[mainly oriented towards 1e/2e and Terra] Help me develop a random events table

[khyron1144]

I know I've come up with localized random monster encounters charts for my game world, but it occurs to me that there's more to this life/world than combat with Hill Giants/Bandits/Sheep...

So, I'm starting to play with the ideas of random events charts of which the random monster encounter is a subset, something like:

Urban:
1) Accosted by a beggar (50% chance genuine impoverished urchin/ 50% chance high level Thief grifter)
2) Come-on from a lady of negotiable affection or house of ill-repute
3) Potentially hostile encounter with Assassin (1-45) Duelist (46-70), or drunken Gladiator (71-00) needs Charisma/Comeliness put to work (or Charm Person of Friends spell) to avoid violence
4) Run-away beast or vehicle: Horse Cart(1-50 [50% chance driven by humans/ 25% chance driven by Halflings (with a 50% chance for 1d4 Samurai, Bushi, Kensai, or Monk guards)/ 25% chance driven by Gnomes (with a 30% chance of containing a smoke powder cargo and having 1d4 Giff Marine guards)]), War Chariot(51-70 [50% chance driven by Humans, 50% chance Elven]), Elephant (71-85), Owlbear (86-88), Lion (89-00 [or tiger, bear, or allosaurus, DM's option])
5) Standard monster encounter
6) Holy Day (1-2 on 1d6), Festival (3-4), or Sporting Event (5-6)
7) A building could have caught fire and there is someone trapped inside.
8) They could come across a (50%) street performer(01-50% Bard, 51-75% Jester, 76-85% Historian, 86-00% amateur with an odd NWP choice), or (50%)an evangelist (1-2 generic Cleric, 3-4 Specialty Priest or other Priest subclass, 5-6 enthusiastic lay follower) proselytizing for his god/new religion (1-10% minor Terran Pantheon deity, 11-20% Barbarian/Dwarf, 21-35% Elven, 36-65% Halfling, 66-98% something weirder [Cat Lord, Primus, Slaad Lords, Laogzed...] 99-00% disguised Demon/Devil cult).
9) If there is a sewer, perhaps the drains have flooded, and the oozes/slimes are out on the streets.  
*10) If there are feuding families of the Capulet/Montague or Hatfield/McCoy variety, there could be violence of that type happening, or a riot if perhaps there is social unrest.  These could be events that lead to campaigns of their own.  
11) If the city includes tall buildings (cathedrals, towers, or otherwise), or a bridge over a river or chasm, perhaps a crowd has gathered around a suicide spectacle of someone threatening to jump.  



Rural/Wilderness:
1) Standard monster encounter
2) Lost! (unless the party contains a Druid (and certain other Specialty Priests, DM's discretion), Ranger, Barbarian, Fighter or Rogue with an appropriate kit (Bandit, Beast Rider, Savage Warrior...), or someone successfully makes a Direction Sense NWP check 1d6*10 degrees off course and have been for the last 1d4 miles of travel.
3) Friendly farmer with Comely daughters invites you to stay the night (75% chance genuine/25% chance Baphomet or other Demon/Devil cult looking for sacrificial victims)
4) Interesting natural find: Rare Mineral Deposit (1-2 on 1d6), Rare Plant growth (3-4), Unusual and mostly non-dangerous animal (5-6)
5)Someone's wagon has a broken wheel or is stuck in a mire(50 % genuine distress / 50% a ruse of highway robbers)
6) A natural disaster impedes their path (perhaps some kind of skill to avoid, or else they have to find another way around).  This could be a land/rock slide, a bridge collapsing, & so forth

So, this needs much more development, but what do you think of the underlying idea?  And what would you add?

[Ghostman]

Does it actually make sense to encounter wild animals or "standard" monsters (as opposed to monsters that might be able to live in the sewers or something) within a city in the campaign setting? Why would you randomly encounter assassins, except when there's a reason for someone to want you killed?

[khyron1144]

Does it actually make sense to encounter wild animals or "standard" monsters (as opposed to monsters that might be able to live in the sewers or something) within a city in the campaign setting? Why would you randomly encounter assassins, except when there's a reason for someone to want you killed?

The wild animals one has a good underlying explanation:  it was on the way to the coliseum or live market when it got off the leash or broke out of its cage.  It's also worth noting that encounters with horse carts, war chariots, and elephants are more likely than encounters with owlbears, lions, tigers, bears, and allosauruses, oh my!


