Review: Judges Guild Journal Encounter Fragments 1

Having recently uncovered some badly degraded copies of the Judges Guild Journal which contained the encounter tables that were the original basis for my old campaign's encounter tables, I thought I'd do a quickie review, page by page, for those who are interested in the sort of These are the three encounter tables from page 7 (these reviews will be badly out of order and pieces will be missing).

[I think I have another complete copy of this issue somewhere (plus a few others), but I thought I'd take the advantage of encountering these whilst going through boxes of papers to review them (and take a break from sorting boxes and boxes of old papers).]

The Great Races

I like the idea of having a Great Races table, even if creatures will also appear on other encounter tables (for example there is a Dragon encounter table for when you need Dragons and a True Giants encounter table for when you need giants). In particular if you need to know who is sovereign in a particular area (such as the nature of the village, castle, temple, army, or patrol you just rolled on the Master Encounter Chart(s), then this table is the one you would probably consult.

The encounters are by terrain type. So wilderness style terrains tend to be inhabited by non-humans, which is appropriate. But one of the things that is great about this chart is that you can also encounter races outside what might be considered their natural terrain. And this is where you really get to generate stories from encounter tables, explaining why you would find a group of ents in the city. I suspect that this is the reason why it was eventually determined that the Named Giants came from outside the World and were just travelling through it. The only "natural" giants were the Hill Giants who their kin considered degenerate brutes. It was suspected that if a giant spent too long in the World, they would eventually degenerate into a hill giant (albeit one with more natural HD).

I once worked out what the missing entry on the table had to be, but have since forgotten it.

THE GREAT RACES	CT	TN	RD	CL	FR
Chromatic Dragon	01	01	01	01	01
Vampires	02	02	02	02	02
Trolls	03	03	03	03	05
Ogres	04	04	04	04	10
Gnolls	05	05	05	05	11
Hobgoblins	06	06	06	06	12
Orcs	07	08	08	10	22
Kobolds	08	09	09	11	26
Goblins	09	10	10	12	27
Mithril Dragon	10	11	11	13	28
Red Dragons	11	12	12	14	29
Blue Dragons	12	13	13	15	30
Green Dragons	13	14	14	16	32
Black Dragons	14	15	15	17	33
White Dragons	15	16	16	18	34
Werewolves	16	17	17	19	36
Cloud Giants	17	18	18	20	37
Fire Giants	18	19	19	21	38
Frost Giants	19	20	20	22	39
Stone Giants	20	21	21	23	40
Hill Giants	21	22	22	24	41
Weretigers	22	23	23	26	44
Wererats	24	25	24	27	48
Wereboars	25	27	25	28	51
Leprechauns	27	28	26	29	53
Platinum Dragon	28	29	27	30	54
Golden Dragons	29	30	28	31	55
Silver Dragons	30	31	29	32	56
Bronze Dragons	31	32	30	33	57
Copper Dragons	32	33	31	34	58
Brass Dragons	33	34	32	35	59
Titans	34	35	33	36	60
	35	37	34	37	70
Storm Giants	36	38	35	38	71
Werebears	37	40	36	39	79
Gnomes	39	42	38	40	80
Hobbits	42	47	40	52	84
Elves	47	54	48	54	94
Half Elves	54	64	58	70	97
Dwarves	58	69	61	72	98
Humans	00	00	00	00	00

THE GREAT RACES	HL	MN	RV	SW	JG
Chromatic Dragon	01	01	01	01	01
Vampires	02	02	02	02	02
Trolls	04	03	12	13	13
Ogres	05	05	13	15	14
Gnolls	06	06	28	29	30
Hobgoblins	09	09	29	31	31
Orcs	20	24	49	51	45
Kobolds	25	25	50	53	47
Goblins	27	27	51	55	53
Mithril Dragon	28	28	52	56	54
Red Dragons	31	31	53	57	55
Blue Dragons	33	33	54	58	56
Green Dragons	34	34	55	59	59
Black Dragons	35	35	59	63	61
White Dragons	36	36	60	64	62
Werewolves	37	39	61	65	63
Cloud Giants	38	40	62	66	64
Fire Giants	39	41	63	67	65
Frost Giants	40	43	64	68	--
Stone Giants	41	44	65	69	66
Hill Giants	47	46	66	70	67
Weretigers	48	48	67	71	71
Wererats	49	49	74	77	76
Wereboars	50	50	75	78	78
Leprechauns	51	51	76	79	--
Platinum Dragon	52	52	77	80	79
Golden Dragons	53	53	78	81	80
Silver Dragons	54	54	79	82	81
Bronze Dragons	55	55	80	83	82
Copper Dragons	58	58	81	84	83
Brass Dragons	59	59	82	85	84
Titans	60	60	83	86	85
	61	61	85	88	89
Storm Giants	62	62	86	89	90
Werebears	63	63	87	90	91
Gnomes	78	78	88	91	92
Hobbits	79	79	90	92	--
Elves	80	80	91	93	93
Half Elves	81	81	93	94	94
Dwarves	96	96	94	95	95
Humans	00	00	00	00	00

