City/Town Encounters -- AD&D1 DMG

[Bullgrit]

I was reading through my AD&D1 DMG, and came to the often mentioned City/Town Encounters table (which includes the wandering harlots table). I thought I'd share some of the table here for fun and discussion.

CITY/TOWN ENCOUNTERS

The prime city or cities/town or towns in a campaign will usually have pre-determined denizens and many encounters will be set according to facts thus developed. All sections of these prime inhabited areas will not be matrixed, and all other cities/towns will be basically undeveloped. For all such areas the CITY/TOWN ENCOUNTER MATRIX is useful.

All encounters must be in their appropriate areas. A ghost will not be encountered in the main square of a city, rats in a palace, etc. If the roll indicates an improbable encounter, just ignore it, and no encounter has taken place. Check for encounters every three turns as normally, or otherwise as desired.

Disguise all encounters by using vagueness and similarity.

The matrix is divided into daytime and nighttime chances. For instance, there is no daytime chance for encountering a demon, devil, doppleganger, ghast or ghoul, ghost, night hag, rakshasa, shadow, spectre, wight, will-o-wisp, wraith, vampire or lich. But nighttime has a chance for everything in the list.

Following are all the possible encounters, and some of the explanations [notes in brackets are my own].

Assassin . . .

Bandit encounters in daylight hours will simply be a case of a nondescript group being seen -- the bandits will perhaps be watching the encountered party as a future prospect. Nighttime encounters will typically be with 3-12 bandits with 1 or more leaders.

Beggar encounters are with but 1 (or possibly 2) person(s) (young or old; maimed, diseased, or whole; religious or otherwise; male or female) beseeching alms. There is a chance that a beggar will be a thief (q.v.). A beggar has a slight chance (1% to 8%) of knowing information of interest to the character encountering him or her, but payment must be made. Any gratuity or gift given to a beggar will immediately attract the attention of other beggars nearby (0-9 others will be near).

Brigand encounters are the same as bandit encounters.

City guard encounters are with 2-16 mercenary soldiers in the employ of the city as gate and wall guards or in a police function. There will always be 1 higher level leader -- 2 if more than 8 guards, 3 if more than 12 -- in addition to the 0 level guardsmen. Leaders are of 2nd to 5th level fighting ability. They will question suspicious persons, arrest law breakers, etc. In addition, the guard party will always be accompanied by a magic-user of 1st to 4th level who is indentured for 1 year for some service rendered to him or her by the city which was not repayable in some other manner (bad debts, resurrection, infraction of city rules, non-payment of taxes, etc.).

City official . . .

City watchman . . . [similar to the guard above, but with a cleric instead of a magic-user]

Cleric . . .

Demon or Devil encounters must be carefully restricted, and they may be ignored entirely if desirable. For example, near an evil temple there may well be a demon or devil, a succubus may be roaming at night, a wizard may have conjured a demon, etc. Treat these encounters as highly special. Only 1 demon or devil will be encountered.

Dopplerganger . . .

Druid . . .

Drunk . . .

Fighter encounters will be with a 6th to 12th level fighter (2d4 + 4) accompanied by 0-3 henchmen (d4 for level).

Gentleman . . .

Ghast . . . [2-8 in number]

Ghost . . .

Giant rats . . . [2-8 in day, 4-24 at night]

Goodwife . . .

Harlot encounters can be with brazen strumpets or haughty courtesans, thus making it difficult for the party to distinguish each encounter for what it is. (In fact, the encounter could be with a dancer only prostituting herself as it pleases her, an elderly madam, or even a pimp.) In addition to the offering of the usual fare, the harlot is 30% likely to know valuable information, 15% likely to make something up in order to gain a reward, and 20% likely to be, or work with, a thief. You may find it useful to use the sub-table below to see which sort of harlot encounter takes place:

01-10 Slovenly trull
11-25 Brazen strumpet
26-35 Cheap trollop
36-50 Typical streetwalker
51-65 Saucy tart
66-75 Wanton wench
76-85 Expensive doxy
86-90 Haughty courtesan
91-92 Aged madam
93-94 Wealthy procuress
95-98 Sly pimp
99-00 Rich panderer

An expensive doxy will resemble a gentlewoman, a haughty courtesan a noblewoman, the other harlots might be mistaken for goodwives, and so forth.

