vegvisir/docs/norse_encounter_tables.md

Norse Journey Encounter Tables

Roll on Layer 1 first. If you want more detail, roll on the relevant Layer 2 table.

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Layer 1: What Happens? (d20)

Roll	Event
1–3	Nothing — uneventful travel
4–5	Weather turns
6–8	Encounter a person
9–10	Encounter a group
11–12	Find something
13–14	Natural hazard
15–16	Signs of recent violence
17–18	Pursuit or being followed
19	Physical hardship
20	Something uncanny

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Layer 2A: Person Encountered (d20)

Roll	Who
1	Wounded traveller, won't say how
2	Thrall fleeing their master
3	Merchant with something hidden under the cart
4	Grieving widow, heading nowhere in particular
5	Lost child, won't say where they came from
6	Outlaw watching from the treeline
7	Skald collecting stories, too curious by half
8	Old woman who knows your name somehow
9	Disgraced jarl's son, armed and bitter
10	A healer with blood on their hands they can't explain
11	A fisherman far from any water
12	A young woman disguised as a man
13	A former thrall now free, with nowhere to go
14	A blind man navigating perfectly
15	A priest of the old ways, wary and watchful
16	A very old warrior with nothing left to prove
17	Someone who claims to know the protagonist's kin
18	A deserter from a nearby lord's warband
19	A young man running an errand he refuses to describe
20	A stranger in foreign dress, lost and afraid

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Layer 2B: Group Encountered (d20)

Roll	Who
1	Raiders looking for easy prey
2	Funeral procession, silent and watchful
3	Displaced villagers with everything they own
4	Hunting party — purpose unclear
5	Mercenaries between contracts, drinking heavily
6	Settlers arguing loudly among themselves
7	A jarl's tax collectors with an armed escort
8	Pilgrims travelling to a sacred site
9	A warband returning home, fewer than they left
10	Slavers with a coffle of thralls
11	Fishermen sheltering from weather inland
12	A family fleeing a blood feud
13	Young warriors seeking their first raid
14	Traders from the east, nervously off-route
15	A lord's patrol, suspicious of lone travellers
16	Refugees from a burned settlement
17	Drunken men from a wedding, armed but unfocused
18	A group of thralls transporting goods without supervision
19	Outlaws who've mistaken the protagonist for someone else
20	A band of women — armed, organised, and saying little

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Layer 2C: Weather Turns (d20)

Roll	Weather
1	Sudden blizzard — visibility drops to nothing
2	Ice storm — exposed skin at risk within the hour
3	Fog so thick landmarks vanish entirely
4	Flash flood from snowmelt upstream
5	Freezing rain turns every surface treacherous
6	Unseasonable warmth — ice gives way underfoot without warning
7	Wind strong enough to knock a person sideways
8	Sleet drives horizontally, stings like needles
9	Temperature drops sharply at nightfall — no shelter near
10	Heavy snow buries the trail ahead
11	Lightning storm with nowhere to take cover
12	Hail strips leaves, spooks animals, bruises skin
13	Mist rising off ice — beautiful and disorienting
14	Frost so hard the ground rings like iron underfoot
15	A thaw that turns solid ground to mud overnight
16	Darkness falls two hours early — unnatural-feeling
17	Wind that carries sound strangely — voices from nowhere
18	Snow so dry it shifts like sand, fills tracks instantly
19	A brief clearing — then worse than before
20	Sky turns green before the storm hits

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Layer 2D: Find Something (d100)

