Fix Your Encounter Tables!

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We discuss the humble overland encounter table today. While most random encounters in games like Dungeons and Dragons feel arbitrary and flat, this method uses THE POWER OF MATH to help encounters feel like they are happening in a cohesive and living campaign world.

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Nick L S Whalen’s Blog about Encounter Table Structuring: https://www.paperspencils.com/structuring-encounter-tables-amended-restated/

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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Joke Intro
0:19 – Knave Map and Introductions
2:12 – Start with a Map
4:42 – Faction Goals and Area Beasts
7:03 – 2d6 Encounter Type Table
8:37 – Alertness and Distance Tables
10:25 – Example Encounter
11:54 – Wrap Up
13:35 – Patron Thanks

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20 thoughts on “Fix Your Encounter Tables!”

  4. Damn Mr Martino, you made your return with an absolute banger! Having a think of how I can adapt this to our games of Cyberpunk. A city block by city block table, full of competing gangs, corpos and criminals. I think that might just work. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  6. Powerful design. Thank @mapcrow for your generous gift. I took notes in a blue 5×5 Quad Ruled notebook.

    Some experimental ideas to those brave enough to follow:
    To maximize the narrative of the roll, read Distance before Alertness. Example: 5 Blue + 2 Red = 7 LOCAL FACTION, SIGNS & TRACES, FIGHTING SOMETHING ELSE / HIGH ALERT. The pair of Distance and Alertness tables read naturally this way for all twelve entries.

    Reorder Distance 6 to "SLAIN / INJURED / RETREATING". Cross off each from left to right as the party advances (easy -> hard) for increasing tension. How do the FACTIONS treat their dead and wounded?

    Invert the order of just Distance and Alertness (i.e. Alertness begins with RESTING and ends with SEARCHING) for maximum whimsy and goofiness (e.g. 1 Blue + 1 Red = 2 FACTION LEADER, SLAIN, RESTING, or 6 Blue + 6 Red = OUTSIDE BEAST Vampiric Mists, AMBUSH, SEARCHING FOR PCs, a.k.a rocks fall).

    Invert the order of ALL TABLES presented as a nod to Gygaxian philosophy of low rolls representing a bane to the subject of the roll. Surprise Roll: "the NPCs are surprised on a 1d6 roll of 1 or 2." I am arguing that the best result a party can get is 6 Blue + 6 Red = 12 FACTION LEADER Graznak, AMBUSH, SEARCHING FOR PCs when the PCs are undoubtedly looking for Graznak to murderhobo for truth, justice, and loot. Does your party have justification for a bonus to the Surprise roll? If they roll high enough, they are also given the possibility of Stealthing out of the situation. The worst result a party can get in 1 Blue + 1 Red = 2 OUTSIDE BEASTS Hook Horrors, SLAIN, RESTING, because it means something worse is out there on the loose.

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  10. Verry interesting ! I've been using something similar : I have encounter tables by region, and 3 tables that use for every encounter: distance, situation and reactions.

    I feel that rolling a prompt for what is happening and seperatly roll the mood of the encountered creatures is more interesting. So I may get a fleeing creature having fun making it's pursuer mad or a ficherman angry at everything, for exemple.

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  11. I love the 2d6 system and its bell curve. But i struggle with what to do with the critters after i roll them. Your secondary tables look like they would be good for that. I have been using some tables that "d4 caltrops" put together called OSE encounter activity tables. It has helped me in running the hexcrawl i DM.

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  13. As a fledgling DM/Worldbuilder/Tinkerer, this is a subject I hadn't touched on yet but it gives me a lot to think about since I will be running an exploratory, vehicle-heavy custom system at some point in the near future. First session I've ever run will be this next Sunday (The 18th of Feb) so I've been gorging on the content you've produced where possible!

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  15. This is an excellent tool! I love the ways the numerical thresholds conform to the roles of the encounters, like how the table encodes that outside factions can never be found resting in another faction's territory but will always be undertaking some kind of task there. Great design!

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