HYPERBOREA » Hyperborean Encounter Tables!

mabon5127 · 5/09/2017 8:32 am

It's fortunate the camels came by after the heat wave killed the horses...Great stuff BA!

Blackadder23 · 5/10/2017 8:21 am

mabon5127 wrote:
It's fortunate the camels came by after the heat wave killed the horses...Great stuff BA!

Thanks! Great point about the camels - sometimes the encounter tables give as well as taking away.
It's that time again: daily encounters! In this edition, your players have arrived in the Keltic village of Dunwich, a very friendly place (compared to the last several, that is). What trouble will they get into nonetheless?

Saraid the Surly (8th level Chaotic Good barbarian)
10 bandits (thugs)
3 beggars (none are thieves and none know anything useful)
4 zombies!
Saraid the Soft, harlot (I’m going to just assume she looks like either Rose McIver or Karen Gillan and set a 10 g.p. price right now)
13 domesticated reindeer
Thunderstorm
Snowstorm (can’t have it both ways) (that’s what she said)
Riona, beggar (not a thief and doesn’t know anything useful, but will happily tell the PCs yarns in exchange for coins)
Laoise (8th level Chaotic Evil scout – no treasure map, but maybe she’ll pretend to have one to lure the PCs into a trap)
Fever (uh oh, should have stayed away from Saraid the Soft)
Vermin (insert another predictable harlot joke)
Fever (ditto)

I think I can guess why Saraid the Surly is so surly.

Blackadder23 · 5/11/2017 8:17 am

Good morning and welcome to daily encounters! Today your players have made port in the Viking capital of Erikssgard, where the men are men and the women are off-limits. Who or what will the PCs meet there?

Patrol of 17 light infantrymen led by Ullmundr.
6 drunks (probably goes without saying)
Snowstorm
Patrol of 17 light infantrymen led by Hildr.
Sandstorm – but Erikssgard isn’t in a desert, so no encounter!
Arnstein (12th level Chaotic Evil thief!)
Patrol of 13 light infantrymen led by Hrafn. Looking for the notorious Arnstein.
Patrol of 10 light infantrymen led by Oddny. Also looking for the notorious Arnstein.
Heat wave – only in a desert, so no encounter!
Ragnhildr (4th level assassin) disguised as a washerwoman
Ullhildr (7th level priestess of Ymir) and her 3rd level assistants Little Gunnhildr, Frida, and Gunnhildr the Red. In 5 rounds, they can summon a lynch mob of 16 concerned citizens.
Alfhildr (6th level Chaotic Good thief) – probably in love with (and/or working with [and/or against]) the notorious Arnstein
1 donkey

Pretty much what you would expect from a Viking city...

mabon5127 · 5/11/2017 8:43 am

Hahaha! Nice!

Blackadder23 · 5/12/2017 8:20 am

Thanks!

Give me a 'D'! Give me an 'A'! Give me an 'I'! Give me - I'm not going to spell the whole thing. In this episode, your players have journeyed to the grassy shores of Esquimaux Bay, where the natives are hardly evil Kthulhu-worshippers at all. What will the PCs encounters there?

22 red deer
4 giant komodo dragons!
6 ground sloths
Hunting party of 15 bowmen and 10 dogs, led by Karpok. They haven’t bagged any game yet.
13 wolves
1 black bear
3 boars
16 red deer
Hunting party of 13 bowmen and 12 dogs, led by Karpok (the same party, minus a couple of casualties and plus a couple of dogs?) They haven’t managed to bag any of the plentiful game.
8 giant rats
12 red deer
18 red deer
17 red deer (okay, this is just getting silly)

So the answer was: a lot of red deer and some inept hunters (who barely even cavort by night in honor of the squid-god). Onward to more fantastical areas!

Last edited by Blackadder23 (5/12/2017 8:21 am)

mabon5127 · 5/12/2017 11:39 am

Blackadder23 wrote:
Thanks!

