Behind the Screen: Let's go that Way!

It’s a week before your next game and you come up with a brilliant idea.  You plan out all the details.  The encounters are clever and mind bending.   The NPC’s are hand crafted to the point that they have more detail to them than some of the PC’s.  Situations lend themselves to the adventuring parties’ strengths and weaknesses... 

 Game day comes, you have the table set. The adventurers stand at the mouth of the cave.
“Let’s head back to town, I want to pick up some more parchment and ink.”

“Yeah, I need some supplies too.  OH! And we can catch a ship north.  Isn’t there supposed to be a sunken castle or something up there?” 
“Cool, let’s go.”
Then a lightning bolt comes out of the sky and strikes all of the adventurers dead on the spot….

If you’ve ran a tabletop game you know that Players, unfortunately, have minds of their own.  And situations like this pop up more frequently than most DM’s would care to admit.  Maybe not the stray lightning bolt from a clear sky, but all of the hard work, all of the intricate planning is put back in its folder and slid away in a drawer because the players decided to go a different rout.   

Enter the random encounter.  Stock monsters from the monsters manual, pre generated NPC’s from the book, or just faffing about shopping in town. 

Well…kinda. 
When ever I plan an adventure I also plan for the players to NOT go on the adventure. 

Generic Encounters

One thing I’ve put together for myself is the book of “Generic” encounters. These encounters are generic enough that they can be put into any setting but still give a little spice while the group is on the road, in town, or just to buy myself a little bit of time to set up the next encounter. 

 It doesn’t take a whole lot to put one of these notebooks together for yourself, but they can be invaluable when in a tight spot.  Each entry is just a couple of sentences, a roll or two, and a loose set of stats for NPC’s that might be needed. 

A trader on the road stops the group to try and sell them copper buttons and second hand traveling supplies.  He has a slave hidden in his wagon for a local land baron.
Sense Motive check to see that the trader is hiding something
Nome the Trader : HP 6, Blows his nose a lot.
Slave: Dehydrated and bloody cuts from ropes at Wrists and Ankles

Or

A fox has its leg caught in a bear trap.
Fox: 3 HP

Trap: STR 15 to open

As I continue this blog I’ll try to have a generic encounter to close out most posts.  Or if you have ideas for quick and easy generic encounters that isn’t the stock monster or bandits on the road situations feel free to put it in the comments.

Also, look for more on how to deal with Avoided Adventures in the future. =oD