Random tables are slow. Random tables generate worse content than just writing the module. But they take up less space on the page and demand less memory from the GM. So maybe random tables would work best as the smaller snowflakes in a Sierpiński triangle.

Random tables can only produce fast results when they say ‘2D6 goblins’ with ‘1D6 copper pieces’. Add in a morale chart, a table to see what the goblins want, and the other information we’d expect from even the shortest pre-written encounter, and you find the scene turns into a GM pondering their dice for five minutes while everyone turns to their phones.

Random tables can provide some nice sparks to come up with your own ideas. And if you roll enough times on very-detailed charts with a great-many prompts then you can pick the best of the bunch, and the best of the bunch will always be better than the bunch, on average. So even the best random encounters can’t beat their own results with a little work sprinkled on top.

But a book with twenty or thirty pre-written encounters would feel bloated. Adding that much cognitive load doesn’t sound worth the effort to read. So perhaps the best solution is five expertly-written encounters, followed by a random table for the rest.

Dungeon with a Thousand Rooms

Mega-dungeons could benefit from similar treatment. People who want mega-dungeons probably don’t need a mega-dungeon. Nobody can see all the rooms and creatures in a hundred rooms, but they probably don’t need to in order to feel the weight of all those tunnels. They need a main quest, and the idea of a thousand-thousand tunnels. Imagine a book with three chapters:

1. Supervening¹ Oozes (details galore!)
   • Goblins rush through town, because sentient oozes have invaded their lairs.
   • Dwarves emerge asking for sanctuary while planning a rescue mission for those who remain underground.
   • A new god arises, supervening upon the small sentience of each ooze.
2. Factions (notes plus tables)
   • A map of the goblin-tunnels shows their food sources (roll 1D6 for their activities).
   • A map of the dwarven fortress shows where they retreat as oozes rise (roll 1D6 for their activities).
3. Tunnels: Shifting & Remote (just tables)
   • How far to the other side? Roll 1D6.
   • What kind of terrain are these tunnels? Roll 1D6.
   • Who lives here? Roll 1D6 and add the last result.
   • What treasures remain? Roll 1D6 again.

Now we can do something special: answer questions fast.

Player: How do we go below, to the dwarven fort?

GM: dice clatter There is a great underground lake.

Player: Sounds dangerous. Do the goblins know any other routes?

GM: clatter clatter A dry, crumbling tunnel, but it winds around four miles and few goblins return from that route.

That could have been a long wait to find the information for the first tunnel, and again for the second. But all the information on all tunnels can fit on a single spread with a bunch of tables.

Now we have all the details of all those far-out places. Now the PCs can walk down ten or twenty more tunnels, searching for alternative entrances or fleeing oozes and goblins.

The City of a Thousand Thieves

The Markets

Here the troupe can buy the standard items:

• Rope
• Rations
• Armour
• Weapons

…and special plot-important items, given out at the right time.

But the rare items may as well be a table. The Gnomish compass and the ‘unlabelled potion seller’ can arrive once-in-a-while just to give a little life to the city.

The Citadel

The main courtyard with the big magic-duels and the treasure room with the strange doors all have detailed write-ups. But between those locations? A citadel could take up an entire book…or it could take up one page of random tables.

Criminal Activity

The city is abuzz with talk of magical item shipments, and rumours of heists. But between the rumours and the heist, and between the heist and the gang-wars, crime must continue.

1. The barkeep poisons the PCs ales while others wait to rob them.
2. A child follows, listening to their talk, and reports back any words of gold or other valuables to the local ruffians.
3. Local guards apply an ad hoc tax on goods, just for the PCs.
4. A local gang asks around for the aid of a spellcaster to break a leader out of jail before tomorrow’s trial (each time the guards apply measures to stop the previous attempt).

Such a random table, if short, has an important quality for a good random encounter table: it benefits from repetition. The first time the players get poisoned, they don’t know what hit them. The second time, they will know to check their drinks. By the time these problems feel ‘standard’ players can breeze through them with the strong impression that they live in a city full of thieves.

The Prison

With so much criminal activity, the PCs are bound to end up in prison. A detailed prison, with inmates who can join their escape (or who need rescued) is well worth the page-count. But if the PCs end up in jail a second time? Or a third? A few random lists of crimes, skills, and scars will serve the plot better.

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