Thursday, November 28, 2013

Why do monsters wander?

Two things inspired me to create my own wandering monster chart:

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