Hello hello! 

To prepare you best for the jam, we are starting a series of warm-up exercises based on Three Pillars of role playing games: Exploration, Combat and Social Interaction.

Why are these pillars so important?

They are like flavors, enriching the game for various types of players and characters. While combat is thrilling, a good puzzle or a heartwarming NPC can also become a memorable part of the campaign. One character may excel at disarming traps, while another might be a skilled negotiator. Placing these characters in different situations showcases their strengths and weaknesses, ensuring all players feel engaged in the story. Today, we will be talking about Exploration. Exploring the new area can become a great way to convey the narrative, or to prepare characters for further encounters. For example, there are “environmental storytelling skeletons”. Placing a dead body in some area can imply the potential danger of the space. The items around the body can convey the story: the locket with a photo of loved one, or a faction insignia that tells a little about the affiliation of the ones who came there before heroes. In addition to this, exploration parts of adventure can become a great way to test the characters- or the players. The slippery path can require a dexterity check- or right spell- or a way around. The door can be locked, but also it can be trapped, or may require solving a riddle to be opened. But why was it locked or trapped in the very first place?

One of the great ways to brainstorm the encounter ideas is using powers of randomness as a base idea. For example, the story cubes are often used by storytellers to come up with a plot base. This method works great with encounter design as well, as it often provides some unusual combinations resulting in interesting story premises. The method is often provided in 1-page RPG systems to aid DMs in on-the-spot adventure-building. As an exercise for today, let’s try the “Roll for Encounter” game. For this game, you will need 1D6 and 1D10.

First of all, let’s choose the type of environment!

1. Castle/House
2. Dungeon/Cave
3. The vehicle of some sort
4. The Settlement

5. The Mountain

6. The Tavern or The Shop

Then, we add some magic (optional) (1D10)

1. Alteration
2. Conjuration
3. Divination
4. Enchantment
5. Illusion
6. Invocation
7. Necromancy
8. Abjuration
9. Wild Magic
10. No Magic?

Add flavour-up!


1. It’s a trap!

2. There’s an obstacle!

3. There is a puzzle!

4. There is a mystery?

5. Someone lives there!

6. Someone used to live there!


Add a treasure (2D6)


1. The Curse OR the Cure
2. Hoards of gold
3. An ancient artefact
4. The Secret Knowledge
5. Bizarre Potion
6. The New Friendship

Now, think of the encounter based on rolling results. Write out some aspects of it, like the backstory, or the visual description. You can interpret each result the way you want to add personal flavour to the idea. Feel free to share final result in the thread!