Wandering Monsters

[Scott]

The concept is as old school as it gets, but I don't know too many DMs who use them like the rules imply you should. Which I get. They slow things down, and there's not much value to them.
I think in the old dungeon crawling for dungeon crawling's sake, and resource management was such a big part of the game, they probably should be used btb.
With the style that became the default, which is usually much more plot/story driven, they really can derail a session.
How do you use them when DMing?
I still run online sessions for my cousin, who is currently trying to work up some new henchmen. To switch things up I was using the Moldvay wandering monster tables for his current delve.
The party sent their monk ahead to scout out an area where they heard some footsteps. While they were waiting they were attacked by a swarm of giant robber flies. it was probably 1983 the last time I had robber flies in my game.

[geneweigel]

If I was going to run a brain dead game then I would use MONSTER AND TREASURE ASSORTMENT like I used to in the beginning to fill up the spaces. Then use DMG charts for the randomness of the levels for wandering monsters gravitating the monsters towards whatever I rolled up out of M&TA and use the %in lair to determine a random treasure that the monster has stowed around in the area.

So lets say I placed a big creature in a nearby room then it would be unlikely that a bunch of humans/humanoids would be encountered randomly so I would lean towards undead and incidental treasure.

[GRWelsh]

I use wandering monsters for outdoor encounters mostly as the rules state, although I use a simplified version... I generally have the players make 3 checks per day and 3 checks per night with a 1 on a d6 meaning an encounter. My players set a watch every night when camping out. If you go by the Glossography and DMG many of the encounters in civilized areas are merchants, patrols, or local demi-humans and so end up being non-hostile and often glossed over ("we ask them about what is further down the road" is often the limit of the interaction and "fare thee well, travelers!"). If I want the players to be able to avoid the encounter I let them see a monster from a distance... They once had a wyvern fly overhead, and saw a night hag riding a nightmare high above on a stormy night, and cave men up in the hills who were not being hostile and just walking along a ridge. Sometimes I want the players to have an encounter because I don't have much planned. I use roll the % in lair for these encounters to give them a chance of getting decent treasure...

In the dungeons I haven't been rolling for wandering monsters that much, as I know what is there since everything is keyed. At times, I will have them roll when they are making a lot of noise like from bashing or cutting a door down or making an extended stay in the dungeon such as barricading into a room. If they stand in a dungeon passage and argue with each other over what to do I will often have them roll to see if an encounter occurs. I make my players roll as that helps them get engaged and pay attention -- it's a good method to steer them away from BS and back into the game... Also, I get to blame them for the encounter ("You rolled it, not me!").

In summary I use wandering monsters as a helpful tool rather than something I feel bound to or that derails an adventure. In the past I've worried about this too as I wanted to play "by the rules" of Gygaxian AD&D when using the World of Greyhawk. But I think I've struck the right balance and that EGG would approve of the way I'm doing it now. It's just one of the things in your tool box as a DM. And sometimes it is fun for the DM to not know what is going to happen, either!

[geneweigel]

I think for me, in the mid-80's, over half of combat was random, and as a DM, I have to say that it made it fresh. As the 1990's progressed, from my POV, parties became timid so the slowdown for me was out of my hands.

I always made encounters seem like something that I would want to encounter whether friendly or standard.

[Scott]

It can always throw you a cube ball, but there is a lot of ‘oh boy, more merchants/bandits/orcs/etc. in the outdoors.
I started writing up lists of wandering encounters to have them ready to use. Writing up some of them can take a long time.
Having them around for a while and I start to develop stories around them that make them more unique. Certain bandit encounters in certain areas will likely be part of one or two gangs. Same with humanoids, merchants, etc.

[Scott]

In most module type dungeons I basically just base encounters off what’s there. For my Greyhawk dungeon there are the old standards and a special result, which may be a monster, or a dungeon dressing type thing. Red Pennywise balloons are my latest addition to that list.

[GRWelsh]

I've tried to think of ways to spice up encounters or make them different.

I try to keep the common encounters common to maintain the integrity of the game world... In EGG's World of Greyhawk, yeah, you encounter a lot of merchants and patrols on the roads since this is the Flanaess and a 'civilized' region. Most of them are boring encounters that can be glossed over or used to provide information or a bit of role-playing to break up travel. Merchants may ask for help or hire on low level characters to accompany them, or they may simply be travelling in the same direction and a larger group is safer to travel in... Also, far traveling merchants can bring news or rumors from distant cities or realms. A patrol may be led by a knight who challenges the party paladin to a joust, they may mistake the party for bandits, or may ask the party for help. A large enough bandit force may be equivalent to a mercenary fighting force, on their way somewhere to do battle or seek employment, and doesn't necessarily have to attack the characters. An encounter with a large group of orcs could similarly be acting as mercenaries hiring themselves out to some local warlord or wizard, or the encounter might be with two rival tribes who are camped near each other and insulting each other, or the humanoids may be guarding a gate, bridge, etc. for a local petty lord. My own brigand encounters evolved into being part of a larger gang under the brigand chief, Lord Devin, who has a cave stronghold up in the Stark Mounds.

For the dungeon, I did a similar dungeon dressing type 'encounter' once and I decided they heard the echo of footsteps behind in the distance -- not really knowing what it was myself, I took that from one of EGG's random encounter tables -- and it totally derailed the game. They were convinced they were being followed by a thief or invisible monster, and spent time laying an ambush and used up spells to try to find out what was behind them. I was thinking it was a just a trick of the dungeon with the echo of distant footsteps, so there was nothing immediately behind them. These 'mystery' things can often be taken as more meaningful than they really are, as D&D players are usually tuned into anything that may be regarded as a hint from the DM.