Thank you for this. I was in the middle of making my own list and figured I'd look for some inspiration. This was more than I ever hoped to find in one source. Good job.
I found this list a while ago and it was a great inspiration for a random encounters list of my own, with some specific to the adventure, some original ones of my own, and some directly lifted from your list. My players seem to love it when really random random stuff happens! Thanks for this!
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Edeleth Treesong (Aldalire) WoodElf Druid lvl 8 Talaveroth Sub 2 Last Tree StandingTabaxi Ranger, Chef and Hoardsperson lvl 5, Company of the Dragon Team 1 Choir Kenku Cleric, Tempest Domain, lvl 11, Descent Into Avernus Test Drive Poinki Goblin Paladin, Redemption, lvl 5, Tales from Talaveroth Lyrika Nyx Satyr Bard lvl 1, The Six Kingdoms of Talia
Thank you very much! I've been looking for a non combat encounter to spice things up for my player! You sir, are a god send! May Tymora guide you to good fortunes!
This is great. I've put this into a PDF that fits on 1 double-sided sheet of A4. Here's a link to it if that helps anyone and thanks to Twisturtle for creating it. If you want me to take it down then you can. Otherwise Twis you are free to distribute my PDF version of your work as you see fit.
I'll share what I use for my "random" encounter generation. Though to be fair, this is quasi-curated.
Farm house
Small village (d100 people)
Mine
Temple/Monastery
Hunting lodge
Trading post
Watch tower
Noble estate
Cave/animal lair
Camp site
Breeding grounds
Elemental fount (fire, fog, etc)
Other wilderness hazard zone (DMG Chapter 5)
Small dungeon
Sacred ground
Monument (DMG Chapter 5)
Cemetery
Battlefield
Secret facility (Cults or other secret organizations as appropriate)
Weird Locale (DMG Chapter 5)
For locations 1-10, roll a d6. On 1-2, the feature was abandoned in the ancient past; 3-4 it was abandoned recently; 5-6 it is still occupied and active.
(A note on #12: I'm running a hexcrawl game using Princes of the Apocalypse as a framework, so the 'elemental founts' are unstable leaks from the planes that can serve various purposes.)
I follow this up by rolling on the random encounter tables found in Xanathar, using the appropriate climate. So this ends up involving 2-3 rolls to generate a scenario. If it works, I have a small scenario that can fill up a short (or long) period of time. If it makes no sense, I just reroll and see what works for me.
For example: My players recently entered a desert. So rolling up a scenario, I had "Farm House" (occupied) and "Guardian Naga." At first, this seemed like a weird combination. Why would a Guardian Naga be hanging out on a farm? And how does this farm thrive in the desert? But then I came up with a scenario where the family worships the creature, which blesses the land to make their farm possible. I found a little map to accompany it on Dyson Logos, and now I had a grotto where the Naga keeps his lair beneath the farm. Add in a complication (Bone Nagas trying to turn the Guardian to undeath) and . . . voila. That scenario went from being a random roll to an entire session of entertainment.
This is so amazingly wonderfully perfect. I am DMing my first game, and have 200 miles to fill before the party reaches the final dungeon. (I haven’t bought books yet cause, ya know, still trying it haha), and this list is going to make filling all those miles with fun interactions. The Dnd community is awesome. 💜
This is awesome, thank you, I’m a new DM and this helps moving the game along between encounters and travel time. Bu the way my party was not overly amused by the cupcake. Lol
Years later and people are STILL using this. Myself included! I think this is a great tool for those DM's need a little help filling out some of the "day to day" things. With the random rolls alone my players have fabricated this elaborate sub-story all in their minds. It's really great.
Now, if someone wants to do a sailing one I'd be mighty grateful ;)
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Gunna give this a whirl!
Random and cool
This is awesome, wish I would have found this before putting my party through such mundane travel.
Thank you for this. I was in the middle of making my own list and figured I'd look for some inspiration. This was more than I ever hoped to find in one source. Good job.
