random encounters

[zinycor]

hello am a very new Dm, and am about to set a game of pathfinder and i have a lil bit of problems concerning random encounters like which are the rules related to it and how to create and aplicate the random ecounter tables.

Some help would be very appreciated :D

[dascarletm]

hello am a very new Dm, and am about to set a game of pathfinder and i have a lil bit of problems concerning random encounters like which are the rules related to it and how to create and aplicate the random ecounter tables.

Some help would be very appreciated :D

Obligatory OotS link: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0145.html

Where the tables are, i'm not sure on pathfinder, sorry.

[TheMonocleRogue]

I have a set of rules you can use. I'm one of those DMs that runs random encounters in my games and its very easy to make a table of encounters for the PCs based on their level. I learned these techniques from some of the best DM's I've ever played with.

First you will need to establish four things before making a table

The plane of existence (material, elemental, astral)
The climate (warm, cold, moderate, dry)
The risk factor for travel (D-100 that determines weather or not an encounter will take place)
The average challenge rating (based on party members effective level vs encounters)


Each monster in pathfinder has a habitat which they usually appear in. Additionally creatures of the outsider or abberation type usually have a plane of existence they inhabit. You can find a list of pathfinder monsters by plane/climate here (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/bestiary-hub/monsters-by-terrain).

Risk factor should be increased for areas not commonly traveled or unexplored, and decreased if there are roads/paths which are well traveled or uninhabited.

Lastly, the average challenge rating. A 4 player party of the same level should be able to take on a monster CR of their respective level. When adding members increase party CR by 1 and when subtracting members decrease party CR by 1.

For multiple monsters of the same CR add 1 to the total CR for those monsters. For instance, lets say I make an encounter with a minotaur (CR 4) and 3 bugbears (CR 2). The total CR of the encounter would be 5. First I take the base CR of 2 for the bugbear and add 1 for each bugbear, and end up with 4. Then I add that to the minotaur's CR and since the CRs are the same I simply add 1 for a total of 5.

To make encounters more interesting, I like to create what is called a "CR range" of encounters for parties to add to the fun of facing great challenges. For example, with 4 6th level party members, I may have an array of monsters of average CR 6-9, with 9 being the most challenging encounter for the party. You can add or subtract from the average CR to create encounters to your liking.

Some encounters usually involve some roleplaying but are mainly up to the DM. I usually put at least 1 of these encounters in and house rule it but the decision is entirely up to you whether you want to add stuff like bandit tolls or a dragon meet & greet. These don't have to include a CR but I always include one in case the party decides to fight.

Here's an example I put together for a material plane encounter list in a forest for a 6th level party:



0-48
no encounter


49-63
3 Dire Boars (CR6)


64-74
2 Pixies with baleful polymorph or irresistible dance (CR 6)


75-83
1 Nymph (social enc. CR 7)


84-94
5 Orc lv 2 warriors with 5 worg mounts (CR 8)


95-97
1 dryad with 1 dire bear pet (social enc. CR 7)


98-99
1 juvenile green dragon (CR 9)

[Nibbens]

I'd avoid them like the plague. See the comic strip in the first post here for reasons why. lol. Unless your characters decided to wander off in a random direction just to spite you, that is.