I'm just curious how you guys use tables, besides sitting around them of course.

Lately, I've often been choosing results at the table to keep the flow going. However, I question whether ignoring the oracle will lead me to getting stuck in my own personal ruts.

Roll, look at result, think: hmmm, that would really slow things down, and then choose another result. This has been my bugbear of late.

Poll is mutually exclusive, but that's not how I use them.  In prep, the table is just a list.  I'll roll on it or not, choose from it, pick something different, roll on it and then decide something different, etc.  It's an aid to my judgment.

In play, I will override the roll if I think it completely outside the bounds of what should happen, but rarely does that occur.  There's nearly always a way to reconcile the roll with what has gone before. This is more true the longer I go, because not infrequently the tables I'm rolling on during play are tables I made myself, often specifically for that adventure or location. 

All of the above, sometimes none. Depends on the game.

I had a lot of fun playing a totally random game once (EVERYTHING was rolled during play, and I mean everything), and I've had fun rolling up stuff pseudo-randomly beforehand. Just depends on the sort of experience you're going for. The Tome of Adventure Design and similar books usually are better for playhooks and and ideas, however, than they are for actually rolling up stuff, in my opinion. Just like how I enjoy reading Central Casting and getting ideas for characters, I doubt I'd go through then entire book for a new character unless it was decided that everyone bought in to the process and there was a more collaborative effort.

That said, the notion that you should NEVER use random tables (I've seen it pushed a lot recently) is just stupid. I don't care how experienced you are as a DM, sometimes you need a little assistance.

I read through tables at prep, sometimes I roll on them to see what I get and then I integrate them into the prep.  Sometimes either the table or the results I get inspires me but it's not directly from the table. 

I rarely use random rolls at the table during a session.  If I do, I consider that me failing because I'm improvising by the seat of my pants and it always sucks for the game when I do.  I know other people can do this well but I can't, the more I improvise the worse it gets.  I do very well improvising responses to players when I know all the working parts of the scene.  If I have a NPC fleshed out, then it's no problem thinking of how he would respond to a PC question or action but not if I cook him up on the spot.

I usually have to come at an encounter, NPC, or a location a few times over a couple of days to get playable material.  As such, I over prep based on all the things players might do and I have several quantum ogres for things my players might surprise me with.  In the end, if you're dealing with something in my game, it's very likely that I have prepped it and it's been waiting for up to a year to come into play.  I have an entire index card box full of locations, characters, items, traps, and events worked out so I can just pull one as needed.  Random tables help a lot in filling up those cards.

A, B, and D. Poll should have been multiple choice.

I roll mine in prep, and almost always accept the result, but once in a while you get a result that just doesn't make sense or fit what's going on in the campaign, so I went with B.

Worldbuilding, during prep, contemplate how it makes sense, and usually go with it.
Tactical situations, like dungeons, during table play, usually accept the result and try to make it make sense.

Yes, sometimes I had to go back to the drawing board after a session and readjust a Random Table's ratio or populated results.

Quote from: Opaopajr on December 21, 2023, 02:50:23 AM
Worldbuilding, during prep, contemplate how it makes sense, and usually go with it.
Tactical situations, like dungeons, during table play, usually accept the result and try to make it make sense.

Yes, sometimes I had to go back to the drawing board after a session and readjust a Random Table's ratio or populated results.

Both:
During Prep, Accept Result.
At the Table, Accept Result.

I tend to use random tables a lot during prep, and while I don't rely on them as much during the actual game I still use them. Things like reaction charts, treasure charts, and things of those nature. During prep, however, I've used them to come up with dungeons on the fly the night before the game.