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Page 206 in the GM Core Remastered book mentions harmless encounters. A very brief suggestion of what these would be is given. This thread serves as a place for everyone to chime in and list their ideas of harmless encounters that benefit the game. The few harmless encounters mentioned in the book include:
Roadside shrine
Taking to strangers
distant electrical storm
Please add to this list.
I've always been partial to the following..
1. A dragon flies by. Sets up the idea of local threats in the area and makes the world bigger. Vary the monster from time to time.
2. Local warrents for arrest posted on the road from a neighboring area.
3. A circle of mushrooms along the road. In this case it is a total natural occupance, but if the players get very invested in the idea feel free to spice it up.
4. (When traveling a forest or cave) Players stumble across the dead skeleton(s) of former adventurers. Feel free to have a journal prepared with their lives and unfortunate end.
5. A flock of crows fly by and land on a nearby tree and caw loudly. They fly off after a few rounds but it gives a very ominous tone. (My college area had a place where every fall this literally always happened because it was on their route.)
6. A traveling couple is fighting on the road, with a broken wagon and goods to trade. If the adventures get involved they can assist in a few ways. fixing the wagon, solve the couple's drama, cause the couple to break up, or get into a non lethal brawl. Feel free to spice things up as desired.
7. A wolf pack watches carefully from a distance, eyes glowing yellow in the moonlight. If not attacked they leave shortly and can be heard attacking easier animal prey.
8. A waterfall is encounter along a road or mountainous area. The water is flowing in reverse UP the waterfall. The water is magical and can be collected for arcane, occult or religious people. If investigated future a tiny portal to the plane of water is found but is too small to access.
9. A old abandoned tower is found, with no way to get inside besides a tiny window at the top. Inside can be found an musty and dirty room, a bed, kitchen goods and a still working box that can draw forth food 3 times a day. Bits of hair can be found, dirty and very long. If cleaned they appear to be blonde.
10. A baby is found in a shabby but functional basket. A note is attached asking the finder to take care of the baby and to keep it safe. A smidgens of blood can be found on the back of the note. If magic is detected a faint aura of magic still lingers.
Enjoy!
- Vultures are picking at a carcass I a ditch just off the road the adventures happen to be traveling upon. Depending on the remains, it could be absolutely mundane (a rabbit, say), a warning (a humanoid killed by bandit arrows), or a full blown adventure hook (a pair of well dressed guardsmen killed by magic laying next to what looks like carriage tracks that lead off the road and into the nearby dark forest).
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I once ran a session that involved the PCs adventuring deep underwater. As part of setting the scene I described a bioluminescent fish.
Party spent upwards of 20 minutes trying to figure out how to surmount this clearly dangerous fish obstacle. It was just a couple of deep sea fish, no danger at all.
Ever since, I've been occasionally picking a random detail about the dungeon/environment and slightly over explaining it.
Ever since, I've been occasionally picking a random detail about the dungeon/environment and slightly over explaining it.Man, that's just eeeeviiiil. I like it.
Huh. I took that the over-explanation was a kind of helpful attempt to forestall pointless wastes of time by players. If watching people spending large chunks of time having their characters agonizing over essentially inconsequential notes is anyone’s idea of a good time, I’m glad I don’t know them.
Just because it is random doesn’t mean it has to be fully then woven into the story, nor does it mean it has to be entirely pointless. Of course, like so much of our actual lives, random, pointless stuff happens. There’s enough even more pointless examination of that stuff in real-life without roleplaying stand-ins to do it “for fun”.
And I get it, adventurers are by nature cautious beasts, and they often overthink and overplan, give in to the worst vagaries of their imagination etc…but a little handwavium (“Guys…it’s just a fish. That glows.”) is at times a small mercy. By all means let folks work things out for themselves, but there can be a limit to what is genuinely useful investigation and what is deeply useful curtailing pf rabbit-hole exploration.
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Someone who could be one of the setting's luminaries passes by.
It could even be several someones.
For example an old Mwangi man with his staff has tea with a very old and ugly woman from Irrisen in the same tavern the PCs stay in (or even better, where they gather information).
I admit that if someone doesn't have any fun in this situation, we should actually avoid these things as much as we can. And if I were a GM the first one who would get frustrated in this case would most probably be me.
You’re probably right. And sadly, if I was the GM I’d probably ruin their fun by getting irritated too and just telling them “it’s ok, it’s just…set dressing” after not altogether too long. Need to work on that patience OSW…
I just imagined that both GM and players were engaged in the situation and having fun. It's probably not always realistic.
That last line wins the internet for me. Mostly because I’ve been musing on just why GM’s run games - and this from someone who has in face to face almost exclusively been the GM, but is now in play by post on these forums, completely and only a player. I’m always up front and quick to thank my GMs and praise them where and when possible, but I still wonder what *other* GMs get out of it, and whether sometimes they are having less fun than they by rights, with all of that often unseen effort, should.
I guess my main takeaway folks, is to appreciate your GMs! And your fellow players. We can’t all do it without you! Us!
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The funny thing is how much harmless encounters tap into the PCs' sense of paranoia and/or significance. Playing the consistently-besieged protagonists in what's often an epic tale where their choices have consequences, I too fall prey to this mindset when playing. Which is why I value harmless encounters as it gives a sense of perspective on the world, as well as verisimilitude. Some of these inconsequential moments have become important story beats.
That said, it can often be wiser to fast-forward, even if it's meta to do so, saying that the party gives due diligence to X (assuming time's not a factor!), finally determining it's harmless, they've extracted whatever lore or clues needed, and/or may proceed in confidence.
Also, if one can find the oldest of wandering monster tables, they list many harmless events, like spooky dungeon dressing or denizens that merely keep the fantasy ecosystems humming. Extending that to cities can be more difficult, but also more worthwhile if a recurring setting, especially if the tone impacts later developments, i.e. witnessing a display of authoritarian judgment or merchants talking of interrupted shipping.
OK, some more ideas:
- The PCs meet a lower-level adventuring group travelling in the other direction. They are nervous because they are going to their first major dungeon, and ask the PCs for advice (and any old adventuring gear that they might be willing to pass down).
- The PCs meet an extremely lost traveller whose map is out-of-date or intentionally sabotaged. They can use Survival to put them back on track.
- The PCs meet a travelling priest who can provide some healing in exchange to the PCs listening to them extol their deity or philosophy.
- A couple of hours after leaving a village, the PCs notice a child trailing them. Apparently they wanted to go on an adventure too, and the PCs must convince them to go home for now.