How do we fix wilderness encounter tables /tg/?
In theory it should provide atmosphere and emphasize that you're traveling through uncharted dangerous territory. In practice, the fights provide little more than speed bumps, a steady trickle of XP for no reason, and sometimes an incredibly powerful enemy that will more likely than not TPK.
How do you implement random encounters so that they do something useful?
>>46282508
It's really up to you to introduce and use whatever they're going to encounter as organically as possible and construct the atmosphere. It's also up to you to reroll every now and then.
>>46282576
Well, just to be a little more clear.
I'm trying to figure out how to make wilderness encounters more akin to open world wandering monsters.
Wandering monsters keep the party moving, and provide a steady drain of resources, encouraging the players to move quickly through a dungeon.
I want the open world random encounters to do something similar, motivating the players to try to move through the wilderness as quickly as possible, rather than just being a recurring annoyance.
>>46282642
Set up hunting trails, they run into far more beasts there. Watering holes, cover, places to sleep. You really would need maps to concentrate beasts in areas where beasts would be naturally.
You could use literal Beastmen from WHFB, it'd serve your purposes well.
>>46282508
Wilderness Encounter Tables are meant to be used in a larger context that is often lost in modern narrative focused campaigns.
If traveling in your campaign is simply a means to an end, just don't use tables - they're not the interesting stuff nor are they the focus of the campaign.
Encounter Tables are designed to be used in the context of old school play, where strict resource management and pushing the risk/reward envelope is important ("do we push down to level 3? We're almost out of food and torches, though" and that sort of reasoning)
> In practice, the fights provide little more than speed bumps, a steady trickle of XP for no reason, and sometimes an incredibly powerful enemy that will more likely than not TPK.
It's very clear that you're not playing the correct edition of D&D, or are implementing the use of encounter tables poorly. Generally monsters don't give out XP in most "old school" versions of D&D; only acquiring gold does (AD&D 2e, while incredibly ancient nowadays, actually represents the beginning of more modern RPGs focused on narratives rather than dungeon diving). As a result, random encounters represent a non-trivial drain on time and resources with no reward at all save survival - torches burn down, HP is lost, spells are used up, and so forth. No XP is awarded unless the monsters were carrying treasure with them.
They're meant for a game that tracks a lot more than most modern narrative ones - rolls on the table are generally indexed to some specific passage of time and/or distance. That means in a dungeon crawl you should be counting the hours - or at least general time periods. Adventures overland often use hexes and roll encounters per X hexes traveled, modifying the chances usually based on how "wild" the area is.
>>46282508
By making them not random encounters but rather planned encounters meant to add to the narrative. Every scene you choose should either develop the plot, help explore or explain the setting, or set a theme or mood, or if possible allow character growth. It should add to the scene, not feel like its distracting or impeding it. If you're assaulting some necromancers tower, throw in a couple of skirmishes with his undead thralls. If you're trying to give the feeling of dangerous wilderness you can inspire that with an appropriately themed encounter that's planned. Use random encounter tables for ideas if you want but don't just roll up an encounter because oh hey the dice gods rolled that 15% chance an encounter is gonna happen. You're the DM, fuck random tables, make decisions instead.
>>46283488
In general each table is also specific to a particular use, area, region, etc. Creatures you find in an arboreal forest are unlikely to be found in a desert - this is why there are so many different tables.
A table doesn't always have to include hostile monsters - it could also include different encounters on the road.
This is also why most older rulesets will also indicate the GM should roll the disposition of the encountered creatures and modify the resulting encounter accordingly.
For example, a GM might roll a "Goblins" encounter then roll for their overall disposition (adding any PC modifiers if the ruleset allows it).
If the result comes up "hostile", this could be interpreted as a goblin ambush. On the other hand, a result like "unfriendly" might indicate something like an extortion racket by the roadside. A "friendly" result could be all sorts of things - perhaps it's a group of goblins out hunting, or perhaps they are refugees from an inter-tribal raid. An encounter with the PCs might even then provide a plot hook.
Essentially, the tables are meant to be starting points for GM improvisation - it is intended that the referee flesh out the circumstances and context of the encounter, rather than simply having the encountered monster materialize from nowhere.
A goblin encounter as above on say, a wide and open plain would likely allow the PCs a chance to spot the goblins from a ways away. On the other hand, the same encounter in a dense forest might have the PCs pick up non-visual cues - a rancid stench hanging in the air, for example.
This sort of common-sense ruling is assumed to be the purview of the GM in older rulesets and is often unexplained for brevity, but this sort of thing is often lost when newer players look at older rulesets.
I'll give you an example OP.
Today my group was going to travel for about 4 days. I rolled 1d10 to represent random encounters (these random encounters come from a generic table like the DMG, but to represent the fact that they are still in civilization a good third of it is non-violent encounters that make good roleplaying fodder, while creating them I also make sure that they are built around an EL that 1) is fair for the party, and 2) reflects the danger of the surrounding areas at that time. For this one the countryside is a bit troubled at the moment and the party is 6 lvl 4 characters, so I decided on a EL 4 table with a number of threats and scenarios.)
I ended up rolling up an encounter with a troll. I had about 10 minutes before the session so I devised a scenario:
Kobolds have been raiding the countryside, so some villagers have been heading north to a nearby city for safety while my PCs head south, they come across an abandoned but not razed village in the late afternoon, with a single light on. As they approached I rolled a quick perception test to see if the Troll noticed them as it ate a bunch of the village's food. It did and it demanded that if they were going to pass through the village, to leave some food at the door as they go for a poor villager (troll's aren't very smart so this ruse came across immediately awkward to the party). One of the PCs decided to barge into the house to see who this person was after getting a skeezy feeling from a sense motive.
They were greeted by a large warty hand grabbing them around the face, grappling. and then I had them all roll for initiative.
Those table exist to give you ideas and spice up dull moments in the campaign or to simulate risks and boons the party might come across. As a DM you gotta put that together into a story yourself and to remember that DMing is often 80% prep 20% improv before the session, and 80% improv 20% prep during the session.
>>46283603
I don't completely agree here - the intent behind "random" encounters is that they provide a significant amount of well, randomness.
They help establish the sense that the world is a big place, bigger than just the PCs, and not every element in this world revolves around them. If you *want* everything in the world to revolve around your PCs, then so be it, random encounters are not for you. But a little interpretation of the table results - as well as appropriately designed tables - as in >>46283619 can go a long way towards giving the world depth and colour.
Again, the key thing is to interpret the random results rather than simply plopping down a bunch of the appropriate monster manual entries in as hostile targets.
>>46283640
This is a pretty excellent example of how random tables are meant to be used. When you roll up an encounter, think of how it fits into the immediate context of the area the PCs are traveling through, and think in terms of the entire setpiece.
It's certainly possible to create subtables to help you with devising setpieces, but often going with your gut works good enough and lends a more grounded quality to the encounter.
Do you really need random encounters?
>>46284263
not explicitly, but being able to represent certain parts of the game with chance can open up new ideas and scenarios, moments of rest or times of harsh trials that you might not have intended but make for some of the best stories.
It's the same kind of reason people like stuff like x-com and darkest dungeon
>>46284263
If the party is exploring random wilderness or decides to strike off in a random direction, they save you a lot of headache and prep. Prep is always good but there's always a chance that the PCs will take a direction you don't expect.
Often the improvised encounters become the most memorable ones precisely because they're spontaneous and reactive; often they can spin into larger plot hooks, like a recurring friend or enemy.
Again though, that only works if you're using the tables properly and integrating the results with a proper context.