Give me a 'D'! Give me an 'A'! Give me an 'I'! Give me - I'm not going to spell the whole thing. In this episode, your players have journeyed to the grassy shores of Esquimaux Bay, where the natives are hardly evil Kthulhu-worshippers at all. What will the PCs encounters there?

22 red deer
4 giant komodo dragons!
6 ground sloths
Hunting party of 15 bowmen and 10 dogs, led by Karpok. They haven’t bagged any game yet.
13 wolves
1 black bear
3 boars
16 red deer
Hunting party of 13 bowmen and 12 dogs, led by Karpok (the same party, minus a couple of casualties and plus a couple of dogs?) They haven’t managed to bag any of the plentiful game.
8 giant rats
12 red deer
18 red deer
17 red deer (okay, this is just getting silly)

So the answer was: a lot of red deer and some inept hunters (who barely even cavort by night in honor of the squid-god). Onward to more fantastical areas!

Though there are lots of encounters most if not all would ignore a group of healthy adventurers on the move. I would never roll this many in a day but if automated it would be fun to say "the hunting looks like its good today." or the esquimaux stop to sell you furs / coats. This makes a day more interesting as it is there tends to be a daily encounter vs this kind of variety. Good Stuff!

gizmomathboy · 5/12/2017 2:59 pm

mabon5127 wrote:
<SNIP>
Though there are lots of encounters most if not all would ignore a group of healthy adventurers on the move. I would never roll this many in a day but if automated it would be fun to say "the hunting looks like its good today." or the esquimaux stop to sell you furs / coats. This makes a day more interesting as it is there tends to be a daily encounter vs this kind of variety. Good Stuff!

Funny you should say that. I've got most of the encounter table stuff automated (at least the big chunks).

I don't have the terrain for all locations tailored for all of them, and I don't have the some of the sub-tables/encounters working but I can do this:

./roll_encounter.pl
Choose location starting letter (ABCDEFGHIKLMNOPRSTUVWXYZ): K
Select location:
1. Khromarium
2. Kimmerian Steppe
3. Kitasion Archipelago
4. Kor
5. Krimmea

> 1
Select terrain type
1. bluffs_hills
2. bluffs_hills_glaciated
3. desert_sandy
4. desert_steppe
5. forest
6. grasslands_plains_scrublands
7. mountains
8. mountains_glaciated
9. swamp_marsh_wetlands
10. tundra
11. watercourse_lakes_rivers
12. watercourse_sea
13. city
14. town_village

> 13
Select number of encounters: 20
1 : 33 rats
2 : Light Patrol (city mercenaries)
3 : Cloudburst (non-desert only)
4 : 1 aurochs (domesticated)
5 : 1 dromedary camel (domesticated)
6 : 3rd level Chaotic Evil Magician
7 : 1 riding horse
8 : Heavy Blizzard (non-desert only)
9 : Light Patrol (city mercenaries)
10 : Fog Bank (non-desert only)
11 : Chaotic Good NPC Party, 9 members
3rd level Thief
2nd level Berserker
2nd level Scout
1st level Ranger
5 0th level light infantry
12 : Plague
13 : Neutral NPC Party, 9 members
1st level Cataphract
1st level Fighter
1st level Monk
1st level Witch
3rd level Ranger
4th level Thief
3 0th level light infantry
14 : 4 giant pink centipedes
15 : 1 giant ant
16 : 1 woolly mammoth (domesticated)
17 : 5 giant pink centipedes
18 : 1 bactrian camel (domesticated)
19 : 2nd level Chaotic Evil Warlock
20 : 6 bandits (thugs)

It might be good enough to port to a web app now.

Last edited by gizmomathboy (5/12/2017 3:00 pm)

Blackadder23 · 5/13/2017 9:32 am

I agree PCs would probably only have one (or at most two or three, if the dice were really against them) random encounters in a day. The reason I'm rolling 13 is to have a greater chance of seeing some cool stuff at each location. Consider it a week's worth prerolled, in case your players ever go there.
Daily encounter time! Now your players have made the probably unwise decision to travel to the Ixian capital of Fazuum, City of the Snake-Worshiping Necromancer-Slavers. Just how much trouble will they find there?

