Canonfire! Forums-viewtopic-Encounter tables in the World of Greyhawk

Tue Oct 25, 2005 11:04 am Encounter tables in the World of Greyhawk

Hi

I'd like to ask question about your experience with this:

In the 1983 box set there are encounter tables for different countries in Greyhawk. For example party of 1-st level can meet unit from 50-100 orcs or bandits on the road. How I can to handle this? Is it means that such troops always can be avoided or friendly?

Tue Oct 25, 2005 12:08 pm

I use table as mere suggestions. If I don't like the result, I reroll it or pick something else. But before I do that, I consider if the encounter could go a way I would like it to. Why would it be there and could the PCs survive? 100 orcs could be under the command of someone reasonable, with scouts to capture a low level party. They might just give them ribbing and let them go. Or they could be really nasty, but seen a long way away and avoided. It does not have to be fight. Make it what you want.

Tue Oct 25, 2005 5:14 pm

Random encounters are just that random. Use your judgment on them, some work well, others do not work at all. If the party is hurt badly then I normally don't even roll for encounters. If they are starting to fell unstoppable then I most definitely roll. Hope that helps. Happy

_________________
Forget Eberron, Embrace Greyhawk
Semper Fi

Tue Oct 25, 2005 5:28 pm

The outdoor random encounter tables are carry-overs from the earliest day of OD&D. There was a pretty basic formula: There's a town with a real big dungeon close by. You adventure in that dungeon until you reach 10th level or so, and then you start wandering around the wilderness. The depth of the campaign settings increased greatly, and it became common for low level parties to adventure outdoors as well, but for the most part the encounter tables were never updated from the original approach that assumed much higher level parties for the listed encounter numbers.
Scott

Wed Oct 26, 2005 1:53 am

I see the wilderness encounter tables as being entirely democratic. I don't think every encounter needs to be balanced to the party's level. I think if they are in a locale where there is a 1% chance of a dragon flying overhead, it doesn't much matter if the PCs are 1st level or 9th level — the dragon is still going to fly overhead. Wise low-level PCs will run for cover. Unwise low-level PCs will die.

I handle large war parties in much the same way, although I will adjust the numbers to compensate — but never below the minimum number appearing. If orcs travel in groups of 30–300, then at least 30 will always be met if the dice indicate such an encounter. If the party is not able to handle 30 orcs, then it's up to the PCs to avoid them.

In this regard, I am merciless; just because the PCs may already be wounded from some prior battle, it is no less likely that they will run into hostile creatures in the wilderness than if they were at full strength. (In fact, it's even more likely that the orcs would attack a weakened group.) I am a firm believer in "fantasy realism" over DM intervention.

Wed Oct 26, 2005 6:09 am "Random" Encounters

There are some good suggestions here. I don't actually use random encounters- I plan them out ahead of time. It gives me a chance to throw in some encounters that I want to run but don't want to base an entire campaign around. I consider them to be random in the sense that they may or may not directly relate to the storyline. But as the other posters mentioned above- if it doesn't fit don't use it. And don't be afraid to set up an encounter with a group of adversaries, such as the 100 orcs for the 1rst level party, that are too powerful for the player characters. There is nothing like fleeing for their lives that will teach the PCs humility and prove to them that you mean business and are not going to molly-coddle them.

Wed Oct 26, 2005 7:23 am Re: "Random" Encounters

Thu Oct 27, 2005 4:23 am

DMpratha, I do the same thing IMC. The world is how it is, the party must adjust to it. Not the other way around. If the world is based around the party level, where is the realism of it.

Thu Oct 27, 2005 7:05 am

tulkas: "The world is how it is, the party must adjust to it. Not the other way around. If the world is based around the party level, where is the realism of it."

IMO, the part that is missing is that the players must come before realism. For the sake of their fun, accomodations should be made. In the real world people die all the time by no fault of their own. That should not happen in the game. So pit a party of 1st characters against 100 orcs, but even if it is unrealistic, give them every chance to survive. Otherwise, it would not be fun, and there would be no point in playing.

What a lame ending it would have been to the Lord of the Rings if Sam and Frodo were not mistaken for orcs in Mordor.

Thu Oct 27, 2005 11:14 am

Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:31 am

Sat Oct 29, 2005 9:20 pm

i find having a certaint amount of fantasy realism to be important for the overall consistency for the players. If encounters are constantly scaled for the players then the PCs will not feel any sense of accomplishment or movement in the world. However, rolling for something that will just wipe out the party is no fun and giving them every chance to avoid it is completely necessary to having a campaign work -what fun is there for anyone if the PCs are wiped out? But... if fantasy realism is desired keep in mind that killing someone deliberately is rare and in agrarian societies the aristocracy is a warrior-elite and employ fairly small armies so large areas of the map will be fairly safe for any adventuring parties. Unless the parties are in humanoid lands where there is a warrior culture that demands every part of the society be involved with warfare on some level, then it is appropriate for the players to be wary and for the DM to make that distinction.

The Grey Mouser

'Never play a sport where the players carry club' - Grandma Watkins

Fri Nov 04, 2005 8:18 pm

Thu Nov 10, 2005 4:26 pm

I have been using the box set encounters in an attempt to determine general 3.5 EL encounter tables. I have the base data scanned, now I have to figure a strategy to correlate the 3.5 organization structures to the 1st %in lair number. Its the bean counter/statistician geek in me...

Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:19 pm Random Encounters

Random encounters are, IMO, a great way to keep the party guessing.
I have had many parties who wanted to address life in a very linear fashion. You know: at first level they say "Oh look, a Great Red Wyrm, kill it!" Random encounters have been a great way to dispell this behaviour without wrecking my planned encounters. I dont want to prep a dungeon for hours only to have the party run away at the first encounter (third maybe) but not the first. I blend it with some set encounters. Nothing complicated but more than "You see an Orc." They are always survivable but many times not defeatable.

For those interested, the DM's Toolbox by AEG has some fantastic random encounters. They are more complex than an orc or owlbear encounter. My favorite is the goblins with a statue with Gem eyes covered in sovereign glue. Anyway, these help disguise random encounters so that they blend in with the flow of a story based campaign.