Universal Encounter Table

18 Apr, 2025

Babe, wake up. They just expanded Just Use Bears to account for every encounter.

Dice Goblin has a lovely post on utilising a roster of 14 different beasts that can be reskinned and recontextualised for any situation. So: what if we use this list as a universal encounter table?

Lucky number 14

14 beasts. You know what other set has 14 members? A suit of playing cards.

Wait, that’s not right… My maths is bad, but perhaps the idea is still good. Let’s say “Spider” is redundant with “Snake”. Now we have a list of 13 beast statblocks - one for each card rank.

By mapping the list from 2-Ace, we have a universal encounter table. Instead of rolling a die, we can draw from a deck of cards. 

Now, wherever in the campaign world we are, we can use the same encounter table:

Suits can stand in for reaction rolls.

♠️ - hostile
♣️ - unfavourable
♦️- favourable
♥️ - friendly

Done!

Probability Curveball

I think we can do better, though.

The probability distribution of a single draw from a deck is a flat line - we’re as likely to encounter a boar as we are a dragon. I'm taking inspiration from Nick LS Whelan's encounter tables here, to achieve a nice spread of probabilities. So what if we draw 2 cards and take the lower?

Here’s the probability distribution of drawing a given card using this method:

Interesting. There’s a vanishingly small chance of ever encountering a dragon. Why don’t we just cut one more beast from our roster (sorry, Bull) and say that if you ever draw double Aces you just find some treasure lying around.

Now we're done.

(Note: We are not done. See forthcoming blogpost, on Peking Duck Design.)

Cairn Statblocks

Here are the basic statblocks for the beasts on our universal encounter table. I've gone with Cairn because I'm familiar with the system and because statblocks are short and modular in thte system.

In Cairn, the numerical statline is paired with up to 3 dot points laying out each creature’s background, tactics or abilities. When rewriting our creatures, we’ll keep the statline and replace the dot points.

Note, some of these statlines are rather similar to one another - a bear and a tiger have extremely close stats, for example. The difference will be the creature’s ecological/combat role (and whatever abilities we grant them).

I’ve copied notes beside each entry from Dice Goblin’s post). It’s worth referring back to the original for deeper details, including helpful examples for each statblock.

Deer

(swift, alert, elusive, skittish / Elusive, non-combatant, fleeing NPCs)

4 HP, 8 STR, 14 DEX, 6 WIL, kick (d4) or antlers (d6)

• Nimble, moves through difficult terrain with ease.
• Avoids combat, fleeing into cover if possible.

Boar

(aggressive, relentless, charging / Relentless enemies, stubborn melee threats)

Adapted from Cairn Monsters Guide

4 HP, 12 STR, 9 DEX, 8 WIL, tusks (d6)

• Not naturally aggressive, but dangerous if disturbed.
• Critical Damage: Gores its victims, who bleed out very quickly.

Rat

(swarm, small, numerous, disease / Swarming enemies, plague carriers)

From Rot King’s Sanctum Cairn Conversion

4 HP, 6 STR, 12 DEX, 11 WIL, bite (d3) detachment

• Afraid of fire.

Snake

(stealthy, venomous, ambush, solitary / Hidden ambushers, traps, poisoners)

From Viper, Cairn 2e Warden’s Guide

3 HP, 5 STR, 12 DEX, 3 WIL, bite (d6)

• Poisonous snakes often found in caves, pits, and other dark places. An antitoxin can be made from their poison sacs.
• Use heat and smell to track their victims.
• Critical Damage: Target is poisoned, dying in 1d12 hours without a cure.

Hawk

(swift, flight, keen-senses, evasive / Scouts, hit-and-run, evasive attackers)

Adapted from Phoenix, Cairn 2e Warden’s Guide

4 HP, 5 STR, 13 DEX, 12 WIL, talons (d4+d4)

• Adept at targeting smaller prey.
• Targets vulnerable areas if forced into combat against anything larger than itself.
• Critical Damage: Claws target’s eyes, who are temporarily blinded.

Bear

(strong, tough, dangerous, solitary, large / Solo threats, brute-force obstacles)

From Grizzly Bear, Cairn 2e Warden’s Guide

6 HP, 15 STR, 13 DEX, 5 WIL, claws (d8+d8)

• Prefer to eat fish and meat, and will attack the rare unfortunate who crosses their path.
• Critical Damage: Bites the victim for an additional d6 STR damage. They bleed out very quickly.