Illusionist . . .

Laborer . . .

Magic-user . . .

Mercenary . . .

Merchant . . .

Monk . . .

Night hag . . .

Noble . . .

Paladin encounters will be with a paladin of 6th to 9th level (d4 + 5). The paladin will be indistinguishable from any other fighter.

Pilgrim . . .

Press gang . . .

Rake encounters are with 2-5 young gentlemen fighters of 5th to 10th level (d6 + 4). The rakes will always be aggressive, rude, and sarcastic. There is a 25% chance they will be drunk.

Rakshas . . . [1-3 in number]

Ranger encounters will be with a ranger of 7th to 10th level (d4 + 6). The ranger will be indistinguishable from any other fighter.

Ruffian encounters will be with from 7 to 12 (d6 + 6) fellows of shabby appearance and mean disposition. They will be armed with clubs and daggers, fighting at 2nd level ability and having 2 dice (d8) for hits. There is a 5% chance per ruffian encountered that an assassin of 5th to 8th level (d4 + 4) will be with the group. All weapons will be concealed.

Shadow . . . [2-8 in number]

Spectre . . . [1-3 in number]

Thief . . .

Tradesman . . .

Wererat . . . [2-5 in number]

Weretiger . . . [1-2 in number]

Werewolf . . . [2-5 in number]

Wight . . . [2-5 in number]

Will-o-wisp . . . [1-2 in number]

Wraith . . . [1-4 in number]

Vampire encounters are the same as ghost encounters, but the vampire ranges nearly anywhere in teh city/town in human, bat, or gaseous form. They are always seeking new victims. [25% for this encounter to be a lich]

And then the last part of this section, I had never noticed until reading it tonight:

Magic Possessed by Encountered Creatures

All 1st or higher level characters encountered in a city/town may possess one or more magic items on his or her person at the time of encounter. Of course, as they will employ the item(s), this should be determined before interaction takes place between the party and the encountered. The power of the item must be commensurate with the level of the possessor.

. . . [chart for magic items by class] . . .

Cities can be very dangerous places. Actually, for a low level PC, a dungeon might be safer to live in.

Bullgrit

 

[Reynard]

Cities can be very dangerous places. Actually, for a low level PC, a dungeon might be safer to live in.

Not surprising given the source literature. Between Conan's occasional urban adventure and Ffhard and the Grey Mouser's Lahkmar, I don't think anything good ever came of sword and sorcery characters spending time in the big city.

 

[Zelligars Apprentice]

You think THAT'S harsh...

You should look at the original City State of the Invincible Overlord! You have much more detailed encounter matrices, and individual encounters by quarter or even by street. There are also some very nasty things you can run into, including a god!

Of course, that was all part of the game back then. There is an attitude that adventures should be possible (literally) around the corner. As Reynard said, looking at the original Fafhrd & The Grey Mouser stories will tell you much about the origins of those encounter tables, and the nasty creatures who inhabit them. In fact, I highly recommend them to anyone who is a fan of D&D, especially those who are interested in the early influences on the game. They are just plain fun reads, as well!

 

[Bullgrit]

Disguise all encounters by using vagueness and similarity.

Why handle city encounters like this? The DMG has pages of random "dungeon dressing" to add variety to boring, repetitive dungeon rooms (just a few pages after this section), but for the city encounters (what seems to me would be the main place for variety and distinction), EGG says to make them vague and similar. What was the thinking there?

It's almost like he wanted to trick the PCs into some wrong action or embarrassing social faux pas.

Bullgrit

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

If you want some colorful, dressed up encounters, check out Matt Finch's City Encounters. It has 600 of them, and has a very cool "swords-n-sorcery" vibe.

