I use random tables for two reasons. One is when i have literally no idea what could be in an area, the other is when i know what is there but want to randomize what they encounter. A lot of books and zines have the first, but the second practically requires me to handmake it for every area. Using this table to randomize how the local factions bleed into eachother is also how is use them, thanks for the video!
This is an excellent tool! I love the ways the numerical thresholds conform to the roles of the encounters, like how the table encodes that outside factions can never be found resting in another faction's territory but will always be undertaking some kind of task there. Great design!
And as soon as I post this I see another nuance: if they're searching for players, the players encounter them at a significant distance, producing tension; if they have their own goals, the players blunder into the confusion and the situation has more interesting stakes than a simple scrap! This thing is going on every DM screen I own.
Wow, this is a really well designed idea! I like how dense it is with improv seeds, and how easily it generates interesting stories and factional play. I also like how specific the motivation improv is, as opposed to something like traditional Odnd reaction tables that can feel a little underdeveloped. I'm currently putting together a faction-based hexcrawl and this looks like a really good fit for my game!
Heck yeah!! I forgot to make a point of this in the video, but I think it’s important for a random table to allow for things that Don’t belong on it to show up too!
Always a good day when there's a Map Crow upload! I'm about to start a campaign which will have a lot of traveling around the same general area, and have been looking for engaging ways to fill that space. This is just perfect! Can't wait to get started writing up my own encounter tables.
Powerful design. Thank @mapcrow for your generous gift. I took notes in a blue 5x5 Quad Ruled notebook. Some experimental ideas to those brave enough to follow: To maximize the narrative of the roll, read Distance before Alertness. Example: 5 Blue + 2 Red = 7 LOCAL FACTION, SIGNS & TRACES, FIGHTING SOMETHING ELSE / HIGH ALERT. The pair of Distance and Alertness tables read naturally this way for all twelve entries. Reorder Distance 6 to "SLAIN / INJURED / RETREATING". Cross off each from left to right as the party advances (easy -> hard) for increasing tension. How do the FACTIONS treat their dead and wounded? Invert the order of just Distance and Alertness (i.e. Alertness begins with RESTING and ends with SEARCHING) for maximum whimsy and goofiness (e.g. 1 Blue + 1 Red = 2 FACTION LEADER, SLAIN, RESTING, or 6 Blue + 6 Red = OUTSIDE BEAST Vampiric Mists, AMBUSH, SEARCHING FOR PCs, a.k.a rocks fall). Invert the order of ALL TABLES presented as a nod to Gygaxian philosophy of low rolls representing a bane to the subject of the roll. Surprise Roll: "the NPCs are surprised on a 1d6 roll of 1 or 2." I am arguing that the best result a party can get is 6 Blue + 6 Red = 12 FACTION LEADER Graznak, AMBUSH, SEARCHING FOR PCs when the PCs are undoubtedly looking for Graznak to murderhobo for truth, justice, and loot. Does your party have justification for a bonus to the Surprise roll? If they roll high enough, they are also given the possibility of Stealthing out of the situation. The worst result a party can get in 1 Blue + 1 Red = 2 OUTSIDE BEASTS Hook Horrors, SLAIN, RESTING, because it means something worse is out there on the loose.
Thanks! Good to be back! We’ll see how long it lasts.
7 месяцев назад
Great video! Definitely going to try this out. I had to watch the example more than once, because you said the distance 3 is Nearby when in fact is Not far (11:04).
As a fledgling DM/Worldbuilder/Tinkerer, this is a subject I hadn't touched on yet but it gives me a lot to think about since I will be running an exploratory, vehicle-heavy custom system at some point in the near future. First session I've ever run will be this next Sunday (The 18th of Feb) so I've been gorging on the content you've produced where possible!
hey, map crow, your videos are very interesting and fun, and i would really like to see a video series of you making your own monsters that dont already exist in dnd
The maths in this makes this triple-table-2d6 beautifully elegant. But... I am kinda bothered with the more results on the alertness/distance (or whatever one could personally use, like disposition instead of distance or something). It means that whatever you set on value 2 and value 12 would always be encountered in the same fashion. Even though those two results are less likely to happen, I'd still like there to be more variety there. Being able to take a faction leader by surprise sounds exciting! You could fix that by just rolling again for the other 2 tables?
Yep! It's just a spring board. It's supposed to be flexible. And these are just the random encounters, not the only encounters. Presumably, if the players wanted to seek out a faction leader, they wouldn't be rolling on a table at all. I think of the snake eyes situation like Darth Vader showing up in Cloud City. Darth Vader is way less cool if Han Solo spots Darth Vader in the check out line at Ace Hardware. But that's just my opinion. Haha!!
Try making separate Surprise Rolls, or inverting the order of all the tables. Making the AMBUSH imply advantage to the PCs opens up more gameplay options.
