Xanathars Guide: Bug with random Encounter when sending to Encounters

[Plaindog]

I guess this have been up before, or maybe it haven't. I could not find any info on it.

Many, maybe all the Random Encounter tables in Xanathars Guide seems flawed in many cases. I.e when you roll a Random encounter for Grasslands level 1-5 and try to automate it into an Encounter, nothing shows up.

https://i.imgur.com/VY4ncOZ.png

29402

If you roll it to chat it seems to work, but then you manually have to create the encounter anyway. Any fix for this?

[Zacchaeus]

The most likely explanation for this is that you do not have the Monster Manual open when you roll the encounter. You should see an error in chat along the lines of "The link is not working make sure the correct modules are open in the library." You can get away with the SRD Bestiary but many of the monsters aren't in that volume.

EDIT: actually looking at it again the encounters still get generated - it's just the links which won't work; so the issue is with something on your end. Can you try in a new campaign without any extensions (or themes since you seem to be using one). If that fixes the issue then it is either an extension you are using or the theme. If the problem still persists in a new campaign without extension or themes then go into you FGData/vault folder and find and delete the file WOTC5EXGTE and then update FG. If that still doesn't fix the issue go into your FGData/rulesets folder and delete the CoreRPG.pak and 5e.pak files and update FG.

[Plaindog]

Tried to start a new campaign and just loaded in the Core books for 5E and Xanathar. Still the same problem. When I read the syntax on how to create those tables it said to create a random number of npc's like, lets say, like the 51 result on the picture, then it should say [1D3x] boars. I think it has something to do with that. When I roll a single digit monster like 21-22 Ankheg it creates the encounter with no problem.

Can anyone try this exact table and see what happens on your end?

thanks

[Zacchaeus]

If we look at the result of 51 on the Grassland Encounters Levels 1-5 table we see that the table is not rolling the 1d3. The 1d3 boars is just a description of what the result will be. The important part is the link just to the left of the 1d3 boars result. This is a link to an actual random encounter. On a result of 51-52 this link will appear in chat and when you click on that link in chat it will open the random encounter. To generate the correct number of boars you click on the generate button at the bottom of the window and that will create an encounter which you would then add to the Combat Tracker.

Some of the results on that table call other tables which again roll encounters automatically. Those are the results that you see in square brackets.

You can click on any of the links down the left hand side of the table to open the random encounter.

You can also generate a random encounter by using the method you describe above as long as you then set the table output to encounter. However in this case not all of the output from the tables in Xanathar are suitable to output to an encounter so I used the random encounter method and linked the random encounter to the tables.

[mshall]

I have the same issue for XGTE Random Encounters in Chapter 2 DM's Tools -- with output to Chat, it puts a link in chat that I can open as an encounter (may need to further press generate after that if there were multiple NPCs). But with output set to "Enc." it generates a completely empty encounter. I can start with a new campaign, with no extensions at all, load core rules, and it continues to have the same bug. Output to Enc. doesn't work. (if intent is you must send it to chat and then click the link in the chat output, then why bother to have the option to send the result directly to an encounter?). Screenshot shows the random table and the blank output window, just like the original poster. Roll was an 87 which should have been 1d4 Yeti. I have all core rules and then some -- if I just click the shield link (no extensions loaded) for 86-87 entry in the table, it finds the NPC from the rules no problem, but doesn't work to roll the table.
Thanks in advance for your consideration. 30891

[Zacchaeus]

I have the same issue for XGTE Random Encounters in Chapter 2 DM's Tools -- with output to Chat, it puts a link in chat that I can open as an encounter (may need to further press generate after that if there were multiple NPCs). But with output set to "Enc." it generates a completely empty encounter. I can start with a new campaign, with no extensions at all, load core rules, and it continues to have the same bug. Output to Enc. doesn't work. (if intent is you must send it to chat and then click the link in the chat output, then why bother to have the option to send the result directly to an encounter?). Screenshot shows the random table and the blank output window, just like the original poster. Roll was an 87 which should have been 1d4 Yeti. I have all core rules and then some -- if I just click the shield link (no extensions loaded) for 86-87 entry in the table, it finds the NPC from the rules no problem, but doesn't work to roll the table.
Thanks in advance for your consideration.

This isn't a bug; it is intended.

There are basically two ways to create a table for random encounters. The first is to create the encounters and link those to the table row and the output goes to chat. The second method is to link the creature to the table row and then add a multiplier in square brackets (for example [1d4x] Yeti) and set the output to encounter. In XTGE the former method was chosen because not every line in the encounters resulted in an actual encounter with creatures. You sometimes get a result such as in 21-25 in your screenshot which needs to be sent to chat.