Roll	What
01–02	Abandoned camp, fire still warm
03–04	A corpse stripped of everything but its boots
05–06	A child's toy in the middle of nowhere
07–08	A boat run aground with no crew
09–10	A cache of stolen goods, poorly hidden
11–12	A runestone defaced recently
13–14	A hanged man — still breathing
15–16	A sword driven into the earth, no grave beneath it
17–18	A bag of silver with no name on it
19–20	A dead horse with all four legs broken
21–22	A campfire surrounded by nine untouched seats
23–24	A letter sealed and addressed, never delivered
25–26	A pit dug and abandoned mid-task
27–28	Fresh tracks leading off the path and then stopping
29–30	A crude grave with a weapon laid across it
31–32	Signs of a large camp, abandoned days ago
33–34	A locked chest with no key and no owner
35–36	A cart overturned, goods intact, horse gone
37–38	A bundle of clothes belonging to a child
39–40	A pile of ash where something large was burned
41–42	A trap set on the trail — recently, and well
43–44	A carcass half-butchered and left
45–46	A carved idol left at a crossroads
47–48	A shield split cleanly in two
49–50	A door standing alone in a field, hinged to nothing
51–52	Bloodstained snow leading in two directions
53–54	A drowned man face-down in a shallow stream
55–56	A fire laid but never lit
57–58	An empty cage sized for a person
59–60	A broken cart axle and scattered grain
61–62	A wound dressing discarded on the trail
63–64	A ring of stones too large to be a cooking fire
65–66	A well with something tied to the rope that isn't a bucket
67–68	A fresh cairn with no name
69–70	Burnt offerings at a tree, still smouldering
71–72	A pair of boots, side by side, perfectly placed
73–74	A journal in a language the protagonist doesn't know
75–76	A broken spear shaft — a fine one, from somewhere important
77–78	A midden heap with something that doesn't belong
79–80	A ford marked with warning signs ignored by someone recently
81–82	A farmstead intact but completely empty
83–84	A bell hanging from a tree with no rope to ring it
85–86	Animal bones arranged in a deliberate pattern
87–88	A cloak pinned to the ground with a knife
89–90	A child's hiding spot — recently used
91–92	A rope bridge cut from one side
93–94	A message carved into living wood
95–96	A body buried face-down — someone afraid of what it might do
97–98	A ship's figurehead far from any coast
99–100	A perfectly preserved meal laid out with no one to eat it

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Layer 2E: Natural Hazard (d20)

Roll	Hazard
1	River crossing — current deceptively strong
2	Thin ice over deep water
3	Rockslide blocking the pass
4	Wolves — hungry, patient, following
5	Marsh that doesn't appear on any mental map
6	Trail disappears under fresh snowfall
7	A tree falls across the path in the night
8	Loose scree on a slope that looked solid
9	A frozen waterfall — must be climbed or bypassed at great cost
10	Bog hidden under a dusting of snow
11	A river swollen and impassable where it wasn't before
12	Ice fog — cold enough to freeze breath on a scarf
13	Bear newly woken, confused and aggressive
14	A cliff path with recent falls along its edge
15	Night catches the protagonist without shelter in an exposed place
16	A ford turned to deep water by rain upstream
17	Deadfall — a tangle of fallen timber blocks the wood path
18	A crack in the ice the protagonist nearly doesn't see
19	Ravens massing overhead — drawing attention
20	An avalanche track still moving

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Layer 2F: Signs of Recent Violence (d20)

Roll	What You Find
1	Burned farmstead, still smoking
2	Bodies left unburied — deliberate dishonour
3	Blood trail leading off the path
4	A survivor too shocked to speak
5	Livestock scattered, no people anywhere
6	A child hiding, refusing to move
7	A settlement intact but everyone inside is dead
8	A battlefield — small scale, very recent
9	Weapons abandoned mid-fight and not retrieved
10	A man dying slowly, won't say who did it
11	Tracks of many boots leaving in a hurry
12	A house torn apart from the inside
13	Drag marks leading to the water
14	A warning left by the attackers for anyone who follows
15	Looted grave goods scattered on the road
16	A woman alive among the dead, armed with what she could find
17	A child carrying something that belonged to someone else
18	Signs of a struggle with no bodies — just blood
19	A man hanged from a tree with a carved accusation around his neck
20	Heads displayed on stakes at the settlement boundary

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Layer 2G: Pursuit / Being Followed (d20)

