I am looking to codify my non-combat encounters. What I am looking for is suggestions of categories of (probably) non-combat encounters rather than specific encounters. Some potential categories I am considering are:
Rumor - Travelers have rumors/news about what is going on in the world.
Peddler - Has some small items for sale.
Bounty Hunters - All sorts of possibilities
...
For context this is for a Kingmaker campaign.
Thanks in advance.
I like the idea of a table of random encounters that isn't necessarily combat encounters. I almost never use the random encounter table, even when I should, since all it does is add unnecessary combat.
I can't recall if there are any actual tables like it (though I seem to recall Legend of the Five Rings had one for social encounters at court in one of its books), but it wouldn't be hard to make I think.
Just pick out ideas you think sound interesting and fitting for an area, and assign numbers to them on a 1d100-table.
So something like:
01-15: Wild animals (low danger, like deer)
16-25: Wild animals (danger, like boars)
26-35: Loggers (can give local gossip or offer directions to lost PCs)
36-42: Trappers (same as above, might also be criminals depending on local laws)
43-49: Bandits
50-60: Travelers
61-70: Traveling merchant or peddlers
71-75: Bounty hunters
76-79: Adventurers
80-87: Lost items (from peddlers or adventurers, something minor but useful)
88-94: A healing spring (provides safe resting spot and doubled natural healing rate if they stay there for a night's rest)
95-99: A clue or plot-hook! (a lost letter describing some detail to point lost players in the right direction or the like)
100: DRAGON! (or whatever else you want that is a big challenge they might want to run from)
Note that even with the random encounter tables provided in Kingmaker, not every encounter requires combat... And even encounters with "presumed combat" foes may possibly be resolved in other ways or avoided, if the GM lets the party attempt to do so.