Just because a monster is searching doesn’t mean it’s hunting PCs. It might be something the PCs are carrying (e.g. rust monster), or they are simply an interruption (e.g. sleeping giant). My favorite random encounters are when PCs stumble into the active conflict between factions!
Well said. I've been working on a post about stocking B1 using the logic of monster ecology, just going to link to this instead of explaining why I think it's important to put in the work.
Just because a monster is searching doesn’t mean it’s hunting PCs. It might be something the PCs are carrying (e.g. rust monster), or they are simply an interruption (e.g. sleeping giant). My favorite random encounters are when PCs stumble into the active conflict between factions!
Faction conflict is such a good fuel for adventure!
Well said. I've been working on a post about stocking B1 using the logic of monster ecology, just going to link to this instead of explaining why I think it's important to put in the work.
It’s all about making sense of things and give players something more organic and coherent.