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The Game Master's Book of Random Encounters: 500+ customizable maps, tables and story hooks to create 5th edition adventures on demand (The Game Master Series)

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Description

In a game packed with infinite possibilities, what are GMs to do when their players choose what they have not prepared? As every GM knows, no matter how many story hooks, maps or NPCs you painstakingly create during session prep, your best-laid plans are often foiled by your players' whims, extreme skill check successes (or critical fails) or their playful refusal to stay on task. The Game Master’s Book of Random Encounters provides an unbeatable solution. This massive tome is divided into location categories, each of which can stand alone as a small stop as part of a larger campaign. “Taverns, Inns, Shops & Guild Halls” section includes maps for 19 unique spaces, as well as multiple encounter tables designed to help GMs fill in the sights, sounds, smells and proprietors of a given location, allowing for each location in the book to be augmented and populated on the fly while still ensuring memorable moments for all players. Each map is presented at scale on grid, enabling GMs to determine exactly where all of the characters are in relation to one another and anyone (or anything) else in the space, critical information should any combat or other movement-based action occur. Perhaps more useful than its nearly 100 maps, the book's one-shot generator features all the story hooks necessary for GMs to use these maps as part of an interconnected and contained adventure. Featuring eight unique campaign drivers that lead players through several of the book's provided maps, the random tables associated with each stage in the adventure allow for nearly three million different outcomes. The book also includes a Random NPC Generator to help you create intriguing characters your players will love (or love to hate), as well as a Party Makeup Maker for establishing connections among your PCs so you can weave together a disparate group of adventurers with just a few dice rolls. Locations include taverns, temples, inns, animal/creature lairs, gatehouses, courts, ships, laboratories and more, with adventure hooks that run the gamut from frantic rooftop chases to deep cellar dungeon-crawls, with a total of 97 maps, more than 150 tables and millions of possible adventures. No matter where your players end up, they'll have someone or something to persuade or deceive, impress or destroy. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Media Lab Books; Illustrated edition (September 15, 2020)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1948174375


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 74


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.8 x 0.7 x 11.25 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #5,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #2 in Pathfinder Game #3 in Dungeons & Dragons Game #10 in Puzzle & Game Reference (Books)


#2 in Pathfinder Game:


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If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Friday, Jan 24

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Top Amazon Reviews


  • It is What 5E D&D Was Missing For Me
I picked this up on a whim as it was on a sale price of under 17 bucks and looked interesting. The moment I opened the box I was immediately impressed with the quality of the book. The hardcover and binding is really nice, especially for a book in this price range. I'd say the initial quality of the book surpasses what you get in WotC offerings that cost much more. After sitting a couple of weeks I finally got a chance to start going through the contents. It has several one shot adventures that you could incorporate into you campaign with ease. What really caught my eye when I was looking at it on Amazon was the locations. Those did not disappoint as there are numerous locations, complete with maps and tables for random activities going on in the location. I thought that was pretty cool and will make the areas come to life. You get some good NPCs and magic items in the book as well but some of the magic items seem as if they could be a tad over powered. In the end this book is well worth the money if you want to add some flavor to your world. More thoughts below on why I like this and what 5E is lacking in my opinion but my main reasons for liking the book are already noted above. Like the title of the review says, this is what was lacking in 5e for me. I did most of my playing and DMing in the late 80's early 90's in high school. I ventured back briefly in the early 2000's with 3e coming out. What I recalled for source material of the 2e days was campaign boxed sets that gave you general locations and maps and ideas for your own story hooks. They usually had NPCs of note as well. It gave you the world and useful tools to help pre populate it. The campaign settings were augmented by monster compendiums and stand alone modules to augment the world and give the DM some premade adventures to work into their take on the campaign setting. A year or so ago my son expressed interest in role playing so I started picking up 5e books. I've been a little disappointed that most of it is books of ready made adventures that are linked together to form a very linear campaign. They are like campaigns in a box. I was expecting more of what there was in the 2e days with a lot more left up to the DM. The new stuff works and seems a great way to get new players and DMs into the game but seems to be mostly ready made. With the time constraints of a full time job, running an outside small business, and raising two teenagers this seems like it would be perfect but I have found what I really wanted was just some general world info that I could just customize with my own flair. You can still do this but it just seems a little harder. This particular book is more what I had in mind as an aid. After running some of the premade stuff I decided my next attempt will be a complete homebrewed world starting with the small town the party starts out in. I'll populate that town with a lot of the stuff in this book and some of my own as well. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2022 by Joseph A. Orsini

  • Start with this one! It's Great!
Nervous about starting your campaign? Not sure how to describe that first tavern your party walks into? Maybe you don't quite know what a solid adventure should consist of? This book is for you! I have 5 books out of this series, and Random Encounters is the book I reference the most! Instant tavern ideas, hooks, npcs, even full on adventures this book has been great! I ran one of the 1 shot adventures for my low level party, it was easy to plug into my world, the players (3 of which are dnd veterans and I'm a newb dm) loved it, and there are so many ideas and tips to help a new dm get acclimated and build confidence crafting their own world and improvising when the party takes a sudden turn! The layouts are beautiful and well thought out. You get plenty of context while still remaining concise, the book is gorgeous, and the NPC generator and other tables have saved me so many times already being a new DM because I'm just not practiced enough to generate NPCs on the fly. Also with 8....EIGHT one shot adventures at varying levels, new DMs have plenty of content to carry them before they build the confidence to craft their own adventures. If you see this series and are wondering where to start I think Random Encounters is the 1st book to get. I have 5 books out of the series and I'd say: 1) Random Encounters 2) Non Player Characters 3) Villains, Minions, and their Tactics if you're getting started. Absolute 10 out of 10. This is my favorite book in the series and I plan on buying another copy that I haven't destroyed with notes and tabs just to look nice on my shelf and certainly this will be an auto-gift for aspiring DM friends in the future. And it's less than $20?! Are you kidding me?! Amazing. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2024 by D Stuart

  • Fun and useful
I kept looking for the upsetting "woke" material that other reviewers had cried and whined about. I was disappointed to find only a single section of the book that gave options to DMs if they have party members or characters who have specific pronouns, etc. It does take a special snowflake attitude to complain about a single option near the back of the book that might expand a DMs options. I suppose elves, dwarves, and magic are perfectly fine but saying 'they' is a bridge too far for some delicate minds. But onto the content! This book is dominated by several adventures that could be "one-shots" but would be better expanded into mini campaigns. There are NPC entries and encounter information blocks but you will still need your monster manual to get specific data as that information cannot be reprinted by 3rd parties. The adventures are well put together and can easily be shoehorned into existing campaigns but the naming conventions seem extremely random - I get the feeling that the author looked up "random name generator" and just copy/pasted the first entry that came up for their NPCs. Towards the back of the book are an amazing array of tables that you can use to randomize your events, characters, shops, etc. by rolling d100s or similar. I have already used as inspiration in our ongoing campaign. Overall for the price point, this is a fun addendum to any RPG library. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2022 by MW

  • Cool Piece to Add to Your Collection
I ultimately ended up sending this back because I wasn't able to get a start on the project I purchased it for. The product itself is amazing though. It's filled with step-by-step instructions and tons of other amazing content. The quality of the construction is also very high quality. I even considered keeping it just because of the information inside. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2024 by J.

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