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I Made up tables of "ambient" encounters for the Stolen Lands. These encounters typically don't have a CR; they are meant to create a certain mood and to immerse the players deeper into the wild wolrd of the Stolen Lands. They are meant to be used in addition to random encounters.
A d100 can be used to determine the encounter randomly; however, there are some gaps left to be filled.
STOLEN LANDS: AMBIENT ENCOUNTER TABLE – SPRING
(Pharast, Gozran, Desnus)
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forest
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d10: 0-4 deer, 5 fox, 6 rivercat, 7 owl, 8 hawk, 9 squirrels
51 - 70 singing birds: at dawn, the songs of different species of birds fill the warming air.
71 - 85 fey laughter: the laughter of happy fairies floats through the trees. Maybe the fairies enjoy the first rays of spring sun that shines through the canopy, or a particularly beautiful spring flower. The fairies are elusive; if the PCs insist to follow the laughter, the next random encounter should be with fairies.
86 - 95 field of spring flowers: on a small clearing some early, colorful flowers blossom.
96 -100 fey mound: Fey mounds are the burial grounds of fey, where the border to the First World grows thin. Fey mounds are considered hallowed ground, as per the hallow spell. They also produce other strange effects in the areas where they exist. The effects shown in the table below affect everyone who approaches the mound and fails the saving throw (as per the spells). All spells are at caster level 20. Fey are immune to these effects.
Distance from mound / Effect
51–100 ft. / Silent image of the newest dead fey and ghost sound of whispering and giggling
21–50 ft. / Hallucinatory terrain (DM’s choice of illusion)
11–20 ft. / Sleep
Up to 10 ft. / Lesser geas (DM’s choice of command)
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hill and plains
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d10: 0-1 deer, 2-3 horses, 4-6 sheep, 7-8 rabbits, 9 hawk
51 - 55 vanishing track: a quite obvious track from wild animals which ran parallel to the PC’s route vanishes without a trace. The cause is that the animals moved into an area where the border between this world and the First World was very thin at the time, and wandered over into the other world.
56 - 60 appearing track: a quite obvious track from wild animals starts suddenly out of nowhere. The cause is that the animals moved into an area where the border between this world and the First World was very thin at the time, and wandered over into the other world.
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mountain
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d6: 1-3 mountain goats, 4-5 rabbits, 6 eagle
81 - 90 falling rock: the beginning thaw has caused a sizable rock to come lose and fall down on the PCs.
Falling Rock Trap CR 5
Type: mechanical; Perception DC 20; Disable Device DC 20
Trigger: location; Reset: none
Effect: Atk +10 melee (5d6); multiple targets (all targets in a 10-ft. square)
91 - 100 landslide: the beginning thaw causes a muddy landslide.
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swamp
01 -50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d10: 0-3 frogs, 4-6 fish, 7-8 birds, 9 crabs
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STOLEN LANDS: AMBIENT ENCOUNTER TABLE – SUMMER
(Sarenith, Erastus, Arodus)
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forest
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d10: 0-4 deer, 5 fox, 6 rivercat, 7 owl, 8 hawk, 9 squirrels
51 - 70 fireflies: at dusk, myriad of fireflies start a luminous dance that lasts all night.
71 - 85 dancing fey: in the evening, colorful lampions light up some distance from the PCs, and song and laughter float through the trees. If the PCs try to reach the lights, they never come any closer, no matter how far they walk, because the dancing fey are half in this world and half in the First World. The PCs will always lose sight of the lights, only to detect them somewhere else, but equally far away from them.
86 - 95 forest fire: a forest fire starts.
96 -100 fey mound: see spring
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hill and plains
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d10: 0-1 deer, 2-3 horses, 4-6 sheep, 7-8 rabbits, 9 hawk
51 - 55 vanishing track: see spring
56 - 60 appearing track: see spring
96 - 100 rainbow: a warm summer rain falls, and the sun paints a beautiful rainbow into the sky.
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mountain
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d6: 1-3 mountain goats, 4-5 rabbits, 6 eagle
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swamp
0 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d12: 1-3 frogs, 4-6 fish, 7-8 birds, 9-10 crabs, 11-12 mosquitoes
51 - 60 strange bubbles: strange bubbles of gas come to the surface and spread a virulent stink, but the cause cannot be determined.
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STOLEN LANDS: AMBIENT ENCOUNTER TABLE – FALL
(Rova, Lamashan, Neth)
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forest
0-50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d10: 0-4 deer, 5 fox, 6 rivercat, 7 owl, 8 hawk, 9 squirrels
51 - 60 mushroom circle: non-edible mushrooms grow in the shape of a big circle on a forest clearing.
