April 26, 2009

Random Wilderness Encounters Part II - The South Marshes

Making random encounter tables was fun the first time. I think I'll continue. This table presents ten random encounters in the South Marshes, south of Fallcrest. The area is suitable for adventurers of level 4-6.

Every day of wilderness travel, the adventurers have a 50% chance of a random wilderness encounter. If it happens, roll 1d10 and consult the table.

  • 1: 2 Phantom Warriors and 3 Spectres. Long ago, a band of mercenaries tried - and failed - to build a fortress in the marsh. Invade the ruins of Blackblade Hold, put the restless spirits to rest and steal their treasures.
  • 2: 4 Orc Drudges, 2 Orc Berserkers, 1 Orc Raider and 1 Orc Eye of Gruumsh. Is there an orc camp nearby?
  • 3: 2 Greenscale Hunters, 2 Greenscale Darters and 1 Greenscale Marsh Mystic. The local lizardman tribe is usually peaceful, but reacts badly to intruders. Making friends with the tribe might grant the PC:s a safe place to camp away from home, and they can point the group to nearby trouble (read: all the other encounters in this table).
  • 4: 2 Ghouls and 3 Wights. There's an old crypt near Blackblade Hold. It's likely to have treasure.
  • 5: 1 Cave Bear and 3 Bugbear Stranglers. A tribe of Bugbears is terrorizing the area. The lizardfolk would pay handsomely for their heads, and they might have treasure.
  • 6: 2 Shadar-Kai Chainfighter, 1 Shadar-Kai Gloomblade and 2 Shadow Hounds. There is a portal to the Shadowfell in the darkest, deepest parts of the marsh. This can take the PC:s near Doomhold in that place - a fortress held by Shadar-Kai and Dark Ones.
  • 7: 2 Sahuagin Priests, 2 Sahuagin Raiders and 5 Sahuagin Guards. The Sahuagin have a lair somewhere along the coast filled with their stolen loot.
  • 8: 1 (tame) Carrion Crawler and 4 Crimson Acolytes. A cult of Orcus is holed up in a collection of rotting huts in a corner of the swamp. Find them, kill them, take their stuff. The church of the Raven Queen or Pelor might thank you.
  • 9: 1 Eladrin Twilight Incanter, 2 Fey Knights and 2 Spectral Panthers. The most vibrant parts of the marsh have a portal to near Everfall in the Feywild. It is an Eladrin city, and the Eladrin are know to go on Wild Hunts occasionally.
  • 10: 1 Foulspawn Grue and 4 Foulspawn Manglers. Where did these guys come from? Can they be stopped? Of course they can.

If a rolled encounter is connected to a "solved" adventures, it does not occur. In this case, reroll once. If the second roll also indicates a "dead" encounter, no encounter happnens. In this way, the wilderness becomes safer as the heroes finish quests.

(Here, encounters range from level 4 to 8.)

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