 

[Bullgrit]

What exactly constitutes a random "city encounter"? Some of these, I can see how an encounter would work -- the undead, the rakes, the press gang. But some of the others. . .?

I mean, you're walking through the city streets -- I presume there's other people all over the place -- and then there's an "encounter" with a goodwife (or is she a harlot?).

Sure, I can sit and come up with an interested encounter with an otherwise mundane person. But having to come up with one every 3 turns, randomly by roll of the dice? Are we playing a game or is this an exercise for the DM's off-the-top-of-his-head creativity?

Half an hour later there's an encounter with a ranger (looks like a fighter).

Half an hour later there's an encounter with a laborer (what, do they cat call at the magic-user?).

Half an hour later there's an encounter with bandits (in the day they just look at you).

Interesting encounters with normally mundane people (whom the PCs see all over the place, all day long in the city) shouldn't be controlled by random rolls many times a day.

Did/does anyone actually use this random chart for city encounters? What did/do you do when you roll an encounter for a pilgrim or a tradesman? How did/do you make this random encounter stand out from every mundane person on the street, such that the PCs actually interact with them? And then do it again for the druid or gentleman encounter 30 minutes later.

And there's something in this list that just cracks me up about some things in AD&D1: so much is random chance -- even the odds for a random chance are determined randomly. "A beggar has a slight chance (1% to 8%) of knowing information..." Can't just say "A beggar has a slight chance (5%) of knowing information..."? (Not to mention "knowing information" is pretty darn vague.)

Bullgrit

 

[Hella_Tellah]

Are we playing a game or is this an exercise for the DM's off-the-top-of-his-head creativity?

Both, ideally!

Half an hour later there's an encounter with a laborer (what, do they cat call at the magic-user?).

Of course they cat call at the magic-user, because that's fun! See? You're getting the hang of this already.

Did/does anyone actually use this random chart for city encounters? What did/do you do when you roll an encounter for a pilgrim or a tradesman? How did/do you make this random encounter stand out from every mundane person on the street, such that the PCs actually interact with them?

The point is not to coerce the PCs into interacting with every random encounter. The point is to give the DM a jumping-off point for delivering a plot hook, having a little roleplay, or giving a flavor description as the PCs go about their business. If they see a pilgrim, you say something like, "As you push your way through the crowd and down an alleyway, you briefly get stuck behind a slow-moving man in a brown robe and his over-laden donkey." If the PCs interact with him, they can ask him about his pilgrimage. Maybe he'll tell them about a ruined temple out in the boonies, all full of goblins and treasure, that he's wanted to visit but can't for fear of the danger. Or, if the players don't want to talk to him, they can just pass on by, and you save that plot hook for later.

Not to mention "knowing information" is pretty darn vague.

That's a feature, not a bug. The beggar has a small chance to know something useful to the PCs, at the DM's discretion. If the dice say he knows something useful, then maybe he's been to the ruined temple out in the boonies, went mad drinking goblin tea, and now lives off the alms of passing city-dwellers.

 

[yagyuninja]

And there's something in this list that just cracks me up about some things in AD&D1: so much is random chance -- even the odds for a random chance are determined randomly. "A beggar has a slight chance (1% to 8%) of knowing information..." Can't just say "A beggar has a slight chance (5%) of knowing information..."? (Not to mention "knowing information" is pretty darn vague.)

Because random charts are the greatest! I need to get a hold of these old 1e books I read as a kid so can unleash the randomness on my players.

 

[Scribble]

My guess is they're called out simply because a random encounter was generated. The Dm would make them unique by either making soemthing about them unique (a bunch of guys seem to be eying you up...) or by the encounter calling out the PCs (Give us a gold piece would you?)

Also they seem slightly useful when the PCs inevitably ask "What do I see?"

 

[MerricB]

I always liked the random tables in Midkemia Press's "Cities" book, later published by Chaosium.

Cheers!