Wilderness Encounters

The Game Master should check for random encounters in the wilderness about every four hours of game time; this translates nicely to three night checks and three daytime checks. If your players choose to stand three night watches, you simply check for each watch (or otherwise do whatever seems best to you); in the daytime, check morning, afternoon, and evening. To check for a wilderness encounter, roll 1d6; on a roll of 1, an encounter occurs. If a wilderness encounter is indicated, roll 2d8 on the appropriate table below. The Game Master should think carefully about how the encounter happens; check for surprise in advance, and if the monster is not surprised, it may be considered to have had time to set up an ambush (at the GM's option). Roll 2d8 Desert or Barren Grassland Inhabited Territories 2 Dragon, Desert Dragon, Plains Dragon, Cloud 3 Hellhound Troll Ghoul 4 Giant, Fire Fly, Giant Bugbear 5 Purple Worm Scorpion, Giant Goblin 6 Fly, Giant NPC Party: Bandit Centaur 7 Scorpion, Giant Lion NPC Party: Bandit 8 Camel Boar, Wild NPC Party: Merchant 9 Spider, Giant Tarantula NPC Party: Merchant NPC Party: Pilgrim 10 NPC Party: Merchant Wolf NPC Party: Noble 11 Hawk Bee, Giant Dog 12 NPC Party: Bandit Gnoll Gargoyle* 13 Ogre Goblin Gnoll 14 Griffon Flicker Beast Ogre 15 Gnoll Wolf, Dire Minotaur 16 Dragon, Mountain Giant, Hill Vampire* Roll 2d8 Jungle Mountains or Hills Ocean 2 Dragon, Forest Dragon, Ice Dragon, Sea 3 NPC Party: Bandit Roc (1d6: 1-3 Large, 4-5 Huge, 6 Giant) Hydra 4 Goblin Deceiver Whale, Sperm 5 Hobgoblin Lycanthrope, Werewolf* Crocodile, Giant 6 Centipede, Giant Mountain Lion Crab, Giant 7 Snake, Giant Python Wolf Whale, Killer 8 Elephant Spider, Giant Crab Octopus, Giant 9 Antelope Hawk Shark, Mako 10 Jaguar Orc NPC Party: Merchant 11 Stirge Bat, Giant NPC Party: Buccaneer (Pirate) 12 Beetle, Giant Tiger Hawk, Giant Shark, Bull 13 Caecilia, Giant Giant, Hill Roc (1d8: 1-5 Huge, 6-8 Giant) 14 Shadow* Chimera Shark, Great White 15 NPC Party: Merchant Wolf, Dire Mermaid 16 Lycanthrope, Weretiger* Dragon, Mountain Sea Serpent Roll 2d8 River or Riverside Swamp Woods or Forest 2 Dragon, Swamp Dragon, Swamp Dragon, Forest 3 Fish, Giant Piranha Shadow* Alicorn (see Unicorn) 4 Stirge Troll Treant 5 Fish, Giant Bass Lizard, Giant Draco Orc 6 NPC Party: Merchant Centipede, Giant Boar, Wild 7 Lizard Man Leech, Giant Bear, Black 8 Crocodile Lizard Man Hawk, Giant 9 Frog, Giant Crocodile Antelope 10 Fish, Giant Catfish Stirge Wolf 11 NPC Party: Buccaneer Orc Ogre 12 Troll Toad, Giant (see Frog, Giant) Bear, Grizzly 13 Jaguar Lizard Man, Subterranean Wolf, Dire 14 Nixie Blood Rose Giant, Hill 15 Water Termite, Giant Hangman Tree Owlbear 16 Dragon, Forest Basilisk Unicorn