Lying around on the job

[hcobb]

Do you apply the "suggested formula" at ITL 74 to spring surprises on players who are resting and healing or do you do something else?

[Skarg]

I usually do something else, but I take the logic of the suggestion under consideration.

It makes sense that both distance moved and time would factor into how likely a party is to meet other things in a location.

I tend to not be satisfied with random encounter tables, however, especially in a limited size location that should have a limited population of creatures, unless they are SUPPOSED to be appearing magically out of thin air at random.

Also, looking at (and having used) all of the encounter tables in ITL, it's clear to me that they are generic suggestions that will not make a whole lot of sense in many specific situations that a campaign game may be trying to represent. Different regions and different terrain and different specific locations, times of day, and circumstances would/should have different results.

This case on page 73 is a great example. Not everyplace will have vampire bats, slimes, rats, scorpions, or wasps! The implication of using THAT random encounter table is that every half hour or so, one of those fairly substantial groups of creatures will happen to wander through anyplace where that table is in effect. And if you don't track overall population, the implication is that there is an unlimited amount of all those creatures there.

Having run Tollenkar's Lair I tend to do at least that level of consistency in encounters. That is, there are custom encounter tables for each part of the labyrinth, there are suggestions about how the GM should track what the NPC inhabitants are doing, where noise travels, and that they should react to intruders by running to alert others to organize a defense. There is a tracked number of each type of encounter, and when they get encountered they are located in action at a tracked place in the labyrinth, and do what they do till they die, but will not be randomly encountered again after they've all been encountered.

Also, if I use a random encounter table and roll an encounter, I don't have that mean they show up immediately on a combat map right where the players are. Instead, it means I look at the local layout around the players, usually at about the distance that sounds of combat can reach, and/or where it makes sense that the random thing could be moving without being stopped by obstacles such as doors or guards or whatever's there. If there is no likely way that the randomly-suggested thing would be showing up, then I overrule the encounter due to logic. But if it does show up, I start tracking where it is before either it or the PCs (or other NPCs in the area) would be able to detect each other. Then I track the encounter's movement, noise, and interactions with what's there, as it does whatever it does for whatever business it has being there. Then I check whether the PCs or the encounter detect each other at whatever positions make sense, and let the PCs know when/if they notice anything. It's entirely possible that an encounter will appear and not choose to wander towards the players and might either not notice the party or not choose to go over to the party. I'll still track where they are and what they do until the party completely leaves the area. That's also about how I tend to handle outdoor encounters and other situations.