What was your worst DM ever? This thread is impervious - roll to disbelieve!

[Milodiah]

There's just something about the idea of a DM rolling random encounters at the table that genuinely pisses me off.

If you're going to roll up random encounters, there's no reason to make everyone wait for you to do it. Statistics and probability work the same way regardless of whether you're doing the pre-session planning or are three hours into said session, so just do it beforehand.

[Lord Torath]

There's just something about the idea of a DM rolling random encounters at the table that genuinely pisses me off.

If you're going to roll up random encounters, there's no reason to make everyone wait for you to do it. Statistics and probability work the same way regardless of whether you're doing the pre-session planning or are three hours into said session, so just do it beforehand.

I don't know. There's just something ominously motivating about the sound of the DM rolling dice behind the screen. I certainly agree that the DM should know what encounters may occur, and have those statted up and ready, but rolling to see if a random encounter occurs during play? I have no problem with that.

And, in the interests of full disclosure, I am a DM who does that, and also have played with a DM who did that.

[AMFV]

There's just something about the idea of a DM rolling random encounters at the table that genuinely pisses me off.

If you're going to roll up random encounters, there's no reason to make everyone wait for you to do it. Statistics and probability work the same way regardless of whether you're doing the pre-session planning or are three hours into said session, so just do it beforehand.

That isn't always possible. Frequently random encounters come into play when they players decide that rather than explore the ominous tomb you've spent six hours working on, they're going to go and explore the forest instead, and now you have nothing prepared at all. So you need to be able to think quickly and a random encounter will typically give you the time you need to figure out what direction to go.

At least that's what I most often use them for.

[MReav]

Not me who went through this, but if you've got some time to kill, I recommend looking up "Children of the Sandler" on Youtube.

Please note, the guy will often preface things with long commentaries regarding copyright, government, work, or ponies (guy does MLP: The Mentally Advanced Series), so if that stuff isn't interesting, annotations and comments will occasionally provide links to skip that stuff.

My worst GM experience was my friend who ran a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Cinematic Unisystem campaign. I don't remember all the details, but it was a string of stupidity that ultimately culminated in us being attacked by Subways sandwich monsters, and us declaring a moratorium on him running for nearly a year.

[Sartharina]

There's just something about the idea of a DM rolling random encounters at the table that genuinely pisses me off.

If you're going to roll up random encounters, there's no reason to make everyone wait for you to do it. Statistics and probability work the same way regardless of whether you're doing the pre-session planning or are three hours into said session, so just do it beforehand.

As others have said - most Random Encounters occur when players do something unexpected/unplanned, like spontaneously make camp in a dungeon, or go somewhere else.

Also - Pre-rolling takes the fun out of rolling. DMs have to have fun too. Or do your players pre-roll all their combats as well?

[Visivicous]

My worst GM experience was my friend who ran a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Cinematic Unisystem campaign. I don't remember all the details, but it was a string of stupidity that ultimately culminated in us being attacked by Subways sandwich monsters, and us declaring a moratorium on him running for nearly a year.

Did anyone think your friend did this intentionally? Created something that horrible to get out of ever running a game?

Growing up, my brother would purposefully leave food or grease on dishes to prove that he 'was no good' at it. I was the designated dish washer quite often as a result. Your post just reminded me of that .

[MReav]

Did anyone think your friend did this intentionally? Created something that horrible to get out of ever running a game?

Growing up, my brother would purposefully leave food or grease on dishes to prove that he 'was no good' at it. I was the designated dish washer quite often as a result. Your post just reminded me of that .

Well, I don't know. Since then, he's gotten a lot better.

[Ravens_cry]

As others have said - most Random Encounters occur when players do something unexpected/unplanned, like spontaneously make camp in a dungeon, or go somewhere else.

Also - Pre-rolling takes the fun out of rolling. DMs have to have fun too. Or do your players pre-roll all their combats as well?