THE GREAT RACES	DS	CO	PS	SE	AE
Chromatic Dragon	01	01	01	01	01
Vampires	02	02	02	--	03
Trolls	03	04	03	02	--
Ogres	05	05	04	--	--
Gnolls	06	08	05	03	--
Hobgoblins	07	09	07	04	--
Orcs	09	14	12	05	--
Kobolds	10	15	14	--	--
Goblins	12	17	16	--	--
Mithril Dragon	13	18	17	06	04
Red Dragons	14	19	18	07	07
Blue Dragons	17	20	19	08	10
Green Dragons	18	21	20	09	13
Black Dragons	19	22	21	10	16
White Dragons	20	23	22	11	19
Werewolves	21	24	23	--	--
Cloud Giants	22	25	24	--	--
Fire Giants	23	26	25	--	--
Frost Giants	24	27	26	--	--
Stone Giants	25	28	27	--	--
Hill Giants	26	29	28	--	--
Weretigers	27	30	29	--	--
Wererats	28	31	30	--	--
Wereboars	29	32	31	--	--
Leprechauns	30	33	32	--	40
Platinum Dragon	31	34	33	13	41
Golden Dragons	32	35	34	14	43
Silver Dragons	33	36	35	15	63
Bronze Dragons	34	41	36	25	66
Copper Dragons	37	42	37	26	69
Brass Dragons	40	43	38	27	72
Titans	41	44	39	28	82
	42	46	41	--	--
Storm Giants	43	47	42	29	00
Werebears	44	48	43	--	--
Gnomes	45	49	44	30	--
Hobbits	46	51	46	31	--
Elves	47	54	49	32	--
Half Elves	49	57	53	33	--
Dwarves	51	59	54	34	--
Humans	00	00	00	00	--

True Giants

True Giants are the traditional enemies of Rangers! And yes, anything on this list could be a Favoured Enemy of Rangers (definitely including Humans). A True Giant encounter is more likely to be a more traditional (and probably hostile) "wilderness" encounter. If I roll on this table I'd probably use only 1d6 on my Reaction Table (which means that when encountered these creatures would be Unfriendly at best, and even have a chance of Attacking Immediately (a Hostile reaction would consider the odds and situation and react accordingly). And yes, I've had a lone goblin berserker charge a player (with the inevitable consequences) as a result. And so was born the Goblin Suicide Cult.

TRUE GIANTS	CT	TN	RD	CL	FR
Pixies (*Nixies)	01	01	01	01	01
Leprechauns	03	03	03	03	03
Hobbits	07	09	09	08	09
Kobolds	11	14	14	11	12
Gnomes	15	19	19	14	15
Goblins	20	02	02	19	20
Dwarves	25	31	31	24	25
Humans	51	42	42	50	30
Marshwiggles	52	43	43	51	31
Orcs	57	49	50	59	37
Half Elves	64	57	58	69	47
Elves	69	64	65	77	59
Hobgoblins	72	68	69	82	64
Gnolls	74	71	72	83	66
Trolls	76	74	75	84	68
Ogres	78	77	78	86	72
Yetis	79	78	79	87	73
Bugbears	81	80	81	88	75
Cyclopi	83	82	83	89	77
Ents	85	86	86	91	84
Umber Hulks	87	87	87	92	87
Cloud Giants	89	89	89	93	89
Hill Giants	91	91	91	94	91
Fire Giants	93	93	93	95	93
Frost Giants	95	95	95	96	95
Stone Giants	97	97	97	97	97
Storm Giants	98	98	98	98	98
Titans	99	99	99	99	99
Other	00	00	00	00	00

