Dolmenwood Encounter Tables: Combined Master Tables (Daytime)

I previously posted ideas working towards a complete set of general encounter tables for Dolmenwood, including variants for daytime/nighttime and party activity. I really like the idea of having a bit more detail to the design of encounter tables. Some people pointed out, though, that my previous designs, being based on multiple rolls on multiple tables, would add complexity in play. To that end, I've created conglomerated mega tables which require but a single roll / look-up.

Here's the result. Obviously, this isn't a very usable format. I'll make it into a proper PDF at some point.

(Note: green things are animals, yellow things are fairies, red things are monsters, and blue things are people.)

Blogger is playing up on me, so I've had to split this post in two. First, here are the daytime tables. Here's part two.

d100	Daytime, in the wilds
1	Deer
2	Deer
3	Boar
4	Boar
5	Bear
6	Bear
7	Wolves
8	Wolves
9	Giant weasel
10	Sentient crow
11	Sentient squirrel
12	Sentient hare
13	Giant centipedes
14	Snake
15	Giant ants
16	Killer bees
17	Insect swarm
18	Insect swarm
19	Giant stag beetle
20	Griffon
21	Domestic animals
22	Deer
23	Snake
24	Giant ants
25	Barrow bogies
26	Mogglewomp
27	Scrabey
28	Sprites
29	Sprites
30	Dryad
31	Elves
32	Elves
33	Unicorn (noble)
34	Unicorn (black)
35	Grimalkin, estray
36	Grimalkin, chester
37	Changeling
38	Changeling
39	Boggart
40	Grigg
41	Leshii
42	Pook
43	Poppet
44	Hob
45	Elves
46	Scrabey
47	Pook
48	Leshii
49	Hob
50	Gloam
51	Scrycke
52	Ogre
53	Troll
54	Grey worm
55	Root thing (autumn) or giant spider
56	Giant spider
57	Centaur
58	Basilisk
59	Goatmen, longhorn
60	Goatmen, shorthorn
61	Goatmen, wild
62	Deodand
63	Chimera (any number of hybrid monstrosities)
64	Evil tree
65	Lycanthrope
66	Wyrm
67	Scarecrow or wickerling
68	Atacorn
69	Peryton
70	Goatmen, longhorn
71	Goatmen, shorthorn
72	Goatmen, wild
73	Evil tree
74	Goatmen, wild
75	Pedlar/merchant
76	Beggar
77	Villager
78	Villager
79	Villager
80	Pilgrim/friar (travelling to random shrine)
81	Soldiers/knights (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of shorthorn goatmen)
82	Bandits/highwaymen
83	Adventurers
84	Hunters/woodsmen/trappers/anglers
85	Wizard
86	Witch
87	Drune
88	Nobles (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of longhorn goatmen)
89	Officials (bailiffs, tax collectors) (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of longhorn goatmen)
90	Refugees / the lost / exiles
91	Hermit
92	Fortune teller
93	Explorers (cartographers, scouts)
94	Messengers (criers, emissaries)
95	Adventurers
96	Hunters/woodsmen/trappers/anglers
97	Explorers (cartographers, scouts)
98	Refugees / the lost / exiles
99	Bandits/highwaymen
100	Drune