On the other hand, if you are going to use Random Encounters as a primary encounter method, or even a key secondary, a little pre-rolling can help give time for the gentle art of adductive reasoning, taking events and stringing them into a connected narrative.
For example, let's say you roll 4 gnolls and lizardman. Why is the lizardman fighting alongside the gnolls? Are they free or slaves? If they are slaves are they loyal or would they, if they saw the fight turn against their master, join the fight on the side of the PC? If they are free, again, how loyal are they? Would they stand to the end with their furry blood brothers or would they cut and run once things get too hot?
The possibilities are endless with abductive reasoning, a favourite tool of conspiracy theorists everywhere!
The players can help too. Plunk something incongruous in front of them and listen to them try and puzzle it out. The most interesting answer is the right answer.
Now, I am not a fan of random encounters, I find they are all too often busy work that is filler between things that matter, but with abductive reasoning, they can matter.

[DontEatRawHagis]

I had one of mya players agree to take over my Dark Sun campaign when I left college.

He was the most experienced DMs at the table but only played Forgotten Realms. He asked if there was any way for him to planar shift the players into FR. To which I said they could travel through the Grey which is dangerous and can cause them to lose all sense of self. Or he could make it that one of the Sorcerer Kings created a portal into FR in order to take over.

Instead he sent the 3 lvl5 players up against a Tembo, I played the Tembo as written where it would kill everyone that mattered to its prey before killing him to build up to a good fight when he leveled up more. Instead the new DM killed two of the PCs and asked if the guys wanted to play Forgotten Realms instead. Needless to say they were all pissed and never played with him again.

Now I will just tell my players what I plan if I have to leave a campaign I run.

[Milodiah]

I should specify that I'm not a fan of random encounters at all, because they are just that; randomly generated, without background or intrinsic meaning. If a DM just picks a monster or two at random and throws them at the party, then they just kill the monster and go on with their lives, no big deal. The way I see it, encounters should be something meaningful and relevant to what's going on. In my game, the bandits they may hit are being pursued by the law, are preying on the nearby settlements, have been mentioned to the PCs in the last inn they stopped at for the previous two reasons, and generally have an effect on the entire world, as small as it may be. Random encounter tables pulled from at the time of the encounter and ignored both before and after the encounter just seem to me like the DM abruptly craps them out onto the landscape exclusively to be a speedbump for the PCs and nothing else. Sometimes it's okay to put down some speedbumps here and there; I'm fine with PCs getting hit by carnivorous beasts in a dangerous forest, or with sewer creatures in a disused sewer. But more than that, especially in terms of sentient beings and people, is just absurd.


I should mention that when I worldbuild, I build worlds, everything is interwoven. Bandit camps are placed in relation to amounts of trade following certain routes between certain cities, goblin camps have been placed in relation to an evil army's slow desertion and eventual dissolution in the region, etc. etc. Not much is random, because to me random implies arbitrary and self-contained.

[Kaun]

I should mention that when I worldbuild, I build worlds, everything is interwoven. Bandit camps are placed in relation to amounts of trade following certain routes between certain cities, goblin camps have been placed in relation to an evil army's slow desertion and eventual dissolution in the region, etc. etc. Not much is random, because to me random implies arbitrary and self-contained.

Yeah the problem i find with this approach is that everything is built to make sense to one person. Its built using the GM's rationality and their inherent logic paths.

I find random tables add more depth to a setting when used properly simply for their added colour.

People often misuse tables; "ow the players went some where un-expected. I will just roll on a random encounter table. Here PC's fight these 7 harpies and lets move on with the game." Thats just boring table use. The real trick is for the GM to have to reverse engineer the situation on the fly.

Why are 7 Harpies suddenly outside the abandoned roadhouse? What are they doing and why are they doing it? The players will often voice their confusing and suggest options about the possibly reasons to each other. Use these ideas, weave bits of them into the story. It makes the players feel smart for figuring things out and a lot of the extra work is done for you.

Random tables are an awesome tool when properly utilized. But even a shovel will look stupid and pointless if its only used in the place of an umbrella.

[Sartharina]

Random tables are an awesome tool when properly utilized. But even a shovel will look stupid and pointless if its only used in the place of an umbrella.

I think I want to sig this.

[Kaun]

I think I want to sig this.