Roll	Who or What
1	Debt collector with hired muscle
2	Someone who blames the protagonist for a death
3	A thrall-catcher — wrong target
4	Outlaw seeking to silence a witness
5	Unknown — never shows themselves
6	A dog that won't stop following
7	A boy who wants to come along
8	A woman who says she's been hired to watch
9	A wounded man trailing blood and asking for help
10	Two riders keeping distance but matching pace
11	Someone who knows the protagonist's destination
12	A man who claims to be following the same person
13	A local lord's men, claiming lawful business
14	A sworn enemy of someone the protagonist helped
15	A crow — too consistent to be coincidence
16	A group that disappears whenever checked but reappears at dusk
17	A young woman escaping a marriage arrangement
18	A former comrade who shouldn't be alive
19	Someone who says they're there for the protagonist's protection
20	A figure glimpsed only at the edge of firelight

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Layer 2H: Physical Hardship (d20)

Roll	Hardship
1	Food runs out a day earlier than expected
2	Shelter falls through — night in the open
3	Injury from a stumble — nothing fatal, everything inconvenient
4	Equipment fails at the worst moment
5	Illness sets in slowly over the day
6	Exhaustion forces a stop in exposed terrain
7	Water source is frozen or fouled
8	Boots give out — blisters or worse
9	A fire won't start in wet conditions
10	Pack comes loose and gear is scattered in the dark
11	An old wound reopens
12	Hands too cold to grip properly
13	Stomach sickness from something eaten
14	Sleep impossible due to cold, noise, or dread
15	Frostbite threatening fingers or toes
16	Navigation error adds half a day to the journey
17	Horse or pack animal goes lame
18	Weight carried proves too much — something must be abandoned
19	A tool or weapon lost in a river crossing
20	Dehydration from sweating in cold gear

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Layer 2I: Something Uncanny (d20)

Roll	What
1	Tracks in snow that begin from nowhere
2	A voice calling a name — no source found
3	An animal behaving with deliberate intelligence
4	The same landmark passed twice on a straight road
5	A dream so vivid it bleeds into waking
6	A stranger who vanishes between one breath and the next
7	A fire that burns green for a moment
8	The protagonist's own reflection does something different
9	A sound like weeping from deep in the ice
10	Birds all flee at once, in silence
11	A path that wasn't there yesterday and isn't on any map
12	A figure standing very still on the horizon — gone when approached
13	Stars in the wrong positions for an hour
14	The smell of the sea miles from any coast
15	An old man who answers questions the protagonist didn't ask aloud
16	A handprint in frost on the inside of a sealed shelter
17	A sound of battle faint and distant — no source ever found
18	The protagonist wakes with soil under their fingernails
19	A raven speaks one word, clearly, and flies away
20	Time passes differently — a night feels like minutes, or hours

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Layer 3A: What the Person Needs (d8)

Roll after Layer 2A. What drives this scene.

Roll	They need...
1	To be heard — they haven't spoken to another person in days
2	Safe passage past something specific ahead
3	News of someone, and they will pay for it
4	A reason not to do something they have already decided to do
5	To hand something off — weight they have been carrying too long
6	Help they cannot ask for directly
7	To be followed, without being told
8	Nothing they will admit to

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Layer 3B: How the Group Presents (d8)

Roll after Layer 2B. The group's attitude when the protagonist arrives.

Roll	They are...
1	Tense — something happened just before you arrived
2	Watching, not approaching
3	Openly suspicious, hands near weapons
4	Performatively calm
5	Arguing among themselves, briefly interrupted
6	Too welcoming, too quickly
7	Clearly afraid of something that is not the protagonist
8	Divided — half want help, half do not

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Layer 3C: Weather Duration (d6)

Roll after Layer 2C. How long it lasts and what it costs.

Roll	Duration
1	An hour — bad and fast
2	Until dark
3	Through the night
4	Two days
5	Long enough to change the route entirely
6	Indefinitely — this is the new normal for now

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Layer 3D: Who Left This? (d12)

Roll after Layer 2D. The story behind the find.

