Solomoriah Speaks E15: On The Virtues Of Randomness

[@TheTimeshadows]

I'm a strong believer in the oracular power of dice. The ability of human minds to see connections/create order out of chaos also cannot be understated in creativity.

[@stevenisonline]

I love this and agree whole heartedly! I honestly feel like the Basic Fantasy project is one of the best corners of the RPG space. Thank you for putting this out there! 😊

[@olafbuddenberg4787]

Precious nuggets of wisdom, Chris. I couldn't agree more with everything you said. My take has always been: I, as a GM, want to go on an adventure, too! And that's exactly where randomness comes in. Let's take some wilderness encounter tables, for instance. They provide for a pre-made slice of your game world without you knowing what exactly is going on at any given moment in time. Randomness is a tool and you, as a GM, should learn to use it effectively.

[@aWOLtrooper]

I agree completely, and your games really shine when a group embraces the impromptu nature of randomness and reaction that makes up a true collaborative story-telling game

[@Korroth]

Great advice, thank you for sharing.

[@anthonygent6378]

Hi Chris another good video I think my process for adventure creation is very similar to yours I love to sandbox as I feel this gives the most fun to the players 😀 I also like to add a few small details which are constant my personal fav is the naming of coins depends on in which kingdom they where minted as I feel sometimes its nice to say you find a pouch of 20 silver shillings instead of 20 silver pieces 😊 Anyway keep up the good work my own campaign is going well with my players hitting 4th level the other day (well some of them )

[@midnightgreen8319]

I run DCC, but I absolutely love Basic Fantasy RPG material. I use the adventures and maps especially. Let the dice tell the story! They will absolutely make things more interesting, and failure is often the main shaper of the story. The chaos is much of the fun!

[@chameleondream]

I like randomness. I think it helps break people out of the ruts that they themselves don't even know that they're stuck in, but at the same time I think people secretly crave reason and having things make sense. It's almost as if that last one validates the world and the adventure itself. For example, if the party encounters a band of fire giants in an arctic region, I would bet big bucks on them wanting to know why they are there and that the worst possible answer I could give is, "because I rolled for it on a random encounter table." There needs to be a deeper reason to the encounter which isn't evident on the surface. Thankfully though, I as DM do not need to give it to them. If anything, I can harness their interest to help propel the game forward, keeping them questing for the answer. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that randomness is good, just never admit to anything being random. You gotta either be quick with an interesting idea that explains the inexplicable or as tight-lipped as the Sphinx. Good one!

[@ChrisGonnerman]

I would question a random encounter table that puts fire giants in the Arctic. Even random things should make a little sense.

[@grumpygrognard7292]

It's okay to embrace the mystery. Even to the point where some things are mysterious to the DM. Even the DM doesn't have to know how Beholders procreate. Just let it be a mystery.

[@namelessjedi2242]

Maybe the red dragon in the 10x10 room is polymorphed or shrunken. 😉

[@Motavian]

There is something valuable in abductive reasoning. You can infer so much and discover your world WITH your players in PLAY, rather than toil over every minute detail.

[@robbabcock_]

Awesome! I look forward to the continuing saga of the Tower and the forgetful mage!😁 As for randomness and ecology, I think it's important to remember that a bag of dice is not a replacement for a functioning brain. There'd be no need for a DM/GM at all otherwise, and indeed you use a set of dice and a random solo setup and dispense with creativity entirely if you want. While you don't have to agonize over every detail I've found it shatters the cooperative process of suspension of disbelief if the ecology of the "dungeon" is broken for no reason. What do does the black pudding eat when there are no adventurers around? How many hours of the day do the kobolds spend standing in the middle of the room staring at the door waiting for the PCs? How did dire wolves get down three flights of ladders and five locked doors to wait for to attack the adventurers? The reason might not always be apparent but if it's always just random assortments of things that could never endure together it kind of ruins the game world.

[@ChrisGonnerman]

This is a misconception I see all the time. The dungeon is stocked in a "static" fashion, representing what the PCs encounter when they open the door. This does NOT mean the monsters are standing around waiting for the door to be kicked in... they literally might have been "just passing through" at the moment the PCs opened the door. It does NOT matter how long it's been since the party first entered the dungeon; this is still potentially true. However, as the GM you should think "on your feet" as the game progresses; if a placed encounter seems unlikely or even impossible, just change it (even if they are literally at the door at that moment).