The Standard Monster Encounter entry means roll on the monster encounter chart for that area.  In the big city this is likely to lean towards things found under the Men entry in the Monster Manual plus Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, Gnomes, Kobolds, Orcs, Goblins, and Hobgoblins, Herd Animals (in numbers reduced somewhat from the MM entry) accompanied by a drover, and really weird stuff like Otyughs in the sewers along with giant rats, Carrion Crawlers, Rot Grubs, and Green Slime.

As for Assassins, well Assassins by and large live and work in the big city where the deep pockets and likely targets are.  It's not that Assassin is likely to have been specifically sicked on the PC/party so much as they cross paths going about their business in the city and a misunderstanding develops.

[Seraph]

I think I like this idea, though as I see it, random events or encounters are probably best kept for when the group is stagnating and/or needs a kick to start doing something, or needs a change of pace.

In an urban area
*They could come across a street performer, or an evangelist proselytizing for his god/new religion.
*If there is a sewer, perhaps the drains have flooded, and the oozes/slimes are out on the streets. 
*If there are feuding families of the Capulet/Montague or Hatfield/McCoy variety, there could be violence of that type happening, or a riot if perhaps there is social unrest.  These could be events that lead to campaigns of their own. 
*If the city includes tall buildings (cathedrals, towers, or otherwise), or a bridge over a river or chasm, perhaps a crowd has gathered around a suicide spectacle of someone threatening to jump. 
*A building could have caught fire and there is someone trapped inside.

In a rural/wilderness area
*They come across a merchant caravan
*Someone's wagon has a broken wheel or is stuck in a mire(50 % genuine distress / 50% a ruse of highway robbers)
*A natural disaster impedes their path (perhaps some kind of skill to avoid, or else they have to find another way around).  This could be a land/rock slide, a bridge collapsing, & so forth.

[khyron1144]

I think I like this idea, though as I see it, random events or encounters are probably best kept for when the group is stagnating and/or needs a kick to start doing something, or needs a change of pace.

This is important.  Yeah, random encounter should be saved for either when the party doesn't have a clear next move and is floundering or when I want to be a tough DM and add that one extra challenge to deplete resources (ammo, memorized spells, and HP) for the sake of depleting resources.

In an urban area
*They could come across a street performer, or an evangelist proselytizing for his god/new religion.
*If there is a sewer, perhaps the drains have flooded, and the oozes/slimes are out on the streets. 
*If there are feuding families of the Capulet/Montague or Hatfield/McCoy variety, there could be violence of that type happening, or a riot if perhaps there is social unrest.  These could be events that lead to campaigns of their own. 
*If the city includes tall buildings (cathedrals, towers, or otherwise), or a bridge over a river or chasm, perhaps a crowd has gathered around a suicide spectacle of someone threatening to jump. 
*A building could have caught fire and there is someone trapped inside.

These are all getting yoinked.

In a rural/wilderness area
*They come across a merchant caravan

This one, I'd feel okay by just having a Merchants entry on the monster encounter chart.

*Someone's wagon has a broken wheel or is stuck in a mire(50 % genuine distress / 50% a ruse of highway robbers)
*A natural disaster impedes their path (perhaps some kind of skill to avoid, or else they have to find another way around).  This could be a land/rock slide, a bridge collapsing, & so forth.

Yoinked again.

[LordVreeg]

Yeah.  These are good ideas.

My main WM chart starts with
01-40 Ambient Encounter
41-55 Plot Encounter
55-60 Backstory Encounter
61-80 Ambient Event
81-88 Plot Event
89-93 Backstory Event
94-00 Roll two and mix.

[Fortunato]

If you want some more detail for your "lady of negotiable affection" encounter here is a sub table from an old DMG. 

01-10 Slovenly trull
11-25 Brazen strumpet
26-35 Cheap trollop
36-50 Typical streetwalker
51-65 Saucy tart
66-75 Wanton wench
76-85 Expensive doxy
86-90 Haughty courtesan
91-92 Aged madam
93-94 Wealthy procuress
95-98 Sly pimp
99-00 Rich panderer

And if you really want to make things interesting change it up, make it a "gentleman of negotiable affection"