ENCOUNTER PROCEDURES

While your scenarios may come stocked with horrors to encounter while exploring the spaces, it’s often useful to also introduce random encounters. This allows for the Facilitator to infuse dynamic situations into play with minimal planning that keep players on their toes, as even the Facilitator won’t know exactly when these encounters occur until the moment they’re triggered.

Presented on the following pages are three distinct encounter systems to take into consideration when deciding how to best leverage random encounters. Each provides a means of building suspense, introducing clues and omens, and providing a framework for integrating encounters into play. Choosing the right procedure depends on the tone, scope, and scale. These include:

Encounter Die: A straightforward encounter system that randomizes when encounters occur.
Tension Die: An encounter procedure where time is an ever dwindling resource that leads to inescapable encounters.
Voidcrawl: A narrative generator that utilizes multiple tables to push Investigators deeper as they look into the weird and strange.

EXPLORATION TURN

Each encounter system utilizes the Exploration Turn to aid in tracking time and maintaining tension, representing the amount of time it takes to complete a significant action. These include actions such as moving between spaces, searching or exploring a space, taking a break to regain HP in an unsecured location, or when 20-30 minutes pass in real time when the Investigators are otherwise not engaged in a conflict.

Following the advice in Tracking Time (see Deluxe Edition, p. x), how much time passes in-game per Exploration Turn will scale based on the needs of the scenario. It may take an hour to travel from one side of town to the other, so in a low tension situation this may be a single Exploration Turn. In contrast, walking down a hallway in a building filled with monsters would be a single Exploration Turn given the high stress nature of the setup.

1. ENCOUNTER DIE

The Encounter Die is an encounter system that relies on pure randomization to determine when encounters occur. Each time an Exploration Turn passes or the party does something that would attract the attention of the horrors, roll a d6.

1: An encounter occurs immediately.
2-3: There are signs of an encounter, or an omen or clue. These are not immediate encounters, but may become one depending on the actions of the Investigators.
4-6: Nothing happens.

An example of the Encounter Die in practice can be found in the Deluxe Edition scenario: Silent Street Station (see Deluxe Edition, p. x).

WHEN TO USE THE ENCOUNTER DIE

The Encounter Die is best leveraged in tense situations where encounters popping up at unpredictable times would create a more dynamic scenario. This is typically within locations that have an inherent constraint. Common examples in play are exploring buildings where horrors lie in the shadows, running through a stretch of forest inhabited by predatory creatures, or wandering down city streets draped in fog.

PREPARING THE ENCOUNTER DIE

If there is more than one horror or source of tension in your scenario, it will be useful to prepare an encounter table that lists out the entities that would have the potential to appear in the various locations of your scenario.

Encounters aren’t always going to be direct and violent confrontations with the horrors. In general, leverage Reaction Rolls as needed. However, it may also be beneficial to prepare a series of non-violent encounters when making your encounter table. Non-violent encounters should add to the tension, present an interesting or difficult choice to the Investigators, offer important information or clues, present a setback, or expound upon the major themes of the scenario. Examples include:

An NPC in a place they shouldn’t be.
A tree falling in the road, preventing further progress by car.
Marks or signs that a horror may be lurking nearby.

2. TENSION DIE

The Tension Die is an encounter system that simulates a clocking ticking down towards an inevitable encounter. Begin with a point pool of 20. Each time an Exploration Turn passes or the party does something that would attract the attention of the horrors, roll a d6 and subtract the result from the point pool. If a 6 is rolled, roll again and subtract both results for the pool. When the point pool reaches 0, an encounter is triggered. After the encounter is resolved, reset the pool and begin again.

An example of the Tension Die in practice can be found in Camp Coldwater (see Deluxe Edition, p. x).

WHEN TO USE THE TENSION DIE

The Tension Die is best used when there’s a singular powerful entity stalking the party, when the horrors would notice and respond to the actions of the Investigators, or when you need to simulate time running out. As encounters are guaranteed, the Tension Die puts greater focus on player choice, as time becomes a valuable resource to manage.