Go for your life.

[Milodiah]

Yeah the problem i find with this approach is that everything is built to make sense to one person. Its built using the GM's rationality and their inherent logic paths.

I find random tables add more depth to a setting when used properly simply for their added colour.

People often misuse tables; "ow the players went some where un-expected. I will just roll on a random encounter table. Here PC's fight these 7 harpies and lets move on with the game." Thats just boring table use. The real trick is for the GM to have to reverse engineer the situation on the fly.

Why are 7 Harpies suddenly outside the abandoned roadhouse? What are they doing and why are they doing it? The players will often voice their confusing and suggest options about the possibly reasons to each other. Use these ideas, weave bits of them into the story. It makes the players feel smart for figuring things out and a lot of the extra work is done for you.

Random tables are an awesome tool when properly utilized. But even a shovel will look stupid and pointless if its only used in the place of an umbrella.

Excellent, we're in agreement then. I've used a random generator or two, but at the same time flicked through until I've figured out exactly how the new thing fits in. Because 100% pre-placing of everything is several orders of magnitude more psychotic than even I am when it comes to world design.

[Kaun]

Excellent, we're in agreement then. I've used a random generator or two, but at the same time flicked through until I've figured out exactly how the new thing fits in. Because 100% pre-placing of everything is several orders of magnitude more psychotic than even I am when it comes to world design.

I generally try to stop myself from flicking. Purely because some awesome stories have arisen from the sudden terror that comes with the realization that, thanks to that table, you now have to rationalize to your players why their characters have just walked out of an Inn in the middle of a desert Oasis to find two fully grown woolly Mammoths and an enraged Githzerai.

[Milodiah]

I'll concede that the main problem I've been having lately isn't that it gives me too random of stuff, it's that the particular generator I'm using gives too little randomness.

You want an encounter for a level 2 party in the marshes? Here, try four zombie kobolds.

You want an encounter for a level 5 party in dense woods? Why not eleven zombie kobolds!

You want an encounter for a level 8 party in the prairie? Have a couple dozen zombie kobolds!

I gotta flick through just to get something interesting. Also not in the double-digits of CR1 monsters, because that's just annoying for everyone.

If it ever gave me some mammoths and a githzerai I'd be freaking overjoyed.

[Sartharina]

Excellent, we're in agreement then. I've used a random generator or two, but at the same time flicked through until I've figured out exactly how the new thing fits in. Because 100% pre-placing of everything is several orders of magnitude more psychotic than even I am when it comes to world design.

No, you don't 'figure out exactly how it fits in' - You just make it sorta-kinda fit in, and go from there. If it doesn't seem to make sense yet, it will later. You don't need everything planned out - the story can tell itself.

[bulbaquil]

I'll concede that the main problem I've been having lately isn't that it gives me too random of stuff, it's that the particular generator I'm using gives too little randomness.

You want an encounter for a level 2 party in the marshes? Here, try four zombie kobolds.

You want an encounter for a level 5 party in dense woods? Why not eleven zombie kobolds!

You want an encounter for a level 8 party in the prairie? Have a couple dozen zombie kobolds!

I gotta flick through just to get something interesting. Also not in the double-digits of CR1 monsters, because that's just annoying for everyone.

If it ever gave me some mammoths and a githzerai I'd be freaking overjoyed.

Ugh, similar issues here. Just because 24 skunks are technically (in Pathfinder) a CR 6 encounter does not mean I should send them after my level-4 party. It's not a challenge; it's a waste of time.

[Kaun]

Ugh, similar issues here. Just because 24 skunks are technically (in Pathfinder) a CR 6 encounter does not mean I should send them after my level-4 party. It's not a challenge; it's a waste of time.

I can't believe fate handed you a Skunkalanche and you turned it down. That encounter was never about combat.

[bulbaquil]

I can't believe fate handed you a Skunkalanche and you turned it down. That encounter was never about combat.

Heh-heh. There are times when "wasting time" is what needs to be done...

[Milodiah]

I can't believe fate handed you a Skunkalanche and you turned it down. That encounter was never about combat.

