The Forgotten Smugglers' Cave: Random Encounters

A random encounter table for the The Forgotten Smugglers' Cave, which starts here.

Illustration of a Large Rock Crab by Lore Suto

d12 Wandering Monsters and Other Encounters

When the players spend a turn searching, there is a 1 in 12 chance of an encounter per turn.

If an encounter occurs, roll d12 to determine which:

1. A large rock crab, camouflaged as a rock or stalagmite, strikes out at a random party member with previously hidden claws, surprising on 1-3 in 6. It will spend the next round drumming its claws on the rocky floor (during which time the characters can flee without being attacked), which cause 1d4 crabs to turn up in the next round (from a total colony of 2d4). They will continue this behavior (attacking alternately with drumming) until all crabs in the colony join in.

Large Rock Crab (2d4): DX 9, AC 5, HD 1/2, AT 2 claws for 1d4 each.

A full "new monster" entry for the rock crab can found here. 

2. A huge rock crab, camouflaged as a stalactite on the ceiling, drops on a random party member. This surprises on 1-5 in 6, and if the crab gains surprise, the drop is treated as an attack roll with a +4 to hit and doing the indicated damage; if a character is not surprised, they can automatically avoid the dropping crab. Once on the ground, the crab will spend the next round drumming its claws on the floor (see above), attracting the other 1d6 huge crabs in its group to drop to the ground and join in (there is only a 10% chance that any of the other are directly over another party member). 

Huge Rock Crab (1d6): DX 6, AC 3, HD 1, AT 2 claws for 1d6 each or drop for 1d8. 

3. A stalactite or chunk of rubble, disturbed by the group's movements, falls from above on a random party member. Treat as an attack by a huge rock crab above, but without further attacks.

4. A pack of feral cats, descendants of smugglers' pets, begins circling the party just beyond their light source, meowing raucously for food. Providing food will quiet them. Otherwise, the noise will keep increasing until something else is attracted to the noise (roll again on the table), at which point it will suddenly cease.

5. A juvenile carrion crawler reaches down from a wall or ceiling in an attempt to paralyze a random party member. This is the spawn of the carrion crawler in Area #3; these are encountered alone, and there are only 8 in total throughout the cave system.

Juvenile Carrion Crawler (1): DX 15, AC 9, HD 1, AT 2 only (due to small size), D 0 + save vs poison at +4 or paralyzed.

6. The ghost of a peddler, who long ago provided the smugglers with goods, approaches. He is friendly and eager to sell goods to the party. He can procure any type ordinary equipment available at twice the cost of the rulebook prices. However, these items are actually brought forward in time from the past, and return there after one day.

7. An aggregation of aggroaches on the hunt scurries towards the party. See the full writeup of the aggroach here. 

Aggroach (variable): DX 10, AC 7, HD variable, AT 1 bite for 1 point.

Roll a d12 for size and numbers: 

1-6      =  2d6    least  (1 hp)
7-9      =  1d10  large  (HD 1/2)
10-11  =  1d6    huge  (HD 1)
12       =  1d4    giant  (HD 2)

8. A cloud of miasma settles in the area, sickening the party. Each must Save vs. Poison or make all die rolls at -1 for 3 turns.

9. A vampire bat, part of the colony in Area 6, swoops in and attempts to bite a random party member. 

Vampire Bat (1): DX 18, AC 3 (9 while attached), HD 1/8 (1 hp), AT 1 bite for 1 point damage, attaches on a successful hit and then automatically drains 1 hp per round for two rounds, at which point it is full and will detach and fly away. 

10. A group of torches appears in the distance in the dark. Once in the light, they are revealed as floating torches. These are corpse lights, a type of minor undead formed from the spirits of smuggler lackeys who died in the caves.

Corpse Light (floating torch) (3d4): DX 10, AC 7, HD 1/8 (1 hp), AT 1 torch for 1 point of damage. Undead, turned as skeletons with a +2 on the roll.

11. A partial skeleton, just an upper torso, drags itself into view and begins inexorably crawling towards a member of party. On 1 in 4 it still wears a minor piece of jewelry worth 10d4 gp.

Partial Skeleton (1): DX 10, AC 7, HD 1/8 (1 hp), AT 1 claws for 1 point of damage. Undead, turned as skeletons with a +2 on the roll. 

12. Roll for surprise. On a 1 or 2, a random adventurer realizes that the wet rock they are standing on is actually a grey ooze, which has begun dissolving their boots. Otherwise, they  are merely standing near the ooze.

Gray Ooze (1): DX 3, AC 8, HD 3, AT 1 for 2d8.

Chronologically on this blog, this post was made after Area 10 and before Area 11.