Roll	It was left by...
1	Someone running from something they have not escaped yet
2	A group that did not all survive what came next
3	One person, alone, who made a decision here
4	A child, deliberately
5	Whoever was here last night
6	The same person the protagonist is looking for
7	Someone who knew this place would be found
8	A person now working against the protagonist
9	Nobody — it has been here longer than it looks
10	Two people who disagreed about leaving it
11	Someone who came back to retrieve it and could not
12	Nobody living can say

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Layer 3E: How Dangerous? (d6)

Roll after Layer 2E. The true stakes of the natural hazard.

Roll	The stakes
1	Minor — delay and discomfort only
2	Real — something could be lost or broken
3	A skill or smart decision will see it through
4	Someone in the group is at immediate risk
5	No safe path — all options have a cost
6	This could kill. And it is patient.

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Layer 3F: Who Did the Violence? (d12)

Roll after Layer 2F. The perpetrators.

Roll	Responsible...
1	Raiders — long gone, but not far
2	Men on someone's orders, not their choice
3	One individual, systematic
4	The victims themselves — it went wrong
5	A local family, decades of grievance finally spent
6	Soldiers returning from somewhere worse
7	Someone the protagonist has already met
8	Nobody who can be named — only described
9	The wrong people. They mistook their target.
10	Professionals. This was clean.
11	A single act of desperation, not a plan
12	Unknown. The survivors will not say.

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Layer 3G: What the Pursuer Wants (d8)

Roll after Layer 2G. The intent behind the pursuit.

Roll	They want...
1	To recover something that does not belong to the protagonist
2	Information — who the protagonist knows or spoke to
3	The protagonist dead, but not yet
4	To warn, not harm
5	To deliver a message from someone who could not send it openly
6	To follow, not intercept — someone else is waiting ahead
7	Nothing yet. They are measuring.
8	To make the protagonist afraid enough to stop

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Layer 3H: How Bad Is It? (d6)

Roll after Layer 2H. Severity of the physical hardship.

Roll	Severity
1	Uncomfortable — morale hit, nothing more
2	Forces a rest and costs half a day
3	Something is damaged, lost, or consumed early
4	Someone is impaired until properly tended to
5	Progress halted until fixed — may take a full day
6	This will matter later, even after it is resolved

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Layer 3I: What the Uncanny Thing Does (d8)

Roll after Layer 2I. The nature of the event.

Roll	It...
1	Communicates something — though not in any language
2	Leaves evidence that cannot be explained away
3	Draws the protagonist somewhere specific
4	Disappears if approached directly
5	Repeats exactly, later
6	Is recognised by someone nearby who will not discuss it
7	Means something that will not be clear until too late
8	Was waiting for the protagonist specifically

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Layer 4A: Complication (d12)

Roll after any Layer 3 result. A twist that deepens the scene.

Roll	Added complication
1	Someone is watching this exchange
2	There is less time than it first appeared
3	Another party has an interest in the outcome
4	The simplest reading is wrong
5	Someone here is lying, but not about what matters most
6	This has already happened once before, nearby
7	A child is involved and should not be
8	Trust is the cost of progress, and it will not be offered freely
9	The right answer creates a new problem
10	Someone else made this decision already — recently
11	What is needed is something the protagonist has
12	It is connected to the last thing they found

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Layer 4B: The Hidden Truth (d10)

Roll after Layer 4A rows 4, 5, 9, or 12 — or whenever the scene demands it.

Roll	The truth...
1	Changes who is innocent
2	Implicates someone trusted
3	Is sadder than the worst interpretation
4	Was known by someone who said nothing
5	Was an accident that became a cover-up
6	Has a second thread — pull it and something else unravels
7	Was constructed to be found this way
8	Was meant to stay buried
9	Is exactly what it looks like. That is what makes it terrible.
10	Will cost more to know than not to

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These tables are designed to layer. Roll Layer 1 to frame what kind of event occurs, then roll Layer 2 for specifics, Layer 3 for context, and Layer 4 for the complication beneath. Stop at any depth that fits the moment — not every scene needs all four layers.