d100	Daytime, on the road
1	Deer
2	Deer
3	Deer
4	Boar
5	Boar
6	Boar
7	Sentient crow
8	Sentient crow
9	Sentient squirrel
10	Sentient squirrel
11	Sentient hare
12	Sentient hare
13	Bear
14	Bear
15	Wolves
16	Wolves
17	Giant weasel
18	Domestic animals
19	Domestic animals
20	Domestic animals
21	Domestic animals
22	Giant weasel
23	Giant centipedes
24	Snake
25	Giant ants
26	Killer bees
27	Insect swarm
28	Giant centipedes
29	Snake
30	Giant ants
31	Killer bees
32	Insect swarm
33	Giant stag beetle
34	Changeling
35	Elves
36	Elves
37	Grimalkin, estray
38	Grimalkin, estray
39	Mogglewomp
40	Scrabey
41	Scrabey
42	Gloam
43	Goatmen, longhorn
44	Goatmen, longhorn
45	Goatmen, shorthorn
46	Goatmen, shorthorn
47	Goatmen, wild
48	Lycanthrope
49	Scarecrow or wickerling
50	Adventurers
51	Adventurers
52	Adventurers
53	Bandits/highwaymen
54	Bandits/highwaymen
55	Beggar
56	Beggar
57	Beggar
58	Drune
59	Explorers (cartographers, scouts)
60	Explorers (cartographers, scouts)
61	Fortune teller
62	Fortune teller
63	Fortune teller
64	Fortune teller
65	Hunters/woodsmen/trappers/anglers
66	Hunters/woodsmen/trappers/anglers
67	Messengers (criers, emissaries)
68	Messengers (criers, emissaries)
69	Messengers (criers, emissaries)
70	Nobles (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of longhorn goatmen)
71	Nobles (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of longhorn goatmen)
72	Nobles (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of longhorn goatmen)
73	Officials (bailiffs, tax collectors) (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of longhorn goatmen)
74	Officials (bailiffs, tax collectors) (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of longhorn goatmen)
75	Officials (bailiffs, tax collectors) (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of longhorn goatmen)
76	Officials (bailiffs, tax collectors) (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of longhorn goatmen)
77	Pedlar/merchant
78	Pedlar/merchant
79	Pedlar/merchant
80	Pedlar/merchant
81	Pilgrim/friar (travelling to random shrine)
82	Pilgrim/friar (travelling to random shrine)
83	Pilgrim/friar (travelling to random shrine)
84	Refugees / the lost / exiles
85	Refugees / the lost / exiles
86	Soldiers/knights (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of shorthorn goatmen)
87	Soldiers/knights (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of shorthorn goatmen)
88	Soldiers/knights (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of shorthorn goatmen)
89	Soldiers/knights (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of shorthorn goatmen)
90	Soldiers/knights (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of shorthorn goatmen)
91	Villager
92	Villager
93	Villager
94	Villager
95	Villager
96	Villager
97	Villager
98	Witch
99	Wizard
100	Wizard

Single-Round D&D Combat

Recently, I've been thinking about how one could speed up combat resolution in D&D. These thoughts began after a one-shot which I ran a few weeks back, for a reunion of the most part of my old LL campaign group. I noticed that, even with experienced players, the time taken to resolve each round of combat (assuming a decent number of combatants -- six to ten -- on each side) is significant. Rolling initiative, each player declaring their actions, making to-hit rolls, making damage rolls, describing what happens. Even without the laborious tactical discussions and tomfoolery that sometimes slows combat down even further, when one is dealing with a less experienced or more drunk group, D&D combat is just slow. (I dread to imagine how it gets in a more complex rule set! I'm talking low-level, Basic characters here.)

If a single, significant battle occurs in a session, I'm fine with it taking 30+ minutes to resolve. But when several combats occur in a single session, they can start to drag. Thus, my search for ideas to speed things up.

I recently posted an idea for a simplified D&D combat system, based on Chainmail (via the semi-clone Platemail). This was, really, just a step on the way, though. My ideal would be a single-round combat system. A complete battle resolved in one step. After some fermentation time, the following rough system has emerged:

Super Abstract D&D Combat
When an encounter occurs and it leads to combat, the procedure is as follows:

1. Both sides determine their Combat Strength (CS) -- a simple number.
2. The leader of each side makes a battle roll: 1d6 plus the CS.
3. The results are compared. The side with the lower result is defeated.
4. Based on the difference between the two battle rolls, damage is applied to the victorious side.
5. The results of defeat are determined.

1. Combat Strength
The force is divided into combatants and non-combatants. My inclination, inspired by LotFP, is to say that only fighters, monsters, or trained 0-level soldiers count as combatants. Adventurers of other classes count as non-combatants. (Games using clerics or other half-fighting classes may say that they count as half-combatants.)

(Note that by declaring non-fighters as non-combatants, I'm assuming that spell casting has little impact on battle. This assumption varies significantly with the D&D standard, but I'm happy to go with it. I actually like the idea of this being an area where fighters can excel, while spell casting is useful in a different arena.)


Combatants add their Hit Dice to their side's CS. Non-combatants add 1 to the CS.

