Escalating Encounter Rolls

Encounter tables create dynamic environments, deepen world building and punish time-wasting in many a dungeon. They often require a specific procedure: whenever sufficient time passes or the party behaves recklessly, do an encounter check.

1. Roll a six-sided die; if a 1 is rolled, a random encounter triggers.

2. A second roll determines which table entry is encountered.

3. The third determines the encounter’s reaction (friendly to hostile).

These three separate rolls are unlikely to result in a dangerous outcome: 1/36 chance, or lower with forgiving encounter tables. I mostly run one-page dungeons nowadays, where these chances are just too slim. The tension needs to rise. Fast.

Tension Pools

A tension pool, as introduced by the Angry GM, is designed to rise the stakes. In short:

• The pool starts with a single six-sided die.

• Whenever sufficient time passes, add a die to the pool.

• Whenever the party behaves recklessly, roll all dice in the pool.

• Whenever a 1 is rolled, a complication happens. 

Interpreting these “complications” as a random encounter results in something beautiful: the rate of encounters increases over time. Stakes have risen.

Tables & Reactions

How to consult the encounter table and determine the reaction? Well, the entire pool of dice is available to fill these in. An entire encounter table procedure could only need a single tension pool roll.

1. When a 1 is rolled, a random encounter triggers.

2. The highest number rolled determines which table entry is encountered.

3. If the roll contains doubles, the encounter is hostile.

You just need to keep some things in mind when building your encounter table.

• 1 die in the pool: only the first table result can be encountered, and is friendly.

• 3+ dice in the pool: encounters favor latter table results.

• 4+ dice in the pool: encounters skew towards hostility.

Conclusion

I’ll be using tension pools in my upcoming sessions. They provide a living encounter table and give players a visual reminder to grok their current danger level. Have you tried tension pools before? Would integrating them with encounter tables improve play? I’m excited to report the effect escalating encounter rolls have in my games. I’ll to see you then.

Cheers,

Willem-Jan

find my free 1page dungeons here