I was making some tables for another game (Star Trek) and thought I should do a little tutorial for making tables.
Random Tables
There's only one kind of table that's truly a random table - and that's a table that only uses one die. As far as I know, Traveller is unique in the gaming industry for using 2 d6s as if it were percentile dice - the d66, and I'll do some on that later. But let me show you a 1d6 table:
1 Hiver
2 Aslan
3 Human
4 Droyne
5 Vargr
6 k'Kree
In the table above, there's a chance that any roll could produce any result. A 1 in 6 chance for each item on the table. Now let's expand the table to a 2d6.
2 Robot
3 Hiver
4 Vargr
5 Human
6 Aslan
7 Human
8 Aslan
9 Droyne
10 Human
11 k'Kree
12 Human
Now, the odds of getting any roll have changed. Now, you're looking at Craps odds. If you've never heard of Craps, look it up - it's a very interesting game that a lot of people have somewhat success at. But I recommend you play Traveller instead of gamble - Casinos don't stay in business by their customers winning.
The breakdown is like this:
2 6th Most
3 5th Most
4 4th Most
5 Third Most
6 Second Most
7 Most Likely
8 Second Most
9 Third Most
10 4th Most
11 5th Most
12 6th Most
When you put your table together, you can use these odds to place your table entries from most likely to least likely. You'll never have a truly random roll, because the chance of both dice showing up with the same numbers on each dice AND showing up at the end of the spectrum (1s or 6s) at the same time is now worse than the chance of the total of the dice averaging out - which is 7.
Each slot should be a 1 in 11 chance (there are 11 slots on that table) - but it's not.
It's skewed in favor of an average roll.
You can get a 7 on the roll with a 1 and a 6, a 2 and a 5, a 3 and a 4, a 4 and a 3, a 5 and a 2, and a 6 and a 1 (making 16, 25, 34, 43, 52, and 61 on a d66 table). If you used different colored dice, that would make more sense. There are 6 combinations that can give a 7 so it's a 6 in 36 chance of getting a 7.
Now, you can get a 6 on the roll with a 1 and a 5, a 2 and a 4, a 3 and a 3, a 4 and a 2, and a 5 and a 1 (making 15, 24, 33, 42, and 51 on a d66 table). You only have a 5 in 36 chance of getting a 6.
But you have the same chance of getting an 8.
If you put the same item on your table in both the 6 and the 8 spot, now you have a 10 in 36 chance of rolling that item (and the best bets in Craps, if you ignore the payout amount - which would be smart)
Now a roll of 5 would have combinations of 1 and 4, 2 and 3, 3 and 2, and 4 and 1 (14, 23, 32, and 41 on a d66 table). You have a 4 in 36 chance of getting a 5.
And the same chance of getting a 9.
To get a roll of 4, the combos are 1 and 3, 2 and 2, and 3 and 1 (13, 22, 31 on a d66). So you have a 3 in 36 chance of getting a 4.
The same chance for a 10.
For 3, the combos are 1 and 2, and 2 and 1 (12 and 21 on a d66). A 2 in 36 chance of getting a 3.
Same chance to get an 11.
And now the rarest roll is a 2 - SnakeEyes. A 1 and a 1 (an 11 on the d66 table). There is only 1 in 36 chance in getting a 2.
And the same chance to get a 12.
So let's look at the table again:
2 - 1 in 36 chance
3 - 2 in 36 chance
4 - 3 in 36 chance
5 - 4 in 36 chance
6 - 5 in 36 chance
7 - 6 in 36 chance
8 - 5 in 36 chance
9 - 4 in 36 chance
10 - 3 in 36 chance
11 - 2 in 36 chance
12 - 1 in 36 chance
So now, it's all in how you arrange the items you place in each slot on the table.
Taking a look back to the original 2d6 table above, you can now see how important each slot is.
