DM Lessons: Random Tables

I use several random tables in our weekly D&D campaign. Often, the tables give me something interesting/funny to build on, but last night I had decidedly mixed results from the tables, so I thought it would be interesting to talk about that.

In general, random tables are great Improvisational Building Blocks. They provide a basic framework that you can build upon with other pieces from your toolkit, and as always, the complexity of what you build should be directly related to the level of interest that the players show for the event.

For the first example, I set up a series of regional daily encounters to go with my Moving Groups in the Wilderness rules. I roll each day, and there are a number of positive, negative or encounter events that can happen. One of the events on the table is "Eerie singing draws somebody into the woods. They are not seen again. -1 group member."

I actually rolled this result during the first trip the party made through the forest. One of the freed prisoners they were escorting was a skinny little local named Harlock, who we had already established had lost his family. When the party woke one morning, Harlock was gone, but the party Druid and Paladin were able to track him, and heard the faint singing.

If they hadn't cared and just moved on, I wouldn't have had to do anything. Just another mysterious event in a haunted forest. But they did care, and investigated, so it was time to expand the event.

One of the main Improvisational Building Blocks that you should have as a DM are Factions. I have several factions of Fey in my campaign, so I decided (since I didn't want this to be an automatic combat encounter) to use the Summer Court. They are self-interested and somewhat alien, but not hostile by default.

So the lost fellow had been lured through a portal to the Feywild. I got a chance to describe the Feywild, and expected that the paladin and druid would retreat. Interestingly, they didn't. The paladin entered the Feywild, bargained with the Dryads and checked to make sure the Harkon was ok and wanted to stay there. Harkon did, so the paladin left him to it. The fey were impressed at his chutzpah, though, and he got a sweet magical glaive out of the deal.

So now, with all that behind us, on the SECOND trip through the forest with a group of people, I rolled the exact same event! What are the odds of that? (About 1 in 4, really, since I rolled 3 times on 12-entry table). Of course, this time they had different people with them, including 3 prisoners that they were unsure what to do with.

In a fit of player-character inspiration, the paladin escorted the 3 prisoners through the forest to the portal and walked them through. They were entranced by the music, and the fey welcomed them as they had before. A potential problem was resolved (the prisoners) and a deeper connection with the Summer Court fey was formed. To the point where the paladin is now an Oath of the Ancients paladin... who worships the Raven Queen. This should be interesting.

The second instance of random tables results was not nearly so positive.

Edit: http://kootenaygamer.blogspot.ca/2016/11/dm-lessons-mea-culpa.html

5e Dwarves: Talking 'bout mechanics

The session summary reports provide me with reference material as I move the campaign forward, and put the events of the game in narrative form, but they don't really give me the chance to talk about the session from a mechanical or DM perspective.  I personally find this kind of information really interesting to read about, but it makes for a really long post if I include it in the main summary.

This session was a chance to try out Lair Powers.  I set up several of them for the Purple Worm - an effect that knocked everyone prone if they failed Dex checks, a rocks falling from the ceiling damage effect, a caustic slime burning anyone attacking the worms effect and a swarm of tiny wormlings swarming everyone effect.  I didn't want these effect to be overwhelmingly powerful, but on reflection, I could have probably bumped them up a bit.

There aren't stats for a Purple Worm in the materials available yet, so I grabbed some different powers from existing creatures, and tried to make a CR 8 monster.  The party is level 6, but there are 5 of them, so I thought this would be a good challenge. 

Lesser Purple Worm

Gargantuan Monstrosity , unaligned 

Armor Class 11

Hit Points 135 (10d20+30) 

Speed 30 ft., burrow 40 ft. 

STR 20 (+5) DEX -3 CON +3 INT -2 WIS +3 CHA -4

Senses Tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 13

Challenge 8 (4000 XP) 

Amphibious. A lesser purple worm can breathe air and water. 

Actions 

Multiattack: The Lesser purple worm can make one bite and one sting attack per turn

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (2d10 + 8) piercing damage plus 5 (1d10) poison damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the worm can’t bite another target. 

Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Swallow. As a bonus action, the worm can make one bite attack against a Medium or smaller target it is grappling. If the attack hits, the target is swallowed, and the grapple ends. The swallowed target is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the toad, and it takes 15 (3d10) acid damage at the start of each of the worm’s turns. If the worm dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 5 feet of movement, exiting prone.

On reflection, Str and Con should have been higher, and damage probably should have been higher across the board.  I was also thinking about adding an automatic "Overrun" attack for anyone close to the worm.

For the wormlings, I just used the Giant Toad stats.

Couple of notes from the combat:

The Eldrich Blast knockback is pretty powerful, although houseruled that it doesn't effect the Mama worm on the fly.  Sure, nothing in the description says that there are size restrictions on the knockback - but as I said in the session "That's why I'm the DM."

I ruled that the rogue couldn't sneak-attack the Purple Worm, since the worm has tremorsense and knows exactly where everyone is at all times.  Once Hilbo engaged it in melee, I allowed a sneak attack, but I'll have to review exactly how that works.

My basic policy as a DM is that if a rules questions comes up, I make a fast ruling that keeps things going forward.  If somebody knows the rule, I listen, decide if it makes sense, then make the call.  At the end of the session, if anybody has an issue with the ruling, we discuss, check the book, and decide on how to run it going forward.

In the case of the sneak attack and knockback calls, nobody seemed too bothered by them, so we didn't re-address.

