When traveling north of the Leather Road, encounters occur about 20% of the time every 24 hours.
If the characters travel to Biblyon on foot or horseback, and if they have a random encounter, their first such encounter within five miles of Biblyon will be with an animal corpse, its eyes, nose, tongue, and ears eaten off. It is about two days old.
The wolf stares back at you with empty eyes. Flies circle about the blood-flecked corpse, and maggots crawl from the wounds where its nose and its ears used to be. The animal’s mouth hangs open in an empty, perpetual yawn.
Otherwise, their encounters will be standard for the wilderness of West Highland. Remember that you can determine these encounters by chance, or choose encounters as appropriate to the characters’ actions, or simply use these charts as a guide to what else lives in the area. Also, these outdoor charts include possible encounters with creatures nearly impossible for first, second, and third level characters to defeat head-on. While poor decisions on the characters’ parts might lead to their deaths, you should not personally place the characters in untenable positions. Let them do that on their own. That said, the world is a dangerous place, and they have left their hobbit-hole. If the dice choose to show them how deadly the world is, it is an important lesson.
Encounters: Main Table
| 01-35 | Animal encounters | 35% |
| 36-66 | Natural encounters | 31% |
| 67-81 | Humanoid creatures | 15% |
| 82-91 | Civilized peoples | 10% |
| 92-00 | Fantastic creatures | 9% |
Civilized Peoples
| 01-40 | Farmers (d6) | 40% |
| 41-60 | Small village (d50+5) | 20% |
| 61-76 | Travelers (d12) | 16% |
| 77-86 | Hermit (1) | 10% |
| 87-95 | Brigands (d4) | 9% |
| 96-00 | Masquerade | 5% |
Encounters: Masquerade
| 01-40 | Werewolf (1) | 40% |
| 41-55 | Werebear (1) | 15% |
| 56-70 | Apparitions (d4) | 15% |
| 71-84 | Dryads (d6) | 14% |
| 85-94 | Phantasm (1) | 10% |
| 95-00 | Deities (d2) | 6% |
Most masquerade encounters will be with a creature acting human; deities can act as any appropriate creature. Such encounters are unlikely to result in combat now, but can set up a later adventure when the characters discover the secret.
Humanoid Creatures
| 01-60 | Goblins (d20) | 60% |
| 61-90 | Hobgoblins/orcs (d2) | 30% |
| 91-00 | Yeti (d3) | 10% |
Encounters with goblins are 15% likely to include one hobgoblin leader.
Natural Encounters
| 01-25 | light storm (d100 hours) | 25% |
| 26-43 | swarm/flock | 18% |
| 44-59 | stream in path | 16% |
| 60-74 | lake or pond | 15% |
| 75-82 | heavy storm (d40 hours) | 8% |
| 83-88 | extra hot/cold (d6 days) | 6% |
| 89-92 | fog (d20 yards visibility) | 4% |
| 93-94 | Celtic ruin | 2% |
| 95-96 | unmarked tomb | 2% |
| 97-98 | remains of small settlement | 2% |
| 99 | part of animal skeleton | 1% |
| 00 | human skeleton | 1% |
Encounters: Animals
| 01-11 | Deer (d20) | 11% |
| 12-20 | Squirrels (d20) | 9% |
| 21-29 | Wolves (d8) | 9% |
| 30-36 | Stags (d3) | 7% |
| 37-42 | Owls (d4) | 6% |
| 43-47 | Badgers (d4) | 5% |
| 48-52 | Dogs (d4) | 5% |
| 53-57 | Rats (d20) | 5% |
| 58-62 | Skunks (d6) | 5% |
| 63-67 | Snakes | 5% |
| 68-71 | Black widow spiders (d8) | 4% |
| 72-74 | Bats (d40) | 3% |
| 75-77 | Horses (d6) | 3% |
| 78-80 | Ravens (d6) | 3% |
| 81-82 | Bull (1) | 2% |
| 83-84 | Cattle (d20) | 2% |
| 85-86 | Eagles (d3) | 2% |
| 87-88 | Goats (2d10) | 2% |
| 89-90 | Leopard (1) | 2% |
| 91-92 | Rams (d3) | 2% |
| 93-94 | Weasels (d2) | 2% |
| 95-96 | Wildcats (d3) | 2% |
| 97-98 | Wolverines (d2) | 2% |
| 99 | Bear (1) | 1% |
| 00 | Turkeys (d20) | 1% |
Encounters: Snakes
| 01-51 | Garters (d6) | 51% |
| 52-71 | Blue racers (d4) | 20% |
| 72-85 | Watersnakes (d20) | 14% |
| 86-94 | Copperheads (d8) | 9% |
| 95-99 | Rattlers (d4) | 5% |
| 00 | Huge snake (1) | 1% |
Copperheads, waterheads, and rattlers are standard poisonous snakes.
Fantastic Creatures
| 01-20 | Large spiders (d3) | 20% |
| 21-35 | Unicorns (d3) | 15% |
| 36-45 | Pegasi (d2) | 10% |
| 46-55 | Brownies (d20) | 10% |
| 56-63 | Dryad (1) | 8% |
| 64-71 | Pixies (d20) | 8% |
| 72-79 | Apparitions (d100) | 8% |
| 80-86 | Naiad (1) | 7% |
| 87-92 | Poltergeist (1) | 6% |
| 93-97 | Gryphon (1) | 5% |
| 98-00 | Ghouls (d4) | 3% |
Encounters will occur in an appropriate location. Undead encounters will occur in an appropriate location: phantasms or poltergeists in abandoned homes or ruins, ghouls in a cemetery or battlefield.
A gryphon is as likely to be interested in the characters’ animals, if unprotected, as in the characters themselves.
