Random Encounters

By pearldrum1, in Deathwatch Gamemasters

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So far in my games, the encounters I have run have all been pre-planned by myself (I have ample time as I run PbP format). What I would like, however, is to have a spread sheet or some sort of Random Encounter chart to create and reference just in case I get a wild hare and want to spice things up.

I want to creat a list so that I could roll a 1d100 and see what the dice Gods decide the KT should encounter. I would also like to do this with weather, although that will be much easier.

What types of random encounter charts do you use? If you have some that you are particularly proud of, please post them so that other GMs (myself haha) can use them! Thanks.

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Some of it depends on what the setting is though, the random encounters chart would alter whether they are on a space hulk (with entries like random tyranid, component failures etc) or on a planets surface exploring (random tyranid, hole in the ground), wandering through Imperial ruins (random tyranid, falling debris)...basically its all situational.

Ok so I don't use that many random nids...

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Yeah, it would have to be totally adapted to locale, no? Ark of Lost Souls holds a simple random encounter system for space hulks. Navis Primer has random encounters for warp travel. And Extraction has some random encounters for the station it is the set it. But otherwise... roll your own. On a feral world, you can take Harnmaster/Rolemaster tables and rewrite for 40K. In a Hive, you can use Cyberpunk/Cyberspace. Just make that Full Conversion Borg a Lictor instead. demonio.gif

Alex

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Of course it would. If someone shared a random encounter chart that features mostly different types of Ork encounters it would not be prudent to use it on a mission involving only Tyranids.

I apologize, I thought that went without saying.

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Oh, and a similar underhive encounter generator

1. Lake filled with liquid toxic waste. Possibly partly frozen enough to allow walking on its surface (consider icy surface a dangerous terrain) but falling, jumping or using explosives on thin solid surface is just asking for trouble.

2. Some 250 levels above people throw their solid waste (from paper and plastic to sharpened metal rods and heavy machinery parts) bombarding this part of an underhive.

3. 1+2 combined - brace yourself for some toxic tsunamis and corrosive splashes

4. This level consists of many layers of metal scrap, and its structure is not stable enough to walk safely in all places.

5. Toppled spire which was an Imperial shrine now works as a road sign for underhive-dwellers

6. This vast level is a labyrinth of hab-blocks, tunnels, passages and deadends. People living here speak their own dialect unknown to outsiders and use cheap trinkets like nails, cogs, coins and shards of glass for maps, signs and markins.

7. Underhive scum-gang leaders play "nobility" and rule their "vassals". Nobody has ever seen a member of actual imperial authority in their lifetime.

8. Mutants

9. Cult of Redemption incineration teams.

10. 8+9, they fight each other and literally anyone who interferes.

11. Ghost-level. Something forced the inhabitants of those fairly comfortable hab-blocks, hospitals, schools and manufactoria to abandon them and people living above and below this level, while living in much worse conditions, are afraid even to speak about this level.

12. A common market where cease-fire for everyone is enforced.

13. Archeotech or xenotech relics. Their condition varies, but in any condition they are enogh to get killed for.

14. Spireborn nobility armed to the teeth and guarded by small group of House Guards just in case went down here to entertain themselves with a man-hunt.

15. Unremarkable hab-block harbouring a well-conseald shrine to the Dark Gods.

16. Rogue psyker and witch-hunters pursuing him.

17. A unique miracle - real, living fruit tree, zealously guarded by locals. Legend says, a Space Marine rested under this tree before moving on to liberate the planet. Fruits of this tree cost a no small fortune - probably because tree is watered by blood of those who dare touch it.

18. Second son of an imperial noble for some reason gathers himself a force of gangers, mercenaries, cut-throats and other low-life scum. Optionally - agents of the first son watching his every step.

19. Treasury of a long-forgotten noble family which looks so out of place, especially when used as a tothem for feral tribe inhabitating this level.

20. This hab-block is a living place of an old man, one of the rare few guardsmen who got decomissioned. After his long years of service he has a lifetime of stories to tell and a trophy - claw, formerly belongig to huge ork warboss. Green moss growing around his hab-cell looks... like your average moss, I guess?

21. Virulent plague infests this level, and it is home to mad prophets, flagellants, dead and dying.

22. 21, but with Plague zombies.

