I like to put random stuff into an adventure just to surprise myself as the GM.
F'rinstance, if I've got a tomb, I'll make up a random table for sarcophagus (sarcophagi?) contents. From "Empty", to "corpse holding a magic sword!" to "Mummy! Roll initiative!"
If I don't know if there is a patrol of Gnolls, I'll make a random roll to determine and make up the odds on the spot, depending on the situation.
How random are you?
I do some random things, though not usually in the spirit you are asking. In my case, I'm putting a bullet point list of things that might occur/might be found. Since it's a list, I might as well number it. Since I'm going to number it, I might as well make it something I can roll on a d6, d8, or whatever. Since I can now roll on it, sometimes I do.
However, it's not because of wanting something random. It's more because I find that format an efficient way to put a lot of notes into a relatively short amount of space, and then scan it quick when I need it. Also, I tend to put things in the list that relate to other parts of the location. For example, if there is a band of gnolls camped out there, then I might have a dead or injured gnoll corpse on the outskirts, or even a gnoll body part still attached to a trap. Those are the kinds of details that I think about a lot when writing the notes for the location but that go straight out of my head once I start running the game. Having the list to scan prompts me to use them.
I'm barely random, but highly arbitrary.
Entirely.
I roll up every hex, every dungeon, every random encounter, everything.
My players often space that I use things from my blog with over 3k posts, I am completely out there using stuff from the blog and other people's material too. Never a dull game for them.
The dice provide advice, but I decide whether to use that or not as GM when designing.
As a solo gamer, I totally live for randomness and putting random prompts into context like a word puzzle. One of the web toys on my home page can generate thousands of icons (think Rory's Story Cubes.) I also have tools that take public domain books and 'tear the up' into random phrases. [Look for Solo Cutz on DTRPG. they're all free.]
A medium amount of randomness. When I'm constructing things I'll consult random tables for fiddly bits like treasure and encounter composition. When populating dungeons I like to roll up a few things completely out of theme and see if I can find them a room or two.
One of my favorite online tools is Meatshields http://www.barrowmaze.com/meatshields . It's corny and sublime. Highly recommended if you need some OSR mooks.
Random character generators play a big role in my world building and campaign development. I like generating a bunch of characters over the course of an hour, taking the ones I find compelling then building factions and story hooks and the like. I'll probably squeeze some generators in to that process too.
During game play I don't like creating things at random but I will generate major elements. Weather is one I stay on top of that has a lot of randomization. Rumors and events is something I roll randomly a fair amount. That table needs filling out so best find a random generator to do it...
Quote from: Ratman_tf on January 07, 2025, 05:33:04 PMI like to put random stuff into an adventure just to surprise myself as the GM.
F'rinstance, if I've got a tomb, I'll make up a random table for sarcophagus (sarcophagi?) contents. From "Empty", to "corpse holding a magic sword!" to "Mummy! Roll initiative!"
If I don't know if there is a patrol of Gnolls, I'll make a random roll to determine and make up the odds on the spot, depending on the situation.
How random are you?
I did make a 5 level dungeon a year ago where I used the 1st ed DMG to roll the monsters encountered for the first few encounters. I then built a reason as to why those monsters were there from those random rolls. I use the old DMG for all the random things from time to time from monsters to treasure to which way a hallway turns. I find I use it for mostly games using Savage worlds though. It largely works out since SW fantasy (Both the two newer incarnations) like the idea of random treasure as well. I just find some satisfaction in rolling percentiles on that monster loot from the table in the MM1. So sometimes extremely random if I have no ideas.
Quote from: Kyle Aaron on January 07, 2025, 06:48:23 PMEntirely.
I roll up every hex, every dungeon, every random encounter, everything.
I'm about here, too, for the most part. The best campaigns I've ever run consisted of rolling up a bunch of random hexes, populating them randomly, then figuring out a way to make it seem somewhat cohesive. Like maybe 5 hexes 6 miles across. Plenty of room to add as needed with not a lot of upfront planning.
My favorite dungeon ever was the one that changes every time you enter it (ripped off from Adom with zero regrets). The power level is also somewhat random, so it's possible to enter and encounter nothing more than rats, leave, reenter and find dragons. I decided the dungeon itself was just some sort of magical gate to chaos that was purposefully setup to keep travelers out by being as inimical as possible. Makes it easy to justify weird nonsense.
Quote from: Ratman_tf on January 07, 2025, 05:33:04 PMI like to put random stuff into an adventure just to surprise myself as the GM.
F'rinstance, if I've got a tomb, I'll make up a random table for sarcophagus (sarcophagi?) contents. From "Empty", to "corpse holding a magic sword!" to "Mummy! Roll initiative!"
If I don't know if there is a patrol of Gnolls, I'll make a random roll to determine and make up the odds on the spot, depending on the situation.
How random are you?
Very rarely do I populate my "dungeons" with random stuff. Much like my regional content outdoors, my "indoor" locales are treated by me as an ecosystem. This doesn't mean that I might not have an array of possibilities that could exist in a place (dungeons for instance) where I might make a quick random roll. But they tend to be rare.
Where I do use random rolls are in more expansive locales where ecosystem is more dynamic. I also will use random tables for treasure - usually a mix and match, I might make several rolls ahead of time and pick the things I think are mostly appropriate.
Economy is a big thing I try to control in order to keep the setting "appropriate". I'll use random tables for gp/sp etc. but the values are always within reasonable parameters. Where I let things fly are usually with jewelry and gems and magic items*
*I tightly control the assumptions and *in-game* reactions to the use of magic-items. My games are almost always Magic is Powerful and Rare. So when my PC's get items they know it's generally a big deal.
I tend to be very curated in what I use, but random about how I use it,for example I tend to be specific about what factions or forces are within a region, but as to what they are doing at any given moment or who is currently active I leave to the dice.
Much of the randomness I employ is also bound up with session prep, in instances where I have writers block or simply don't know the answer to something. I do enjoy surprising myself given the surprise makes sense or doesn't break the verisimilitude of the session or world.
I've been approaching critical levels of random in the past years. When I started in the 90's I had almost no random element in my games, but the older I get the more I leave things to the dice. Basically I started enjoying the randomness when I started seeing all those tables as a sort of off-screen mini-game for the GM.
On a similar note, I also leave a lot of randomness for the table, because the group I run games for loves the random as well, so it is always a joy seeing them get excited when I say that I'm loading up a random table for x.
I do most of the standard things via random rolls (treasure, wandering monsters, weather, etc.), but I try to do my rolling as part of session prep. So for example I have a list of what the next 5 random encounters my party hits are going to be, with the number appearing, encounter distance and reaction roll already done. I only roll for when the encounter will occur and for surprise during the game. It works for me as a compromise between keeping the campaign organic and keeping things moving during the session.
Quote from: ForgottenF on January 08, 2025, 03:59:16 PMI do most of the standard things via random rolls (treasure, wandering monsters, weather, etc.), but I try to do my rolling as part of session prep. So for example I have a list of what the next 5 random encounters my party hits are going to be, with the number appearing, encounter distance and reaction roll already done. I only roll for when the encounter will occur and for surprise during the game. It works for me as a compromise between keeping the campaign organic and keeping things moving during the session.
This is the way I am random. While I use a lot of extra material, I do roll it all up before hand so that I have the miniature(s) with me and try to keep the game flowing smoothly. Having too many miniatures it pays to have that type of prep done early.