Nighttime Encounters
-
In case you haven’t noticed, I save my nighttime wilderness encounters for those who pull a watch overnight as the other characters sleep. It’s a fun way to give players a moment to shine and participate – especially if they’re uncomfortable with the roleplay aspect of the game. This is a similar encounter to my…
-
Once upon a time, orcs were a quarrelsome race of humanoids, who were as likely to stick the pointy end of a blade into friends, neighbors, and leaders as they were an enemy. But alas, that was then and this is now. These days, orcs are no longer a monster you’ll find in the current…
-
What if instead of wakey wakey eggs and bakey, the party woke up to a daytime wilderness encounter? Or, how about all three? Where would one find eggs, bacon, and a daytime wilderness encounter along the Triboar Trail, anyway? Why, Abner Feldman’s farmstead, of course! Oh Abner. You poor, unfortunate bastard. The morning is heavy…
-
We can repurpose Abner Feldman’s farmstead (see yesterday’s hobgoblin daytime wilderness encounter) as the stage for a hobgoblin nighttime wilderness encounter as well. Everything doesn’t need to jump out of the bushes at the party once they bed down beneath the stars for the night, you know. In fact, who’s to say this couldn’t be…
-
I’ve never been a fan of the Goblin Trail encounters in Chapter 1: Goblin Arrows. They feel like incomplete encounters or, dare I say, lazy game design. Yeah yeah. The game was designed with new Dungeon Masters and players in mind, so why not introduce both parties to the Wisdom (Perception) mechanic by tossing a…
-
Just as there is no daytime result to roll for ghouls on the Wilderness Encounters table in Chapter 3: The Spider’s Web, there’s also no nighttime result to roll for the ogre. It would appear that ogres are afraid of the dark or, at a minimum, have enough sense to realize they’re at a disadvantage…
-
Since characters often deploy their long rest mechanic at the end of an adventuring day, it’s not uncommon for a nighttime random encounter to occur as the party sleeps – especially when camping outdoors. It’s why there’s almost always a discussion around which characters are standing watch as the rest of the party dozes. And…
-
A homebrewed creation to accompany yesterday’s flash fiction. I come across some really cool fantasy art on Pinterest, and like to use them as writing prompts or food for thought for encounters. Unfortunately, I don’t know who the artist for this one is, but its gorgeous and inspiring. Definitely going into my random encounter table…