23. Local gang-lords play Carmageddon for real with killer-cars on those lawless streets.

24. Necron tomb. Admit it, you expected that.

25. Anscient reactor, maintained by degraded ancestors of its former personnel. It feeds nothing and produces motly only excessive heat, but can be used to help with power supply issues on higher levels.

26. Remnants of STC, robbed long ago but still valuable to local Omnissiah cult.

27. Beautiful altar of Emperor and Horus... drinking wine together with their fellow space marines.

28. Here demon worship, orgies, forbidden experiments, cold trade, slave trade, gladiator matches, chaos rituals and jaywalking take place.

29. Dead forest covered by huge glass hemishphere

30. Local Adeptus Mechanicus Inner Circle data-network access terminal.

31. A small settlement surviving with anything they can find in a huge scrapheap which spans as far as eye can see across them.

32. Anchient void capital ship. Buried, but still salvageble. Of course, to add this relic to sector battlefleet battleship reserve you will have to get rid of no small part of the hive with everyone living there.

33. A small outpost belonging to one of the hive's Noble Houses, exceptionally well guarded and set to self-destruct in case of confirmed security breach. What could they be hiding there?

34. Ruins of another hive, on top of which current hive was built. And they are still inhabitated.

35. Dead space marine, along with weapons and power armour, and with no visible physical damage.

36. Dead chaos space marine, along with weapons and power armour, and with no visible physical damage.

37. Suspicious merchant eager to sell "Real Adeptus Sororitas boltgun bolt casings! Best trinket against the tainted and the wicked!"

38. Abandoned warehouse, guarded by combat servitors. Some of them are still functional and following murder-protocols.

39. Due to chartist cargoship getting late underhive is filled with cannibals and corpses of those dead from starvation.

40. Someone deliberately poisoned underhive's water supply, turning this part of the hive into impossibly large graveyard.

41. Geothermal shaft to the planet's core. Its maintainance elevators could be used to get to any level in the hive without drawing attention.

42. 2 companies of PDF were sent there to deal with an underhive chaos cult, and both are confident that another company succumbed to corruption.

43. Armoured column of gun-trucks, IFV's and warbikes belonging to some underhive merchant guild is willing to make trade with anyone. They carry weapons, supplies and child slaves.

44. This whole level is filled with promethium holders. Try not to make it go kaboom.

45. Two inquisitorial acolyte teams fighting each other, both are secretive about what they are looking for and why do they fight each other.

46. Archeological team who is dwelling probably a bit too deep into planet's history.

47. Corrupt Arbites enforcers cleared this level of gangsters but now commit even worse atrocities.

48. Rad-mines. This place is so deadly even guards are sent here to atone for something, and the only way to get out is to increase production output. Life expectancy here is short, and press-gangs lurking in neighbouring levels are eager to clutch anyone unlucky enough.

49. Small abhuman ghetto.

50. Rogue trader explorator team making their escape from even lower levels of underhive with extreme haste. They don't have time to stop by and tell you what exactly are they running from.

Edited by Chaplain
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Ideally, a random encounter table should be created to reflect the specific location and the opponent being faced- but that’s easier said than done. Another option is to come up with broad, flexible random encounter tables, which can be applied to a number of different planets and opponents, with the results kept vague enough that the GM can adapt it to the situation at hand. Here’s one example, based on a ‘warzone’ setting for the mission- it doesn’t do all the GM’s work, but it should provide a general framework for encounters:

WARZONE-

01) Agent- An elite member of the allied forces (an Inquisitor [possibly with retinue], Temple Assasin, spy, etc) is encountered while on a mission.

02-04) Bastion*- A major fortification with heavy weapons and a substantial troop compliment.

05-08) Bombardment*- Artillery shells begin to rain from the sky for the next 1d10 minutes; if it is an Allied bombardment, the Kill-Team might be able to contact someone via vox-link who can call it off…

09-12) Boobytrap- The enemy has left a carefully hidden trap for the unwary (Challenging Awareness Test required to spot the device).

13-17) Bunker- A heavy weapon nest covering a specific approach.

18-20) Civilian Refugees- A group of 2d10 ragged citizens are trying to flee from the carnage of the battlefield.

21-25) Convoy*- A line of transports carrying troops and supplies, plus armed outriders.