Many other modifiers may apply (to be fully elaborated... just some basic ideas for now):

• Character below half hit points? HD counts as half, for the purposes of calculating CS.
• Character AC 6 or 7? +1 CS.
• Character AC 4 or 5? +2 CS.
• Character AC 3? +3 CS.
• Character better than AC 3? +4 CS.
• Character armed with a magic weapon. +1 CS.
• Tactical advantages (this is an area ripe for elaboration). Varies.
• Surprise +4 CS.
• Missile weapons which can be fired before melee begins. +4 CS.

2. Battle Rolls
Just roll 1d6 and add to the side's total CS.

3. Compare Battle Rolls
The side with the higher roll is victorious. The other side is defeated.

4. Apply Damage to Victorious Side
Of course, entering into battle is a dangerous business and even the victor may suffer losses. The losses suffered are determined by the victory margin (i.e. the difference between the two battle rolls):

• Narrow victory. Less than 5 difference: 75% damage.
• Sound victory. Difference 5 - 10: 50% damage.
• Triumphant victory. Difference 11 - 15: 25% damage.
• Rout. Difference 16+: negligible damage.

Damage is applied as follows:

• The total Hit Dice of the defeated force is calculated (without any of the modifiers mentioned above). This is the number of d6 damage suffered by the victor.
• The number of d6s is reduced by the percentage noted above. Fractions are rounded down.
• Each combatant may declare how many damage dice they will take -- at least one die and up to their HD. The damage dice are rolled and the combatants' hit point totals adjusted. If damage takes a character below 1 hp, they are treated the same as an ignored, defeated character (see below).
• Remaining damage dice are applied evenly to non-combatants.

Negligible damage means that the damage inflicted is one hit point per HD of the defeated force. This damage may be distributed between characters as described above.

5. Determine Results of Defeat
Characters on the defeated side may attempt to flee the battle, realising it is lost:

• Attempting to flee incurs automatic damage: 1d6 if a narrow victory occurred, 2d6 for a sound victory, 3d6 for a triumphant victory, and 4d6 for a rout.
• A DEX check determines whether a character manages to escape, with non-combatants gaining a +2 bonus to the roll. If the roll is successful, the character escapes and is not counted in subsequent defeat resolution. (The victorious side may decide to pursue escapees, however, which should be dealt with separately.)

Characters who do not escape battle suffer one of the following fates, as chosen by the victorious side:

• Killed: eaten, finished off, dismembered, sacrificed.
• Captured.
• Ignored. (This may occur if the victorious side immediately leaves the battlefield, for example in pursuit of fleeing characters.)

Characters who are lucky enough to be ignored or forgotten after being defeated in battle may make a saving throw versus death to determine their fate. If the save fails, the character is dead. If it succeeds, he is alive with 1hp and an injury which permanently reduces a random ability score by one. (A "death & dismemberment" table may be used at this stage, instead.)

As before: this is completely untested. Thoughts welcome!

The Complete Elementalist: 1st and 2nd Level Spell Lists

Of the many writing projects I have on various back/front/middle burners, the one which tends to get the least attention is my eternally work-in-progress The Complete Elementalist. I had a look at it again last night -- just to review what I have and how far along it is -- and felt this great sense of regret. I really like the material I have, but it's a really long way from completion.

Unfortunately, I can't really see myself getting the time to properly finish this off any time soon and I'm not sure what will become of it. I'm vaguely considering whether I could publish the material that I have in some other form, to get it out there. We'll see.

Over two years ago (yeah...), I posted a list of the 1st level spells. In between then and now, I think I had one more spurt of writing and completed the 2nd level spells. So, here are the finished spell lists -- including the single-element specialist lists -- as they stand.