Sleet storm
8 drunks (destined to end up in the hold of a slave ship)
Fever (some hideous tomb-sickness, no doubt)
1 draught horse
34 corpse-fattened rats
1 sacred giant cobra! (slay it at your peril)
Apama (11th level necromancer!) with 7 ghoul minions
Tirgatao (1st level assassin) posing as an escaped slave
8 more drunks (make room for more slaves!)
10 bandits – thugs waylaying travelers, at least until the snakes get them
90 shackled slaves guarded by 8 light infantrymen, whose leader is Phoros (10th level fighter!). Are any of the PCs Spartakos?
Lustaiyon, 12th level (!) Neutral warlock, accompanied by 5th level apprentice Ganos and 7 5th level heavy infantrymen. Will this wrecking crew be friend or foe to the PCs?
1 domesticated aurochs

Xathoqqua's ears! More like "City of the High-Level NPCs".

mabon5127 · 5/13/2017 10:05 am

gizmomathboy wrote:
mabon5127 wrote:
<SNIP>
Though there are lots of encounters most if not all would ignore a group of healthy adventurers on the move. I would never roll this many in a day but if automated it would be fun to say "the hunting looks like its good today." or the esquimaux stop to sell you furs / coats. This makes a day more interesting as it is there tends to be a daily encounter vs this kind of variety. Good Stuff!

Funny you should say that. I've got most of the encounter table stuff automated (at least the big chunks).

I don't have the terrain for all locations tailored for all of them, and I don't have the some of the sub-tables/encounters working but I can do this:

./roll_encounter.pl
Choose location starting letter (ABCDEFGHIKLMNOPRSTUVWXYZ): K
Select location:
1. Khromarium
2. Kimmerian Steppe
3. Kitasion Archipelago
4. Kor
5. Krimmea

> 1
Select terrain type
1. bluffs_hills
2. bluffs_hills_glaciated
3. desert_sandy
4. desert_steppe
5. forest
6. grasslands_plains_scrublands
7. mountains
8. mountains_glaciated
9. swamp_marsh_wetlands
10. tundra
11. watercourse_lakes_rivers
12. watercourse_sea
13. city
14. town_village

> 13
Select number of encounters: 20
1 : 33 rats
2 : Light Patrol (city mercenaries)
3 : Cloudburst (non-desert only)
4 : 1 aurochs (domesticated)
5 : 1 dromedary camel (domesticated)
6 : 3rd level Chaotic Evil Magician
7 : 1 riding horse
8 : Heavy Blizzard (non-desert only)
9 : Light Patrol (city mercenaries)
10 : Fog Bank (non-desert only)
11 : Chaotic Good NPC Party, 9 members
3rd level Thief
2nd level Berserker
2nd level Scout
1st level Ranger
5 0th level light infantry
12 : Plague
13 : Neutral NPC Party, 9 members
1st level Cataphract
1st level Fighter
1st level Monk
1st level Witch
3rd level Ranger
4th level Thief
3 0th level light infantry
14 : 4 giant pink centipedes
15 : 1 giant ant
16 : 1 woolly mammoth (domesticated)
17 : 5 giant pink centipedes
18 : 1 bactrian camel (domesticated)
19 : 2nd level Chaotic Evil Warlock
20 : 6 bandits (thugs)

It might be good enough to port to a web app now.

This looks great! Pardon my ignorance but what platform is this on?
Morgan

mabon5127 · 5/13/2017 10:07 am

Blackadder23 wrote:
I agree PCs would probably only have one (or at most two or three, if the dice were really against them) random encounters in a day. The reason I'm rolling 13 is to have a greater chance of seeing some cool stuff at each location. Consider it a week's worth prerolled, in case your players ever go there.
Daily encounter time! Now your players have made the probably unwise decision to travel to the Ixian capital of Fazuum, City of the Snake-Worshiping Necromancer-Slavers. Just how much trouble will they find there?

