Hail Adventurers! I have come to realize that many monsters in my campaign are missing! By missing, I mean to say that there are no "random encounters" on the "world map". I always forget to add the baddies (other than the main ones they're running from) but, I just don't see monsters "roaming about", killing things, unless there's a real reason why! I hope you guys understand my dilemma. ^.^;
I don't really understand your point here. Are you asking for random encounter tables? Or for how to build them? *is confused but trying to be helpful*
If I understand you...you can't see monsters just roaming about killing things without reason. For Example: A Trolls just attacking a caravan or a the party for no other reason than they are there.
If that is how you are thinking than think of it this way, maybe the Trolls that just raided a caravan for the food (i.e caravan guard ka-bobs. mmmmmm...)are heading home to their cave and happen upon the party, fightin is sure to ensue.
I think that food is a big drive for most monsters, but senseless destruction is also equally understandable. Many monsters enjoy terrorizing inhabitants of nearby hamlets for the sheer joy of terrorizing (Grendel in Beowulf).
Or maybe they are not just killing things out of spite but are indeed waylaying travelers on a certain road that the party just happens to be on.
I hope that helps. Personally I like a little senseless violence, it helps work off the stress of dealing with others sometimes....:)
later
I agree with some of Alasanii's points.
Violence is rarely senseless, even if it doesn't make sense to the victims.
Adventurers fight monsters (in large part for the money, it makes sense that the monsters would do the same.
Trolls (and any other humanoid monster) would potentially raid caravans for food and gear.
MANY monsters would protect their territory (they see it as theirs - and the humans as monsters) especially if they nest and have their young near the point of the encounter.
Some monsters have evolved specifically to hunt humans (or horses) for food.
Encoachment of humans into previously wild areas would displace all manner of creatures from their homes making their behavior erratic if not overtly hostile to humans.
For intelligent creatures you could religious differences and just outright bigotry as reasons to attack.
Monsters rarely just sit there waiting for a PC party to walk by. They're usually doing something when the PCs happen to pass by. So it's never the case of creatures just standing there waiting to get into a fight. They're either looting a campsite, building a shelter, hunting/fishing, sleeping, just walking to somewhere, or even fighting.
Also, in my random encounter tables, I include the possibility to encounter a monster...
... at maximum range, where the players roll spot/listen checks to notice the creatures and possibly surprise them.
... at minimum range, where the creatures have already spoted the PCs and are ready to "pouce" (ambush) the party.
... at random range, where an encounter happens normaly, and both sides roll spot/listen checks to become aware of the other team.
... any of the above with the addition of a third party joins the battle in 2d4 rounds.
... at random range, where two types of creatures are already locked up in an encounter and the PCs have the choice to get involved.
This alway gives something new for the PCs to encounter. Like the time I rolled a random encounter and rolled a single kobold. I determined he was a very old kobold and was just sitting there sitting on a big rock, fishing in a small pond. The PCs actually befriended the kobold since fighting the group was the last thing on his mind. That little old random encounter became the base for an adventure later on when their old kobold friend walked into town and asked the PCs to help his tribe with a group of owlbears.
Ultradan
I posted an article request thread on the Dragon Article Request site on Random Encounter Tables incorporating all of the WotC source material.
I miss random encounter tables. I haven't had the time or desire to go through all the books and make ones up for my own world.
Random encounters added spice to a DM's life, since even the DM didn't always know what was going to happen. Like Ultradan's lone kobold fishing encounter, it was those things that made DMing fun for me. It's still fun, but random encounter tables (and I mean big tables with everything!!) would make it more so.
I just don't see monsters "roaming about", killing things, unless there's a real reason why! I hope you guys understand my dilemma. ^.^;
Here's the reason: survival.
...meaning...
Protecting territory and competition for resources.
...And given that humans tend to spread like lice, if I were an intelligent, non-human creature and saw human settlers (or scouts, or whatever) moving in or passing through my territory, I'd likely kill them, no questions asked. Because humans tend to have this annoying tendency to think they have the right to move in wherever they want, setting up their little cities, cutting down woods for their walls and their fuel, scaring away the wildlife that I hunt (or hunting it themselves into extinction). They are a plague and a blight and if you see one, know that there's a hundred more behind that one. So kill the one to make the hundred think twice about following.
Even "goodly" elves will kill humans that insist on going places where they shouldn't.
