Free tables Travel — encounters by terrain

Random Swamp Encounters and Travel Events — d20 Tables

Free d20 tables for swamp travel in 5e: twenty things to pass and twenty encounters, half of them not fights.

Most campaigns skip the swamp with "three days later, you arrive", because making up three days of it on the spot is work. These two tables do that work: something to see every day, and something that occasionally finds the party.

Each day, roll d20 on the first column for something the party passes. Then roll a d20 encounter check: on a 17 or higher, something finds them, so roll d20 on the second column. Make it 19 or higher on a quiet, patrolled road and 15 or higher somewhere nobody sensible goes. That works out to 10%, 20% or 30% a day.

About half the encounters aren't fights. A broken bridge or a lost traveller changes a journey just as much as wolves do, and it doesn't cost a spell slot. The fights use SRD creatures only, with their counts and challenge ratings, so you can rate them before anyone rolls initiative.

For the weather, don't roll fresh each day: that gives blizzard, sunshine, blizzard. Start somewhere mild and move it at most one step a day (better, the same, or worse on a d6: 1–2, 3–4, 5–6). Four days then read as a journey rather than a slot machine.

The table

20 results. Roll d20.

d20	On the way	If something finds them
1	A drowned village, rooftops just breaking the water.	Lizardfolk hunters are stalking the same prey as the party. — 1d4+1 × Lizardfolk (CR 1/2)
2	Pale lights bobbing out in the marsh at dusk.	A crocodile lurks under the boardwalk. — 1d2 × Crocodile (CR 1/2)
3	A rotting boardwalk that runs off into the reeds and stops.	Giant frogs ambush from the reeds. — 1d4+1 × Giant Frog (CR 1/4)
4	A heron standing perfectly still, watching the party.	A swarm of insects rises from the marsh at dusk. — 1d3 × Swarm of Insects (CR 1/2)
5	A sunken statue with only its outstretched hand above water.	Stirges descend on the camp in the night. — 2d4 × Stirge (CR 1/8)
6	Bubbles rising from the mud in a steady line, as if something is breathing.	A giant constrictor snake drops from a tree onto a pack animal. — 1 × Giant Constrictor Snake (CR 2)
7	A hut on stilts with its ladder pulled up.	A light in the marsh leads someone off the path, and it isn't friendly. — 1 × Will-o'-Wisp (CR 2)
8	Fireflies so thick they light the path.	A shambling mound rises from what looked like a heap of rotting reeds. — 1 × Shambling Mound (CR 5)
9	A boat tied to a dead tree, with no water under it.	An old woman, lost and frightened, asks for help. She is not an old woman. — 1 × Green Hag (CR 3)
10	Mosquitoes so thick the air hums.	A careless step disturbs a nest of snakes. — 1 × Swarm of Poisonous Snakes (CR 2)
11	Wet footprints that come out of the water and stop.	A marsh guide offers to lead the party through, and seems to know their names.
12	Hanging moss that sways with no wind.	The causeway has sunk. The party must wade chest-deep for a mile.
13	A drowned cart, its barrels floating.	A fisherman on a punt will ferry the party across if they answer his riddle.
14	An eel trap holding something that isn't an eel.	A lizardfolk trader wants to barter for iron.
15	A carved post marking a boundary nobody remembers.	A sinkhole swallows a pack animal's load.
16	A smell of rot, then, suddenly, of flowers.	A drowned bell tolls somewhere under the water.
17	A frog chorus that stops all at once.	A hermit living on a raft offers soup and a warning.
18	A burial platform raised on poles above the water.	Fog rolls in so thick nobody can see past arm's length until morning.
19	A dry island with a single apple tree, fruiting out of season.	A half-sunk ship lies in the reeds, far from any sea.
20	A causeway of stones that sinks a little with every step.	A child's doll floats past. Then another. Then another.

Questions

How often should I check for random encounters?

Once a day of travel is plenty for a montage. Checking every few hours is for when the journey IS the adventure, and it slows the table down fast.

Should every random encounter be a fight?

No. A road where everything is a fight teaches the players that travel is a tax. Half the results here are people, obstacles and discoveries for that reason.