Sleet storm
8 drunks (destined to end up in the hold of a slave ship)
Fever (some hideous tomb-sickness, no doubt)
1 draught horse
34 corpse-fattened rats
1 sacred giant cobra! (slay it at your peril)
Apama (11th level necromancer!) with 7 ghoul minions
Tirgatao (1st level assassin) posing as an escaped slave
8 more drunks (make room for more slaves!)
10 bandits – thugs waylaying travelers, at least until the snakes get them
90 shackled slaves guarded by 8 light infantrymen, whose leader is Phoros (10th level fighter!). Are any of the PCs Spartakos?
Lustaiyon, 12th level (!) Neutral warlock, accompanied by 5th level apprentice Ganos and 7 5th level heavy infantrymen. Will this wrecking crew be friend or foe to the PCs?
1 domesticated aurochs

Xathoqqua's ears! More like "City of the High-Level NPCs".

Lots of color encounters in there that may never lead to immediate conflict but may lead to later adventure.

gizmomathboy · 5/13/2017 6:39 pm

mabon5127 wrote:
SNIP

This looks great! Pardon my ignorance but what platform is this on?
Morgan

It's a Perl program I wrote to do most of Blackadder's Encounter table stuff.

I'm slowly working to put it up on one of my web sites.

Since it's Perl it can run just about anywhere on the command line.

I run linux, but it can just as easily run on Windows, Mac, Vax, HP/UX...

Blackadder23 · 5/14/2017 9:37 am

Time once again for daily encounters! This fine day your players have sailed to the Pictish capital of Fidib, City of the Tattooed Spider-Worshiping Diabolists. You know that was probably a mistake, right?

8 drunks
7 bandits (thugs)
Snowstorm
3 giant wolf spiders – intelligent and evil
Fog bank
Patrol of 20 light infantry led by Motios (2nd level fighter).
Verctissa, harlot (priced at 1 silver piece)
Patrol of 14 light infantry led by Vellocatos (7th level fighter).
Cassivellaunos (2nd level Neutral magician) accompanied by 1st level apprentices Tasciovanos and Ciar as well as 6 light infantrymen.
7 giant rats (spider food)
8 giant rats (more spider food)
1 woolly mammoth (domesticated)
1 giant chameleon

Needs more spiders!

Last edited by Blackadder23 (5/14/2017 9:38 am)

Blackadder23 · 5/15/2017 8:22 am

Oh boy! It's daily encounter time. Today your players have journeyed to the grasslands of the Fields of Vol, where men are men and apes are also men. What will they encounter there?

20 Neutral pilgrims led by Trang (7th level druid) and his 3rd level assistant druid Sainoth. Also with the group are Zaumnos (6th level fighter) and Thoom (8th level fighter). These devout fools are seeking a shrine of Yoon’Deh in the very midst of the teeming savage Kimmeri-Kelts and equally savage ape-men of Kor.
16 wild horses
4 ape-men
Fog bank
Lost
Hunting party of 15 Kimmeri-Kelt bowmen and 14 dogs, led by Grainne. They haven’t bagged any game yet.
Patrol of 30 Kimmeri-Keltic light cavalry led by Herodotos.
21 red deer
1 black bear
180 red deer!
3 ape-men
1 boar
6 boars

Plenty of game, more inept hunters.

mabon5127 · 5/15/2017 2:23 pm

Give those pilgrims poisoned weapons and then you got something......

Blackadder23 · 5/16/2017 8:24 am

mabon5127 wrote:
Give those pilgrims poisoned weapons and then you got something......

Heh heh heh.
It's time once more for daily encounters! In this episode, your players have traveled by airship to the Floating Island of Paradoxon, an Amazon-held chunk of debris floating next to Hyperborea. What horrors await them in the forests there?

