1) The random Countryside Encounters from Better Than Any Man add to the overall story, rather than just spring monster after monster on a weakened party. The list includes terrain features and "harmless" NPCs in addition to some monsters. This has been great fun to use in my campaign and keeps us all on our toes.
2) The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart was recommended here and I heartily second that. The encounters the brothers experience are more murky and complex than just finding a monster and killing it. Additionally, it shows how monster encounters could play out in a more interesting way than just rolling initiative and entering combat.
--
It seems like the original goals of wandering monster charts were to punish reckless PCs, create tension between resting and pushing on, or to drain resources from a powerful party before they enter a dungeon. Those purposes may still be used, but the primary purpose of this chart will be to create randomized encounters that add to the campaign world.
In Pathfinder, the encounters are meticulously planned and balanced, so there is no need for a wandering monster chart. Therefore, this chart will primarily be used in Lamentations of the Flame Princess (and hopefully will be useful for other OSR games).
My ideal may not be possible, but I would like a single chart with 1000 different possible encounters. I would like to have modifiers for three different states applicable to the party:
Location: wilderness / rural / urban
Vision: pitch black / dark (night) / light (day)
Behavior: reckless+noisy / relaxed+quiet / vigilant+silent
In general, the more deadly encounters should take place in the wilderness, pitch black or dark, and when they party is being reckless. (This actually does serve to punish them.) As you move to the other end of the spectrum, the encounters will become more mundane.
This chart should be usable everywhere (in a dungeon, farmhouse, town, the woods, mountains, etc.) The Referee will just have to adjust the encounter for it to make sense (or, perhaps play it as is to add to the weirdness and creepiness of it - like finding a lone, healthy child in a deep, dark dungeon).
Finally, when a monster or NPC is rolled, I'd love to also have some sort of chart to detail its motivations, as seen at Telecanter's Receding Rules, 1d8 and Dreams in the Lich House. I will try to develop something that combines their various ideas.
Something that isn't necessary for my chart is detailing HD (like Grognardling). This is something that could be determined when the encounter is rolled. Even though I'll be doing my chart differently, I'll probably include many of his monsters, since it's a good collection.
Below is my first draft. Note that it has less than 200 encounters, only uses two of the three modifiers, and doesn't feature any terrain encounters. I have a lot of work to do! But first I'm interested in hearing ideas and feedback before I take the time to do that work. Also, are there any glaring holes of monster/encounter categories? (Keeping in mind the setting of LotFP - I'm avoiding most humanoids and generic high fantasy monsters.)
I'm planning to add: oozes, slimes, fungi, flocks of various birds, weather, events, monster combos (rolling twice on the chart), animated objects, domestic and farm animals, and a variety of mundane humans of different occupations.
(And one point of clarification - dark really means night. The party can still have torches, lanterns, a campfire, etc., and have it count as "dark.")
|
Conditions of location:
|
Modifier to die roll:
|
|
Pitch Black Wilderness
|
+0
|
|
Pitch Black Rural
|
+20
|
|
Pitch Black Urban
|
+116
|
|
Dark Wilderness
|
+10
|
|
Dark Rural
|
+20
|
|
Dark Urban
|
+116
|
|
Light Wilderness
|
+94
|
|
Light Rural
|
+94
|
|
Light Urban
|
+116
|
|
1
|
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
|
Pitch black
|
Wilderness
|
|
2-10
|
Random Esoteric Monster (party level X
2)
|
Pitch Black
|
Wilderness
|
|
11-20
|
Random Esoteric Monster (party level
+2HD)
|
Dark
|
Wilderness
|
|
21
|
Vampire (Inhuman): blood
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
22
|
Vampire (Human): blood
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
23
|
Vampire (Inhuman): life energy
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
24
|
Vampire (Human): life energy
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
25
|
Vampire (Inhuman): emotions
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
26
|
Vampire (Human): emotions
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
27
|
Vampire (Inhuman): dreams
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
28
|
Vampire (Human): dreams
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
29
|
Vampire (Inhuman): soul
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
30
|
Vampire (Human): soul
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
31
|
Skinwalker: Exotic Animal
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
32
|
Skinwalker: Deer
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
33
|
Skinwalker: Badger
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
34
|
Skinwalker: Otter
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
35
|
Skinwalker: Hare
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
36
|
Skinwalker: Fox
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
37
|
Skinwalker: Bear
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
38
|
Skinwalker: Auroch
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
39
|
Skinwalker: Rat
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
40
|
Skinwalker: Boar
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
41
|
Skinwalker: Wolf (werewolf)
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
42
|
Spirit: Funnel
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
43
|
Spirit: Shadow
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
44
|
Spirit: Apparition (humanoid)
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
45
|
Spirit: Will-O-Wisp
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
46
|
Spirit: Ectomist
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