If you take one of the tables from XGTE and change the output to 'Enc' then you won't get any output since the table isn't set up to output to an encounter but to chat. So the correct method is to leave the output to chat; make the roll and then click the link in chat to open the encounter and then generate it (if needed).

And I realise now, given your post, I completely misunderstood what the OP was doing (I just didn't twig that he was changing the output to encounter) and of course this explains why he was having the issue that he had and why I couldn't replicate it.

[AAWGAMES]

Question regarding this: Why do no tokens automatically appear for the various monsters? This extra step and having to go and search for the tokens kind of defeats the purpose of using the encounter generator tables as it takes more time to look up and add tokens than just to create your own encounters.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

[Zacchaeus]

Question regarding this: Why do no tokens automatically appear for the various monsters? This extra step and having to go and search for the tokens kind of defeats the purpose of using the encounter generator tables as it takes more time to look up and add tokens than just to create your own encounters.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

I’ll need more details on what you are doing with steps to reproduce. All the NPCs that I tested have a token.

[AAWGAMES]

They show no tokens until added to the combat tracker, after which I see only the plain "letter tokens" i.e. "M" for mephit but no picture/image on the token.

[LordEntrails]

When you open the NPC from the NPC list, does it have a token?

[Zacchaeus]

They show no tokens until added to the combat tracker, after which I see only the plain "letter tokens" i.e. "M" for mephit but no picture/image on the token.

Ok, so I didn't realise you were specifically talking about Unity (i tested in Classic last night and it works there). There does seem to be an issue with tokens and random encounters in Unity. I'll let the devs know.

[AAWGAMES]

When you open the NPC from the NPC list, does it have a token?

I tested the random encounters.
Let's say I end up with BASILISK.
OK, I click the button to add this to the combat tracker. It has a "B" token.
If I go to NPCs and open BASILISK, it has an image as the token.

Any ideas?

[AAWGAMES]

Sorry wrong screenshot :P
Here's the one I meant to attach.

[Zacchaeus]

I tested the random encounters.
Let's say I end up with BASILISK.
OK, I click the button to add this to the combat tracker. It has a "B" token.
If I go to NPCs and open BASILISK, it has an image as the token.

Any ideas?

See post #11

[AAWGAMES]

OH SHOOT! Sorry!
Don't know why I didn't get that one. Somehow missed it. My bad. ;)
Thank you for all your help and hard work!
~Jonathan

[Moon Wizard]

I found the issue; and it will be resolved in the next release of FGU.

Regards,
JPG

[AAWGAMES]

RAD! Thanks!

[Ronsson]

Hi,

I still don't understand. Or well I do understand that you have to post output to "Chat" in order to generate the random encounter from a table then click the link in chat and then generate the encounter.

But what does the option to direct output to "Enc" do then? Since nothing happens. Is it supposed to work that way or not work at all?

I liked how it was described in the "tables tutorial" but from what I understand it no longer works that way, specifying number of creatures in the table you create instead of in the encounter itself. Or did it never work the way I interpret it should?

[Zacchaeus]

Basically there are two ways to create random encounters. The first way is to use a table and specify the creatures in the table and use a multiplier to determine the number. In that case you output to an encounter and it creates the encounter for you from the table. The other method is to create the random encounters and then link those to the table and get the table to generate an output to chat or story with a link to the encounter. The latter was chosen for Xanathar's guide since in many cases what was output wasn't an encounter with NPCs but rather something else which wasn't an encounter. If the tables had been drawn up using the first method then you would have produced errors when the table rolled something that wasn't an encounter.

[Ronsson]

Basically there are two ways to create random encounters. The first way is to use a table and specify the creatures in the table and use a multiplier to determine the number. In that case you output to an encounter and it creates the encounter for you from the table. The other method is to create the random encounters and then link those to the table and get the table to generate an output to chat or story with a link to the encounter. The latter was chosen for Xanathar's guide since in many cases what was output wasn't an encounter with NPCs but rather something else which wasn't an encounter. If the tables had been drawn up using the first method then you would have produced errors when the table rolled something that wasn't an encounter.

Ahh I think I understand now. I guess or hope a multicolumn table would work for that if I want several different creature types in the encounter. Thanks! Anyways purchased https://www.dmsguild.com/product/333958/Fantasy-Grounds-Random-Encounter-Generator which I hope will help out a bit.