Page 87 - Dungeon Master's Guide

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••• RANDOM ENCOUNTER CHALLENGE
• Random encounters need not be level-appropriate
•• challenges for the adventurers, but it's considered bad
form to slaughter a party using a random encounter,
since most players consider this ending to be an
unsatisfying one.
Not all random encounters with monsters need
to be resolved through combat. A 1st-level party of
adventurers could have a random encounter with a
young dragon circling above a forest canopy in search
of a quick meal, but the characters should have the
option to hide or bargain for their lives if the dragon
spots them. Similarly, the party might encounter a stone
giant roaming the hills, but it might have no intention
of harming anyone. In fact, it might shy away from the
party because of its reclusive nature. The giant might
attack only characters who annoy it.
That said, a random encounter table usually includes
hostile (though not necessarily evil) monsters that
are meant to be fought. The following monsters are
considered appropriate combat challenges:
• A single monster with a challenge rating equal to or
lower than the party's level.
A group of monsters whose adjusted XP value consti-
tutes an easy, medium, or hard challenge for the party,
as determined using the encounter-building guide-
lines earlier in this chapter.

SYLVAN FOREST ENCOUNTERS
d12 + d8 Encounter d12 + d8 Encounter
2 1 displacer beast 12 1 owlbear
3 1 gnoll pack lord and 2d4 gnolls 13 1d4 elks (75%) or 1 giant elk (25%)
4 1d4 gnolls and 2d4 hyenas 14 1d4 blink dogs
5 A grove of burned trees. Characters searching 15 A magical plant with 2d4 glowing berries. A
the area and succeeding on a DC 10 Wisdom creature that ingests a berry becomes invisible
(Survival) check find gnoll tracks. Following the for 1 hour, or until it attacks or casts a spell.
tracks for 1 d4 hours leads to an encounter with Once picked, a berry loses its magic after
gnolls, or the discovery of dead gnolls with elven 12 hours. Berries regrow at midnight, but if
arrows sticking out of their flea-ridden corpses. all its berries are picked, the plant becomes
6 1 giant owl nonmagical and grows no more berries.
7 An ivy-covered statue of an elven deity or hero. 16 An elven tune carried on a gentle breeze
8 1 dryad (50%) or 1d4 satyrs (50%) 17 1d4 orange (75%) or blue (25%) faerie dragons
9 1 d4 centaurs 18 1 druid (elf). The druid is initially indifferent
10 2d4 scouts (elves). One scout carries a horn toward the party but becomes friendly if the
and can use its action to blow it. If the horn is characters agree to rid the forest of its gnoll
blown within the forest, roll on this table again. infestation.
If the result indicates a monster encounter, the 19 1 treant. The treant is friendly if the party
indicated monster or monsters arrive in 1d4 includes one or more elves or is accompanied by
minutes. New arrivals other than gnolls, hyenas, a visible fey creature. The treant is hostile if the
owl bears, and displacer beasts are friendly characters are carrying open flames. Otherwise,
toward the scouts. it is indifferent and doesn 't announce its
11 2d4 pixies (50%) or 2d4 sprites (50%) presence as the characters pass by.
20 1 unicorn

CHAPTER 3 I CREATING ADVENTURES
87