2 Robot - 1 in 36 chance
3 Hiver - 2 in 36 chance
4 Vargr - 3 in 36 chance
5 Human - 4 in 36 chance
6 Aslan - 5 in 36 chance
7 Human - 6 in 36 chance
8 Aslan - 5 in 36 chance
9 Droyne - 4 in 36 chance
10 Human - 3 in 36 chance
11 k'Kree - 2 in 36 chance
12 Human - 1 in 36 chance
So, to total those up, you have:
Human at a total of 14 in 36 chance (4 + 6 + 3 + 1) - almost half
Aslan totals at 10 in 36 chance (5 + 5)
Droyne at 4 in 36 chance
Vargr at 3 in 36 chance
Both Hiver and k'Kree at 2 in 36 chance each
And Robot at 1 chance in 36.
Doesn't look so random now, does it?
The d66 is much more random because you are putting different items into slots that produce the same total on the dice if the numbers are added together - i.e. 6 different slots on a dice total of 7 can produce 6 different outcomes for example.
But this is how you can build a table for encounters and such. If you wanted to make a Creature Encounter table, you make your list of creatures and then assign points to each creature based on how many there are or how often it's seen, how important it is, etc... and get a total of 36 points, and then assign the creatures to slots on the table based on how many points you've assigned to each. A '4 in 36 chance' is 4 points, a '6 in 36 chance' is 6 points, etc...
Here's a real world example:
Around the house here (I live in a rural area), these are the ground critters that I see (not including flying birds or squirrels):
Coyote
Deer
Turkey
Rabbit
Opossum
I just saw a nice herd of about 15 Deer the other day, about a week before there were about 10 Turkey, I see 3 Rabbits regularly, an Opossum or two fairly often, and I hear what I figure is about a pack of 5 Coyote at night.
I could build an encounter table using these animals:
15 Deer (I'll make this 16 just to round out the table)
10 Turkey
3 Rabbits
2 Opossum
5 Coyote
That gives me 36 points to distribute across the table.
2 - Rabbit
3 - Opossum
4 - Deer
5 - Coyote
6 - Turkey
7 - Deer
8 - Turkey
9 - Deer
10 - Deer
11 - Rabbit
12 - Coyote
And that would be the encounter table for ground critters in my area.
You can do the same for any kind of table.
And now I have to go back a rewrite all my tables I've ever made - because I just figured some of that out while I was typing it.
o:
Random Tables
There's only one kind of table that's truly a random table - and that's a table that only uses one die. As far as I know, Traveller is unique in the gaming industry for using 2 d6s as if it were percentile dice - the d66, and I'll do some on that later. But let me show you a 1d6 table:
1 Hiver
2 Aslan
3 Human
4 Droyne
5 Vargr
6 k'Kree
In the table above, there's a chance that any roll could produce any result. A 1 in 6 chance for each item on the table. Now let's expand the table to a 2d6.
2 Robot
3 Hiver
4 Vargr
5 Human
6 Aslan
7 Human
8 Aslan
9 Droyne
10 Human
11 k'Kree
12 Human
Now, the odds of getting any roll have changed. Now, you're looking at Craps odds. If you've never heard of Craps, look it up - it's a very interesting game that a lot of people have somewhat success at. But I recommend you play Traveller instead of gamble - Casinos don't stay in business by their customers winning.
The breakdown is like this:
2 6th Most
3 5th Most
4 4th Most
5 Third Most
6 Second Most
7 Most Likely
8 Second Most
9 Third Most
10 4th Most
11 5th Most
12 6th Most
When you put your table together, you can use these odds to place your table entries from most likely to least likely. You'll never have a truly random roll, because the chance of both dice showing up with the same numbers on each dice AND showing up at the end of the spectrum (1s or 6s) at the same time is now worse than the chance of the total of the dice averaging out - which is 7.
Each slot should be a 1 in 11 chance (there are 11 slots on that table) - but it's not.
It's skewed in favor of an average roll.
You can get a 7 on the roll with a 1 and a 6, a 2 and a 5, a 3 and a 4, a 4 and a 3, a 5 and a 2, and a 6 and a 1 (making 16, 25, 34, 43, 52, and 61 on a d66 table). If you used different colored dice, that would make more sense. There are 6 combinations that can give a 7 so it's a 6 in 36 chance of getting a 7.
Now, you can get a 6 on the roll with a 1 and a 5, a 2 and a 4, a 3 and a 3, a 4 and a 2, and a 5 and a 1 (making 15, 24, 33, 42, and 51 on a d66 table). You only have a 5 in 36 chance of getting a 6.
But you have the same chance of getting an 8.
If you put the same item on your table in both the 6 and the 8 spot, now you have a 10 in 36 chance of rolling that item (and the best bets in Craps, if you ignore the payout amount - which would be smart)
Now a roll of 5 would have combinations of 1 and 4, 2 and 3, 3 and 2, and 4 and 1 (14, 23, 32, and 41 on a d66 table). You have a 4 in 36 chance of getting a 5.
And the same chance of getting a 9.
To get a roll of 4, the combos are 1 and 3, 2 and 2, and 3 and 1 (13, 22, 31 on a d66). So you have a 3 in 36 chance of getting a 4.
The same chance for a 10.
For 3, the combos are 1 and 2, and 2 and 1 (12 and 21 on a d66). A 2 in 36 chance of getting a 3.
Same chance to get an 11.
And now the rarest roll is a 2 - SnakeEyes. A 1 and a 1 (an 11 on the d66 table). There is only 1 in 36 chance in getting a 2.
And the same chance to get a 12.
So let's look at the table again:
2 - 1 in 36 chance
3 - 2 in 36 chance
4 - 3 in 36 chance
5 - 4 in 36 chance
6 - 5 in 36 chance
7 - 6 in 36 chance
8 - 5 in 36 chance
9 - 4 in 36 chance
10 - 3 in 36 chance
11 - 2 in 36 chance
12 - 1 in 36 chance
So now, it's all in how you arrange the items you place in each slot on the table.
Taking a look back to the original 2d6 table above, you can now see how important each slot is.
2 Robot - 1 in 36 chance
3 Hiver - 2 in 36 chance
4 Vargr - 3 in 36 chance
5 Human - 4 in 36 chance
6 Aslan - 5 in 36 chance
7 Human - 6 in 36 chance
8 Aslan - 5 in 36 chance
9 Droyne - 4 in 36 chance
10 Human - 3 in 36 chance
11 k'Kree - 2 in 36 chance
12 Human - 1 in 36 chance
So, to total those up, you have:
Human at a total of 14 in 36 chance (4 + 6 + 3 + 1) - almost half
Aslan totals at 10 in 36 chance (5 + 5)
Droyne at 4 in 36 chance
Vargr at 3 in 36 chance
Both Hiver and k'Kree at 2 in 36 chance each
And Robot at 1 chance in 36.
Doesn't look so random now, does it?
The d66 is much more random because you are putting different items into slots that produce the same total on the dice if the numbers are added together - i.e. 6 different slots on a dice total of 7 can produce 6 different outcomes for example.
But this is how you can build a table for encounters and such. If you wanted to make a Creature Encounter table, you make your list of creatures and then assign points to each creature based on how many there are or how often it's seen, how important it is, etc... and get a total of 36 points, and then assign the creatures to slots on the table based on how many points you've assigned to each. A '4 in 36 chance' is 4 points, a '6 in 36 chance' is 6 points, etc...
Here's a real world example:
Around the house here (I live in a rural area), these are the ground critters that I see (not including flying birds or squirrels):
Coyote
Deer
Turkey
Rabbit
Opossum
I just saw a nice herd of about 15 Deer the other day, about a week before there were about 10 Turkey, I see 3 Rabbits regularly, an Opossum or two fairly often, and I hear what I figure is about a pack of 5 Coyote at night.
I could build an encounter table using these animals:
15 Deer (I'll make this 16 just to round out the table)
10 Turkey
3 Rabbits
2 Opossum
5 Coyote
That gives me 36 points to distribute across the table.
2 - Rabbit
3 - Opossum
4 - Deer
5 - Coyote
6 - Turkey
7 - Deer
8 - Turkey
9 - Deer
10 - Deer
11 - Rabbit
12 - Coyote
And that would be the encounter table for ground critters in my area.
You can do the same for any kind of table.
And now I have to go back a rewrite all my tables I've ever made - because I just figured some of that out while I was typing it.
o:
Last edited:
