I struggled deciding how to participate in this Blogwagon. I'm not particularly enamored with random tables - I'd rather roll on them before a session to pre-plan encounters than during. I absolutely hate the concept of the "gonzo" RPG, it just reminds me too much of teaching grade schoolers. And I will fudge a dice roll if it pushes the evening in a better direction.
But as I was listening to a old episode of Between Two Cairns (the one where they review B10), Yochai dropped a gem which perfectly summed up my feelings on Randomness:
"I play roleplaying games to be surprised by my players." ~ Yochai Gal
I don't sit at the table to be entertained by tables or dice. I play roleplaying games with other humans - my friends - because I know they will do things that will surprise me and make me laugh. Or gross me out. Or completely flabbergast me.
For me, true randomness is the result of my conversations with my players and their interactions with each other in the world I've laid out. The dice and tables only matter as much as they help facilitate that conversation.
Don't get it twisted. I'm not saying we should get rid of dice and tables. I personally need them to make sure I don't fall into tried and true patterns. I how my players will respond if a hatchet wielding Goblin leaps out of the bushes. I don't know what they'll do if they find that same Goblin crying at the roadside or arguing with his Bugbear boyfriend.
And I have been told that Goblin CW romance drama is a trope I constantly fall back on. Sometimes we need random tables to save us from ourselves.
But we need to strike that balance between letting our random encounter tables be prompts to inspire our players - and loaded guns aimed at them. Nobody puts a Dragon on one of those because they're just really hoping the party gets a friendly reaction roll.
Okay, that's all I've got. Let me leave you with a table that will hopefully get the juice moving at your table.
d6 Random Enounters to surprise your players
1. Goblin & Bugbear having a lover's spat.
2. d20 Fighting Men milling about the roadside. Half of their company is experiencing severe intestinal distress.
3. Cyclops attempts to collect a toll.
4. Roc feasting on an adventuring party.
5. The party crosses paths with a Necromancer and his undead thrall (d8 Zombies.) One of the zombies is a familiar NPC.
6. A bizarre, disc shaped object appears in the sky just ahead.
