The DM's Notebook: Using D&D for Creative Writing: ~Random Encounter Tables~

From The Game Mastery Guide, which is
actually the coolest book ever.

So I've been thinking for a while about the way the Dungeons and Dragons RPG, in its trappings and mechanics, has some really useful applications for Creative Writing.  The Dungeon Master's Notebook is a series of  to organize such thoughts. 

Dungeon Master's Notebook: Random Encounter Tables

Every so often a Dungeon Master needs to throw a fight at the players because they’ve been role-playing too quickly¹, but doesn’t have anything planned, so I roll on an encounter table.  They look something like what’s to the right.

So, say I rolled a 33 on that.  Now the players have to fight a hydra, which burns some time.

How does a Writer use this?  Well, let’s say you have a character you don’t understand yet.  Put them in a room they feel comfortable and roll on the following tables.  You can use a Six-Sided die (a d6), or a 20-Sided die (a d20) if you’re a cool kid.

d6	d20	character
1	1-3	A Catholic priest2 with a nervous tick (finger tapping, laughing, puns...)
2	4-7	A young girl with a wide-brimmed hat covered in polka-dot ribbons
3	8-10	An elderly Madame in a silvery gown wearing earrings stolen before the war
4	11-14	A gorgeous woman with sharp red lips and her hair on fire
5	15-17	A freckly boy badly disguised as an old man
6	18-20	A drunken pirate with an Indian2 Accent and a well curled beard

…walks into the room and…

d6	d20	action
1	1-3	tries to hire your characters to go on a quest to find
2	4-7	falls at the character's feet, begging to be saved from
3	8-10	bearing a box covered in purple silk, containing
4	11-14	demands, by order of the King of Sweden2, they hand over
5	15-17	slaps someone in the face with
6	18-20	snaps three times.  Suddenly, the character is in

d6	d20	McGuffin
1	1-3	the black-market of Atlantis
2	4-7	a creepy, badly painted wooden clown doll
3	8-10	an abstract painting of the character's mother
4	11-14	a morningstar made of functioning light bulbs
5	15-17	a 1st edition of a book detailing the history of freshwater fishing in Iowa2
6	18-20	a thunderstorm

I’ll give it a shot.  Rolled an 8, a 6, and a 13.  So, an elderly madame walks in falls at the character’s feet, begging to be saved from a Morningstar made of functioning lighhtbulbs.  Logically, the Morningstar would have to show up at some point, so let’s say it’s being wielded by (rolls, 19) a freckly-faced boy disguised as an old man.  Okay.

And my character is Andy, an intern with the EPA.  How does he react to this? 

Well, he’s shy, but, seeing that it’s more or less a toy in a game a kid is playing with his grandma, he's not too worried.  He leans back, watching, a little intimidated and wondering how they got into his office at the EPA, but he’s working late because he’s like that so no one's around to reprimand them, and to be honest he’s happy for the distraction.

After a few minutes, he joins in, using the keyboard as a shield to defend the old lady from her vicious attacker. 

There’s a lot of things that can be done with this.  What sort of car does someone drive?  What color shirt are they wearing?  How’s the weather?

Now, I’ll admit, some of those things are characterization things.  What car someone drives informs a lot about that character.  But there are some times it doesn’t matter.  Also, look at that shirt example. 

d6	d20	shirt
1	1-3	Button-down brown, with a pocket on the right.
2	4-7	Sleek grey, with two buttons on the sleeves.
3	8-10	Forest Green, low amount of corduroy.
4	11-14	Dark Green, a little too big.
5	15-17	Cobalt grey, with a jam stain.
6	18-20	Maroon, with tan lining.

See?  Now, all of these inform the same character, still Andy.  But if we stay with him long enough, he’ll wear all the shirts, and therefore it doesn’t matter which ones he’s wearing on any particular day.

There are probably a lot of uses for random tables in creative writing.  Let me know if you come up with some, or if you'd like me to make one for you.  

Previous Notes: Ability Scores