This article contains affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you make purchases using these links, at no cost to you.Reaction tables are a simple tool that helps set the tone of an encounter. I’ve written about them before in my reaction table overhaul, because while I think they are good game design, I personally don’t like traditional ones.
But in addition to my own take, there’s a tool I’ve used in adventure design for over a year now which I want to see more of.
Creature- or encounter-specific reaction tables.
Examples
Check out this statblock for the Squealers in our Mork Borg adventure Blood & Salt:
It has a d3 reaction table, specific to the creature. In this case, it has a set of three things the creatures might want. It provides something less ambiguous than ‘Friendly’, whilst giving some flavour to the creature too.
You can see something similar in the 2nd Keytower of Grift too (a Mork Borg adventure by us and
which is PWYW, by the way). The rival party in that module also has its own reaction table:
This breathes life into an encounter which is intended to come up repeatedly, and the creatures are actually doing something rather than just being friendly or unfriendly.
I’m not the progenitor of this idea, and you can see it in a fair number of well designed products like The Vast in the Dark. There, some encounter entries have a d6 sub-table for reactions:
Why use this?
It’s simple really:
We get reactions that feel creature specific.
It generates more gameable situations.
We rely less on improvisation and get more consistent results.
The downside, as per usual, is work and space.
You’re making many reaction tables. You might not do them for every creature.
In terms of a product, it’s taking up space.
If you’ve got the time and space though, I think it’s worth it. Let’s talk about implementing this.
Implementation
I think these tables shouldn’t have complex entries. If we are bothered to write complex entries, we should just write a bunch of more detailed encounters or encounter variations. What we want is a small table of short reactions or behaviours for the creature. It should:
Present a gameable situation. Like my Squealers example. They’ll either look to trade with you, seek information from you, or try to murder you all! These all provoke gameplay and activity.
Avoid being brittle. These reactions need to work in any context they come up in, so they shouldn’t rely on specific circumstances. You might dial them in for the adventure location though, like my table of rival party reactions from the 2nd Keytower of Grift.
Paint the behaviour of the creature. The table as a whole should give you a good idea of how this creature acts, kind of like how NPC’s inventory can tell you a bit about them.
A d3 or d6 table is appropriate, I think. By avoiding being brittle, re-rolls aren’t too much of an issue. Go for short sentences and you’re looking at 3-12 rows in your table, easy to sneak into a module if you’re terse.
It’s great when bestiaries include a reaction or behaviour tool per statblock, like how creatures in Coriolis: The Great Dark have a terse little behaviour table:
I hope we’ll continue to see more stuff like this in products, but it’s also a great tool for us to use in our own prep. Ditching generic reactions to create creature specific behaviour is a good way to up our game!
I love this. In my play I’m not really interested in just battling creature after creature. I want interesting alternatives. The “provoke gameplay and activity” is key.
Yes, that's a neat idea! Tales of Argosa does something lokale that - every monster in the bestiary has a custom reaction table.