In which we randomly encounter ... stuff.

 I've never been a fan of so-called "random encounters."  Other people's tables never seemed to fit.  Timing was awkward.  They could be disruptive.  A LOT of that was just my weakness as a DM.  So I limited my usage of them.  I'm finally getting them cleaned up and functional in my wilderness travel to the point where they actually add to the adventure.  But my dungeon crawl "game" isn't there yet.

A few years ago I tried to implement Angry GM's tension pool.  TLDNR:    Take one small
bowl and six d6.  Add a die to the bowl every time the party takes a 'time consuming action.'  When the players do something reckless OR the sixth die goes in, roll the pool. If there's a "1" there's a "complication."  Worked OK.  Players noticed when a d6 got added.  It contributed to the tension.  But I never got the hang of it so it slipped away.

But today I was wowed by a "new" mechanic from Goblin Punch:  The Underclock.  TLDNR:  Set a counter to 20.  Roll a d6 whenever the players "take time."  Reduce the 20 by the amount of the roll.  When it goes below 0: Encounter.  There's more and I think I'm gonna implement it at my table this week to see how it goes.

So here's what provokes a roll:  exploring a new area, passing through 3 explored areas, multiple skill checks in the same area, making noise, and taking a short rest.  If the counter goes BELOW 0: encounter.  If it goes to 0 exactly there's a shadowing event and it resets to 3.  If it lands on 3 exactly there's a shadowing event.  The link about provides a lot of the math.  

Goblin Punch suggests exploding dice on the rolls and increasing the size of the dice after a rest (reflecting increased attention.)  I'm rarely crazy about exploding dice but I like the increasing size thing.  So Imma combine them.  I'll start with a d4.  Roll max amount the there's a step up AND a reroll.  Also an increase after a rest.  

So there it is.  Not sure when this party goes underground again but this gets thrown into the mix at the soonest opportunity.