Complete Spell List
1st Level

1. Burning hands
2. Bury / unearth
3. Create water (reversible)
4. Crystal resonance
5. Dust blast
6. Feather fall
7. Firelight
8. Firewreath
9. Fist of stone
10. Flickerflame
11. Hush
12. Ignite (reversible)
13. Lasting breath
14. Lodestone
15. Manipulate fire
16. Message
17. Purify
18. Ray of fire / ice
19. Resist cold
20. Rusting grasp
21. Seasong / windsong / firesong
22. Shapes
23. Slingshot
24. Sound the deeps
25. Stalagmites / stalactites
26. Summon/banish lesser elementine
27. Unburn
28. Wall of vapour
29. Water walk
30. Windwreath

2nd Level

1. Animate elemental
2. Circle of frost
3. Conceal flame
4. Control buoyancy
5. Crystal blast
6. Dweomerfire
7. Elemental cancellation
8. Enlarge / reduce portal
9. Erosion (reversible)
10. False gold
11. Fire trap
12. Fog cloud
13. Incinerate (reversible)
14. Levitate
15. Moonstone
16. Obelisk of marking
17. Produce flame
18. Pyrotechnics
19. Resist fire
20. Ride the waves
21. Sea lust
22. Summon/banish greater elementine
23. Tidal force
24. Whispering wind
25. Whisper thief
26. Word of passing (reversible)

Air Spell List
1st Level

1. Dust blast
2. Feather fall
3. Flickerflame
4. Hush
5. Lasting breath
6. Message
7. Purify
8. Seasong / windsong / firesong
9. Shapes
10. Summon/banish lesser elementine
11. Wall of vapour
12. Windwreath

2nd Level

1. Animate elemental
2. Control buoyancy
3. Elemental cancellation
4. Erosion (reversible)
5. Fog cloud
6. Gust of wind
7. Levitate
8. Summon/banish greater elementine 
9. Whisper thief
10. Whispering wind

Earth Spell List
1st Level

1. Bury / unearth
2. Crystal resonance
3. Dust blast
4. Fist of stone
5. Lodestone
6. Purify
7. Rusting grasp
8. Shapes
9. Slingshot
10. Sound the deeps
11. Stalagmites / stalactites
12. Summon/banish lesser elementine

2nd Level

1. Animate elemental
2. Crystal blast
3. Elemental cancellation
4. Enlarge / reduce portal
5. Erosion (reversible)
6. False gold
7. Moonstone
8. Obelisk of marking
9. Summon/banish greater elementine
10. Word of passing (reversible)

Fire Spell List
1st Level

1. Burning hands
2. Firelight
3. Firewreath
4. Flickerflame
5. Ignite
6. Manipulate fire
7. Purify
8. Ray of fire / ice
9. Seasong / windsong / firesong
10. Shapes
11. Summon/banish lesser elementine
12. Unburn

2nd Level

1. Animate elemental
2. Conceal flame
3. Dweomerfire
4. Elemental cancellation
5. Fire trap
6. Incinerate (reversible)
7. Produce flame
8. Pyrotechnics
9. Resist fire
10. Summon/banish greater elementine 

Water Spell List
1st Level

1. Create water (reversible)
2. Lasting breath
3. Purify
4. Ray of fire / ice
5. Resist cold
6. Rusting grasp
7. Seasong / windsong / firesong
8. Shapes
9. Sound the deeps
10. Summon/banish lesser elementine
11. Wall of vapour
12. Water walk

2nd Level

1. Animate elemental
2. Circle of frost
3. Control buoyancy
4. Elemental cancellation
5. Erosion (reversible)
6. Fog cloud
7. Ride the waves
8. Sea lust
9. Summon/banish greater elementine 
10. Tidal force

Dolmenwood: Encounter Tables 2

Following on from my post the other day, describing the basic premise for random encounter tables in Dolmenwood, here are fleshed-out tables for the different types of creatures that may be encountered (animals, fairies, monsters, people) during the day and night. Each chart has 20 entries. A random encounter may thus be determined by rolling a d12 and a d20, then consulting the appropriate charts.


(The Animals charts, by the way, also include mobile or semi-mobile plants or fungi.)

Creatures marked with an asterisk appear in currently published issues of Wormskin. As more creatures are described in the zine, the encounter charts will be updated / expanded.

Animals - Day
Neutral creatures of animal or lesser intelligence, active during the day.