Wolf

(quick, dangerous, pack, coordinated / Coordinated attackers, ambush groups, pack hunters following a strong leader)

From Wolf, Cairn 2e Warden’s Guide

6 HP, 12 STR, 14 DEX, 8 WIL, bite (d8)

• Large canines that dwell primarily in forest or tundra.
• Can be trained with effort if captured at a young age.

Crocodile

(ambush, tough, aquatic, territorial, grappler / Water hazards, sudden grapple encounters)

Adapted from Lorn Song of the Bachelor Cairn Conversion

6 HP, 14 STR, 10 DEX, 8 WIL, bite (d8) or claws (d6 + d6)

• Prefers to come at you from odd angles.
• Critical Damage: Grapples the target, diving into water to drown them.

Horse

(swift, mobile, large, loyal / Mounted combatants or mounts, rapid mobility)

Adapted from Centaur, Cairn 2e Warden’s Guide

4 HP, 12 STR, 14 DEX, 10 WIL, bite or kick (d6)

• Large, swift beasts that live in herds. Wary of potential threats, from which they prefer to keep their distance.
• May be tamed with experience and adequate time.

Tiger

(stealthy, fast, dangerous, solitary, hunter / Powerful solitary ambush predators, silent killers)

from Cairn Monsters Guide

6 HP, 14 STR, 14 DEX, 6 WIL, claws (d8+d8)

• Striped, solitary felines found in temperate regions.
• Use camouflage and stealth to surprise their prey. Drag away their victims for later consumption.
• Critical Damage: Bites through flesh and bone alike (d6 STR damage).

Elephant

(huge, durable, destructive / Siege threats, heavy hitters)

From Cairn Monsters Guide

9 HP, 16 STR, 6 DEX, 11 WIL, tusks (d10)

• Large, intelligent animals that dwell in deserts and plains, usually in herds.
• Their tusks are worth 1000gp to the right buyer. There are some who consider taking the tusks as immoral.
• Charge: Nearby targets must make a DEX save or be trampled underfoot (d12 STR damage, ignoring armor).

Dragon

(apex predator, deadly, clever / Legendary threats, boss-level encounters)

From Green Dragon, Cairn 2e Warden’s Guide

12 HP, 2 Armor, 14 STR, 15 DEX, 18 WIL, bite (d12), detachment

• Forest-dwelling snakes topped with tall green scales. Collect great hoards of treasure.
• Use intelligence and cunning to manipulate the weak into their service.
• Chlorine Gas: Anyone nearby must make a DEX save to escape its reach or lose 1d4 STR and becomes deprived.

You know, for completeness, I’ll put Spider and Bull in here too.

Spider

(trapper, venomous, stealthy, ambush / Environmental threats, immobilizers)

Adapted from Dogtooth Valley Cairn Conversion

5 HP, 8 STR, 12 DEX, 5 WIL, bite (d6)

• Climb walls
• Web: DEX save or get stuck in a web
• Silent: if not spotted they surprise the party

Bull

(charging, aggressive, territorial / Reckless enemies, brute chargers)

6 HP, 14 STR, 10 DEX, 12 WIL, horns (d8)

• Stubborn, aggressive, territorial herbivores.
• Charge: Target must make a DEX save or be flung into the air (d8 STR damage).

(Re)Skinning the Bear

As a final step, let’s talk about how to reskin our entries on the Universal Encounter Table to keep it interesting as characters adventure across the land.

Each entry on the encounter table has 3 elements: Statline, Name, and Features.

The statlines will remain same wherever we travel - this is, after all, the Universal Encounter Table.

But for each entry on our encounter table, we will be writing in a new name. If we are feeling energetic we will also write in some new features. The features are useful because they give us some lore about the creature, and some mechanical abilities that speak to the creature's identity.

The idea is this: each region has a short list of themes. We will use these to spark ideas for our new names and features.

EXAMPLE THEMES

BANDIT BLOODSWAMP
Themes: outlaw, aquatic beast, bloodsucking parasite, hiding, slimy, overgrown

TRANSMOGRIFIER PASTURES
Themes: arcane, domesticated beast, feral pest, mutated, whimsical, curious

NECROMANCER CRAGS
Themes: Undead, scavenger, blighted, parched, aggressive, furtive

Thanks for reading

Next time on Bommyknocker Press, we'll flesh out our method with some examples. Join us for: Encounters in the Bandit Blood Swamp.

#cairn #cards #encounters #gameable #statblocks #tables