I found this list a while ago and it was a great inspiration for a random encounters list of my own, with some specific to the adventure, some original ones of my own, and some directly lifted from your list. My players seem to love it when really random random stuff happens! Thanks for this!
Edeleth Treesong (Aldalire) Wood Elf Druid lvl 8 Talaveroth Sub 2
Last Tree Standing Tabaxi Ranger, Chef and Hoardsperson lvl 5, Company of the Dragon Team 1
Choir Kenku Cleric, Tempest Domain, lvl 11, Descent Into Avernus Test Drive
Poinki Goblin Paladin, Redemption, lvl 5, Tales from Talaveroth
Lyrika Nyx Satyr Bard lvl 1, The Six Kingdoms of Talia
what is 60% theres nothing
Thank you very much! I've been looking for a non combat encounter to spice things up for my player! You sir, are a god send! May Tymora guide you to good fortunes!
This is great. I've put this into a PDF that fits on 1 double-sided sheet of A4. Here's a link to it if that helps anyone and thanks to Twisturtle for creating it. If you want me to take it down then you can. Otherwise Twis you are free to distribute my PDF version of your work as you see fit.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7qm4ptx1v645av3/Non Combat Encounters.pdf?dl=0
That's awesome, do what you like with it!
| D100 Non-combat Random Encounter Table | Enchantments Galore |
| Pulsing Brazier Magic Trap | Gnome Capsule Machine | Language - A Primer |
I'll share what I use for my "random" encounter generation. Though to be fair, this is quasi-curated.
For locations 1-10, roll a d6. On 1-2, the feature was abandoned in the ancient past; 3-4 it was abandoned recently; 5-6 it is still occupied and active.
(A note on #12: I'm running a hexcrawl game using Princes of the Apocalypse as a framework, so the 'elemental founts' are unstable leaks from the planes that can serve various purposes.)
I follow this up by rolling on the random encounter tables found in Xanathar, using the appropriate climate. So this ends up involving 2-3 rolls to generate a scenario. If it works, I have a small scenario that can fill up a short (or long) period of time. If it makes no sense, I just reroll and see what works for me.
For example: My players recently entered a desert. So rolling up a scenario, I had "Farm House" (occupied) and "Guardian Naga." At first, this seemed like a weird combination. Why would a Guardian Naga be hanging out on a farm? And how does this farm thrive in the desert? But then I came up with a scenario where the family worships the creature, which blesses the land to make their farm possible. I found a little map to accompany it on Dyson Logos, and now I had a grotto where the Naga keeps his lair beneath the farm. Add in a complication (Bone Nagas trying to turn the Guardian to undeath) and . . . voila. That scenario went from being a random roll to an entire session of entertainment.
This is amazing, will be using in my game. Thanks for sharing!
May The Force Be With You
This is so amazingly wonderfully perfect. I am DMing my first game, and have 200 miles to fill before the party reaches the final dungeon. (I haven’t bought books yet cause, ya know, still trying it haha), and this list is going to make filling all those miles with fun interactions. The Dnd community is awesome. 💜
For #42 by hunter do you mean Ranger?
There is no dawn after eternal night.
Homebrew: Magic items, Subclasses
Awesome, I'll use this!
Here's my take on #60:
60 - Shrine to Tiamat, only the green dragon head remains. Spits acid, Dex 10 save or take 2d6 acid damage.
Love it. Definitely using this.
Made this into a spreadsheet to make it a little easier to read, if anyone is interested,
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MTooICBJ_-AVYLKF7iRm5OB9N7hpYKZxZApwXO4kUxE/edit?usp=sharing
great work, loving the range
This is awesome, thank you, I’m a new DM and this helps moving the game along between encounters and travel time. Bu the way my party was not overly amused by the cupcake. Lol
Years later and people are STILL using this. Myself included! I think this is a great tool for those DM's need a little help filling out some of the "day to day" things. With the random rolls alone my players have fabricated this elaborate sub-story all in their minds. It's really great.
Now, if someone wants to do a sailing one I'd be mighty grateful ;)