Social Encounters

Social encounters can be randomly rolled along with monster encounters and exploration challenges. Individual names and heritages for people met on the road can be chosen or rolled randomly. The Narrator should embellish the encounters as needed, and should feel free to reject any which are not suitable for the current environment.

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Random NPC Names (1d20)

1 Athur

2 Bacca

3 Bertram

4 Bozur

5 Daro

6 Dunk

7 Erendel

8 Galan

9 Hodar

10 Huebald

11 Jasmine

12 Jissard

13 Kito

14 Larion

15 Mara

16 Naphak

17 Otto

18 Perra

19 Thorne

20 Theodor

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Random NPC Heritage (1d20)

1–2 Dragonborn

3–5 Dwarf

6–8 Elf

9 Gnome

10–11 Halfling

12–14 Human

15–16 Orc

17 Planetouched

18–19 Mixed heritage (roll twice, ignoring this result)

20 Roll on the Unusual NPC Heritage table

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Unusual NPC Heritage (1d12)

1 Bugbear

2 Centaur

3 Faerie

4 Gnoll

5 Goblin

6 Hobgoblin

7 Kobold

8 Lizardfolk

9 Lycanthrope

10 Minotaur

11 Ogre

12 Satyr

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Random Social Encounters (1d100)

1 An escaped convict looking for refuge.

2 A knight looking for her lost love.

3 A squad of guards who think that the adventurers are evil or ne’er-do-wells.

4 A noble retinue which demands the party stand aside.

5 A stranded merchant with a badly damaged wagon they need help repairing.

6 A dying warrior with a dire warning.

7 A group of children curious about the way the adventurers look. 

8 A shepherd whose flock is blocking the way.

9 An apprentice wizard seeking willing participants for testing spells. 

10 A doomsayer preaching an impending apocalypse.

11 A boastful young squire keen to join the party.

12 An angry farmer who claims the adventurers are trespassing.

13 A circus wagon headed to the nearest town.

14 A wineseller drunk on his own wares.

15 A procession bearing the corpse of a famous knight home.

16 A ranger who demands to know the party’s identities.

17 A royal messenger with an urgent missive.

18 A child who has run away from home.

19 A bounty hunter tracking elusive prey.

20 A cheerful bard who won’t be quiet.

21 A noble who takes easy offense and settles things with duels.

22 A cleric who tries to convert the adventurers to their religion.

23 A toll station which charges 1 gold per traveler.

24 A pair of halflings on their own epic quest.

25 An elderly wizard traveling to a fair where they can display their fireworks.

26 An elderly villager who has lost something valuable and is desperately searching for it.

27 A marching army column on its way to or from a battle.

28 A down-on-their-luck adventurer who tries to sell the party some of their gear.

29 An adventurer with a cursed item which can only be passed on willingly.

30 An old acquaintance of one of the adventurers. Are they enemy or ally?

31 A lone traveler who has lost their memory.

32 An archeologist digging for lost treasure.

33 A friendly group who offer to share a campsite.

34 A group of monks on a pilgrimage to a holy shrine.

35 An adventurer full of arrows, badly wounded by a bandit raid.

36 A mercenary company looking for work.

37 A hungry beggar offering information in exchange for food.

38 A party of refugees from a war or battle.

39 A saddled horse with a few crossbow bolts stuck in its hide and harness, its rider nowhere to be seen.

40 A chain gang overseen by a stern guard.

41 A young, fresh-faced adventurer on their first journey out of town, determined to return a hero.

42 A merchant selling dubious potions.

43 A drunken man on the road mistakes one of the adventurers for a long-lost son or daughter.

44 A bandit whose gang has been killed—they have escaped with their lives and some small treasures.

45 An alchemist searching for a rare component.

46 An animal-trainer leading a huge beast.

47 A group of low-level bandits who know better than to mess with the party.

48 A band of dwarven workers singing a jaunty song.

49 A farmer seeking his strayed livestock.

50 A group of adventurers on a different quest.

51 An adventurer solemnly burying a fallen companion.

52 A doomed plague victim with only hours to live.

53 A truly heroic and noble knight that ardently follows the ideals of chivalry.

54 A foppish and condescending noble who looks down his nose at adventurers.

55 A docile, intelligent monster or giant sitting by the side of the road.

