Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Review: Judges Guild Encounter Chart Fragments 2

[I actually found another couple of pages, including the first page (page 5). So I can finally credit these tables to "the prolific and talented Judicator, Richard T. Mueller, of the Iowa City Wargaming Confederation." I will add the full credits and information when I go back and review page 5.]

Enchanted Monsters

If a random wandering enchanted monster was encountered directly in my old campaign it was usually because they had escaped the control of their dead master/summoner/maker. Such creatures were almost always considered to be Enemies and thus have a natural hostile reaction to any creature capable of making/summoning them. [In my current game they would roll 1d6 on the the Reaction Table instead of 2d6, increasing the chance of a hostile reaction to the player characters, but not automatically attacking.] Elementals would be particularly destructive as they attempt to reduce the world to their elemental nature.

Two of my favourite enchanted monsters are the Infernal Machine (essentially a magical killer robot with all the endearing qualities of a Berserker from Saberhagen's stories), and the Animus (an immaterial spirit that possesses things and animates them, usually with great animosity). Eradicating the animus was quite difficult as it needed to be banished (either by a cleric or a magical spell). Breaking the object that it was animating simply frees it to find another body. Fighting furniture may seem quite farcical, but can actually be rather dangerous (said, as the chair runs off with the magic user).

Whilst "Statue" on this table is supposed to represent an enchanted statue, I felt that these were better placed as part of a Ruin, which was a different part of my own encounter tables (which included encountering locations). Not to mention that my Special Encounters lucky dip box was initially filled with the contents of the Wilderland's hex crawl locations (as more involved and less improvised encounters). So "Statues" (with a lesser probability) became an encounter with a petrified creature. Roll again on the encounter tables and see who had the misfortune to piss off a medusa or cockatrice (the basilisk in my game was poisonous - in that it would kill you stone dead).

ENCHANTED MONSTERSCTTNRDCLFR
Animus0305080706
Clay Golem1317181513
Flesh Golem2127262118
Stone Golem2735322521
Iron Golem3141362722
Statue8078704953
Homonculus8489775963
Infernal Machine8685806266
Invisible Stalker9190877278
Juggernaut9292928283
Efreet9393938586
Djinn9494948889
Air Elemental9595959091
Water Elemental9696969293
Fire Elemental9797979494
Earth Elemental9898989696
Salamander9999999897
Other0000000000
ENCHANTED MONSTERSHLMNRVSWJG
Animus0505040303
Clay Golem1011--0405
Flesh Golem1415080809
Stone Golem1617101010
Iron Golem1718111111
Statue4343374141
Homonculus5353475151
Infernal Machine5555545454
Invisible Stalker6767666969
Juggernaut7270747070
Efreet7777787575
Djinn8282828080
Air Elemental8585858383
Water Elemental8686959191
Fire Elemental8989--9292
Earth Elemental9292969494
Salamander9595979595
Other0000000000
ENCHANTED MONSTERSDSCOSEPSAE
Animus0208--02--
Clay Golem0416--03--
Flesh Golem0722--40*--
Stone Golem0826--05--
Iron Golem0928--06--
Statue18342455--
Homonculus2642--6508
Infernal Machine4150547638
Invisible Stalker5660649148
Juggernaut71706792--
Efreet7672729358
Djinn8175749468
Air Elemental8579809580
Water Elemental--869096--
Fire Elemental8888----90
Earth Elemental9191--97--
Salamander9593--9896
Other0000000000

Other suggestions for encounters: Demon Warriors, Demon of the Black Hand, and Familiars.

Huornings

This table was actually accompanied by an note (one of the few tables to have an explicit explanation of an entry).

"Note: Huorns are defined as all semi-aware plant life as might be affected by a speak with plants but otherwise non-communicative, non-mobile and relatively harmless."

There was also a helpful listing of various Carnivorous Plants (with OD&D stats) written by Greg Jacobs that accompanied this page of the encounter table in the Journal.

The revised tables I used in my campaign had a much greater listing of dangerous plants, based on the fact that an encounter shouldn't just be a passive meeting with something, but rather something that interacts directly with the party. For example encounter tables shouldn't provide an encounter with normal animals like a deer or a kangaroo. They may be frequently encountered whilst travelling but won't really interact with the party. Instead if the party wishes to interact with them they go on an explicit hunting expedition and depending on the hunter's abilities it determines what they come back with (and if the fumble their hunting roll, they get an encounter instead). Similarly if a character wishes to find a huorn, they can simply go look for one (I tend to use the Celtic Tree Calendar as a guide to the personality of each sort of tree).

