Why Does D&D Have Wandering Monsters?

Comments · 489

• FR

  @FreeBroccoli · 2 years ago (edited)

  &quot;I don&apos;t use wandering monsters because they ruin my planned-out story.&quot;<br><br>Wait &apos;til they see what the players are like.

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• DO

  @doctorlolchicken7478 · 2 years ago

  The Netflix show “Delicious in Dungeon” is popular with modern D&amp;D players but what they might not have noticed is that it’s an old school dungeon crawl, including wandering monsters and random encounters. &nbsp;It’s a very good example of how old school D&amp;D was played: There’s a dungeon; it has distinct levels; there are multiple adventuring parties; parties go back to town to resupply (usually - that’s a key part of the story), there are traps; there are monster lairs; there are wandering monsters that are themed to the level; there are repeat encounters with the same party/monsters. &nbsp;It’s perhaps the best representation of how D&amp;D was originally played.

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• DR

  @Dr.Inknstain · 2 years ago

  Quote from our thief player, some 35+ years ago:<br>&quot;Could we have some wandering experience&apos;

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• HO

  @howardbiel5290 · 1 year ago

  Searching takes time, resting takes time, spell recovery takes time. Healing takes time.<br>The clock is ticking, the monsters are roaming.<br><br>The level of risk is up to the party…..and the rewards…..

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• ME

  @menuautoset6950 · 2 years ago

  The random surprise and the disruptive events to the best laid plans are epic. Breaks up the wash, rinse, repeat sensation of here we go again.

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• JU

  @justjunk3803 · 2 years ago (edited)

  A lot of people get so hung up on narrative and gameplay being separate elements in DnD that they forget these things are supposed to complement each other, like a yin and yang kind of thing. Having the players deal with the challenges of an unpredictable and dangerous environment, even if these challenges don&apos;t mean anything in the broader scope of what the adventure is about, can directly or indirectly lead to the kind of exciting moments that people play this game for.<br><br>A group of goblins wanders up and attacks, maybe the players use up some resources that cause them to struggle and get creative later in the fight against the dragon. Maybe they defeat the goblins but start investigating their presence further, the DM can think on their feet and come up with some brand new material that branches off what they originally intended. Maybe the encounter with the goblins informs the players what the world is like through their presence and unique appearances, or teaches them to be careful. Maybe they get defeated and captured by the goblins, the adventure takes an exciting twist.<br><br>Or maybe it&apos;s been awhile since the players got to let off some excess violence and it&apos;s just good as a tool for the DM to pace out their game between other significant encounters. Or if you&apos;re running something where violence is a less appealing solution to your problems, especially in old-school games, it could be a chance for the players to sneak, trick, or talk their way past a tense and difficult situation.

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• CR

  @CraigMorning · 2 years ago

  Some of the best story beats I&apos;ve ever seen in games I&apos;ve played in and games I&apos;m DMing is when the party makes an unexpected choice and ends up somewhere random and I just need to fill a session with some entertainment so I roll up a wandering encounter that sometimes turns into a whole new campaign. &nbsp;<br><br>My players randomly went the wrong direction on an abandoned road and they came to a bridge guarded by some gnolls, and some other mixed baddies , they became fascinated with them, fought them a bit and then decided to parlay. &nbsp;The dice allowed it so I just played along. &nbsp; &nbsp;Turns out this gang worships a giant forest wyrm and it turned into a whole sub plot about learning why this wingless dragon was in this particular mountain range. &nbsp; <br><br>I basically threw out my planned campaign and let them go down the rabbit hole. &nbsp;Everyone had a blast.

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• JO

  @johnsorge3034 · 1 year ago

  I loved wandering monsters. &nbsp;It is such a touch of realism and chaos. &nbsp;As a military guy I know no mission ever goes as planned and the unexpected gives new challenges that the players must overcome.

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• B.

  @b.o.4492 · 1 year ago

  I loved wandering monsters. &nbsp;As a DM it kept the party moving and a tense atmosphere. &nbsp;We had some TPK due to wandering monsters at the worst possible time when the party wanted to go in just a bit further. &nbsp;All were memorable and glorious. &nbsp;A game that doesn’t have them misses the point.

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• GR

  @griffithmorgan4966 · 2 years ago

  Wandering Monsters are what makes players really have to watch the clock and be careful.<br><br>Wanna spend extra turns searching for secret doors - good luck with that. Wanna rest up for a long time somewhere - good luck on that. Wanna explore a dead end sequence of rooms - good luck with that.<br><br>Sometimes you don&apos;t find the monster, it finds you.

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• MI

  @MilesDashing · 1 year ago

  I remember playing the first Final Fantasy on the Super Nintendo in &apos;89 or &apos;90, and wandering monsters were 90% of the game. The only fixed encounters were boss fights and noncombat encounters. Each area had its own set of wandering monsters. So there would be the ones you could encounter in the wilderness on your way to or from the dungeon, and the dungeon had its own wandering monsters, which were normally tougher. You couldn&apos;t rest and replenish resources until you got outside the dungeon. This created urgency and tension, because your resources (spells, potions, hp) had to last you on your trek through the dungeon, and then the boss fight, and then back out of the dungeon. Sometimes it would get pretty tense, because you didn&apos;t know if you were going to make it out of the dungeon alive. The fact that the random encounters were RANDOM definitely made the experience more impactful. It was a great use of the very limited resources of a Super Nintendo game cartridge.

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• DE

  @dereklong801 · 2 years ago

  Because monsters aren&apos;t just sitting statically in a dungeon room like they are planted there for eternity, waiting for a party of adventurers to come kill them.

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