end up with something that no one was expecting. That's the random effect. Another example is if you have a random spell effect that can happen when a spell is cast. It's the sort of thing that a Wild Mage or any mage can have happen in some games (thinking of DCC here). When you cast that spell and get a truly outrageous result, you're getting something that no one expected, but now you have to deal with. It's that sort of thing that I'm thinking about, and hopefully, that makes more sense. A more Narrative game has this sort of thing happen more often and can be baked right into the rules. Maybe this is something that you hate in games. I must admit that I hate the "whimsy" rolls that some DMs used back in the day, but I think that bringing something that no one was expecting to happen into play can make things more interesting if it's done well. [/QUOTE]

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