HUORNINGSCTTNRDCLFR
Huorns7264626135
Dryads7365636445
Carnivorous Plants7568686960
Ents8085838180
Shambling Mounds8288868587
Running Vines9593939397
Others0000000000
HUORNINGSHLMNRVSWJG
Huorns7272433230
Dryads7575483535
Carnivorous Plants8080635565
Ents8787736066
Shambling Mounds8989807070
Running Vines9696959095
Others0000000000
HUORNINGSDSCOSEPSAE
Huorns8259--07--
Dryads8361--08--
Carnivorous Plants8868------
Ents8978--98--
Shambling Mounds9080--99--
Running Vines9590------
Others0000--00--

Suggested others: Vampire Vine, and Vampire Tree.

Simians

This is table which was entirely too passive for my liking. Although I should state that "Monkeys" should be added to every encounter table. Both because they act in a similar manner to "Birds" (cf Avians below) that may alert others to your presence, but they can also be used to steal things and trash a party's camp looking for food. Plus they throw shit and can thoroughly be a bane to a party if they don't like you.

SIMIANSCTTNRDCLFR
Apes0507091015
Carnivorous Apes0609121725
White Apes1619222735
Yetis1720232938
Baboons1923265550
Chimps7976757560
Orangutan8988878580
Gorillas9090909090
Others0000000000
SIMIANSHLMNRVSWJG
Apes1715100810
Carnivorous Apes2525152020
White Apes3232252525
Yetis4045272626
Baboons5050354040
Chimps9090657070
Orangutan9595808585
Gorillas9696909090
Others0000000000
SIMIANSDSCOSEPSAE
Apes1010--03--
Carnivorous Apes2515--05--
White Apes3030--2197
Yetis--32--23--
Baboons5545--26--
Chimps8575--76--
Orangutan9080--81--
Gorillas9590--90--
Others0000--0000

Suggested others: Trogs, Mountain Apes, and Clakars.

Avians

Again the idea that an encounter should have a direct interaction with the party rather than simply be something the party passively meets had an effect here. In this case the bird species that are specifically named were all intelligent species in my old campaign (as a direct result of this table), and thus provided an opportunity for direct negotiation. Many could speak the common tongue (in fact a bird's tongue was the material for a tongues potion), although eagles generally didn't deign to converse with lesser creatures (unless they grovelled in appropriate awe of it's majesty).

The exception was storks, which were replaced by cranes as a symbol of good luck that granted you a Blessing. [I also added a few more mythical birds such as Firebirds to my version of the encounter tables.]

Birds was a fun one, because, unless you were suitably stealthy, they would raise a clamour which might alert others to your presence and location, increasing the chance for a subsequent encounter.

AVIANSCTTNRDCLFR
Birds1309111314
Crows3829313329
Eagles4345384036
Great Eagles4547414339
Harpies4750454846
Ravens5760555856
Rocs6265616361
Stirges6772697071
Storks8284797576
Swan Maids8385807677
Giant Owls8486827882
Flightless Birds8587848384
Owls8790898994
Vultures8993949497
Gulls9598999999
Others0000000000
AVIANSHLMNRVSWJG
Birds0201201310
Crows1111321816
Eagles2123392320
Great Eagles3031423630
Harpies3636484646
Ravens4545585656
Rocs5656616161
Stirges6666717374
Storks6969817676
Swan Maids7070827777
Giant Owls7777848484
Flightless Birds7979858585
Owls8686909595
Vultures9696939797
Gulls9999999999
Others0000000000
AVIANSDSCOSEPSAE
Birds1404143020
Crows2416193535
Eagles3123263742
Great Eagles3426293845
Harpies3932313948
Ravens4342364558
Rocs5545394666
Stirges6255444767
Storks6462545474
Swan Maids6564555575
Giant Owls6865575878
Flightless Birds7868--59--
Owls8378586481
Vultures9684596589
Gulls9999999999
Others0000000000

Suggested others: Finnish Eagles and Melnibonean Owls.

