Encounter Staging Procedure¶

What this is¶

Once the encountered thing is known, this procedure stages the meeting. The four steps below cover distance, intervening terrain, reaction, and surprise; the matrix shows which steps apply for each encounter type.

Invoked by: the Wilderness Encounter Procedure; the Lair Encounter Procedure.
Invokes: the Basic Game Loop; the Combat Procedure (5e PHB).
Returns to: the invoking procedure.

Staging by encounter type¶

Step	Wilderness	Lair	Dungeon
1. Distance	Roll on Distance table	DM picks based on prominence and terrain	DM determines from map or context
2. Grounds	Roll on Grounds tables	Roll on Grounds tables	DM determines from map or context
3. Reaction	2d6 Reaction table	N/A (engagement = separate wilderness encounter)	2d6 Reaction table
4. Surprise	Compare passive Perception	N/A (engagement = separate wilderness encounter)	Compare passive Perception

Step 1: Distance¶

How far apart the two parties are when they first notice each other depends on terrain visibility. Open terrain has long sight lines; dense terrain has short ones.

Terrain	Distance
Arctic, Coastal, Desert, Grassland, Mountain	4d8 × 10 ft (~180 ft)
Forest, Hill, Swamp, Underdark, Underwater, Urban	2d8 × 10 ft (~90 ft)
Sky	4d8 × 20 ft (~360 ft)

Fog, heavy rain, and similar conditions that reduce visibility halve the rolled distance.

Step 2: Grounds (the middle ground)¶

What lies between the two parties shapes how the encounter plays. The DM rolls 1d8 on the middle ground table for the current terrain, or simply picks the feature that best fits.

Each feature carries one or more tactical effects:

Cover — partial or full protection from ranged attacks.
Concealment — allows creatures to easily be hidden.
Difficult terrain — costs extra movement.
Obscured — sight is impaired; Wisdom (Perception) checks are at disadvantage.
Hazard — environmental danger.
Climb — requires climbing speed or Athletics to traverse vertically.

Arctic¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Icy ridges	Cover
2	Frozen stream	Difficult terrain
3	Snowdrift	Cover, concealment
4	Fog patches	Obscured
5	Ice spires	Cover, climb
6–8	Snow, low banks	Concealment

Coastal¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Driftwood piles	Difficult terrain
2	Tide pools	Difficult terrain
3	Rocky outcrop	Cover, climb
4	Wreck or carcass	Cover, climb
5	Sand dunes	Cover
6–8	Field and brush	Concealment

Desert¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Shifting dunes	Obscured, difficult terrain
2	Ravine	Difficult terrain, hazard
3	Dust cloud	Obscured
4	Prickly plants	Difficult terrain
5	Rock spires	Cover, climb
6–8	Low dunes	Concealment

Forest¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Fallen tree	Cover, climb
2	Dense underbrush	Difficult terrain
3	Fog or dappled light	Obscured
4	Animal den or burrow	Beast encounter
5	Stream with stones	Difficult terrain
6	Hanging vines	Concealment
7–8	Sparse trees	Cover, concealment

Grassland¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Tall grass	Obscured, concealment
2	Shallow gully	Cover, difficult terrain
3	Old fence or wall	Cover
4	Scattered boulders	Cover
5	Grazing herd	Cover
6–8	Field and brush	Concealment

Hill¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Sloped rise	Cover, difficult terrain
2	Rocky ledge	Cover, difficult terrain
3	Brambles	Cover, concealment, difficult terrain
4	Sinkholes	Hazard
5	Lone tree or standing stone	Cover, climb
6–8	Rolling field	Concealment

Mountain¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Ravine	Cover, climb
2	Boulder field	Cover, climb
3	Narrow ledge	Difficult terrain, hazard
4	Steep slope	Cover, climb
5	Cave mouth	Cover
6	Patch of trees	Cover, climb
7–8	Rocky slope	Concealment

Swamp¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Murky water	Difficult terrain, cover, concealment
2	Rotting bridge	Difficult terrain, hazard
3	Thick reeds	Obscured, concealment
4	Quicksand patch	Hazard
5	Insect swarms	Concealment, hazard
6	Gnarled trees	Cover, climb, difficult terrain
7–8	Grass and brush	Concealment

Underdark¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Stalagmites	Cover, climb
2	Fungal grove or spores	Concealment, hazard
3	Chasm	Hazard
4	Strange fog	Concealment, hazard
5	Crumbling bridge	Difficult terrain, hazard
6	Echo chamber	Hazard, additional encounter
7	Ascending path	Cover, difficult terrain
8	Stony ground	Cover, difficult terrain

Underwater¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Kelp forest	Obscured, concealment, difficult terrain
2	Coral outcrop	Cover
3	Currents or vents	Hazard
4	School of fish	Obscured, concealment
5	Ruin or wreck	Cover
6–8	Open water	(none)

Urban¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Market stalls	Cover
2	Alley clutter	Difficult terrain
3	Crowds	Cover, difficult terrain
4	Low wall or fountain	Cover
5	Rooftop above	Cover, difficult terrain
6–8	Open street	(none)

Sky¶

d8	Feature	Notes
1	Light cloud bank	(none)
2	Thick cloud bank	Concealment
3	Small land shard	Cover
4	Floating debris	Hazard
5–8	Open sky	(none)

Step 3: Reaction¶

The initial attitude of the encountered creatures depends on a 2d6 roll. The DM may add or subtract 1-3 for naturally friendly or hostile creatures, or skip the roll if the reaction is obvious.

2d6	Reaction
2	Immediately hostile
3–4	Aggressive
5	Opportunistic
6	Suspicious
7	Indifferent
8	Cautious
9	Open to exchange
10–11	Cooperative
12	Helpful

Step 4: Surprise¶

By default, neither party is surprised when they meet in wilderness travel. The DM should determine surprise based on what makes sense given terrain, visibility, noise, group sizes, and behavior. If one group is clearly hidden, the DM may simply rule that they surprise the other.

Otherwise, compare the passive Perception of each group's leader. The group with the higher passive notices the other first. If that group then tries to stay hidden, they roll Stealth checks against the opposing leader's passive Perception. If at least half the group succeeds, the whole group succeeds and can surprise the other.

Design note¶

Landmark and settlement encounters (ruined towers, shrines, settlements, prominent land features) are not yet covered here. If added, they may need their own column in the matrix above and a branch in the Wilderness Encounter Procedure to handle discovery during travel.