56 A frantic fortune-teller approaches to say they saw the adventurers in their dreams. 

57 A cryptic merchant peddling bizarre wares in exchange for secrets. 

58 A guide warning of danger ahead that might be easily avoided—for a fee.

59 A gnome putting their finishing touches on some construction of esoteric and frightening design.

60 A rainstorm blows in, but a circle of dry calm surrounds a hooded traveler as they pass.

61 A robed man waves at the party from a tower in the distance, a structure that does not appear on any maps or recollections of recent travel nearby. 

62 A knight jousting at a windmill who is convinced the structure is a mimic in disguise. 

63 A confused and bloody man staggers towards the party from a scuffed arcane circle marked out for a recently completed ritual.

64 A starving family begs the party for money or food.

65 A lone knight keen to test their mettle seeks directions to the nearest monster of ill repute.

66 A small woodland creature wearing a tiny golden crown stares at the party imploringly from the oddly lush flora that surrounds it. 

67 A noble’s richly appointed carriage imperiously passes by.

68 An upset merchant insists that one of the adventurers has stolen from them. 

69 A child with an injured animal in their arms frantically looking for help.

70 A con artist presents a lucrative investment opportunity.

71 A funeral procession moves solemnly down the road.

72 A novelist traveling in hopes of finding the perfect inspiration 

73 A friendly dragon who just awoke from a lengthy slumber and is curious about current events.

74 A group of adventurers looking for the cure to a plague ravaging another part of the world.

75 A group of bounty hunters looking for a target and convinced the party must know something.

76 A forester argues animatedly with a druid.

77 Settlers on their way to or just starting out on a new claim ask for directions, help, or information about the local culture. 

78 A friendly, eager, old peddler with a colorful and overfull cart of bizarre goods for sale.

79 A group of knights and priests on the hunt for some supernatural evil ask passersby for information. 

80 A local vintner giving away samples of their latest (mediocre) wine in an attempt to drum up business.

81 A very conscientious troll working to do maintenance on his bridge.

82 A group of faeries that invite the adventurers to come dance with them.

83 A disguised young nobleman, slumming it with some local toughs, looks to fit in with the lower classes and may try to intimidate or schmooze the party. 

84 A child is crying by the side of the road because their kitty Muffles is stuck in the wall of their house.

85 An extremely cheerful old lady enthusiastically greets the adventurers and tries to sell them her apples. 

86 A cart has gone into a pothole and seems to be firmly stuck. The carter and their spouse are having a raging argument as to whose fault it was. 

87 A pair of boots can be seen sticking out from under a hedgerow just off the road, and the sounds of snoring nearby are very, very loud. 

88 At a crossroads a disheveled youth paces back and forth, clutching a fiddle and muttering to themself. 

89 A dog races up to the adventurers and barks furiously, then runs off before coming back and barking some more. This pattern repeats several times.

90 From a ditch at the side of the road the party hears a groan. Looking more closely they can spot a bloodied and battered figure lying in the bottom of the ditch.

91 A couple of artists debating over how to approach a new project and roping in passersby to weigh in.

92 A pair of hopelessly lost planar travelers looking for directions. They don’t speak Common.

93 Food vendor aggressively hawking something unusual and delicious. 

94 Parents frantically searching for a lost child. 

95 Work crew holding together something that broke unexpectedly and in desperate need of some extra pairs of hands.

96 A festival that’s in full swing—tipsy locals may try to rope the party into celebratory events, push local cuisine on them, or prank them.

97 People search the site of a recent battle for survivors and possibly loot. 

98 A crier loudly proclaims an unpopular new decree to much grumbling and heckling.

99 A group of traveling minstrels offer to share their campsite and entertain the adventurers while passing on news and rumors.

100 A river can only be crossed by way of the ferryman who asks each traveler for a single silver coin.