Random Resource (5e)
RANDOM SELECTION The attached Excel Spreadsheet has some basic VB code to select a random entry from various tables. There are about 250 330 unique tables including wild surges¸ hit locations¸ plots¸ random encounters¸ loot and magic items. The results are guaranteed* to be unique on every click of the button. Although these could (in theory) be used with the roll of a dice¸ they are not designed this way. (* not really¸ but if you did the math it would be a really¸ really long odds) *UPDATE* a band of easy-access list names at the top of the sheet¸ a few more varied loot tables¸ a bit more unique descriptions for random weaponry¸ better plots¸ other stuff. Instructions Click on a table title or cell content that you want to resolve so that it's highlighted¸ then click on the [Randomise] button and read the result. (There are instructions for adding/changing content within the spreadsheet itself) *UPDATE* there is now a button to move the cursor to the current table or entry (and click again to go back to the top) Introduction AD&D5e uses a lot of tables for things like wild surges ‐ that's what this initially started out as: I didn't want to roll a result where the spell caster's hands turned blue: why not pink¸ or green¸ or black?... actually why the hands¸ why not the feet or nose? So I created a script that would pick a random body part and a random colour from a nested table. I then didn't like that really weird stuff was happening as often as fairly mundane stuff¸ so I worked out a bias system: you can tell it how rare one of the entries is to be selected. It's also much easier to click a button to get a result than have to look up a table for something. So I added in things like hit locations and critical/fumble tables that I use a lot during a game. As a GM I also got strained coming up with non-boring stuff when PC's loot the 138th corpse or walk into curio shops looking for cool magic‐ a simple click will now generate unique loot with unique properties. You will also find a sub-plot generator¸ travelling encounter table¸ random inn name generator¸ random direction... and loads more. *UPDATE* for practicality and using this sheet during a game I put a band of most used table names at the top for a simple click and go. The button beside the randomise will quickly jump to that table so that it can be changed on the fly. Disclaimer Any parallels with WotC content from any published material is purely coincidental (although if you wanted to copy any content into this sheet for your own use then I think it's OK). By default MS locks down spreadsheets so that they can't run macros - You will have to enable scripts before the button will work. The code is not locked and you can examine it before enabling if you want. In theory there is nothing that can screw up your system within this spreadsheet¸ but please don't blame me if it does.