16 vipers!
3 owl bears!
Vermin (PC loses food and water)
14 aurochs and 500 bats (only at night) fleeing from 451 army ants that are eating everything in their path!
Hailstorm
3 cockatrices!
Patrol of 14 medium infantrywomen led by Alexandra (1st level fighter)
Hunting party of 10 archers and 15 dogs, led by Artemisia. Though they don’t respect the hunting prowess of males, neither have they taken any game yet.
Hunting party of 14 archers and 7 dogs, led by Eudoxia. Like their sisters, these huntresses have had no luck.
Demetrios (3rd level Chaotic Evil berserker) hiding from the women
Black lotus!
Patrol of 11 medium infantrywomen led by Pelagia (10th level fighter! – this must be the A team). Probably looking for Demetrios.
1 brown bear

I guess it's a lot safer inside the City in the Clouds... unless you get on the bad side of the Amazons...

Blackadder23 · 5/17/2017 7:35 am

Welcome back to daily encounters! This time your players have traveled to Gal City, chief settlement of the Kelts. It has to be better than the last few places, right?

Patrol of 14 light infantrymen led by Riona (9th level fighter).
6 giant fire beetles (night only)
Sandstorm – desert only, so no encounter!
Conan (Chaotic Good 10th level warlock) with 5th level apprentices Laoise, Dughlas, and Echna, accompanied by 6 5th level mercenary heavy infantrymen!
Chaotic Good NPC Party! Eros (4th level illusionist), Imbos (4th level fighter), and 10 light infantry hirelings.
Patrol of 15 light infantrymen led by Tuathla (3rd level fighter).
25 rats
Cloudburst
6 drunks
1 domestic aurochs
Sandstorm – once again doesn’t apply, so no encounter
1 domesticated dromedary
Lawful Good NPC Party! Zai of the Shadow Magic (8th level illusionist), Qarrullesta (8th level magician), Zennquann (8th level cleric), Zai the Blue (8th level magician), and 6 2rd level mercenary medium infantry.

So it seems Gal City is "Adventurer Central". Excellent!

Last edited by Blackadder23 (5/17/2017 7:40 am)

Blackadder23 · 5/18/2017 8:21 am

Daily encounter time! Today your players have ventured out into the Gal Hills, where the Kelts have most of their settlements. That doesn't sound too bad either...

21 red deer
12 rats
Patrol of 16 light infantrymen led by Fionuir (6th level fighter).
1 mountain lion
Hunting party of 11 bowmen and 13 dogs, led by Aonghus. They haven’t bagged any game.
1 black bear
3 wolves
Patrol of 13 light infantrymen led by Ana (4th level fighter).
2 giant wolf spiders
4 boars
1 mountain lion
Ros (10th level druid!) with 1 viper companion
21 red deer

Not too bad at all (except for a couple of giant wolf spiders, but they weren't the smart kind). I think I know where to start neophyte adventurers...

Blackadder23 · 5/19/2017 9:13 am

It's that time again: daily encounters! In this edition, your players have traveled to the rolling grasslands of the Gibbering Fields. What horrors await them there?

2 hyaena-men
Thunderstorm (accompanied by the hysterical cackling of hyaena-men, no doubt)
Snowstorm
15 aurochs
24 hyaena-men!
170 red deer
Fever
21 hyaena-men!
12 woolly mammoths
Violet lotus!
4 hyaena-men
1 boar
Fog bank

I hope the PCs like game animals and hyaena-men (I'm guessing they like the former more than the latter).

Last edited by Blackadder23 (5/19/2017 9:15 am)

Ynas Midgard · 5/19/2017 9:14 am

I've been calculating probabilities here and there and realised I don't like the curve of the 3d6 roll; too many results have way too little chance of ever showing up. That combined with the fact that no table has an earth elemental on it made me decide that I'll create my own encounter tables - based on your piece, obviously.

Still huge thanks for putting this together, but now I gotta put my own spin on it

gizmomathboy · 5/19/2017 9:16 am

Ynas Midgard wrote:
I've been calculating probabilities here and there and realised I don't like the curve of the 3d6 roll; too many results have way too little chance of ever showing up. That combined with the fact that no table has an earth elemental on it made me decide that I'll create my own encounter tables - based on your piece, obviously.

Still huge thanks for putting this together, but now I gotta put my own spin on it

Sure, double my work on making that into a program/web app. ;-)

Although truth be told, once I get the first one done...the rest are easier.