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View Full Version : DM Help Random encounter (aka Wandering Monster) chances outside dungeons?



Dr TPK
2015-07-24, 07:19 AM
What bothers me is that the 3.5 DMG is pretty clear about wandering monsters in dungeons, but there's nothing about the chances in wilderness and such.

I'd like to see how exactly do you roll up random encounters in various environments.
I divide places in three different ways: Inhabited, uninhabited and monster-infested.

Inhabited areas don’t have dangerous random encounters. They have to be scripted, really.

Uninhabited forests and marshes:
Normal Travel: 50% per 12 hours. 70% per 12 hours if any of the group is large (or larger) or particularly noisy.
Camping or cautious travel: 25% per 12 hours.
Hiding: 10% per 12 hours.
Maximum two encounters per every 12-hour period.

Uninhabited plains and mountains:
Camping or traveling: 20% per 12 hours. 40% per 12 hours if any of the group is large (or larger) or particularly noisy.
Hiding: 15% per 12 hours.
Maximum two encounters per every 12-hour period.

Uninhabited desert:
During mornings and days, whether moving or not: 5% per 12 hours.
During nighttime and evenings, whether moving or not: 10% per 12 hours.
Maximum two encounters per every 12-hour period.

Monster-infested areas:
Every square mile has a monster or a pack of monsters, sometimes two different kinds of monsters, if they can coexist. The monster(s) will quickly try to eliminate any opposition that enters its territory, hide or run. This is why my PCs often end up in a pitched battle or two very quickly when they enter places like the Dark Forest of Horrible Death, but after the hassle they can take it relatively easy. Once the monster(s) of that territory have been defeated, that square mile becomes uninhabited.
If the PCs are doing a good job hiding in a monster-infested area, the encounter chance is 10% per hour.

I found a few older threads about this, but none really helped me.

Saintheart
2015-07-24, 07:36 AM
...pretty sure most campaign settings will have wilderness encounter tables. For example, Shining South out of the FRCS has fairly extensive ones starting on p. 80, even divided up into specific geographic regions.

Dr TPK
2015-07-24, 07:42 AM
...pretty sure most campaign settings will have wilderness encounter tables. For example, Shining South out of the FRCS has fairly extensive ones starting on p. 80, even divided up into specific geographic regions.

Couldn't find any for Greyhawk, which is the one of the oldest campaign settings and the "default setting" of 3.5. What are the chances of encountering a wandering monster in the Gnarley Forest?

Saintheart
2015-07-24, 08:19 AM
Hmmm. I got interested and went looking through my DMG 3.5 on the subject--

From page 86 onwards, the section titled "Wilderness Adventures" contains material about adventuring in certain types of environment, down to percentile encounter tables for different types of terrain. If you're looking for the percentage chance of a random encounter in each given type of terrain, it's on page 95. DMG II expands this out into more specific areas like graveyards and human tribelands and whatnot (p. 65 onwards.) Is that what you're looking for?