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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 25, 2022 22:23:53 GMT -5
Encounter Tables: First lets look at the original D&D Wilderness Encounter Tables aka Wandering Monsters found in The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures Volume 3 of Three Booklets.
Originally there was a fairly modest mix of terrain types with a chance of being lost or having an encounter:
Terrain Type Clear Woods River Swamp Mountains Deserts City
Lost 1 1-2 1 1-3 1-2 1-3 -
Encounter 6 5-6 5-6 4-6 4-6 5-6 6
Die Roll
For Type of
Encounter Clear Woods River Swamp Mountains Deserts City
1 Men Men Men Men Men Men Men
2 Flyer Flyer Flyer Flyer Flyer Flyer Undead
3 Giant Giant Giant Giant Giant Giant Undead
4 Lycanthropes Lycanthropes Lycanthropes Lycanthropes Lycanthropes Men Men
5 Animals Lycanthropes Swimmers Swimmers Animals Animals -
6 Men Men Swimmers Undead Giants Dragon -
7 Animals Animals Animals Undead Dragon - -
8 Dragon Dragon Dragon Dragon Dragon - -
So you can see the odds for each type of Terrain and you will note that Encounters were divided into eight (8) types of encounters with some things being duplicated in some columns and with Deserts having fewer types of encounters and Cities (Yeah, cities were included on the Wilderness Tables) have the fewest types of encounters.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 25, 2022 22:34:19 GMT -5
Now in the previous post you will note that in Clear Terrain there is a one in eight chance of Dragons, Lycanthropes and Giants along with Flyers. But a one in four chance of Men or Animals. Now I don't know about you, but that always struck me as odd from the beginning. If you look at the next column for Woods, there is a one in four chance of Lycanthropes. But in the first three columns - Clear, Woods and River - there is no chance of Undead, but in the fourth column- Swamps - There is a one in four chance of Undead. In Deserts there is no chance of Lycanthropes and in Cities your only options are Men 50% or Undead 50%.
All quite odd IMO and so I never used these tables at all. One because I did not like the distribution or odds of a particular encounter. For example, why no Lycanthropes in Deserts or Cities? Why are Undead only in Swamps or Cities? Also IMO a one in eight chance of a Dragon is really high, although it did make sense for Dragons to be twice as likely in Mountains, still a one in four chance is insane. Same goes for Giants and Lycanthropes.
So it seemed to me that this all needs a big revision.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 25, 2022 22:44:06 GMT -5
Now if you continue on with the tables, The first up is Men and they are divided into four types (well five really) and those are "Typical," "Mountain," "Desert(Mars)," and "Waterbourne." First of course the spelling of Waterborne and not really a correct (IMO) usage of the word. Under Typical there are 12 choices with Bandits being three of the choices, Brigands being two of the choices and the other seven being unique. Under Mountain there are 12 choices with Cavemen and Berserkers both appearing twice. Under Desert there are six choices with Nomads appearing twice and under Mars, same column, Barsoom is on display with Red, Yellow, Black and White Martians and Tharks (one variety of Green Martians) appearing twice. Under Waterborne Buccaneers appear three times, Pirates twice and Mermen once.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 25, 2022 22:46:19 GMT -5
Next up is Flyer Types with Pegasi twice, Rocs twice, and Hippogriffs twice. Also Dragons appear here once, even though they are also a separate type. For Flyers there are eleven listings including the duplciates.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 25, 2022 22:47:13 GMT -5
Undead types have eight options with no duplicates. You would think that Skeletons would appear more than once.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 25, 2022 22:54:28 GMT -5
Under Giant types there are 12 options ranging from Kobolds and Goblins to Gnomes, Elves, Dwarves and Ents. Anything strike you odd about that? I remember reading a comment by Frank Mentzer somewhere that Gygax never explained that and never gave a straight answer when it was asked about. For my own usage, Giant Types refers to intelligent humanoid monsters that are Ogre size or larger. So I do not use Kobolds, Goblins, Orcs, Hobgoblins or Gnolls as Giant Types and Demi-Humans (Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes) are not either. Ogres, Trolls, Ents, Giants, Titans and the like are Giant Types IMC. You can do what you like.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 25, 2022 22:56:49 GMT -5
Under Lycanthropes they list four options, Werewolves, Wereboars, Weretigers and Werebears. Of course that list could be longer too and the most obvious to add is Wererats.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 25, 2022 22:58:59 GMT -5
Under Swimmer Types, there are 12 options with Giant versions of regular animals, plus Crocodiles, Sea Monster, Dragon Turtle, Mermen and Nixies appear twice.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 25, 2022 23:00:53 GMT -5
Under Dragon Types there are six basic colors of Dragons, along with the Cockatrice, Basilisk, Wyvern, Chimerae and Hydra. Oddly the Gorgon is missing among the non-Dragons.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 25, 2022 23:06:15 GMT -5
Another Type is Basic Animals. Then Optional Woods a mix of mythological creatures. Optional Swamps being various Dinosaurs. Optional Arid Plains with a mix of Barsoomian creatures with Banths, Thoats and Tharks each appearing twice. Last is Optional Mountains with Earth Mega Fauna appearing.
A few other notes also appear.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 25, 2022 23:07:46 GMT -5
So before I continue I am going to ask a couple of questions up in the Village.
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Post by hengest on Oct 26, 2022 8:56:30 GMT -5
Exalt for this set of material.
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Post by Bad to the Bone on Nov 7, 2022 17:57:03 GMT -5
The Perilous Dreamer, IMO those odds should be completely reworked. Mundane insects, animals, birds and reptiles, water and sea creatures should be at least 50% of all encounters. Dragons, Giants, Undead and Lycanthropes should all be pretty rare and other monsters should be represented here.
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