Let me begin by saying that I'm absolutely no expert on old old school roleplaying. My first D&D edition was the 1983 BECMI red box, though I'd actually roleplayed a little in other games beforehand. So I didn't play OD&D from the start, or even from the 1970's.

On the other hand, this means I can read OD&D with fresh eyes, uninfluenced by the various choices, rulings, and house rules that happen in play (at least they happened in every other RPG I played, unless it was one we'd created entirely). I think this perspective may have some merit, or I wouldn't be writing this. But keep in mind where I'm coming from.

Last month, I wrote about OD&D's Wilderness Encounters chart, and speculated as to why RPGs rapidly moved away from that model, toward one in which the Wilderness Encounters were less adventure-building and more like the random encounters in the dungeons.

In the dungeons, the random encounters basically kept the players on a timer, keeping them from spending hours of in-game time searching every nook and cranny. Random dungeon encounters, along with keeping track of torches and lamp oil, magnified the tension and danger of dungeoneering greatly.

But in the wilderness, the encounters were adventure seeds. You'd encounter 30-300 bandits or 40-400 goblins or 1-6 wyverns. It was not like running into a few orcs or even an ogre in a dungeon.

I outlined a few issues that people may have had with them, speculating on why they went by the wayside. And while it may be debatable whether or not I've pinpointed the exact issues that led to their demise, it is clear that they were problematic for (or ignored by) a lot of players, since they rapidly ceased to exist as a core mechanic in D&D. And I think that's a shame, because I think that adding a random or semi-random element to world building can lead to some fun results. So let me see if I can theoretically address the issues I raised earlier.

The Renovation

My "renovation" of OD&D's wilderness encounter tables is a relatively simple four-step process. This process is done in advance, so it doesn't hold up the game. The results aren't revealed to the players, who must puzzle out the situation based on who and what their characters encounter.

I hope this will prevent the PCs from running into something way too powerful for them just off the bat, but still allow their actions or even the luck of the dice to bring them into contact with the big group.

Step One

The DM writes a chart of the possible dominant groups within the larger area (kingdom, island, etc.). This could include humans, demihumans, goblinoids/humanoids, undead, major monster (like dragons), etc.

The DM can construct sub-charts pick the specific group based on the results of the chart. Creating the overall kingdom chart should take only a few minutes, and would only have to be done once. Sub-charts would add a little time to this, but aren't absolutely necessary.

Step Two

Each medium-sized area (from 1 to perhaps 5 days' ride across) has a dominant group, effectively the types of groups that would come up in the OD&D encounter tables. The DM rolls to select a dominant group for each of these areas around the game's setting. The DM also rolls for the motivations, group size, etc. of the dominant group. Some of these charts are created for this system, and some are in the creatures' stat write-ups (as in OD&D Book II: Monsters & Treasures).

I picked 1-5 days' ride across as the area size because in OD&D, there was a chance for a random encounter each day, but it was often 1 in 6 or 2 in 6, so you could go several days without enountering a new group.

Step Three

The DM creates more modern-style random encounter charts for the area based on the dominant group. These can even be modified or lifted from existing modules or setting books. These can also be combined with generic wilderness encounters (forest animals and such). These should be more or less level-appropriate to the PC's.

Step Four

In the course of the game, wilderness encounters are rolled more frequently than once per day, possibly even as often as every four hours of travel, and every eight hours of rest/stationary encampment. These encounters should lead the PC's into greater involvement with the dominant groups, as they encounter either members of those groups or "traditional" encounters (travelers, small groups of intelligent creatures, etc.) that have interacted with the dominant group.

So, how does this address the four problems I mentioned in my last column?

1. Randomness in worldbuilding isn't to everyone's tastes.

Well, I can't address that one. I also can't make you like dark chocolate, braised Brussels sprouts, or turnip greens with Tobasco. C'est la vie. But if it isn't the randomness, but the potential for total party kills and interrupting the flow of the session that bothers you, maybe this will help.

2. It's an interruption

Well, the key here is to change the way in which you roll things. In OD&D, the language implied that the die roll should be made at the end of the day's movement, and in some cases was influenced by the terrain. If you take a large map of your area, divide it into areas of control, and roll ahead of time for each, you can prevent the disruption of stopping to construct the encounter/adventure seed on the fly.

Sure, it's always possible to have things come up (such as the PC's being sent far from where you've mapped by some spell or item or such), but that's true in any case. Most of the time, this won't be an interruption.

3. Sometimes the dice say die

The renovated system should eliminate this, by breaking things down into smaller, more modern-style wilderness encounters. These encounters can also help you drop hints so the PC's can learn more about the dominant group in the area (that is, the mega-Wilderness Encounter you'd see in OD&D).

4) Too little information, too little time

The old system gave you a few numbers and expected you to come up with what it meant for the PC's in the middle of the game. It didn't give much help determining motivations or mission, and if you were doing this in the middle of a game, you'd either have to throw something together or ask your players to wait while you figured it out.

Neither option really seems ideal to me, so I created a system that's designed to be used ahead of time and which gives at least some information on motivation.

Well, that's the broad outline of it. As you can tell, it's pretty system-agnostic, even though it was inspired by OD&D. Next month I'll do a concrete example of this system in use.