Random Events Chart

I said I wouldn't be writing until after the next game, but I wanted to share the process by which we facilitated the jump of six years. As I've mentioned before at the blog, we used to be hardcore Rolemaster players. While many of the complications of Rolemaster have been jettisoned, I occasionally consult tables that were extremely useful to me over the years. One of those tables is the Random Events Chart from Rolemaster Companion IV.

Unlike many random events charts in RPGs, the Rolemaster version was dedicated to small events, not big world events, although Rolemaster Companion 7 contained such a chart. The one I used was intended for "generating events when a PC or group of PCs rest or retire for a period of time." As with all things Rolemaster, it uses percentile dice, and a roll of 01-05 results in an open ended negative "fumble" roll (re-roll and subtract the result from your initial roll), and a roll of 95-00 results in a open ended positive "critical" roll (re-roll and add the result to your initial roll).

I went through my books, tracked it down, and used it with some modifications for our six year jump, making one roll for each year. Here is my adjusted version, scaled for a criminal element urban campaign in Freeport (all apologies to the copyright holder, but I'm hoping my modifications exempt me from an act of copyright infringement - also, this table is too cool to languish in torrent PDF hell):

-100-<: Jailed in the Hulks - permanent: once you go in, you don't come out
-99-98: Run afoul of/hunted by evil deity
-97-95: Run afoul of/hunted by major evil cult
-94-92: Cursed/branded/marked
-91-89: Death of friend/close relative
-88-86: Make major enemy
-85-83: Lose major magic item
-82-80: Lose major amount of money
-79-77: Major wound--stat deterioration STR, DEX, and/or CHA based on location
-76-74: Major mental illness (use rules for insanity)
-73-71: Major illness -- stat deterioration
-70-67: Convicted of major crime
   -66  : Roll again, add/subtract 66 and take both results
-65-63: Friend/relative convicted of major crime (should not be another PC)
-62-60: Academic/training/experimental error
-59-57: Thrown out of guild/society
-65/54: Run afoul of minor evil cult
-53-51: Minor accident/injury
-50-48: Lose minor magic item
-47-44: Lose minor amount of money
-43-40: Accident/injury to friend/relative
-39-36: Out with society
-35-32: Involved in local Disaster
-31-28: Minor illness
-27-24: Lose a job
-23-20: Run afoul of authorities (was originally bandits/thieves, but my players are the bandits and thieves)
-19-16: Lose mundane item
-15-12: Convicted of minor crime or misdemeanor
-11-08: Went hungry/starved
-07-04: Political goof/out of favor
-03-00: Beat up by local toughs/bouncers/muggers
01-04: Social faux pas
05-25: Life is boring/uneventful
26-35: Offered guild/societal membership
36-45: Short, troubled relationship
46-55: Short, positive relationship
56-60: Accused of, but not convicted of minor crime
61-65: Discovered/explored ancient ruins/abandoned house/warehouse
   66:   Roll again, add/subtract 66 and use both results.
67-71: Mundane award/recognition (this is important for our game, as we're about to include reputation points, as in the Iron Kingdoms line)
72-76: Long, troubled relationship
77-81: Long, positive relationship
82-86: Make minor influential friend/contact
87-91: Friend/relative successful
92-96: Gain job opportunity
97-101: Travel to another country
102-106: Good health: (increase one physical stat by 1)
107-111: In good with society
112-116: Gain normal item
117-121: Gain normal monetary sum (For my players, successful heist!)
122-126: Marked by a deity
127-131: View different realm or plane
132-136: Slay major monster/menace
137-141: Save important personage
142-146: Make major friend/contact/ally
147-151: Gain a rich item
152-156: Gain rich monetary sum (a big strike! According to Iron Kingdoms, this may mean you can't practice your wrongdoing in the place you pulled this off in ever again.)
157-161: Offered admittance to a special/secret society
162-171: Influenced/quested by a deity
172-176: Accused of, but not convicted of, major crime
177-181: Major award/recognition/title
182-186: Prevented local disaster
187-189: Travel to different realm/plane
190-192: Gain artifact
193-195: Gain very rich monetary sum
196-197: Meet deity
198-199: Befriended by deity
    200:    Deified

There you go! Hope it helps y'all in your gaming. I recommend one roll per year or month, depending on how long your break is. I went with years, because there was no way I was going to do 72 rolls.