Goodman Games

I noticed some of the adventures call for rolling for random encounters -- but I don't remember ever seeing rules on how you do that. Do you roll a d20? What number does a random encounter trigger off of?

Are there general rules for this or is it supposed to just be figured out ad hoc by the GM?

My personal to-go for that is just use them as needed. If the PCs get too complacent or rely to assuredly on being able to rest*, I might throw something in from the 'random' list. Sometimes I might just set some odds in my head on the spot, and roll a die, but the die and the odds depend on how things are going, not a fixed schedule.

The intent of the game, I believe, is to use whatever method you prefer to resolve that. DCC assumes you've played other games, and have favorite ways of doing things -- which admittedly is not always the case. For some folks DCC is their first game!


--------------
* Sometimes being able to rest is fine. I wouldn't do that all of the time, because that doesn't allow the game to breathe...

Ah, I kind of guessed that that was the intent, but wasn't sure because it wasn't spelled out anywhere. I've been using the D&D 5e way of doing it, which is rolling a d20 every "turn" and triggering a random encounter on a 19-20, possibly some lower number if the danger is higher. But there may be better ways of doing it.

I guess if it's not really laid out as a specific suggestion in the adventure, you could do it any way you like.

I keep a cummulative chance for random encounters each time I roll. So like.. first random encounter check, I roll d6 and on a 6 one happens, then on second check, I roll d6 and it happens on 5-6, then on a 4-6 next roll, etc. If a random encounter does happen, I reset back to 6 for the next check.

Since 1978, these have been my go-to methods. First from B1... ...then from the DMG...

BanjoJohn wrote: ↑Mon Mar 30, 2020 4:58 am I guess if it's not really laid out as a specific suggestion in the adventure, you could do it any way you like.

I keep a cumulative chance for random encounters each time I roll. So like.. first random encounter check, I roll d6 and on a 6 one happens, then on second check, I roll d6 and it happens on 5-6, then on a 4-6 next roll, etc. If a random encounter does happen, I reset back to 6 for the next check.

Pretty much how I handle things as well ... when writing my own adventures I simply create random encounter charts for specific areas as needed. Same goes for when the characters are running around the sandbox as well.

I usually roll a d6 every turn or hex. By default 6 means there is an encounter, but in more populated or dangerous areas 5-6, or even 4-6 might yield a roll on the random encounter tables. I was considering writing up encounter tables that merge the frequency and the random encounter entries in a single chart, but ended up not wasting time on it.