TRUE GIANTS	HL	MN	RV	SW	JG
Pixies (*Nixies)	01	01	01	01	01
Leprechauns	02	02	03	02	02
Hobbits	04	04	08	03	03
Kobolds	12	12	13	04	04
Gnomes	20	21	18	05	05
Goblins	27	28	22	06	06
Dwarves	36	36	26	07	07
Humans	37	37	27	08	08
Marshwiggles	38	38	44	58	50
Orcs	47	47	52	61	60
Half Elves	55	55	60	62	61
Elves	61	61	66	63	62
Hobgoblins	67	67	71	65	65
Gnolls	68	68	76	67	67
Trolls	69	69	82	77	75
Ogres	73	73	84	84	84
Yetis	77	77	85	85	--
Bugbears	79	79	87	86	86
Cyclopi	81	81	89	87	87
Ents	82	82	90	88	88
Umber Hulks	84	84	92	89	89
Cloud Giants	86	86	93	90	90
Hill Giants	89	89	94	91	91
Fire Giants	91	91	95	92	92
Frost Giants	93	93	96	93	93
Stone Giants	95	95	97	97	97
Storm Giants	97	97	98	98	98
Titans	99	99	99	99	99
ther	00	00	00	00	00

TRUE GIANTS	DS	CO	PS	SE	AE
Pixies (*Nixies)	01	01	01	40*	45
Leprechauns	02	02	03	49	50
Hobbits	03	05	07	--	--
Kobolds	06	08	11	--	--
Gnomes	08	11	15	--	--
Goblins	13	15	20	--	--
Dwarves	18	19	25	--	--
Humans	74	57	51	--	--
Marshwiggles	75	67	52	50	--
Orcs	80	72	57	--	--
Half Elves	81	76	64	--	--
Elves	82	79	69	--	--
Hobgoblins	83	81	72	--	--
Gnolls	84	83	74	--	--
Trolls	85	85	76	--	--
Ogres	87	87	78	--	--
Yetis	88	88	79	--	--
Bugbears	--	--	80	--	--
Cyclopi	91	90	82	--	--
Ents	--	91	86	--	--
Umber Hulks	92	92	87	--	--
Cloud Giants	93	93	89	59	59
Hill Giants	94	94	91	--	--
Fire Giants	95	95	93	--	--
Frost Giants	96	96	95	--	--
Stone Giants	97	97	97	--	--
Storm Giants	98	98	98	90	90
Titans	99	99	99	99	99
Other	00	00	00	00	00

The possible others that they suggest might be encountered include (but are not limited to): Light Elves, Dark Elves, Nissies, Black Seers, Pan Tang Warriors, Myyrrhm, Ribhus, Indian Ogres, Hyborean Frost Giants, Greek Cyclopi, Satyrs, Norse Storm [presumably Giants], Norse Dwarves, Norse Stone Giants, Norse Rock Giant, Aliens, Mist Giants. Delmains, Chinese Fairies, and Homo Superiori.

Undead

Undead being unnatural creatures can appear anywhere. Actually one change I made when I adopted these tables was to give the chance of an aerial encounter with a Morkoth, or rather the Morkoth spiral, since I always considered it to be far more effective when viewed from above. There was one particularly shallow sandy bay that was dotted with many Morkoth lairs, including a big one for the Dire Morkoth at the centre. Nobody sailed or flew over the bay, although it was rumoured that a certain corsair had mapped the lairs had a hidden base on an island in the bay, full of treasure.

UNDEAD	LAND	SEA	AIR
Skeleton	15	--	--
Zombie	30	--	--
Ghoul	45	--	--
Lacedon	--	25	--
Wight	55	--	--
Wraith	63	--	--
Mummy	73	--	--
Special Mummy	76	30	--
Spectre	82	55	30
Morkoth	--	80	--
Shadow	86	90	50
Vampires	89	--	70
Ghost	92	96	90
Other	00	00	00

The suggested others include: Ollam Onga, Red Shadows, and Ghouls of Yaniadar.

[More reviews to come.]