More on: Non-Homogenous Random Tables

A while ago I posted this: Non-Homogenous Random Table and this on ‘split-dice‘. The below post, is in a similar vein (… and I would not be completely surprised if this idea has been covered before by someone else).

Progressive dice array (not sure what to call it?)
One day I’d like to make use of this array of bell curves (well that’s not quite true as I did use it in my Mythic Hex Flower emulator; but the maths is so buried in the engine you’d probably never notice it!):

Basically, you start with 3xD10 and downscale one die at a time to get this array of bell curves. So the first set is 3D10 (the broadest black curve) the next set is 2D10+D8, next D10+2D8 etc … until you get to 3D4 (pointiest orange curve on the left).

Hexcrawl | monsters and distance from base
What might be nice is to generate 27 encounters i.e. corresponding to 3 to 30.
Each time you get one hex further from ‘town’ you upscale the dice set from 3xD4. So, encounters 3 to 9 are the sort of humdrum stuff seen nearer ‘town’. Encounters beyond 12 become possible as you move away from ‘town’. Encounters like 29 and 30 are still rare even when in the deepest wilderness (at least 9 hexes from ‘town’) but only possible there.
I suppose terrain type could have an influence in up/down-scaling the dice set (I’ve not thought this all through).

Mega-dungeon | zone and threats 
A mega-dungeon could be run like the above. Each time you go deeper into the dungeon (e.g. lower levels) the more diabolical become the possible encounters.

However, of course you could run the dice progression in reverse. The super threat/boss monsters are nearer 3 (e.g. lich); next up are the threats/brutes e.g. 6-13;  the ‘dungeon fodder’ (e.g. orcs, gnolls) could be next e.g. between 14 and 20; perhaps the empty rooms and curiosities are between 21 and 27; and the novelty ‘stay at home fools’ traps and things etc are nearer 30.

That way, on level 1 you could get a lich (e.g. by rolling ‘Aboleth Eyes‘ on 3D10), but mostly it’s going to be fodder monsters. As you delve deeper the fodder and empty rooms drop away and it trends towards the real threats, and at some point there’s a good chance of triggering the boss-grade monster.

Again, I’ve not thought this through, but I can see the bones of an idea here!

Something else?
Of course there is bound to be other possible uses  – random treasure table, freaky mutations based on failed spell level, etc.

I’m really posting this up in case someone finds it useful for one of their projects (who knows?!)

Anydice.com
Anydice is really great for this kind of guff. You have probably heard of it. I’ll give it a plug anyway.

If you want to generate these curves put the below in the text box and select the graph option:

output d10+d10+d10 named “3D10” output d10+d10+d8 named “2D10+D8” output d10+d8+d8 named “D10+2D8” output d8+d8+d8 named “3D8” output d8+d8+d6 named “2D8+D6” output d8+d6+d6 named “D8+2D6” output d6+d6+d6 named “3D6” output d6+d6+d4 named “2D6+D4” output d6+d4+d4 named “D6+2D4” output d4+d4+d4 named “3D4”

You can also do “at least” and “at most” plots etc. like this:

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Me on DriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous