Heroes Unlimited Random Encounter Table
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:39 am
Here is a table I compiled. Everything after 57 I just winged to come up with something. Anything before that though was taken from different searches and sites. What do you think? Would you change anything or make any recommendations? It's numbered 1-00 so you can roll percentiles for an encounter.
RANDOM ENCOUNTER TABLE FOR HEROES GAMES
1) Window-Washer's rope snaps, begins falling to his doom
2) Suicide Jumper (maybe needs talking down, maybe needs to be grabbed mid fall)
3) Armored Car Robbery in progress
4) Burglary in Progress
5) Reporter trying to get a comment on recent events
6) Some guy taking pictures of you-- then runs away
7) Fans & Well wishers show up
Mugging in progress
9) Impending rape (but the hero arrives in the nick of time)
10) Fake cries for help lead to ambush
11) School Bus w/ kids or tanker truck w/ volatile chemicals out of control
12) Escaped Zoo animal on the loose
13) Gang activity
14) Another Superhero in the middle of an important mission (needs help or has it under control)
15) Drug Deal in progress
16) Magic Anomaly
17) Super science / Dimensional Anomaly
18) Fire (Firefighters need help rescuing old woman / pet / child trapped on high story)
19) Someone looks suspicious... but hasn't "Done" anything...
20) Someone shadowing someone else
21) Purse-snatching
22) Someone's pet got stuck in someplace difficult.
23) A bunch of kids playing a game of pretend on the streets, but they are all pretending to be well-known villains.
24) A bunch of well-known thugs are just hanging out in an alley or dark street corner.
25) Rooftop/window sniper - who's he after?
26) Two shadowy figures talking somewhere discreet (rooftop, alley, etc).
27) A crazy guy wearing “Mad Max” armor runs up to our heroes and asks "WHAT YEAR IS THIS?" When they tell him he gets real quiet, then says "Then there's still time!" and runs off.
28) Monster attack turns out to be a crew filming a monster movie, threaten to sue!
29) A street gang is chasing a kid. The kid has something important to tell you - but only if the heroes think to ask him somewhere private
30) Explosions/bombs are just a distraction for a much quieter crime happening across town.
31) An Amber alert goes out of a missing child - speed is the issue here, if the players move fast enough, it can all end OK.
32) Girl keeps trying to commit suicide to prevent Dark Goddess from taking over her body. Heroes save girl from Suicide attempt, dark Goddess springs...
33) Vigilante fans (wearing the heroes emblems!) beat the crap out of people they say are criminals.
34) Ultra terrestrial (alien, fairy, demon, time-traveler, whatever) is lost and asks for the way, but everyone is afraid of him.
35) Someone tells the heroes they have been warned about a bomb in a supermarket/school/nunnery, but there isn’t time to evacuate!
36) Young superhero shows up and wants to join the team. If turned down, he tries to start a fight to "prove himself".
37) Organization of Mildly to Low-Powered Minions robbing a shop (The shop has parts/objects/electronics/chemicals/ancient magical tomes or something that their Boss needs to complete some process to boost their power and also gain more power for him/herself.)
38) Car Chase - The police are chasing someone. Could be a run of the mill speeder, could be a bank robbery getaway, could be expired tabs, it could be a joy rider. (If the heroes destroy the car to stop it and it was just a traffic violation... they'll probably get sued! Imagine trying to keep your identity secret then...)
39) Jewelry store heist
40) Break into bank vault/safety deposit box
41) Prison break attempt/attack on police precinct
42) Museum attack for rare item
43) Rats, etc., swarm out of sewers
44) They stumble onto spy/courier attack
45) 3rd rate supposed arch-nemesis is out of the loony bin...again.
46) Auto crash/bus collision/jack-knifed truck/train derailment ties up traffic
47) Super villain blocks the tunnel (train, subway, or automobile)
48) Experiment goes wrong at local super science lab in the center of the city. Roll on sub table:
1) It's going to EXPLODE unless the core can be contained or taken very, very far away!
2) The central CPU has gained sentience and is going to EXPLODE unless talked down.
3) The central CPU has gained sentience and wants to kill all humans. Luckily this is only a phase and will pass shortly, but until then, oh boy!
4) A dimensional rift is releasing monsters
5) A dimensional rift is releasing mischievous imps
6) A dimensional rift is releasing megatons of marshmallow cream
7) Strange energies are turning the scientists into monsters
Strange energies are turning bystanders on the street into monsters
9) A dimensional rift has sucked a bunch of school kids on a field trip into another dimension
10) Strange energies end up giving the heroes' powers to the geeky scientists
11) Strange energies end up giving the heroes' powers to the kids on the field trip
12) Strange energies end up switching minds with the heroes and the scientists/kids
13) Super powered animals have broken free! "We thought it'd be neat to give monkeys heat vision. Why do you ask?"
49) A celebrity (pop singer, gormless rapper or athlete, actress at the cleavage-and-tabloids end of the spectrum, Paris Hilton analogue, whatever) is getting a bit fed up of the pack of paparazzi and rubberneckers who've interrupted their morning errands. Spotting the hero passing by checking out the commotion, they indignantly demand some super powered support to get rid of all these people and throw a tantrum in front of all the cameras if the hero doesn't oblige. Celeb can be pushy ("how dare you?! Don't you know who I am?! I know about you guys, you're like the cops, you have to help out if we tell you to!") or schmoozy ("hey, c'mon, you're all up in the fame game too, dude, you're on my side, aren't you? C'mon, help me out here...")
50) A fire engine is stuck in traffic a block or so from a substantial blaze: someone ahead of them tried to get out of the way and messed up, and now traffic is hopelessly snarled. The firefighters are beside themselves, since they're too far away to use their equipment. Best for supers who can directly help somehow - I'm thinking someone with strength or TK or whatever to lift the engine and put it down by the fire to general cheering. If you need more challenge, maybe there's an explosion just as the PC is about to put the engine down, knocking them off balance so they risk dropping the engine and damaging it.
51) A big, slow guy, probably lightly retarded and perhaps lightly super, depending on how common these things are, is in a great mood on this lovely spring day and is sharing it around. Problem is he doesn't realize he's hurting and badly frightening the people he lumbers up and gives great big hugs to. The PC has to get him away from his "friends" and try and talk him out of doing what he's doing (and perhaps calm down a freaked-out hugger who's waving a can of Mace and yelling about lawsuits).
52) A PC with flight or good senses spots two things in rapid succession: a broken-down limo, and a man in a tux, frantic and panicked, shaking his mobile phone whose battery has gone dead, darting back and forth trying to work out whether to run on foot and which way he has to go. And a church with several folks in wedding attire getting increasingly angry and tearful, wondering where the hell the groom is. Does he get delivered in style by a beaming superhero? For an extra level of crisis management have the PC deliver him to entirely the wrong wedding.
53) A tourist was shouting agitatedly in another language into his mobile phone, and a couple of twitchy locals decided he must be about to blow something up - as the PC arrives they've just jumped him and kicked the crap out of him. From here you can play it a bunch of different ways - he was just hearing about his football team back home losing in extra time, or he really was going to blow something up, or he takes off as soon as the attackers are pulled off him and has to be chased, or the attackers take off ditto.
54) A little kid is huddled on the fire escape outside her window, shivering and near tears while an adult voice from inside bellows for her to get her ass back inside RIGHT FSCKING NOW! Voice can be lucid or drunk. Plenty of ways that one can go depending on what you want to throw at the PC.
55) The seven terrors... tornado, storm, flood, famine, hurricane, tsunami, and asteroid strike.
56) The heroes encounter their arch nemesis. Thing is, he's out of uniform, alone and sitting in a crowded coffee shop/restaurant and enjoying a coffee (not rampaging/causing evil and he's even chatting nicely with people!). Will they attack, possibly causing a disturbance, will they wait and follow him, or will they continue on their patrol? *Extra points if it's just a normal guy who happens to look like their nemesis.
57) Police brutality. Cops are beating on a guy with clubs. The crime is up to the GM.
58) The carnival is in town and fliers are up all around town. Could be nothing but a harmless carnival or something more…
59) Stray dogs have been attacking people more frequently. Is this just a coincidence or more?
60) A militia is attacking the city with an army tank, and rifles and it’s up to the heroes and or national guard to help save the city.
61) A portal is bringing in occasional warriors from another dimension. There is no telling what these warriors will do or how the city will react to them.
62) There have been a lot of cars stolen lately and the heroes vehicle was just stolen. Will they be able to get to the bottom of this and get their car back?
63) Boats have been disappearing from the docks. Why though?
64) Military service members are disappearing but where to and why? The government is trying to cover this up, but are they the reason for them vanishing?
65) There have been more police patrolling the nicer part of town lately. Is something big going down there?
66) There have been more crimes being committed in the city. Is there a new crime organization in town?
67) Tabloids have been reporting that a top government official is a super powered being. Is this true? Either way the people are vowing not to reelect the person out of fear. Riots and protests could ensue.
68) A bomb has been planted in a power plant. It’s up to the heroes to go in and disarm it or help get a bomb unit in there.
69) The mayor has been taken hostage and is being held in a secret place. Reports are all over the news.
70) A rioting fan base for a heavy metal band is running rampant outside the place the concert was at. Cars and trash cans are on fire.
71) An attempt to assassinate the mayor is unsuccessful but the shooter gets away. The news may or may not be reporting who the person is who made the attempt.
72) An office building is being closed off and quarantined for a virus. Will the players look into this and get involved?
73) A gorilla is running rampant in the zoo and needs to be captured if possible and not killed.
74) An extraterrestrial creature has come to Earth as a survivor on a transport ship that crashed. Others could have survived but this one is the only one that has gained some media attention.
75) A supernatural artifact is found. Ring, book, shirt, hat, or something along those lines.
76) A supernatural weapon is found. Sword, knife, staff, bow and arrows, or something along those lines.
77) A supernatural armor is found. Could be big and bulky like plate armor or small and plastic feeling.
78) There is a shootout between 2 gangs near a store.
79) There is an attempted drive by shooting on a hero or heroes in the group.
80) A tagger has been putting his tag everyone in town.
81) A gang has been tagging and vandalizing places all over the town.
82) A villain has been tagging his crime scenes whether a robbery or murder.
83) Scientist seeks out players to help with something.
84) Players discover a high tech device.
85) A scientific organization is developing something that has been rumored to be more powerful than a nuclear bomb.
86) A scientific crime organization is developing something that could control peoples minds. Makes them into slaves without them even knowing. If they snap out of it they have no idea what happened.
87) The military has found a way to create soldiers with super powers.
1. 1 minor power
2. 2 minor powers
3. 1 major power
4. 1 major power and 1 minor power
5. 3 minor powers
6. 1 major power and 2 minor powers
88) The military has developed robots that can be controlled in battle instead of people. People could protest this or this could be praised as a great thing.
89) A group of “heroes” have appeared around the city. They have no abilities but do have bulletproof vests, costumes, clubs, and even tazers. Could get in the way of real super heroes. Also could become endangered as well.
90) A controversial super hero is in the city now. He is controversial because the public dislike him since he is Muslim. They fear him since they stereotype him as a terrorist.
91) Comic convention offers real heroes a job signing autographs and posing for pictures. This could lead to a large attack on them or in another part of the city since they are all here.
92) Big sporting event in town and there are worries of possible bombings happening at the event or anywhere that a large crowd gathers.
93) World leaders are meeting in the city and there are worries that they could be attacked or possibly kidnapped.
94) A child of someone in power is missing. Could be child of important doctor, scientist, military official, politician, or even businessman.
95) A villain base is being built but is discovered somehow unfinished still. Do the heroes try to halt it before its completion or do they wait until something happens?
96) A large corporation has been selling goods to a villain but is there more to this?
97) An alien force has touched down and the heroes may be forced to team with some villains to stop this force. If not they could be over matched by these things.
98) The players are offered a job to help a corporation send goods to another city. They need to make sure the shipment gets there safe. Shipment could be weapons, gasoline, or something else deemed valuable.
99) Alien technology falls into the hands of the heroes somehow. How do they use this?
00) An important scroll that none of the heroes can read has been found/or is being searched for by a villain or crime organization. Could be a super ability gained if read by someone with knowledge of it or could be an important message.
RANDOM ENCOUNTER TABLE FOR HEROES GAMES
1) Window-Washer's rope snaps, begins falling to his doom
2) Suicide Jumper (maybe needs talking down, maybe needs to be grabbed mid fall)
3) Armored Car Robbery in progress
4) Burglary in Progress
5) Reporter trying to get a comment on recent events
6) Some guy taking pictures of you-- then runs away
7) Fans & Well wishers show up
Mugging in progress
9) Impending rape (but the hero arrives in the nick of time)
10) Fake cries for help lead to ambush
11) School Bus w/ kids or tanker truck w/ volatile chemicals out of control
12) Escaped Zoo animal on the loose
13) Gang activity
14) Another Superhero in the middle of an important mission (needs help or has it under control)
15) Drug Deal in progress
16) Magic Anomaly
17) Super science / Dimensional Anomaly
18) Fire (Firefighters need help rescuing old woman / pet / child trapped on high story)
19) Someone looks suspicious... but hasn't "Done" anything...
20) Someone shadowing someone else
21) Purse-snatching
22) Someone's pet got stuck in someplace difficult.
23) A bunch of kids playing a game of pretend on the streets, but they are all pretending to be well-known villains.
24) A bunch of well-known thugs are just hanging out in an alley or dark street corner.
25) Rooftop/window sniper - who's he after?
26) Two shadowy figures talking somewhere discreet (rooftop, alley, etc).
27) A crazy guy wearing “Mad Max” armor runs up to our heroes and asks "WHAT YEAR IS THIS?" When they tell him he gets real quiet, then says "Then there's still time!" and runs off.
28) Monster attack turns out to be a crew filming a monster movie, threaten to sue!
29) A street gang is chasing a kid. The kid has something important to tell you - but only if the heroes think to ask him somewhere private
30) Explosions/bombs are just a distraction for a much quieter crime happening across town.
31) An Amber alert goes out of a missing child - speed is the issue here, if the players move fast enough, it can all end OK.
32) Girl keeps trying to commit suicide to prevent Dark Goddess from taking over her body. Heroes save girl from Suicide attempt, dark Goddess springs...
33) Vigilante fans (wearing the heroes emblems!) beat the crap out of people they say are criminals.
34) Ultra terrestrial (alien, fairy, demon, time-traveler, whatever) is lost and asks for the way, but everyone is afraid of him.
35) Someone tells the heroes they have been warned about a bomb in a supermarket/school/nunnery, but there isn’t time to evacuate!
36) Young superhero shows up and wants to join the team. If turned down, he tries to start a fight to "prove himself".
37) Organization of Mildly to Low-Powered Minions robbing a shop (The shop has parts/objects/electronics/chemicals/ancient magical tomes or something that their Boss needs to complete some process to boost their power and also gain more power for him/herself.)
38) Car Chase - The police are chasing someone. Could be a run of the mill speeder, could be a bank robbery getaway, could be expired tabs, it could be a joy rider. (If the heroes destroy the car to stop it and it was just a traffic violation... they'll probably get sued! Imagine trying to keep your identity secret then...)
39) Jewelry store heist
40) Break into bank vault/safety deposit box
41) Prison break attempt/attack on police precinct
42) Museum attack for rare item
43) Rats, etc., swarm out of sewers
44) They stumble onto spy/courier attack
45) 3rd rate supposed arch-nemesis is out of the loony bin...again.
46) Auto crash/bus collision/jack-knifed truck/train derailment ties up traffic
47) Super villain blocks the tunnel (train, subway, or automobile)
48) Experiment goes wrong at local super science lab in the center of the city. Roll on sub table:
1) It's going to EXPLODE unless the core can be contained or taken very, very far away!
2) The central CPU has gained sentience and is going to EXPLODE unless talked down.
3) The central CPU has gained sentience and wants to kill all humans. Luckily this is only a phase and will pass shortly, but until then, oh boy!
4) A dimensional rift is releasing monsters
5) A dimensional rift is releasing mischievous imps
6) A dimensional rift is releasing megatons of marshmallow cream
7) Strange energies are turning the scientists into monsters
Strange energies are turning bystanders on the street into monsters
9) A dimensional rift has sucked a bunch of school kids on a field trip into another dimension
10) Strange energies end up giving the heroes' powers to the geeky scientists
11) Strange energies end up giving the heroes' powers to the kids on the field trip
12) Strange energies end up switching minds with the heroes and the scientists/kids
13) Super powered animals have broken free! "We thought it'd be neat to give monkeys heat vision. Why do you ask?"
49) A celebrity (pop singer, gormless rapper or athlete, actress at the cleavage-and-tabloids end of the spectrum, Paris Hilton analogue, whatever) is getting a bit fed up of the pack of paparazzi and rubberneckers who've interrupted their morning errands. Spotting the hero passing by checking out the commotion, they indignantly demand some super powered support to get rid of all these people and throw a tantrum in front of all the cameras if the hero doesn't oblige. Celeb can be pushy ("how dare you?! Don't you know who I am?! I know about you guys, you're like the cops, you have to help out if we tell you to!") or schmoozy ("hey, c'mon, you're all up in the fame game too, dude, you're on my side, aren't you? C'mon, help me out here...")
50) A fire engine is stuck in traffic a block or so from a substantial blaze: someone ahead of them tried to get out of the way and messed up, and now traffic is hopelessly snarled. The firefighters are beside themselves, since they're too far away to use their equipment. Best for supers who can directly help somehow - I'm thinking someone with strength or TK or whatever to lift the engine and put it down by the fire to general cheering. If you need more challenge, maybe there's an explosion just as the PC is about to put the engine down, knocking them off balance so they risk dropping the engine and damaging it.
51) A big, slow guy, probably lightly retarded and perhaps lightly super, depending on how common these things are, is in a great mood on this lovely spring day and is sharing it around. Problem is he doesn't realize he's hurting and badly frightening the people he lumbers up and gives great big hugs to. The PC has to get him away from his "friends" and try and talk him out of doing what he's doing (and perhaps calm down a freaked-out hugger who's waving a can of Mace and yelling about lawsuits).
52) A PC with flight or good senses spots two things in rapid succession: a broken-down limo, and a man in a tux, frantic and panicked, shaking his mobile phone whose battery has gone dead, darting back and forth trying to work out whether to run on foot and which way he has to go. And a church with several folks in wedding attire getting increasingly angry and tearful, wondering where the hell the groom is. Does he get delivered in style by a beaming superhero? For an extra level of crisis management have the PC deliver him to entirely the wrong wedding.
53) A tourist was shouting agitatedly in another language into his mobile phone, and a couple of twitchy locals decided he must be about to blow something up - as the PC arrives they've just jumped him and kicked the crap out of him. From here you can play it a bunch of different ways - he was just hearing about his football team back home losing in extra time, or he really was going to blow something up, or he takes off as soon as the attackers are pulled off him and has to be chased, or the attackers take off ditto.
54) A little kid is huddled on the fire escape outside her window, shivering and near tears while an adult voice from inside bellows for her to get her ass back inside RIGHT FSCKING NOW! Voice can be lucid or drunk. Plenty of ways that one can go depending on what you want to throw at the PC.
55) The seven terrors... tornado, storm, flood, famine, hurricane, tsunami, and asteroid strike.
56) The heroes encounter their arch nemesis. Thing is, he's out of uniform, alone and sitting in a crowded coffee shop/restaurant and enjoying a coffee (not rampaging/causing evil and he's even chatting nicely with people!). Will they attack, possibly causing a disturbance, will they wait and follow him, or will they continue on their patrol? *Extra points if it's just a normal guy who happens to look like their nemesis.
57) Police brutality. Cops are beating on a guy with clubs. The crime is up to the GM.
58) The carnival is in town and fliers are up all around town. Could be nothing but a harmless carnival or something more…
59) Stray dogs have been attacking people more frequently. Is this just a coincidence or more?
60) A militia is attacking the city with an army tank, and rifles and it’s up to the heroes and or national guard to help save the city.
61) A portal is bringing in occasional warriors from another dimension. There is no telling what these warriors will do or how the city will react to them.
62) There have been a lot of cars stolen lately and the heroes vehicle was just stolen. Will they be able to get to the bottom of this and get their car back?
63) Boats have been disappearing from the docks. Why though?
64) Military service members are disappearing but where to and why? The government is trying to cover this up, but are they the reason for them vanishing?
65) There have been more police patrolling the nicer part of town lately. Is something big going down there?
66) There have been more crimes being committed in the city. Is there a new crime organization in town?
67) Tabloids have been reporting that a top government official is a super powered being. Is this true? Either way the people are vowing not to reelect the person out of fear. Riots and protests could ensue.
68) A bomb has been planted in a power plant. It’s up to the heroes to go in and disarm it or help get a bomb unit in there.
69) The mayor has been taken hostage and is being held in a secret place. Reports are all over the news.
70) A rioting fan base for a heavy metal band is running rampant outside the place the concert was at. Cars and trash cans are on fire.
71) An attempt to assassinate the mayor is unsuccessful but the shooter gets away. The news may or may not be reporting who the person is who made the attempt.
72) An office building is being closed off and quarantined for a virus. Will the players look into this and get involved?
73) A gorilla is running rampant in the zoo and needs to be captured if possible and not killed.
74) An extraterrestrial creature has come to Earth as a survivor on a transport ship that crashed. Others could have survived but this one is the only one that has gained some media attention.
75) A supernatural artifact is found. Ring, book, shirt, hat, or something along those lines.
76) A supernatural weapon is found. Sword, knife, staff, bow and arrows, or something along those lines.
77) A supernatural armor is found. Could be big and bulky like plate armor or small and plastic feeling.
78) There is a shootout between 2 gangs near a store.
79) There is an attempted drive by shooting on a hero or heroes in the group.
80) A tagger has been putting his tag everyone in town.
81) A gang has been tagging and vandalizing places all over the town.
82) A villain has been tagging his crime scenes whether a robbery or murder.
83) Scientist seeks out players to help with something.
84) Players discover a high tech device.
85) A scientific organization is developing something that has been rumored to be more powerful than a nuclear bomb.
86) A scientific crime organization is developing something that could control peoples minds. Makes them into slaves without them even knowing. If they snap out of it they have no idea what happened.
87) The military has found a way to create soldiers with super powers.
1. 1 minor power
2. 2 minor powers
3. 1 major power
4. 1 major power and 1 minor power
5. 3 minor powers
6. 1 major power and 2 minor powers
88) The military has developed robots that can be controlled in battle instead of people. People could protest this or this could be praised as a great thing.
89) A group of “heroes” have appeared around the city. They have no abilities but do have bulletproof vests, costumes, clubs, and even tazers. Could get in the way of real super heroes. Also could become endangered as well.
90) A controversial super hero is in the city now. He is controversial because the public dislike him since he is Muslim. They fear him since they stereotype him as a terrorist.
91) Comic convention offers real heroes a job signing autographs and posing for pictures. This could lead to a large attack on them or in another part of the city since they are all here.
92) Big sporting event in town and there are worries of possible bombings happening at the event or anywhere that a large crowd gathers.
93) World leaders are meeting in the city and there are worries that they could be attacked or possibly kidnapped.
94) A child of someone in power is missing. Could be child of important doctor, scientist, military official, politician, or even businessman.
95) A villain base is being built but is discovered somehow unfinished still. Do the heroes try to halt it before its completion or do they wait until something happens?
96) A large corporation has been selling goods to a villain but is there more to this?
97) An alien force has touched down and the heroes may be forced to team with some villains to stop this force. If not they could be over matched by these things.
98) The players are offered a job to help a corporation send goods to another city. They need to make sure the shipment gets there safe. Shipment could be weapons, gasoline, or something else deemed valuable.
99) Alien technology falls into the hands of the heroes somehow. How do they use this?
00) An important scroll that none of the heroes can read has been found/or is being searched for by a villain or crime organization. Could be a super ability gained if read by someone with knowledge of it or could be an important message.