Random Encounters II

Or are there dungeons in your dungeons and dragons?

I thought I might go ahead and follow up my initial foray into random encounter design with some thoughts on dungeon encounters, and how you might go about stocking the dungeon and creating some factions. Let's imagine that the map the bandit leader had in my earlier example leads to a collapsed temple, and inside the temple are several tribes of goblins, loosely allied, engaged in a genocidal war with several tribes of allied squirrel men.

This is going to give my players a bit of a peak behind the curtain and they definitely should ignore the man behind it, or else! But, squirrel men are just goblins. Well, statistically they're goblins, with two added abilities: they can climb just about anything that isn't a shear surface using normal movement, and they can glide short distances with their patagia. And they're less likely to use metal weapons (they can't make them). The gliding bit may never come up - it didn't when my players encountered them, and the reptiloids they allied with helped the group turn the squirrel men in squirrel pelts, so those particular squirrel men's gliding days are over. But, let's take a look at the Goblin entry from the Rules Cyclopedia:

Goblins. Can't live with 'em, but you can kill 'em and take their stuff.

Under the statistic 'No. Appearing' it has two values: 2d8 (6d10). The dice outside the parentheses indicates the average number for dungeon rooms, and the other is for when encountering a party in the wilderness. So, using an average of 4.5 for a d8, the average number of goblins encountered in a given room in a dungeon is 9, and the average war party encountered in the wilderness (using 5.5 for d10s) is 33. This then, is an excellent starting point for determining the size of our goblin tribes, and when we make our random encounter table, we already know how large a patrol might be. You could instead use the AD&D 1e numbers, but it ranges from 40-400 for wilderness encounters, which I think is perhaps a tad large. There aren't guidelines in the 1e Monster Manual for stocking dungeons, so my advice is stick with 40, since there's clear guidelines for what the goblins will have for every 40 members.

I also happen to have B/X Essentials, a retroclone meant to clearly and concisely replicate Moldvay & Cook's version of Basic and Expert, in which the numbers are 2d4 and 6d10. This makes the patrols smaller, being on average 5 strong rather than 9.

Either way, let's stick to the RC goblins.

I'm going to set our factions to two allied tribes for each side, plus a group of hobgoblins who could be convinced (or coerced) to either side. Using an online dice roller of dubious merit, I've rolled 42, 34, 42, and 27. For the hobgoblin mercenaries hiding out from the authorities, there are 11 (from 4d6).

Just to give our example here some spice, I'll lay out some areas for our imaginary ruined temple:

• The two goblin tribes are the Smackjaw and Yellow Spot clans and they have encamped in what was a temple wardrobe (the cultists were a tad theatrical). They've recently cemented an alliance between their two tribes by marrying the Yellow Spot tribe's "princess" to the Smackjaw tribe's "king". The Smackjaw's have 42 warriors (not including the king and his bodyguards), and the Yellow Spot's have 34. They don't exactly fight well together, as their chains of command have not yet synchronized, so their morale is 1 lower than normal.
• The Grey Pelt squirrel men have taken over the altar room, which has high ceilings. They live among the rafters and climb up and glide down as the need or whim takes them. They're in a looser alliance with the other tribe, and do not as yet fight or train together, but each will aid the other if attacked. Both tribes of squirrel men ride large saber toothed squirrels into battle (use the same statistics as the "large wolves" that the goblins ride, but make allowances for climbing). The Grey Pelt are least numerous of the two tribes (27 warriors).
• The Streaked Pelt tribe lives in the sunken store rooms. They've knocked out the floors and built platforms from discarded wood and ropes they've made themselves. The Streaked Pelt tribe has an especial hatred of the goblins, since the tribe matriarch's children were ambushed and then skinned to make the bridal furs. The Streaked Pelt tribe boasts 42 warriors.
• The hobgoblins are the Iron Hounds, a once numerous mercenary band reduced to eleven. They are led by a thoul (a special type of hobgoblin that has regeneration and a paralyzing touch) named Castrahza. Castrahza is feared and respected in a large part due to her resiliency and supernatural powers, but she isn't a fool either, and that counts for a lot. The Iron Hounds can be hired by the PCs (their asking price is 1,000 gp, but they may work for less if the PCs know they're on the run, or if offered shares of treasure - they will work for plunder as well, but the referee should note that in this case, they strip anything they find from the lair of the faction they're sicced on, and won't give up their booty short of battle). The mercenaries have secured the armory that once served the temple guards.
• The temple is filled with idols and bas reliefs showing a golden beetle with three scythe like horns and large mandibles. Inscriptions in a dead language (if using the Lamentations of the Flame Princess system for languages, it would be -2 on 1d6) call it the World Maker, and also the Horned Destroyer. The reliefs showing the Horned Destroyer aspect typically include tiny human figures fleeing from the beast as it blasts walled towns to smithereens with some kind of ray from the posterior of its carapace.

On to our encounter table. Let's make just 12 entries, with a mix of encounters between our factions and some other wandering monsters that may be lurking in the temple:

1. The temple shifts or trembles, dust and small debris falling from the ceiling. Roll 1d4 each time this result comes up. 1-3, nothing untoward occurs. On a result of 4, debris from above falls on the PCs, doing 1d6 points of damage to all who fail a save vs. paralysis. Successful saves halve the damage (anyone wearing a helmet automatically saves).
2. 1d6 fire beetles
3. 1d6 orcs (these orcs do not have a faction per se, but are coming into the temple from a cave system deeper in the earth - the referee could follow up this adventure with some spelunking, if desired)
4. Patrol of 2d8 Yellow Spot goblins. They are armed with spears, short bows, and wear leather armor. If the referee needs to invent a name for individual goblins (because the reaction roll indicates friendliness, or some other reason), Yellow Spot goblins have names like Yeek, Mreek, Kreek, etc.
5. Patrol of 2d8 Smackjaw goblins. They are armed with swords, light crossbows, and wear chain. Should the referee need to invent a name for individual goblins, Smackjaw goblins have names like Brob, Lob, Nob, etc.
6. Battle
7. Battle
8. A patrol of 2d8 Grey Pelt squirrel men. They are armed with clubs and slings. If occasion warrants, Grey Pelt tribal names resemble Nyahtoo, Toothut, Weetee, etc.
9. A patrol of 2d8 Streaked Pelt squirrel men. They are armed with spears and javelins (one javelin each). If the situation deems it necessary, Streaked Pelt names are similar to Lofteb, Kafohd, Gufflot, etc.
10. 1d6 bandits (these outlaws have come into the temple from outside, intent on plundering the ruin - the referee can decide if they are aligned with the outlaws in hex 1x1; note, they may be a source of replacement PCs and/or hirelings)
11. 1d3 zombies wearing the tattered remains of cult vestments; some may have golden beetle necklaces worth 10 gp (2 in 6 chance)
12. An echoing sound like many legs and the scraping of something hard against stone. Do not read the following:  A creature from the depths beneath the temple stirs, and is in search of prey. Make note of this each time it comes up, and mention that the sound seems louder each time. After the 3rd time it is rolled, the players will encounter a battlefield strewn with dead goblins and dead squirrel men - many of them sliced in half (none of the bodies are whole, and the amount of blood implies that there were many more). On the 5th result, they see a green glowing apparition undulating toward them. Once in range of the party's light, they will see a pale, many legged beast whose golden head is armed with scything mandibles of a slightly darker hue. It fills the passage way (it can squeeze itself into tunnels 10' wide but not below this), and has a combat speed of 100'. It is impervious to non-magical weapons, has 10 hit dice, deals 2d6 points of damage with its mandibles (its only weapon), and regenerates 3 hp per round (it cannot die, even if reduced to zero hp or below unless the referee rules otherwise. Under normal circumstances, if reduced to 0 hp or below, the creature ceases activity for 24 hours as it regenerates its damaged body).*

 *As a side note, the referee may want to decide how many HD it has consumed. The simplest way is to roll d%-6. Once the beast has consumed 100 hit dice, it will pupate, a process lasting for one month. Afterward, it burrows its way out of the sunken temple and emerges as a gigantic golden beetle (you may invent the statistics, or use the Tarrasque as a blueprint - instead of fire breath it blasts foes with chemical artillery from a chamber at the aft end of its abdomen, this has a 180 degree field of fire). It also has a fly speed of 30 miles per hour (3 miles per turn, 2,640 ft. per round).

If the referee really wants to be sadistic, the Horned Destroyer can make a terrible cacophony through stridulation (rubbing parts of its carapace together). Anyone within 10 miles of the horrid thing is stricken permanently deaf. Those within 100 miles are effectively deaf (no other sounds can be made out over the noise), and the sound can be heard from as far away as 1,000 miles. It does this to attract a mate. And will do so until it either successfully finds a partner, or is slain. If it successfully mates, both Horned Destroyers die in 1d4 days - but not before the female lays a clutch of a dozen cow-sized eggs somewhere in the campaign world, beginning the cycle over again.

Now that we have our encounter table, we can see that its got a mix of possible friendly and possible hostile encounters, a slower burning threat (with an apocalyptic payoff), and a nuisance. I could perhaps spice up the other encounters, but I think I'll leave them as is, since occasionally, it's nice to make something up on the fly (the orcs could be friendly, or they could be blind albino cannibals like the cave dwellers in The Descent).

Something else to consider: Most dungeons are going to have multiple levels (as imagined, this one would), and each level likely needs its own encounter table. In general, dungeon depth is proportional to the threats on the encounter tables, but this doesn't always have to be so. Personally, if I were actually making the temple as a dungeon, I would probably  take the larva off the table and make it trigger off of something the PCs messed with. I just wanted to throw something cool on the table, since we're using it as an example. Encounter tables should have a mix of tougher and weaker monsters. It's okay to have a stronger monster be on the encounter table for a "shallower" level, so long as you make it less likely than the weaker encounters; in the other direction, it's also okay to put weaker monsters on the "deeper" level encounter tables. Not every fight has to be a challenge.

Importantly, our example encounter table takes into account our factions, which leads toward generating the much vaunted and often misapplied story I hear so many RPG blogs, sites, and forum posters talk about. Factions are integral to providing something for players to get involved in (or not) and provides consequence to the player's choices.

I'll save this tangent for another post down the road, but what most call "story" Carlos and I call plot. Story is what happens to the characters as a result of their interactions with the game world (via the exploration, encounter, and reaction mechanics, but most importantly, from player choices). Plot is what happens when the players cooperate and follow the rails that the referee has laid out. I'm not saying plot is bad necessarily, and plot and story can happen in the same game, but there's a level of nuance that is seriously misunderstood. As I said, I'll come back to this.

Hopefully this example will be helpful. I don't claim to have all the answers where encounter tables are concerned, and I definitely think that this one is a good starting point, but it's not the end-all be-all example I would have preferred. I've been trying to write this blog post for three evenings running after work, and I just can't bring myself to pour any more into it than I already have. As with all writing, you reach a point where you have to stop, else you'll never finish it because there's some detail to tweak, or a better phrase, or a position you want to elaborate on, etc. So, I'm done. Make a dungeon. Put it in a wilderness. Let your players loose on the world, and hope they aren't devoured by something primordial.