" A tentacled ooze lurks in a deep pool of slime, near to a mosaic which may hold a vital clue. The ooze has a basic sentience, and can has a mental connection to a spellcasting ally nearby..."
Simple encounter tables for caves in any fantasy setting. Tables for Combined Cave Encounters, Cave Encounter Details and Cave Encounter Locations.
Fantasy Dungeon - all | trinkets | cave encs | dungeon encs | ruins encs | sewer encs | tomb encs
[photo by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash]
Fantasy Cave Encounters
Caves in fantasy are the cave complex housing monsters or tribes of small humanoids. Places to rest for a night, lair of a giant, bear or dragon. Twisting caverns leading deep underground, with luminous fungi and beings comfortable in the darkness.
It's also a place of spores, cold, bats, ruins, outcasts, bones and secrets.
There is a fantasy encounter generator at ChaosGen. There is also a pdf of these and more tables at the DriveThruRPG as Cave Encounters.
Caves Combined Encounters
These reference Caves tables for Encounter Prompts, Hazards and NPCs
| 1d10 | 10 Cave Encounter Prompts |
|---|---|
| 1 | a wall carved with poems in different languages or roll on Hazards |
| 2 | a solitary (or giant)... d10 (1-2. bat swarm 3. cave bear 4. rat swarm 5. cave leopard 6. fungal slime 7. insect swarm 8. cave lion 9. spider swarm 10. lizard) |
| 3 | a goblin artist who is carving charms from bones or roll on NPCs |
| 4 | several (or a pair of)... d10 (1-2. nonhuman warriors 3. fungi folk 4. dwarves 5. smugglers 6. troglodytes 7. goblins 8. skeletons 9. refugees 10. kobolds ) |
| 5 | several giant beetles with glowing glands or roll on Enc. Descriptions |
| 6 | a few (or many)... d10 (1-2. giant centipedes 3. fungal beasts 4. giant bats 5. shadow fey 6. giant rats 7. undead 8. giant beetles 9. red jellies 10. giant spiders) |
| 7 | a bloated corpse covered in bright blue fungi or roll on Hazards |
| 8 | something that lives in water, a(n)... d10 (1-2. aquatic humanoid 3. stun jelly 4. drowned ghost 5. giant snake 6. few giant crabs 7. tentacled ooze 8. water spirit 9. sentient slime 10. few giant frogs ) |
| 9 | a nature priest, keen to show off their fungal garden or roll on NPCs |
| 10 | a potential (or signs of a) danger, a(n)... d10 (1-2. stone spirit 3. pack of ghouls 4. carnivorous fungi 5. basilisk 6. cave troll 7. wraith 8. earth elemental 9. spider-monster 10. cyclops) |
Caves Encounter Details
Use 1d6 for beasts or non-sentient creatures.
| 1d10 | They are... (or one is...) |
|---|---|
| 1 | hiding from (or watching) a nearby threat or infected with disease |
| 2 | drinking from (or immersed in) a(n)... d10 (1-2. deep pool 3. stream 4. waterfall 5. spring 6. lake's edge 7. enchanted pool 8. shallow pool 9. river 10. polluted pool ) |
| 3 | attracted to (or afraid of) any source of light or being very quiet |
| 4 | investigating (or watching)... d10 (1-2. a corpse 3. a glowing spider 4. a bright rock 5. a green slime 6. inscriptions 7. crude art 8. claw marks 9. a portal 10. dripping acid) |
| 5 | trapped in webs (or a rockfall); or connected to nearby creatures |
| 6 | consuming (or investigating) a fungi which is... d10 (1-2. poisonous 3. glowing 4. intoxicating 5. healing 6. spiky 7. flammable 8. sentient 9. emitting spores 10. slimy ) |
| 7 | making (or following) a map; or creating wall carvings |
| 8 | carrying mining tools (or lots of rope); or playing a game |
| 9 | guarding (or patrolling) the area; or lost |
| 10 | carving out rock or on high alert |
Caves Encounter Locations
| 1d10 | Area | Feature |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | a stream of lit water (or acid) | a crystal formation or many fireflies |
| 2 | lots of mud (or fiery moss) | slimy webs, area of glowing fungi |
| 3 | fungal (or crystal) growths | series of tiny tunnels or a mosaic |
| 4 | a deep pool of slime (water) | pile of bones (or rocks); or an alcove |
| 5 | a cliff with steps (or fungi) | a stalagmite (or stalactite) with rope |
| 6 | a raft on the edge of water | hole to deep below (or a tomb) |
| 7 | fungal garden or a hot spring | a way up or a recent collapse |
| 8 | a large cavern or a waterfall | layer of ashes or set of stone shelves |
| 9 | flooded cave or chasm edge | a bone shrine or a cairn of red stones |
| 10 | a cave of crystal (or marble) | dangling rope or a fungal bridge |
More Encounters
There is a fantasy encounter generator at ChaosGen. There is also a pdf of these and more tables at the DriveThruRPG as Cave Encounters.
If you liked these there are Fantasy Generators at Chaos Gen, a monthly random tools Newsletter and an instagram of Random Tables.