You open the door, only to find yourself confronted with a wall of writhing fur. The room is skunks, from floor to ceiling. Stacked one atop the other, it is a solid mass of skunks, filling the entire length, width, and height of the room. You can only guess that there could be more skunks in here than there are now, but it would require an equal number of the original skunks be displaced to a dimension beyond those of the physical world. As your olfactory nerves catch up to the maelstrom of sensation with which your eyes and ears are flooding, you perceive an odor man was not meant to know: skunk stink compressed, compacted, purified, and heated into a pure diamond of nausea. With the door now open, the sheer pressure of the mammalian ocean before you urges the skunks outward, filling the hallway in a matter of seconds.

Make a reflex save to avoid being buried alive.

[Lord Torath]

You open the door, only to find yourself confronted with a wall of writhing fur. The room is skunks, from floor to ceiling. Stacked one atop the other, it is a solid mass of skunks, filling the entire length, width, and height of the room. You can only guess that there could be more skunks in here than there are now, but it would require an equal number of the original skunks be displaced to a dimension beyond those of the physical world. As your olfactory nerves catch up to the maelstrom of sensation with which your eyes and ears are flooding, you perceive an odor man was not meant to know: skunk stink compressed, compacted, purified, and heated into a pure diamond of nausea. With the door now open, the sheer pressure of the mammalian ocean before you urges the skunks outward, filling the hallway in a matter of seconds.

Make a reflex save to avoid being buried alive.

I think I just found my new worst DM ever!

[bulbaquil]

You open the door, only to find yourself confronted with a wall of writhing fur. The room is skunks, from floor to ceiling. Stacked one atop the other, it is a solid mass of skunks, filling the entire length, width, and height of the room. You can only guess that there could be more skunks in here than there are now, but it would require an equal number of the original skunks be displaced to a dimension beyond those of the physical world. As your olfactory nerves catch up to the maelstrom of sensation with which your eyes and ears are flooding, you perceive an odor man was not meant to know: skunk stink compressed, compacted, purified, and heated into a pure diamond of nausea. With the door now open, the sheer pressure of the mammalian ocean before you urges the skunks outward, filling the hallway in a matter of seconds.

Make a reflex save to avoid being buried alive.

I think I just found my new worst DM ever!

You kidding? This sounds like an awesome campaign!

[Hexalan]

Behold - the legend of Tucker's Kobolds. How innumerable hordes of powerless weaklings overwhelm powerful adventures with sheer numbers and a cunning DM.

[AMFV]

Behold - the legend of Tucker's Kobolds. How innumerable hordes of powerless weaklings overwhelm powerful adventures with sheer numbers and a cunning DM.

And only a little bit of cheating...

[Milodiah]

"Quantity is its own form of quality."
-Joseph Stalin

[Inevitability]

I don't see why you should randomly decide the random encounter. I prefer to write up a list of things that make a nice challenge and are interesting and then just pick the most appropriate one when the situation calls for a random encounter.

[Tanngrisnir]

I don't see why you should randomly decide the random encounter. I prefer to write up a list of things that make a nice challenge and are interesting and then just pick the most appropriate one when the situation calls for a random encounter.

That's what my DM does. He always has a bunch of different encounters created that make sense and fit in with the area/mood etc. Whenever we then need to roll for a random happening, he just rolls and picks one of those. It works really well, and is a great way of bringing a world to life. We're currently in a massive Outsider-controlled city, so each day we have a few random rolls on stuff. Sometimes it is just overhearing an argument between an Angel and a Devil, sometimes it's an Imp pick pocket, sometimes it's a prostitute with a proposition, sometimes it's a mugging etc. Really cool way to make places feel alive and real.

[Earthwalker]

Random tables are an awesome tool when properly utilized. But even a shovel will look stupid and pointless if its only used in the place of an umbrella.

I can't believe you are ragging on my Shovella again, I am telling you these things are a licenase to make money. When winter rolls around people are going to want to clear thier paths and then have something to keep them dry while walking. They practically sell themselves.

[Sith_Happens]

So someone in the 3.5 subforum linked this, and, well, it's a doozy.