Suggestion for 2D BeastMaker tables

[OjnoTheRed]

How about this for the standard 2D table where you want a bit more variety for a particular locale (e.g. where the players will be spending an extended period of time):

Roll	Category
2	S
3	O
4	H
5	O
6	S
7	P
8	C
9	E
10	H
11	E
12	C

This gives an even chance for all categories. But it means only one Producer and two events. I would suggest the following table that is biased towards Herbivores but with only one Event:

Roll	Category
2	S
3	O
4	H
5	O
6	S
7	H
8	C
9	P
10	E
11	P
12	C

 

[Timerover51]

I guess my question would be how large is this local, and how varied is the terrain. A local with a lot of area and a variety of terrain should have a separate encounter table for each type of terrain. This would be especially true of an area with lakes, rivers, marshes, or swamps. An area resembling Nebraska or the Ukrainian steppes would be basically a single terrain type.

 

[robject]

As in all things, the referee must follow his instincts.

 

[OjnoTheRed]

The rules say one Encounter Table for every Terrain Hex (100km hex - next down from the 1000km World hex); but on the other hand BeastMaker does not reference terrain apart from distinguishing between water and land.

So how many tables are needed is the usual balance between practically being able to generate the table (thanks for the BeastMaker app, Rob!) and the needs of the scenario or story. If a Terrain hex is clearly divided in terms of environment, then I might be tempted to create one based each terrain type. But I might imagine the environment and kinds of creatures it has before making the decision. There's a lot of scope for imagining the interaction of any Beast with terrain; so one table might do the trick, but generate another one if it doesn't is my way of thinking.

I was inspired to think this up when I was searching through the Errata thread looking for Beast errata on top of the official Errata and someone pointed out that although the 2D table is promised in the rules, it isn't there.

 

[Timerover51]

I do not have Traveller 5, but figure that I need to get it so as to know what is in it and what is not, and what could be produced for what is not there.

With respect to a 100 kilometer wide terrain hex, that can cover a lot of different terrain, depending on where you are, even on the Earth. On the California coast, you can go from temperate forest to mountain to semi-arid plains in that amount of area. In Florida, you can go from grassland to swamp to a coastal marine and island environment.

I am not sure how much the BeastMaker rules differ from the ones in Classic Traveller, which I am going to find out, but looking through Supplement 2, Animal Encounters, again, there are some pretty odd combinations in there.

Is it possible to get 30 and 24 metric ton Hunters in Marsh terrain, medium world, dense atmosphere?