61 - 80 edible mushrooms: in a shadowy spot grows a large cluster of mushrooms; roll a d4:
1 stone mushroom – survival DC 5 to identify
2 morel – survival DC 10 to identify
3 chanterelle – survival DC 10 to identify
4 truffle – survival DC 20 to identify, can be sold for 1d10 x 10 gp
81 - 95 poisonous mushrooms: in a shadowy spot grows a large cluster of mushrooms. They are poisonous, and if eaten they have the same effect as poison; roll a d4:
1 sleepy toadstool – survival DC 10 to identify, effect like Oil of taggit
2 fly agaric – survival DC 5 to identify, effect like Lich dust
3 striped toadstool – survival DC 10 to identify
4 deadly chanterelle – survival DC 20 to identify, effect like Hemlock
96 -100 fey mound: see spring
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hill and plains
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Rolla d10: 0-1 deer, 2-3 horses, 4-6 sheep, 7-8 rabbits, 9 hawk
51 - 55 vanishing track: see spring
56 - 60 appearing track: see spring
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mountain
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d6: 1-3 mountain goats, 4-5 rabbits, 6 eagle
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swamp
0 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d12: 1-3 frogs, 4-6 fish, 7-8 birds, 9-10 crabs, 11-12 mosquitoes
51 - 70 quicksand: the rain has made this part of the swamp even muddier, turning it effectively into quicksand.
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STOLEN LANDS: AMBIENT ENCOUNTER TABLE – WINTER
(Kuthona, Abadius, Calistril)
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forest
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d6: 1-3 deer, 4 fox, 5 owl, 6 crows
51 - 60 icicles: a small waterfall is crusted with beautiful icicles.
96 -100 fey mound: see spring
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hill and plains
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d6: 1-2 deer, 3-4 horses, 5 sheep, 6 hawk
51 - 55 vanishing track: see spring
56 - 60 appearing track: see spring
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mountain
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d6: 1-3 mountain goats, 4-5 crows, 6 eagle
90 - 100 avalanche: an avalanche threatens to bury the PCs.
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swamp
01 - 50 wild animals: wild but harmless animals cross the PC’s path.
Roll a d4: 1 fish, 3-4 birds
51 - 75 treacherous ice: a seemingly frozen solid surface of ice turns out to be pretty weak.
Treacherous Ice Trap CR 4
Type: mechanical; Perception DC 20; Disable Device: none
Trigger: location; Duration: 3 Rounds; Reset: none
Effect: freezing water (1d6 cold damage, DC 20 Reflex save for half damage); multiple targets (all targets in a 20-ft. square)
very nice
I used soemthing simialr that i sort of made up as and when and encounter was rolled
for example
every animal encounter that was rolled i made an 'ambient', sort of thing UNLESS the party needed some action, in which i placed some influence on the animals (werewolf, worg, bugbear beast-master, etc)
I was also working on a '100 bits of the Stolen Land', just to have 100 'non-random, random encounters' but havent finished that yet
These tables are GREAT!!! Really appreciated! Thank you Zen! When exactly do you roll on them? Each hour of travel through the Stolen Lands?
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These tables are GREAT!!! Really appreciated! Thank you Zen! When exactly do you roll on them? Each hour of travel through the Stolen Lands?
You could roll on them every time you roll for random encounters, so you basically roll twice (5% chance when entering a hex, 15% chance per day spent exploring or camping in a hex).
This is great; can't wait to start using it next session.
Utterly amazing. I can't wait to play Kingmaker now.
*YOINK*
Yeah, I'll be using those. Thanks!
*YOINK*
Yeah, I'll be using those. Thanks!
Another *YOINK* from me as well; excellent list, thanks!!!
@zen79: I would love to translate your work for our Kingmaker-Blog, would this be fine with you?
Awesome
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Awesome
@zen79: I would love to translate your work for our Kingmaker-Blog, would this be fine with you?
Yes, sure!
Ja, klar!
Yes, sure!
Ja, klar!
Very nice! Thank you! :D
Sehr schön! Danke! :)
Yoink! My Kingmaker players should love this.
YOINK!
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I like these a lot.
You mentioned the gaps that need to be filled in. How about the following for the Spring - Hills and Plains section:
61 – 80 friendly travelers: a small group travelers crossing the Stolen Lands.
Roll a d10: 0-2 merchant or tinker, 3-5 settlers/homesteaders, 6-7 surveyors from one of the River Kingdoms, 8 (very) lost crusaders headed to Mendev, 9-10 hunter(s)
81-90 flash flood/grassfire/weather event: an event appropriate to the current or recent weather. If raining, a flash flood suddenly engulfs a low-lying ravine, gully, or field. If there was recent weather that has already ended, perhaps the flooded area is slowly returning to normal (but revealing a flood plain to the PCs). Other possibilities include nearby lightning strikes, strong wind, or even a sweetly-scented breeze that seems to come through the border between the First World and this one.
91-100 ancient foundation stones: a few stacked stones or bricks hint at the foundation of a structure that is now long-gone. There isn’t enough here to provide any sort of shelter nor to discount constructing a building here, but digging in the area might uncover artifacts of an ancient Taldan colonization effort, such as pottery shards, rusted weapon or armor bits, and perhaps some bones.
