AGE-Influenced Random Encounters

I’ve come to quite enjoy the AGE (Adventure Game Engine) System from Green Ronin. For a longer time, I’ve been interested in random encounter tables.

This point combines them, after a fashion.

When rolling checks in AGE System, you roll 3d6. Two six-sided dice share a color, the third die is a different color, and is referred to as the ‘stunt die’. When you roll doubles, if any pair of these dice rolled have the same value, you get a number of stunt points equal to the value of the stunt die. These points can be spent to enhance the results of your action.

I don’t have a stunt table for encounters, though I think I’d like to and may create one in future. However, I can make use of the general mechanic when building encounter tables.

Create an encounter table with 16 entries, numbered 3..18. Each entry gets an encounter assigned to it.

3d6%Encounter
30.46Encounter 3 (very rare)
4
1.39Encounter 4 (rare)
52.78Encounter 5 (rare)
64.63Encounter 6 (uncommon)
76.94Encounter 7 (uncommon)
89.72Encounter 8 (common)
911.57Encounter 9 (common)
1012.50Encounter 10 (very common)
1112.50 Encounter 11 (very common)
1211.57Encounter 12 (common)
139.72Encounter 13 (common)
146.94Encounter 14 (uncommon)
154.63Encounter 15 (uncommon)
162.78Encounter 16 (rare)
171.39Encounter 17 (rare)
180.46Encounter 18 (very rare)

So far, nothing really unusual. This is where the AGE part comes in.

When rolling on this table, roll 3d6, with one die different from the others. If you get doubles, modify the encounter.

d6Encounter Modification
1Reinforced encounter: double-strength! Double the number of creatures, or add another encounter (which might or might not be friendly to either side of the encounter).
2Strong encounter: more creatures, individually stronger creatures or with special equipment or conditions, etc.
3Strong encounter: more creatures, individually stronger creatures or with special equipment or conditions, etc.
4Weakened encounter: wounded, adverse condition such as exhausted or sickened, fewer creatures, etc.
5Weakened encounter: wounded, adverse condition such as exhausted or sickened, fewer creatures, etc.
6Signs only: evidence of a previous encounter, spoor, or other recognizable (if only to those with the knowledge) indications of the encounter.

As would seem evident, you’d probably want to have the nominally weakest encounters lower on the table (so they are likely reinforced or strengthened) and the nominally strongest encounters higher on the table (so they are likely weakened). In the Broken Lands you might almost never see goblins, but when you do they are in force, and you might see signs of dragons but never actually encounter one.

… At least, until you roll 3d6+3 on the encounter table, and meet a dragon (6, 5, 4, +3), or even a strengthened dragon (6, 6, 3, +3).

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