[For Sandbox DMs] What do your wilderness encounters look like?

[MaxWilson]

Wilderness encounters don't necessarily need to be deadly, they just need to be interesting, as in, give the players meaningful decisions to make and have an impact. For me, a simple random encounter table might look like:

Roll a d6:

(1) This bridge is guarded by 3 aquatic trolls who demand a 10 gp toll to cross. The bridge is 40' long and 10' wide, and the trolls have total cover while underneath the bridge. Their treasure hoard of 500 gp and a Decanter of Endless Water is hidden under the bridge.

(2) A wicked innkeeper runs a gambling den. He offers cheap lodging, but will attempt to steal belongings. His sad-looking slave girl Dorsil attempts to warn the players, but is afraid to be seen speaking with them.

(3) Tax collectors! The king's representatives demand proof of taxes paid, and if proper documentation cannot be supplied, PCs must pay an arms tax of 10 gp per horse and 20 gp per weapon, receiving a tax receipt good for the rest of the year in exchange. The tax collector is not a threat and can be easily slain (6 HP, no attacks, AC 10), but his escort (four 3rd level fighters, AC 18 chain mail and shields, lances and longbows, mounted on warhorses) will do their best to protect him, and if he is slain will try to report his murder to the proper authorities.

(4) An Annis Hag haunts these woods. She has captured several children and holds them in a holding pen outside her cottage, which is made out of candy. The PCs can hear the children wailing.

(5) An orc horde sweeps down from the mountains, killing and looting everything in its path! PCs encounter refugees on the road, who beg them for protection and vengeance. The orc horde is half a day's travel away and consists of 50 orc raiders who prefer to operate at night (40 Orcs, 4 Orogs, 4 Blades of Ilneval, 2 Orc Warchiefs). There are 300 human noncombatant refugees, and if the PCs do not intervene 100 will die and 100 will be taken as slaves tonight.

(6) A travelling wizard offers to swap spells. He is 5th level and has 10 spells in his spellbook. Roll them randomly.

Once results have been used, cross them off and replace them with something else.

Probably none of these encounters is a deadly threat for a party over 6th level but they're also not just pointless fights for no reason either, and the players will have the opportunity to choose whether and how to engage.

What are your goals for wilderness encounters, and can you give some examples from your notes of what they look like?

[Trask]

Very nice encounters! Really terse and packed with a little nugget of something interesting. Something I've done for random encounters in wilderness travel is create two tables, one for a random terrain feature, and another for an encounter. For example

1d4 Terrain

1. Open grove
4 ft high grasses in a treeless grove. Small animals abound. This area is comfortable enough to short rest in.

2. Winding Stream
A stream that meanders around the roots of massive trees, flanked by reeds. On an even encounter roll the enemies will be on the other side of the stream, on an odd roll they will be on the PC's side.

3. Fruit Trees
Populated with colorful fruit trees. Provides a days worth of rations to each PC.

4. Deep Chasm
This route is blocked by a chasm. The distance across is equal to 1d6 x 1d4 feet. It is 5x the 1d4 result in feet deep. On an even encounter roll the enemies will be on the other side of the chasm, on an odd roll they will be on the PC's side. If the encounter roll rolls its maximum result, the enemies are at the bottom of the chasm.

1d4 Encounters

1. Bat Swarm
A screeching swarm of bats explodes from the brush, feral and starving for blood.

2. Nothing
No threats in this area, but dont tell the players that.

3. Wolves
1d8+2 wolves begin stalking the party. They will attempt to stay hidden or far away from attack until they can strike at an opportune moment (after another encounter roll)

4. Quicksand
A hidden pit of quicksand requires a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check to avoid. A character in quicksand can make a DC 15 Strength check to float for a round. A result of 20 or more allows them to escape unaided. On a failure, they go under and start drowning.


Pretty abridged version of it, but I find its pretty helpful for making random encounters interesting by providing a different element than just the encounter itself.

I also tend to (like yourself) make random encounters not immediately violent or at least provide an opportunity for escape or evasion. And in more populated areas, many of them need not be straight up combat at all but instead sticky situations.

[prabe]

My approach is somewhat similar to what Trask apparently does, though I usually try to write up six, and I line through them as I use them (rolling a d5, a d4, a d3, etc.), and I usually have a di to determine whether the parties have encountered an interesting geographical feature (what Track describes as "terrain") or one or more creatures (what Trask describes as "encounters"), and that die varies in size as well as in how likely it is to be an actual encounter.