Random Encounters Are Dumb

That’s right, I said it. All those tables filled with different encounters to throw at a traveling party? Rolling on them in mid-session is useless. They might be able to save you in a pinch if you did less than your usual amount of session prep, but there are so many better ways to  quickly make encounters than rolling on a table.

All players I have ever run games for have found encounters related to the story more compelling and interesting than encounters unrelated to the story. If a land shark attacks the party on the road and they have never seen it, heard of it, and they never see or hear of it again, the encounter quickly fades from the players’ minds. What was the purpose of that encounter? It didn’t drive the story forward, it didn’t contain any new plot hooks, and it didn’t wrap up any existing quest lines. It was just some combat and maybe they earned a bit of XP. It was completely unrelated to the characters and the story.

But what if the land shark was already wounded and/or under a spell when it appeared? Are these unique cuts that were only made by the (BigBadEvilGuy)BBEG’s weapon? Was it under a spell that only a party member’s mother can cast? Why would the BBEG and the party member’s mother have attacked the same creature? Did they team up? Why would they attack a land shark? And more importantly, are they nearby?

Little details that tie encounters into the existing plotline or a character’s backstory go a long way toward investing the players and moving the story forward. You don’t necessarily need to have answers to any of these questions yet. 90% of the time, the players will come up with better answers than you, and players love it when their theories are proven correct. Simply by describing a cut on the monster as one they have seen before on a victim of the BBEG, you can start your players down a theory rabbit hole that moves the story forward. Bonus points if you tie in an individual character’s story!

So Maybe the random encounter tables aren’t entirely useless. I look through them for inspiration all the time, but I find it is always better to add a twist that is unique to the story you and your players are telling. By adding that little detail, it goes from being just another journey through the Glade of Random Encounters to something that looks planned, gets the players thinking, and sticks in their memories as another excellent session.

About the Author:

From Saint Paul, Minnesota, Dennis Fleming started running TTRPGs in 2014. An avid player and GM, he has been in several streamed Actual Plays and has his own TTRPG YouTube channel, Okayest DM and his other projects