If I'm not intelligent, then it's simply a matter of survival of the fittest... a predator attacking other predators (or prey) that wander into my territory.
How's that for motivation? :)
Both partys, the Pc's and the monsters, are just cruel victims of circumstance. All monsters have claws teeth and or clubs. All humans happen to be very fun to bite, scratch, and or whack with a big stick. If you don't believe me go ahead and try it.
But as it seems here a large amount of possible motivation lies in the wilderness being angry at humans. Would a party with nothing but naturally friendly races, dwarves gnomes and elves face less of these encounters?
My opinion is that many evil monsterts ransack villages and caravans all the time. Here is an example that could be used: " As you are walking along in the wods you here a tremendous roar! a huge savage humonoid crashes out of the trees bellowing and swinging a tree about as a club, "Get outta my woods our I'll eat ya" hollers the beast as he takes a swing at you" This could represent a trooll or ogre attacking the group to scare them of our kill them for food as they travel through "his woods".
But as it seems here a large amount of possible motivation lies in the wilderness being angry at humans. Would a party with nothing but naturally friendly races, dwarves gnomes and elves face less of these encounters?
While dwarves, gnomes, and elves that choose to live in human or mixed cities may be naturally friendly, I would argue that dwarves, gnomes, and elves that live in their own ancestral cities are not and have no reason to be. They may trade with outsiders out of necessity, but that doesn't automatically make them friendly. And some may be downright hostile to humans coming into their territory.
But as it seems here a large amount of possible motivation lies in the wilderness being angry at humans. Would a party with nothing but naturally friendly races, dwarves gnomes and elves face less of these encounters?
Oh, I think I see what you're saying.... would a party that doesn't have humans face the same hostility? I think it would depend on the history of the area and the reputation of that race in that particular part of the world. Most worlds have enough strife, history, and political intrigue that appropriate motivation could be developed. After all, those are the worlds that spawn adventurers to begin with. :)
Oh, I think I see what you're saying.... would a party that doesn't have humans face the same hostility? I think it would depend on the history of the area and the reputation of that race in that particular part of the world. Most worlds have enough strife, history, and political intrigue that appropriate motivation could be developed. After all, those are the worlds that spawn adventurers to begin with. :)
But as it seems here a large amount of possible motivation lies in the wilderness being angry at humans. Would a party with nothing but naturally friendly races, dwarves gnomes and elves face less of these encounters?
Yeah thats what I was thinking. We are just about to start a Faerun campaign and the only human party member is a druid that rarely stays in his natural state. So would our party face less danger? If so what creatures would be likely to attack humans simply on that basis. Perhaps evil or neutral fey might be a step closer to friendly to the party? I think that would be awesome to play out.
Hail Adventurers! I have come to realize that many monsters in my campaign are missing! By missing, I mean to say that there are no "random encounters" on the "world map". I always forget to add the baddies (other than the main ones they're running from) but, I just don't see monsters "roaming about", killing things, unless there's a real reason why! I hope you guys understand my dilemma. ^.^;
I somewhat agree with you. I tend to use random encounters somewhat based off of what kind of territory the PCs are in. The random monsters that attack caravans are OK but are they out there attacking a lot of Caravans? if so either the Caravan owners would group together to hire some help in eliminating the threat or the route itself would have to be halted as generally too dangerous. If the players are being attacked once a day by these nasty things one presumes everyone in the nieghbourhood must be being assaulted routinely as well. Really there are only so many children one is willing to replace because an Owlbear gulped down your toddler before one is likely to decide that the nieghbourhood is not conductive to raising a family and leave.
So if your players are wanding through territory which is known to be infested with monsters and in which commoners stay well away from then go nuts with the random encounters - but if the PCs could meet commoners in the vicinity then presumably they can't meet arbitrary monsters very often at all without straining credibility.
Hail! Sorry for my absence. [I was a bit tied up with the dissappearance of 11 colleages...damn Gnolls...]
In any case...You're all correct! I've taken a glance at the world I've created, and realized how unrealistic the game would look, if one were to look from a monster's point of view. In some instances, things don't seem realistic at all! {ie. Several Bugbears seem to be guarding an ancient tomb...but wait! Where's their food?}
Thank you all for your help! I think we should continue this discussion, because it's things like this that every DM should take into account! B(*)B