1. Deer
2. Deer
3. Boar
4. Boar
5. Bear
6. Bear
7. Wolves
8. Wolves
9. Giant weasel
10. Sentient crow
11. Sentient squirrel
12. Sentient hare
13. Giant centipedes
14. Snake
15. Giant ants
16. Killer bees
17. Insect swarm
18. Giant fungus (shrieker)
19. Giant stag beetle
20. Griffon

Animals - Night
Neutral creatures of animal or lesser intelligence, active during the night.

1. Giant toad
2. Giant stag
3. Giant boar
4. Giant snail
5. Giant snail (psionic)
6. Giant rats
7. Giant weasel
8. Sentient fox
9. Sentient owl
10. Sentient badger
11. Giant centipedes
12. Bog salamander
13. Sentinel owl
14. Moon doe
15. Giant fungus (shrieker)
16. Shambling mound
17. Translucent ape
18. Giant leech
19. Shaggy mammoth
20. Flying horse

Fairies - Day

1. Barrow bogies *
2. Mogglewomp *
3. Scrabey *
4. Sprites
5. Sprites
6. Dryad
7. Elves
8. Elves
9. Unicorn (noble)
10. Unicorn (black)
11. Grimalkin, estray *
12. Grimalkin, chester *
13. Changeling
14. Changeling
15. Boggart
16. Grigg
17. Leshii
18. Pook
19. Poppet
20. Hob

Fairies - Night

1. Barrow bogies *
2. Scrabey *
3. Dryad
4. Nymph
5. Nymph
6. Elves
7. Wild hunt
8. Unicorn (noble)
9. Unicorn (black)
10. Will o’ the wisp
11. Will o’ the wisp
12. Grimalkin, wilder *
13. Changeling
14. Crepuscular gnome
15. Glegg
16. Tomfools
17. Woodgrue
18. Woodgrue
19. Redcap
20. Hob

Monsters - Day
Inhuman creatures, active during the day, which are often antagonistic toward or prey on mortals.

1. Gloam *
2. Scrycke *
3. Ogre
4. Troll
5. Grey worm
6. Root thing * (autumn) or giant spider
7. Giant spider
8. Centaur
9. Basilisk
10. Goatmen, longhorn *
11. Goatmen, shorthorn *
12. Goatmen, wild
13. Deodand
14. Chimera (any number of hybrid monstrosities)
15. Evil tree
16. Lycanthrope
17. Wyrm
18. Scarecrow or wickerling
19. Atacorn
20. Peryton

Monsters - Night
Inhuman creatures, active during the night, which are often antagonistic toward or prey on mortals.

1. Antler wraith
2. Giant spider
3. Giant spider (spell-weaver)
4. Devil goat
5. Bog zombies *
6. Gelatinous hulk
7. Nightworms *
8. Witch owls *
9. Gloam *
10. Centaur (deformed)
11. Groaning spirit
12. Sodder/grasper
13. Ghost
14. Evil wolves
15. Goatmen, wild
16. Wyrm
17. Ogre, horned
18. Nightgaunt
19. Evil tree
20. Lycanthrope

People - Day

1. Pedlar/merchant
2. Beggar
3. Villager
4. Villager
5. Villager
6. Pilgrim/friar (travelling to random shrine)
7. Soldiers/knights (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of shorthorn goatmen)
8. Bandits/highwaymen
9. Adventurers
10. Hunters/woodsmen/trappers/anglers
11. Wizard
12. Witch
13. Drune
14. Nobles (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of longhorn goatmen)
15. Officials (bailiffs, tax collectors) (in the High Wold, 2 in 6 chance of longhorn goatmen)
16. Refugees / the lost / exiles
17. Hermit
18. Fortune teller
19. Explorers (cartographers, scouts)
20. Messengers (criers, emissaries)

People - Night

1. Pilgrim/friar (travelling to random shrine)
2. Bandits/highwaymen
3. Bandits/highwaymen
4. Bandits/highwaymen
5. Adventurers
6. Adventurers
7. Adventurers or explorers
8. Hunters/woodsmen/trappers/anglers
9. Hunters/woodsmen/trappers/anglers
10. Witch
11. Witch
12. Drune
13. Drune
14. Drune
15. Refugees / the lost / exiles
16. Villager
17. Nobles or messengers
18. Pedlar or beggar
19. Soldiers or officials
20. Hermit or fortune teller