Now comes the BIG THING.  Hilbo used his magical item, his action surge and the -5 attack/+10 damage ability.  That gave him 4 attacks at +5 to hit (+5 from str, +3 from proficiency bonus, +2 from his magical maul, -5 for power shot), each doing 2d6 +17 damage (+5 from str, +2 from maul, +10 from power shot).  He hit 3 times in the first round.  When the worm attacked, he used a Riposte and hit, then he got 2 attacks the next round, hitting with both.  He did 124 points of damage total.  Whoof.  So if somebody bitches about fighters being underpowered, cordially invite them to shut the fuck up.

Of course, the worm is a classic brute - low AC, high hp, and this is an attack pattern basically designed to work against it, but still - very effective strategy.

The rest of the wormlings weren't much trouble - Hunger of Hadar and the difficult terrain formed by the dead Mommy worm made them come in stages, and the Eldrich bolt knockback pushed them back into the Hunger area.

The worm only got 2 lair effects off, the knockdown and the caustic slime attack, and the one attack it got off that hit didn't do too much damage, as dwarves have resistance to poison damage and advantage on poison saves.

All in all, the combat ran smoothly and quickly.  The Roll20 app is much improved in terms of speed of use, and the Initiative tool is handy for keeping track of init.  Each character got 1050 xp, which brings Korrum and Hilbo near level 7.

The rest of the session was pure role-play, which was great.  I ruled that Wanderer, who has minor illusion magic and sleigh of hand proficiency, was able to keep his thieves tools and a dagger on him, as they weren't stripped to the skin, and Sinder can summon his sword at-will.  So we'll see how they do with a classic prison escape scenario next session.

Random Encounters and Reaction Rolls: RERR?

My current D&D Next playtest campaign:  Dwarves, is a semi-sandbox.  By that I mean that the world is generally open for exploration, but I've developed a number of adventure hooks/events in most of the neighboring areas.  This gives the party quite a bit of freedom to explore the map and get into trouble, but also gives me some narrative structures that I can use to build encounters and areas.

Each area adjacent to the PC's starting area (Goldenhills Hall) has site-based, random and "story" based elements.  That means that any random encounters table has to pull double-duty.  It has to contain random encounters, true, but the encounters need to be linked to the story elements and to the site-based elements as well.

As a DM, I tend to work on the "you CAN talk to most things, but sometimes they don't want to talk to you" basis.  Having encounters that end in ways other than combat is an essential step towards creating a world that gives the characters options besides "I hit it with the rock!"  But realistically, not everything wants to talk.  AND you can't really use charisma is all circumstances.  You might be a charming motherfucking pig, but the Cave Lion don't care...

So that means that encounter tables have to carry quite a bit of weight.  I use a standard 2d6 reaction dice, but each encounter has a modification, and also notes whether Charisma can be used.  Temper all this stuff with a generous dose of common sense.  Obviously you need some way to communicate, even if it's lighting torches and throwing them at said Cave Lion (universal human symbol for "Fuck Off").

Encounters are rolled daily and nightly with a d6.  1 indicates an encounter.  I tend to add +1 or +2 to the actual encounter roll (d20) at night, since I keep fairly positive encounters at the low end of the list - nighttime encounters tend to be more hostile as a result. 

Encounter reaction table:  Roll 2d6 and modify, encounters with Cha can be modified by characters Cha bonus IF they can communicate.  Characters with Animal Handling can add their modified bonus to reaction rolls involving animals.

1-           Immediate Attack

2-3          Hostile, will attack if opportunity presents

4-5          Suspicious, will attack if threatened or try to flee.

6-8          Neutral, will talk, attack or flee depending on interactions

9-10       Wary, but willing to listen.  Won’t let guard down.

11-12     Curious, interested in talking, will approach.

13+         Friendly, interested, will approach and offer assistance.

This system is structured to work with a possible encounter bonus of around +/- 4 or so at the extreme.  A +/- 8 modifier would mean a purely hostile or peaceful encounter.

Currently, the party is exploring the Saltwind Flats.  The area is prairie and rolling grassy and rocky hills.  The main local inhabitants are the Ahten Nomads, who are currently under attack by the followers of Doresain, King of Ghouls, who have taken up residence in a local ruin/dungeon. 

Saltwind Flats Plains and Foothills encounters

Roll	Encounter	# Appearing	Reaction Modifier (2d6)
1	Ahten Nomads – Herders with stock and families	2d10	+4 (cha)
2	Ahten Nomads – Hunting Party	d6	+3 (cha)
3	Ahten Nomads – War party – well-armed nomads	d12	+2 (cha)
4	Animal Herd (1-2 Buffalo, 3-4 Wild Horses, 5-6 Wild Cattle)	d100	0
5	Plains lion pride – plains lions.	d4	0
6	Wolf pack	D10	0
7	Ghul skulkers, looking to carry off the unwary	D4	-8
8	Gnoll raiders, looking to kill and eat something	2d6	-4 (cha)
9	Air elemental, playful, but rough.	1	0
10	Slavers out of Hellonde	D10	-2 (cha)
11	Lizardman Raiders on raptor mounts.	D6	-4 (cha)
12	Giant snake out hunting.  It ain’t picky.	D2	0
13	Griffons on the wing.	D4	0
14	Ankheg nest.  It’s usually hungry	1	-4
15	Manticore.  It likes to eat people most of all	1	-6
16	Perytons out looking for something to kill	D4	-8
17	Wendigo.  Cannibalistic air spirits only come out at night.	1	-8
18	Roll again, you find that group recently dead.
19	Roll twice, and the two groups have just met.
20	Special

I keep a separate table for Special encounters.  Those are the weird, different stuff.

I find this system gives me a good spread of random encounters with a range of possible outcomes, tied to both the story elements and the regional "feel" that I'm looking for.