Hmm, I think I would rather give players the option of setting an ambush themselves if they spot an enemy they wish to face with low guard, but to each their own.
That's so awesome, What I feel can be added to this on top of that is something such as a counter saverety roll, What are the monsters doing during the random encounter, players stepping in the middle of a faction war or a monster camp site
Verry interesting ! I've been using something similar : I have encounter tables by region, and 3 tables that use for every encounter: distance, situation and reactions. I feel that rolling a prompt for what is happening and seperatly roll the mood of the encountered creatures is more interesting. So I may get a fleeing creature having fun making it's pursuer mad or a ficherman angry at everything, for exemple.
I love this method! On a side note, I’ve never seen a pencil sleeve as big or comfortable looking as the yellow one you have! My hands cramp up often when I draw, so I’d love one like it. Are they easy to find, or do you have a website you buy from?
@@mapcrow Wonderful! I’m sure you’ve gotten the same question multiple times before so thank you for taking the time to respond. I just found you through Bluesky
Thanks for the video. As a long-time DM, I have tended towards slow, story game-style D&D (2e, 3e, 5e) with a mixture of linear, branching, and sandbox elements. Recently, I have come across the OSR and more modern RPG's. And the "desire" to enable players to create the world in partnership with the DM. My DM style is more "DM creates everything world-related. Players only control the actions/behavior of their characters". Have you done a video on the more modern collaborative style of play, e.g. Dungeon World, Burning Wheel, MouseGuard? My experience (probably caused by my DM style) is players being passive, failing to explore or engage the world, and focused on min/max character development. I am getting wistful for a regular group of players. And I want to continue to grow as a DM. Thank you for all the content!
Right on! No, ya know, I haven’t done a video on GMs collaborating with players. I tend to focus GM stuff, design, and art. But it might be a good topic idea! Cheers!!
I love the 2d6 system and its bell curve. But i struggle with what to do with the critters after i roll them. Your secondary tables look like they would be good for that. I have been using some tables that "d4 caltrops" put together called OSE encounter activity tables. It has helped me in running the hexcrawl i DM.
Heck yeah!! So a big part of that encounter table for me is knowing what my factions are doing and why, so when they show up from the encounter roll, it's easy to spin up the scenario. Orcs are raiding and digging for buried treasure, Ganak is demanding tribute and kidnapping people to randsom, etc etc
Thanks! What do you assume would be different about a local table? I think you could roll on this for a dungeon just as easily. Maybe weight it more in favor of local factions and creatures, but that’s about the only change I would make.
@@mapcrow yeah, the biggest change would be the probability, and maybe some Improv on distance. It is really versatile actually! Will put on my GM Screen :v
As much as I'd love for someone to name the names of the stinkers in the D&D youtube space, the Top Ten list format is just awful. So, I'm glad that was just a joke.
Those are the ranges of numbers that can roll that result. You don’t use them on the table, it was just a way to talk about how the table is weighted. Sorry if it was confusing. Haha
when you mentioned "knave", "shadowdark", and a third thing by a guy im not gonna try to spell out, you said "links in the description", but i dont see em 😔😔
Sooooo, for clarity's sake... correct me, here if I misunderstood something... There are five die rolls in this video. The first is extraneous to this little encounter subsystem, but is used to pick a random hex to use for the subsequent example. After that, the four key rolls for this subsystem are: (1) A roll using 2D6 to determine what category of encounter (faction, beast, npc and local/outside) to use. (2) A roll using a D6 to determine which specific encounter for the region. (3) Another roll using a D6 to determine alertness. (4) Another roll using a D6 to determine distance. I would have used two yellow D6 to determine hex. And added a green D6 so you aren't "reusing" a die. Which is okay, I guess, in practice; but I'd go without the shortcut for an example. Tiny tweaks.
Sure, whatever makes sense to you. I didn’t throw in an extra d6 because I didn’t know if I was going to roll on a beast table or not. For factions, I probably wouldn’t have a table for regular troops or leaders, I would just pick what sounded interesting to me in the moment. The 2d6 roll is rolling on the 1d6 alertness and 1d6 distance at the same time. Maybe it makes more sense to you to call that 3 different rolls, but I think of it as just one, which is how I explained it.
I don’t know how you would use d6s to generate a random hex because it’s a 12 by 8 hexgrid. But that is kinda a different feature that is specific to that hex map in the video.
I am now populating some tables using this idea-- excitingly, I am also blending this with the categorization of combatants from your "learning combat from Baldur's Gate" video. This means I'm making sure to come up with creatures with lots of different ability sets. I am excited to finish and have this for my game.
Damn Mr Martino, you made your return with an absolute banger! Having a think of how I can adapt this to our games of Cyberpunk. A city block by city block table, full of competing gangs, corpos and criminals. I think that might just work. Thanks for the inspiration!
