Last night I was flipping through the Rules Cyclopedia to find the random encounter reaction chart. It's probably the most important rule I never used. While I was there and thinking about it I flipped the page over to the random dungeon encounter charts where I noticed this: in the first 3 levels of the dungeon you have a really good chance of running into "Human 1d3". And it isn't even a mere 1 in 20 chance! On the first level you are going to bump into humans 20% of the time. On the second level you're looking at a 15% chance. On the third level it's a 10% chance, which is twice as likely as ANY other random encounter for that level.
Mind you, this isn't Bandit 1d6 which is only found on level 1, or NPC party 1 which can be found on any level. I looked a little further, and found the Human encounter subtable. Unfortunately for all the different possible locations listed, from the clear grasslands to the depths of the woods, the dungeon isn't among them.
Next I turned to the monsters chapter, and flipped to the H section. Oddly enough, humans are not listed as monsters. Some of the random encounters I've had in life would contradict this, but life is not D&D, and apparently humans are not monsters in D&D. I checked the index, and saw humans are listed in only 1 spot - pg. 13, a particularly unhelpful section. So who are these random d3 humans who have found their way into the 3rd level of the dungeon?
Really, I suppose they could be the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker, all out for tea on the 3rd level of the dungeon, but I find this unlikely. I'm going to tell you who these d3 humans are.
Subtable: 3. Humans
Roll 1d12 Dungeon
1. Architect/Scholar
2. Bandit
3. Berzerker
4. Hireling - lost
5. Humanoid (roll on Subtable 2. Humanoids - Dungeon)
6. Hunter
7. Kid
8. Pilgrim
9. Slave
10. Slave - escaped
11. Teen
12. Trader/Merchant
It turns out there isn't a Humanoid dungeon subtable either, so here's a bonus table for you!
Subtable: 2. Humanoids
Roll 1d12 Dungeon
1. Bugbear
2. Dwarf
3. Elf
4. Gnoll
5. Goblin
6. Halfling
7. Hobgoblin
8. Kobold
9. Lizardman
10. Ogre
11. Orc
12. Troll
It seems that Humans aren't monsters in D&D, but Men are! Of course the entry for Men still doesn't do a very good job of explaining what Men might show up in the dungeon.
Adventurer
ReplyDeleteExcept that NPC Party is already listed! It seems to me that 1d3 humans should be something else.
ReplyDeleteWeird, so many types of humans. I like your table.
ReplyDeleteTeen makes me think of boy/girl sneaking off for elicit rendezvous or delinquents huffing Troll dung or whatever gets people high in FantasyWorld.
Escaped prisoner (of dungeon's denzions)
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly the sort of thing I was thinking for the teen as well! What do a group of adventurers do when they stumble on a pair of scared teens who just wanted to sneak off to be alone and ended up running from a bunch of horrible monsters?
And escaped prisoner would probably fall under #10.