47
|
Spirit: Ball of Light
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
48
|
Spirit: Poltergeist
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
49
|
Spirit: Banshee
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
50
|
Demon: Lord
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
51
|
Demon: Nightmare
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
52
|
Demon: Ala
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
53
|
Demon: Tormenter
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
54
|
Demon: Succubus
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
55
|
Demon: Incubus
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
56
|
Demon: Possession
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
57
|
Demon: Trickster
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
58
|
Demon: Tempter
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
59
|
Demon: Pestilence
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
60
|
Possessed: Exotic Animal
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
61
|
Possessed: Deer
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
62
|
Possessed: Badger
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
63
|
Possessed: Otter
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
64
|
Possessed: Hare
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
65
|
Possessed: Fox
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
66
|
Possessed: Bear
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
67
|
Possessed: Auroch
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
68
|
Possessed: Rat
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
69
|
Possessed: Boar
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
70
|
Possessed: Wolf
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
71
|
Possessed: Human
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
72
|
Exotic Animal of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
73
|
Human of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
74
|
Hare of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
75
|
Fox of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
76
|
Bear of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
77
|
Auroch of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
78
|
Rat of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
79
|
Badger of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
80
|
Deer of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
81
|
Otter of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
82
|
Wolves of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
83
|
Boars of Unusual Size
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
84
|
Exotic Animal
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
85
|
Hare
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
86
|
Fox
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
87
|
Bear
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
88
|
Auroch
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
89
|
Rat
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
90
|
Badger
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
91
|
Deer
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
92
|
Otter
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
93
|
Wolf
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
94
|
Boar
|
Dark
|
Rural
|
|
95-105
|
Random Esoteric Monster (party level)
|
Light
|
Rural
|
|
106
|
Manticore (traditional, not high
fantasy version)
|
Light
|
Rural
|
|
107
|
Witch
|
Light
|
Rural
|
|
108
|
Siren
|
Light
|
Rural
|
|
109
|
Wasp of Unusual Size
|
Light
|
Rural
|
|
110
|
Ant of Unusual Size
|
Light
|
Rural
|
|
112
|
Beetle of Unusual Size
|
Light
|
Rural
|
|
113
|
Spider of Unusual Size
|
Light
|
Rural
|
|
114
|
Fly of Unusual Size
|
Light
|
Rural
|
|
115
|
Moth of Unusual Size
|
Light
|
Rural
|
|
116
|
Exotic Insect of Unusual Size
|
Light
|
Rural
|
|
117
|
Swarm of Ants
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
118
|
Swarm of Bees
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
119
|
Swarm of Beetles
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
120
|
Swarm of Moths
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
121
|
Swarm of Spiders
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
122
|
Swarm of Flies
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
123
|
Swarm of Exotic Insects
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
124
|
Swarm of Random, Mixed Insects
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
125
|
Tongue-Eating Louse
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
126
|
Parasite: Mindworm
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
127
|
Parasite: Infiltrator Spore
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
128
|
Parasite: The Real Earwig
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
129
|
Parasite: minor (botfly, tapeworm,
etc.)
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
130
|
Disease
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
131
|
Secret Door
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
132
|
Homunculi
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
133
|
Mimics
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
134
|
Local legend (Cryptid)
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
135-140
|
Cult
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
141
|
Cannibals
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
142-150
|
Local Travelers
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
151-155
|
Foreigners
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
156
|
Knight of Science
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
157-160
|
Thieves
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
161
|
Adventurer: Cleric
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
162
|
Adventurer: Fighter
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
163
|
Adventurer: Magic-User
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
164
|
Adventurer: Specialist
|
Light
|
Urban
|
|
165-199
|
Random Esoteric Monster (below party
level)
|
Light
|
Urban
|