PREPARING THE TENSION DIE

If your scenario features multiple horrors, follow the advice Preparing the Encounter Die for creating encounter tables.

If your scenario features a single powerful entity, consider how it manifests when the encounter triggers. It may burst through the wall, suddenly appear behind the Investigators, or be waiting around the next corner or in the next room.

It may also be useful to adjust the point pool to some total other than 20 based on the scenario.

Want to keep tension high? Drop the pool down to 15 or 10.
Want a slower burn leading to a more climactic encounter? Bump the pool up to 25 or 30+.

3. VOIDCRAWL

The Voidcrawl is a narrative generation tool, taking the Encounter Die and overloading it to provide a series of additional narrative prompts while maintaining ease of use. Each time an Exploration Turn passes or the party does something that would attract the attention of the horrors, roll a d6 and consult the table below.

Day Encounter. Encounters with NPCs or some strange or uncanny occurrence. Situations that are not immediately threatening, but could escalate depending on the actions of the Investigators.
Clue. Hints about the greater mystery at play or warnings that danger is nearby. While clues are typically present in the environment with a bit of searching, this is immediately obvious to the Investigators.
Omen. A portent for things to come. Pick one of the Investigators and roll on the Fallout table of the given scenario, using the corresponding result to seed an omen for the next Fallout they will receive.
Setback. An unfortunate hindrance. A situation that impedes the progress of the Investigators or drains their resources in some manner.
Horror. A frightening or horrific scene. A situation that puts the Investigators at unease or hints at the presence of a horror.
Night Encounter. Direct encounters with the horrors. Situations that are dangerous and life threatening if the Investigators don’t act quickly.

The Voidcrawl is a tool for pacing, as it helps keep a scenario moving by presenting a variety of interesting situations for the Investigators to react to and resolve. However, it can also be linked directly to the features of the scenario to better aid in creating an escalating sense of tension. Phases can be used to create a day/night cycle or linking results directly to a location where a dark descent is set to occur.

DAY/NIGHT CYCLE
During the day, or when the Investigators are in a mundane location, treat results above 3 as if nothing happens. During the night, or when the Investigators are in a location that is inherently dangerous, use all results.

DARK DESCENT
When the Investigators descend deeper into an increasingly more dangerous situation, split the results into 3 or more parts. For level 1, ignore results above 2. For level 2, ignore results above 4. For level 3, use all results.

An example of the Voidcrawl in practice can be found in the scenario Cult Classic (in the Deluxe Edition, p. x). The Voidcrawl is also featured in The Bloom (2023) and The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow (2024).

WHEN TO USE A VOIDCRAWL

The Voidcrawl is best leveraged when you’re running a slow burning investigation, when you want to reinforce the themes of your scenario in a more dynamic manner, when you want a naturally escalating sense of tension, or when the scenario involves the potential to travel over long distances.

While the Voidcrawl is a narrative generator, it’s important to note that it does not supplant the need for interesting narrative elements to be present in the environments the Investigators are exploring. For example, if you’re running a slow burning investigation, you should not rely on the Voidcrawl to be the primary driver of finding clues, as the randomized nature leads to too much unpredictability. Instead, the Voidcrawl should provide interesting supplemental complications.

PREPARING THE VOIDCRAWL

The Voidcrawl requires more preparation than the other encounter procedures. While each prompt should be adapted to integrate with the situation at hand, it will be useful to prepare small tables for each entry ahead of time.

The Voidcrawl is also highly adaptive to suit your needs. Swap out the entries to better suit your scenario or expand the number entries by increasing the encounter die to a d8 or d10. Some additional options include:

Regroup: A moment of calm to recover HP and tend to critical needs.
Locality: A shift or change in the environment, including weather, light, or an encroaching horror.
Stress: A situation that directly results in the Investigators taking Stress or making a CTRL Save.
Decay: A situation or location breaks down, including a derelict building crumbling, creeping fungal decomposition, or a festering rot.
Theme: An appearance of a symbol or motif directly linking to the overarching themes of the scenario.
Nothing Happens: When luck is on the side of the Investigators and no encounter is triggered.