Random Encounters: Volume 1: 20 Epic Ideas to Try in Your Role-playing Game

by Jason Brick

The best part of any gaming book is the little ideas. Great NPCs. Intriguing locations. Small, elegant rules. Campaign or adventure ideas. It doesn't matter which game or genre it's originally for, we can throw those ideas into any game we want. Random Encounters is a series of gaming books consisting of just the ideas. 20 short essays about cool stuff to try in your games. Character stuff. Monster stuff. Campaign arcs. Adventure ideas. Encounters. Play at table. House rules. All kinds of little ideas for you to read, take, use and alter to make your game all it can be. For one dollar, that's five cents per idea.

Genres: Gaming, Dungeons and Dragons

51 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 31, 2015

About the author

Jason Brick started wrestling just after his 11th birthday. He has studied and taught martial arts for the thirty-plus years between now and then. His fascination with Japanese mythology began while training in karate and magnified while living in Japan. When not writing or practicing, he cooks, plays table-top games and tries hard to spoil his wife, two sons and cats in the lush and rainy Pacific Northwest.

Reviews

[Marko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Few good ideas for DMs looking for some inspiration.

[Pål]

I bought this book on a whim, not knowing what to expect. Turns out the title is pretty accurate -20 random ideas.

There are some good ideas here, the writing is solid and the price is pretty good. The downside is the randomness. The ideas are all over the place - ice age dwarves, cyberpunk corporations, a campaign pitch, storytelling advice based on Jackson's The Hobbit, a new race, gaming with kids ect ect.

A narrower focus would have been nice, say 20 Epic Ideas for Cyberpunk Games, as I got no ideas that begged to be used.

Extra star for the price.

[Edward Snell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by both the quality of the ideas and more importantly the variety for anyone that enjoys roleplay games, as both a gamemaster or a player. It applies to all genres and one of the best ideas in it was showing a way to introduce both youths as well as members of the entire family in an introductory manner. Showing just how useful this type of gaming can be towards learning is also a major plus. I look forward to trying out more of this series in the near future.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good if you're a gm

Bad part first: a number of formatting and spelling/grammar errors crept in around 55% of the way through. That said, reading this was like hanging out with your buddy who games and having him explain his or her ideas to you. Laid back. I'll probably buy at least a couple more books in the series.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas - I bought the series

Great content - seeds for all kinds of things in your campaigns. From encounters to rule changes to ways to add spice - no charts or tables,just ideas to get you thinking

[Marcus Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a conversation with a veteran player

I'm a beginning game master with no veteran players as friends, so a book like this really has helped me figure out where to go from the Paizo manuals.

[Eddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Some good ideas

It was ok. I did find some useful material here. Just be warned, the author desperately needs an editor with skill. There are enough errors in here to drive any English major up the wall.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Food Court for Thought

Found this to be an interesting read. Interesting and intriguing enough to purchase more of this series. Some great examples for practical use in-game, some throwaway uses as well. Overall, thanks for re-sparking some creative juice flow.