Saurians

There are lots of reasons for me to dislike this one, and as a result it was the first table I modified. In fact I removed the dinosaurs and created a Lost World table that featured a lot more dinosaurs. In fact I eventually created two, one for Pleistocene megafauna as well. I believe a lot of my source material was the excellent Chivalry & Sorcery supplement Saurians.

The Surrounding Terrain exception was made a part of the initial terrain type determination. Along with coasts (CO), rivers (RV), ships passengers (PS), and aerial encounters (AE). The lizard and snake types were expanded so the nature of the snake was immediately determined. Amphisobeana and Hoop Snakes were added (of course). Crocmen were added (which are much more like the pictured Lizard Men - my Lizard Men were lithe and fast and great dancers and very aboriginal). Probabilities were altered to embrace Australian sensibilities.

Still it is interesting to see what was considered "Saurian" back in the day.

SAURIANSCTTNRDCLFR
Basilisks0101010202
Brontosaurus------0304
Bulette--02020505
Cockatrices0203030707
Couatls--------08
Crocodiles----------
Elasmosauri----------
Frogs1915181522
Gargoyles2118211826
Giant Crocodiles----------
Giant Frogs--------27
Giant Lizards------1928
Giant Sea Snake----------
Giant Snake------2029
Giant Toad------2130
Giant Tortoise------2231
Kopoacinth----------
Lizards4128313746
Lizard Men4331344049
Manticoras4442354251
Medusae4543364453
Monitor Lizards----374655
Mososauri----------
Mottled Worms----------
Plesiosauri----------
Pterodactyls4644384757
Purple Worms4745394858
Ropers4846404959
Salamanders----------
Sea Ropers----------
Sea Snakes----------
Stegosauri------5061
Toads5856506066
Tortoises6866607071
Triceratops------7576
Trolls7373677781
Turtles8883828286
Tyrannosauri------8388
Snakes9393939898
Other9595950000
Surrounding Terrain000000----
SAURIANSHLMNRVSWJG
Basilisks0303020102
Brontosaurus----070809
Bulette0404----10
Cockatrices0707080911
Couatls0808091012
Crocodiles----191919
Elasmosauri----20----
Frogs1818283131
Gargoyles2323293232
Giant Crocodiles----3233--
Giant Frogs----353838
Giant Lizards2424363940
Giant Sea Snake----37----
Giant Snake2626384042
Giant Toad----3941--
Giant Tortoise----40----
Kopoacinth----41----
Lizards4646454646
Lizard Men4747494850
Manticoras5050514951
Medusae5353535053
Monitor Lizards5656545154
Mososauri----------
Mottled Worms----------
Plesiosauri----------
Pterodactyls6161555255
Purple Worms6262565356
Ropers6363575457
Salamanders--64------
Sea Ropers----58----
Sea Snakes----59----
Stegosauri----626060
Toads6868676565
Tortoises7370706767
Triceratops----727070
Trolls7878837979
Turtles8888898282
Tyrannosauri----948989
Snakes9898989898
Other0000000000
Surrounding Terrain----------
SAURIANSDSCOSEPSAE
Basilisks0301--01--
Brontosaurus--04------
Bulette0505------
Cockatrices0806--0225
Couatls0907010328
Crocodiles--0902----
Elasmosauri----17----
Frogs1019--04--
Gargoyles1520190558
Giant Crocodiles--2120--
Giant Frogs--222106--
Giant Lizards16232207--
Giant Sea Snake----27----
Giant Snake--24--08--
Giant Toad--25--09--
Giant Tortoise1726--10--
Kopoacinth----31--
Lizards69403413--
Lizard Men70554964--
Manticoras7356--6573
Medusae7457--66--
Monitor Lizards7758--67--
Mososauri----64----
Mottled Worms----65----
Plesiosauri----80----
Pterodactyls7959816893
Purple Worms8160------
Ropers61--69--
Salamanders83------98
Sea Ropers----83----
Sea Snakes----88----
Stegosauri64------
Toads8567--72--
Tortoises8869--77--
Triceratops--74----
Trolls--75--84--
Turtles--789893--
Tyrannosauri--81------
Snakes9888--98--
Other0090000000
Surrounding Terrain--00------

Suggested Others: Lybits, Remorhazi, Typhoonagators, Fire Snakes, Winged Serpents, Finnish Black Snakes, Dragon Lizards, and Ice Worms.

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