30 Fantasy Gaming Flash Encounter Ideas
Sometimes games don’t flow like we expected them to. You planned to take three hours, and your players get through most of the quest in one. Not everything that happens at the Dungeons & Dragons table has to be part of some epic happenstance, however. Sometimes, small things stand on their own and aren’t at all part of the bigger picture. We as Dungeon Masters need them because it helps us control the pacing of the game.
So here are 30 quick and simple small scenarios you can throw at your players in a flash when things are a little bit slow or you think you’re going to run out of game before you run out of game time. They’re good for just something to throw in when you need to keep the action moving and are designed to be able to be taken care of in a relatively short amount of time, but if any of these spring your imagination at all, of course feel free to run with them. All of the details are up to you.
While in the City …
1 – A novice pickpocket attempts to take a player character’s coin purse.
2 – A nearby merchant explodes in anger at a patron. After a few moments, it becomes clear the scene they are making is not going to stop for quite some time if no one intervenes.
3 – A fire breaks out and the local citizens are not organized enough to get it under control themselves.
4 – A street gang demands a toll to allow the party through their alley.
5 – A fortune teller offers a party member a reading for a small fee.
6 – A kerfuffle breaks out as a bear crashes down the city street chased by three guards who are clearly in over their heads.
7 – A lost child tugs at the sleeve of one of the party members while asking for help finding his way home.
8 – In the town market, a cooking contest is taking place. One of the PCs (whoever has the highest passive perception) catches sight of someone poisoning one of the entrees.
9 – A group of townsfolk has assembled with pitchforks and are running a tiefling out of town.
10 – A gnome is attempting to make repairs on a street lantern, but her ladder is not tall enough to reach.
While in the Woods …
11 – While travelling in a wooded area, the party stumbles upon the aftermath of a battle between two gangs of bandits. There are dozens of bodies hanging from the trees and no bandits left in sight.
12 – While camping, a wild animal blunders into the campsite looking for food rations.
13 – A rotten tree has fallen over the trail and needs removed.
14 – Suddenly, an intense storm hits and the party must find shelter.
15 – The party encounters an elf who is trying to hide like a ranger but isn’t very good at it.
16 – The bridge over a local stream has partially fallen into the water and the party must either find a way to fix it or attempt to cross the rushing water another way.
17 – In the middle of the woods, the party finds an abandoned watchtower partially overgrown with vines. (Warning: The PCs might try and take it over for their base.)
18 – A stag with a broken arrow stuck in its flank stumbles into the path ahead of the party.
19 – The party stumbles across a picnic blanket laid out, the food still laid out and ready to be feasted upon. There are no picnickers in sight.
20 – While walking through the woods, a tree branch slams out at one of the player characters, almost as if the tree itself has decided to attack.
While in the Mountains …
21 – While travelling in the mountains, the party’s path is crossed by a dwarf hauling serious tail, a dragon egg nestled in his satchel.
22 – At night, a drow raiding party emerges from a nearby cavern.
23 – There is an avalanche and the party must make Dex saves.
24 – A group of dwarven miners offer a couple of gold ingots to the party if they go back into the mine to rescue their friend who was trapped during a cave in.
25 – There is an unexpected chasm on the path in front of the party, so deep they can’t see the bottom, forcing either a detour or unconventional methods to cross.
26 – A gnome has made an elevator contraption to shave time off the climb for travelers, but one of the gears he has in place has worn down and he needs help either fixing it or getting more materials for a new one.
27 – The party finds the body of a recently deceased climber still holding the faulty equipment that led to his tragic fall. His dog paws at his body, trying to get her master to wake up.
28 – Strange white stalacmites jut from the mountain floor. They turn out to be the ribs of a dead giant.
29 – The party comes across a pool nestled between two rocks and fed by a waterfall. The cave behind it contains the remnants of an old adventurer’s hide out, including a couple of gems in a rotten satchel.
30 – The party finds a monastery hidden in a lesser traveled part of the mountain. The monks are fortifying in preparation of an orc attack.
And that’s what I’ve got for you today. If you’ve got a terrain you’d like to see some flash encounters for, please hit me up in the comments below, or if you’d like some advice from a necromancer, leave a comment on one of the Speak With Dead articles (by the time this goes up there will be a second one as well) or tweet out with the hashtag #SpeakWithDead!
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longshotist
June 29, 2017 at 9:16 amThese are great! Any one of them would spur adventurers and result in memorable stories. Right off the bat with a pickpocket i imagine players talking with the thief, learning their story, discovering the town’s criminal element. But even if it was just a singular pickpocket they chase down, it’s still rife with possibility.
Atanamar (@AtanamarSunyata)
June 29, 2017 at 11:21 amUnderdark!
Eric W.
December 18, 2017 at 10:02 ammountain #30b — and unknown to the PCs, the monks are actually bhut.
JakeRunsDnD
December 18, 2017 at 12:56 pmThese are amazing! Can we please get a sequel dedicated to just Urban encounters, and maybe another for just underground/cave settings?
Doug Vehovec
December 18, 2017 at 1:04 pmThank you for the comment! Happy to hear you enjoyed these. We’ll see what we can do about a follow-up for you – it’s always great to learn what people would like to see!