Random Fantasy Tables 1 Review: 5 Star Fantasy Encounters

Introduction and Confession

I’m a little biased here as I wrote Random Fantasy Tables 1 – and quite a few other books over the years – but I wanted to give you a chance to see this massive collection of random tables, including encounters, NPCs, and more. While it’s light on interior art – there’s none – it has nearly 300 pages of content. The second and third volumes have closer to 300 pages. They’re all still a good value, imho. Again, though, I’m biased as I wrote the book.

Random Fantasy Tables Book Amazon Reviews

Here’s a lengthy review from Amazon that includes photos and a video of my Random Fantasy Tables book.

What I loved: This book is really an all in one when it comes to tables. It has items in various places, including a pirate ship. You have npcs, encounters, including wilderness encounters, rumors, theives and wizard guilds, quests, cities, items, and weather. With every roll you get out of these categories, you get a detailed description. They do not lack on any information, it’s honestly incredible how much of a story you can make from one of these rolls

What could improve: although there is alot of information printed with over 200 pages, there is no art what so ever inside the book. The cover and the back is beautiful, so I would like to see that more on the pages. There is actually plenty of room for the author to put small illustrations on most pages but there is none. He could’ve also used all those blank spots to describe each chapter more. Like describing when you might want to use the theives guide or other tables. This is not a book of maps either so there’s none to expect inside.

Source: JB at Amazon

Ashley said it’s a “nice book”…

Good thick book of random tables

Source: Ashley at Amazon

Random Fantasy Tables Examples

Here’s some samples from inside this RPG book!

Items in a Cottage

This is a list of 100 unique items you can find inside a cottage. Roll a d100 until you find something suitable for your players to find.

• Cooking pot – This iron cooking pot is versatile. It can fit on a fire pit or be placed on a hanging rack above a hearth.
• Small box of nails – A small box of nails that any carpenter would want to keep handy.
• Silver Knife – A knife made of high-quality silver, a gift perhaps?
• Backpack – Backpack made of leather. It is big enough to hold some basic survival items.
• Soap – A bar of nice smelling soap, probably for personal use.
• Silver cup – A cup made of silver. It might be plated with silver or fully made of silver.

Buy the complete 300+ page Random Tables RPG Book on Amazon now!

Barkeeps

Roll 1d20 to find a random NPC.

• Gornlok: Male Half-Orc Barkeeper at the Rusty Goblin. Gornlok has a well-built body, brown hair, and brown eyes. He wears a dark brown robe. If players ask him for information, he’ll talk for an hour for a copper coin. He knows a lot about the surrounding area, including where to find the best dungeons to loot. He thinks he’s funny, but he’s only a little bit clever.
• Thragon: Male Human Barkeep at the Bedrock Club. He’s a nice fellow, but he’s always so busy that customers have a hard time getting his attention. He is bald, and he has blue eyes. He wears a white t-shirt, a black vest, and dark brown pants. He knows where all the best adventure are, and he’s happy to talk about them.
• Brammle: Male Dwarf Barkeeper at the Goblin’s Grotto. His name is pronounced “brim-lee”, not “bramble”. A serious Dwarf with a proud bearing, Brammle sells ale and mead at the Goblin’s Grotto. He cuts his hair in a traditional Dwarf mane, and he wields a barbed club that he loves. Once in a great while he’ll tell an old Dwarf joke for free.

Buy the complete 300+ page Random Tables RPG Book on Amazon now!

Forest Encounters

This is a list of 100 random forest encounters. Roll a d100 until you find something suitable for your players and campaign.

• A half-orc, begging from anyone that passes, sits slumped against a massive tree. If players talk to him, they will learn his name is Humphry, and he was a veteran of the Battle of Willow Creek. He is waiting for a caravan heading to the town of Willow Creek. His letter, written on fine paper and sealed with a red wax stamp, is addressed to the King.
• A row of five headless corpses lies across the road, the smell of death happily mixing with the fresh spring air. Players who examine the bodies will find that they are all wearing the same uniform of some kind of local militia.
• Players meet a traveling merchant, sporting a big beard and a smile as wide as a crescent moon. His cart contains nothing of value, strewn across its surface is a heap of common items. He is willing to trade anything for a pelt of a sleek black panther.
• A horse has been hanged from a tree, the body still twitching as the flies buzz around it. The players will find a note pinned to the horse’s body. It reads: “This is what happens when your stallion is better than my mare.”

Buy the complete 300+ page Random Tables RPG Book on Amazon now!

Tavern Rumors

This is a list of rumors overheard in a tavern. Roll a d100 until you find something suitable.

• 1) There is an evil cult in the sewers of Bartlegaard run by a ratling mage.
• 2) The Shady Dragon is actually an undercover agent for the King of Grabisco Kingdom.
• 3) A wizard named Auroras enchanted his tower to fall on him so that he could gain the powers of a god.
• 4) A lich fell in love with a human woman and has been trapped in the Black Tower ever since.
• 5) A dragon has been pulling the strings in the political court for the last one hundred years.

Buy the complete 300+ page Random Tables RPG Book on Amazon now!

30 Fantasy RPG Random Tables

Make life as a Game Master easier….

If you play Dungeon & Dragons, Pathfinder, or other fantasy tabletop role-playing games, this collection of Random Fantasy Tables can make your life easier.

Here’s a list of the random tables included:

• Items in a Cottage
• Items in a Wizards Tower
• Items in a Medieval Cottage
• Items on a Pirate Ship
• Items in a Temple
• Items Underground
• Adventurer NPCs 1
• Adventurer NPCs 2
• Wilderness NPCs
• Merchants
• Barkeeps
• Guards
• Village Encounters
• City Encounters
• Forest Encounters
• Mountain Encounters
• Tavern Rumors
• Library Rumors
• High Society Rumors
• Peasant Rumors
• Drunken Rumors
• Thieves Guilds
• Wizard Guilds
• Quests
• Breakfasts
• Drinks
• Towns
• Cities
• Books & Scrolls
• Weather

Best Random Tables RPG Book?

I wouldn’t go as far as to say what I’ve come up with is the best random tables RPG book, but I’m heading in the right direction. It’s a terrific value at well under $20 for 250+ pages in print.