26-29) Deserters*- A group of 1d10 troops who have abandoned their positions and are trying to escape (if Tyranid, they have simply lost contact with the Hive Mind).

30-39) Difficult Terrain- Knee-deep mud, rocky crags, or other terrain features slow the Kill-Team.

40-41) Flyers*- 1d5 flyers pass overhead; they require a -10 Awareness Test to spot the Kill-Team below (unless the Astartes take actions to alter the chance).

42-43) Impassable Terrain- Unless the whole Kill-Team has jump-packs (or a flyer), they will have to spend valuable time going around this area.

44) Listening Post*- This is a small, carefully camouflaged base used for collecting intelligence on the opposition.

45-48) Mercenaries- A squad of hired soldiers, who present the Kill-Team with a different type of enemy than they were expecting to fight- Kroot, Sslyth, Loxotl, human renegades, etc (if the enemy is the Tyranids, substitute enslaved Genestealer Cultists).

49-53) Minefield*- An expanse of the battlefield has hidden explosives within a 2d5x100 square meter area.

54-60) Outpost*- A small fortification with a few squads of troops.

61-87) Patrol*- A squad of troops looking for opposing forces.

88-90) Scavengers- 1d5 minor criminals looting the battlefield. They may have useful information…

91-92) Sniper- An enemy marksman has a hidden position from which to harry the Kill-Team.

93-95) Tank Column*- A group of 1d5+2 tanks moving to a new staging area.

96-99) Wreckage*- The shattered remains of a vehicle- transport, tank, or flyer. 25% chance it contains a wounded survivor.

100) Xenos- A warband of aliens, unrelated to the conflict at hand- Dark Eldar looking for slaves, lost Ork Boyz, scavenging Hrud, etc.

*Randomly determine if this encounter involves an Allied or Enemy: I recommend 60% Enemy and 40% ally on the ‘front lines’, and 90% Enemy, 10% Ally in ‘enemy territory’.

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I really like the general random encounters like the "impassable terrain," etc.

I suppose what I am really looking for is some guidance to creating it rather than just grabbing a bunch of enemies of the same race (yes, depending on the SPECIFIC LOCATION/SITUATION/MISSION ;) ) and randomly assigning them a number. I suppose a good place to start would be giving harder enemies a much smaller chance of being rolled.

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How's this:

01-40) Standard troops (Fire Warriors, Hormagaunts, etc)

41-55) Veteran Troops or equivellant (Genestealers, Storm Troopers, etc)

56-70) Specialist unit (Stealth Suits, Tyranid warriors, etc)

71-85) Elite unit (Broadside Battlesuits, Zoanthropes, etc)

86-95) Heavy Unit (Carnifex, Terminators, etc)

96-00) Command unit (Ethereal w/retinue, Hive Tyrant, etc)

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That is awesome. That is a solid starting point. Thank you.

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Do we feel like, as a GM, that we are being more "fair" or "objective" if we randomly generate a heavy weapons emplacement than if we simply put one in the way of our party? Is DW a dungeon crawl?

These are frank questions that go to the heart of the game. Many missions are conducted against fixed positions. Is aerial reconnaissance so primitive, or scouting so amateur, that they are always bound to miss something?

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I would like to put these tables on my blog!

Alex

PS Adeptus-B, I added a question to your vermin thread, I believe.

Edited by ak-73
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Do we feel like, as a GM, that we are being more "fair" or "objective" if we randomly generate a heavy weapons emplacement than if we simply put one in the way of our party? Is DW a dungeon crawl?

These are frank questions that go to the heart of the game. Many missions are conducted against fixed positions. Is aerial reconnaissance so primitive, or scouting so amateur, that they are always bound to miss something?

Random encounter tables aren't intended to replace set encounters/enemy positions- they are intended to help 'fill in the blanks' when the GM doesn't have time to map out every meter of a location. They are especially useful if the Kill-Team has to cover a lot of ground to reach the objective.

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Many missions are conducted against fixed positions. Is aerial reconnaissance so primitive, or scouting so amateur, that they are always bound to miss something?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4tmNhtf8ks#t=46

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Tsk, tsk. I have the thread already on my list, of course (did comb through the forum a while ago)! ;) But thanks for pointing it out.

Alex