Dotting so I don't loose it again.
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Summer - Hills and Plains
I'll repeat a couple from my Spring set a couple posts above, and replace the weather event with something new.
61 – 80 friendly travelers (see Spring)
81-90 bees: While walking through fields of flowers, a buzzing sound can be heard - it becomes quite loud as the explorers progress. The ground gives way to a long, narrow valley between two ridges. There are many trees in the valley, and hanging from them are hundreds if not thousands of paper-mache-like wild bee nests. These nests are likely to yield a fair amount of beeswax and honey, but the bees are not a domesticated variety and have fearsome stingers.
91-95 ancient foundation stones (see Spring)
It's topics like this, including the expanded Kingdom Events Table and the expanded Random Encounters, that ought to be saved.
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I'm doing something similar with my game, though taking it a little more in depth. About every 3rd or 4th hex, I'm adding some sort of interesting feature or site that the party can discover. Some of these are more robust than others. Here are a couple of examples:
Happy Badger Glade -- This small, sun dappled clearing in the forest exudes a sense of calm. It's a very plesant place, and restful. Detect magic here will reveal a very faint aura of sanctuary, almost as if the glade held the memory of a magical safe haven.
The story: Happy badger glade is site that sits very close to the first world, in an area of succor -- it's corresponding point would be a sun dappled section of forest called the Naplands -- a warm and comfortable place filled with sleeping and restful animals and fey, dreaming happy dreams.
DC 12 perception check reveals that in the glade is a dire badger, it's eyes closed and with a grin on it's face, slowly rocking back and forth on it's back as if it were sunning it's belly. This animal can be replaced as appropriate.
Effect: None save a restful sleep should anyone stay here.
Standing Stones -- You come across an area of standing stones. There is an almost palatable magical numbness here, as if it is a bit harder to concentrate on a spell or manipulate raw the magical energy.
The Story: Ancient Barbarian tribes in the area spent time erecting various sites of standing stones to help reinforce the barriers between the first world and this world. Using druidic rites, they imbued these sites as anchors to help supress the somewhat permeable barriers between the worlds. With age however these sites are starting to weaken
Effect: Allow for RP to carry the sense of arcane or fey magic to be harder to use, no real mechanical effect. Conversely, you could apply a mild penalty to arcane magic here (damage is decreased, spellcraft checks are harder, spell resistance is increased, ect.).
Toppled Stones/A Broken Circle -- You've discovered a site of standing stones, however this site looks to have succumbed to the elements, it's stones are toppled and broken. A thick mist hangs in the region limiting your view to 15'.
The Story: Nature has eroded the foundations of this site and it has collapsed, breaking any enchantment and allowing for a thinner barrier between golarion and the first world. This allows for tricks of the light and sound to affect the characters, as fleeting glimpses/sounds/impressions of things in the first world are coming through.
DC 5 perception check: You hear something scrabbling amongst the stones beyond your vision / You catch a glimpse of something slithering off into the mist.
Effect: This sort of site is used to freak the players out a bit, like the dancing lights noted above -- same sort of idea, you never catch it, its always ahead of you. Conversely you could put some sort of fey critter here to mess with the players as you see fit.
The Lost Glade -- This is a site placed in a hilly or rocky region of the forest. It is a plateau or large table of rock (About 1.5 to 2 squaremiles) on top of which is a natural sanctuary. Characters would note it via a DC 15 perception check to see a series of handholds carved into a cliffside in the forest. The climb is about 70 feet up, 2 DC 15 climb checks are needed to make it tot the top. Once at the top, a rope can easilly be affixed to a tree to assist others in climbing up. This site is only accessable via climbing the cliff -- from the air it seems to not be there, just mroe forest.
The site is a comfortable paradise of flora and fauna. It is littered with all manner of plants (DC 12 knowledge nature or survival to determine that there are plants here growing that are notnative to the region or climate) and small game. There are a number of comfortable glades, glens and areas to rest. There is a small spring and waterfall (15 foot high), and a shallow pond (4 feet deep, about 40 feet across) as well as a comfortable cave big enough to sleep 10. The temperature is always 75 degrees at the site, and the rain is rarely more than a warm shower. Each day at dawn the site is replenished with fish and game: There will be 2d4 fish available and 2d4 small game (bunnies, squirrels, deer).
Effect: This site can function as a generator for components needed for spells and alchemical mixtures. One can harvest enough raw material once per month for 2d4 spells/alchemical mixtures of levels 1 - 3. The plants harvested are not specific to any spell or mixture, but can be used for any as needed. Harvesting more than the 2d4 per month would ruin the site and cause it to become lost again -- it's location would move, either revert back to the first world, or simply move to a different place in Golarion.
Feel free to use and share! Hope you enjoy!
Thanks, Zen79 and others! Very nice, and also *yoink*ed.
(Also, thanks for the bump, Corsario! I'd missed this one.)