I don't really do random events outside of my D&D style games. When I am allowed to be my more story-centric self, I prefer that even the minor encounters have something to say about what's going on. Even if it's as simple as "This is dinosaur country!" I'm going to put effort into choosing cool dinosaurs to create neat encounters rather than building a more general purpose table. Also, most games aren't as bestiary-driven as D&D is. While D&D has pre-made stats for a lot of monsters, in another game, it ends up being the GM writing up monster stats. Prepping 3 scripted encounters is much easier than prepping a dozen of them and then writing a table. It's also more efficient, since I don't have to write content I won't use.
But in terms of elements that keep popping up even though they don't rise to the level of plot or theme or whatever, I could mention my desire to justify/redeem the trope of "You all meet in a tavern."
Back in the day, the dramatic elements that we associate with roleplaying today weren't really in place. Players spent more time on their character's equipment list rather than backstory. There are lots of ways to kick off a campaign, but the tavern opener has an interesting advantage that not many people think about: It gives players an opportunity to express their characters out of the gate.
Just putting them into a no-pressure situation and asking them "What do you do?" is a great way to get roleplaying started. Even if the response is as simple as "I order a drink," we just learned something about that character.
The spooky old man in the corner with the map to the Dungeons of Doom can wait until all of these actions are played out. This can be within a few minutes of opening the session or a coda ("Hey, you guys. There's also an adventure to do next session.")
But in terms of elements that keep popping up even though they don't rise to the level of plot or theme or whatever, I could mention my desire to justify/redeem the trope of "You all meet in a tavern."
Back in the day, the dramatic elements that we associate with roleplaying today weren't really in place. Players spent more time on their character's equipment list rather than backstory. There are lots of ways to kick off a campaign, but the tavern opener has an interesting advantage that not many people think about: It gives players an opportunity to express their characters out of the gate.
Just putting them into a no-pressure situation and asking them "What do you do?" is a great way to get roleplaying started. Even if the response is as simple as "I order a drink," we just learned something about that character.
The spooky old man in the corner with the map to the Dungeons of Doom can wait until all of these actions are played out. This can be within a few minutes of opening the session or a coda ("Hey, you guys. There's also an adventure to do next session.")
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