Crafting your party’s travel to their next plot point can be tiring work. We’re here to make things easy and interesting with our Dungeon Tables! This week’s table provides random encounters found within jungles and rain forests—just roll the dice to populate your upcoming adventure. The table below provides foes in a wide spread of difficulties, so some results may be easy while others deadly. Feel free to use as inspiration or tweak, modify, and supplement to your hearts content. Happy exploring!
Jungle/Rain Forest
| 2d20 | Encounter |
| 2 | 1d4 death butterfly swarms (75%)or 1d4 greater death butterfly swarms (25%) (see Tome of Beasts). |
| 3 | A placid pond, laced with vines and fallen branches. A bukavac (see Tome of Beasts) waits within with nothing but its eyes and horns visible above the water. |
| 4 | Several strangely lifelike statues are haphazardly arranged in a clearing. A few are broken, all are missing at least one appendage. As the party examines the statues, 2d4 cockatrices (50%)or 2d4 basilisks (50%)emerge from the undergrowth. |
| 5 | 2d4 warlock’s trumpetbloom (see Creature Codex), shuffling through the undergrowth in search of a meal. |
| 6 | Smoke rises from the trees off the path but not too far in the distance. If the party investigates, they will see an ashen custodian (see Tome of Beasts 2) and her forest drake (see Creature Codex) companion wandering the edges of the fire, igniting the deadfall. If the party attacks, they defend themselves, otherwise they’re peaceful (if suspicious). |
| 7 | A parzz’val (see Tome of Beasts 2), waiting patiently for the party to pass by its hiding spot so it can feed. |
| 8 | 2d4 prismatic beetle swarms (see Tome of Beasts)perched passively in the trees. They only attack if provoked, but if any party members are rendered unconscious by the beetles’ glittering carapace ability, a bloom hydra (see Tome of Beasts 2), hiding in the canopy above, reaches down with its tendrils to feast on the easy prey. |
| 9 | 1d6 vines of Nemthyr (see Creature Codex) drawn by the commotion of the party’s travel. |
| 10 | 4d6 howler baboons (see Tome of Beasts 2). |
| 11 | A titanoboa (see Tome of Beasts), defending its territory. |
| 12 | 3d6 terror birds(see Creature Codex). |
| 13 | 2d6 apes (75%) or a 1d6 apes and a giant ape (25%). |
| 14 | 4d4 compsognathus (50%) or 2d4 swarm of compsognathus (25%) or a tricenatorus (25%) (see Tome of Beasts 2). |
| 15 | 2d4 arboreal grapplers (75%) or 2d4 asanbosam (25%) (see Tome of Beasts). |
| 16 | A shambling mound (50%) or an arborcyte (50%, see Tome of Beasts) with bones and a mostly decayed corpse engulfed within its vines |
| 17 | A Tiny diminution drake (50%) that scurries out of the underbrush or a vine drake (50%) (see Tome of Beasts 2). |
| 18 | 1d4 shadowfey forest hunters (see Tome of Beasts), tracking a carbuncle (see Creature Codex). |
| 19 | 2d4 saber-toothed tigers. |
| 20 | A huecambra (see Tome of Beasts 2), mostly hidden in the river’s shallows, appearing to be simply some gemstones haphazardly strewn in the mud just below the surface of the water. |
| 21 | 4d4 sunset raptors (see Creature Codex),guarding the crumbling remains of a wizard’s tower. |
| 22 | A grove of 3d6 bulbous violets. |
| 23 | A swarm of 6d6 acid ants (see Creature Codex) flowing from a disturbed nest. |
| 24 | 2d4 cueyatl and a cueyatl sea priest (75%) or 2d4 cueyatl warriors and a cueyatl moon priest (25%) (see Creature Codex), escorting a cluster of bedraggled, enslaved sailors to their settlement. |
| 25 | 3d6 archaeopteryx (see Creature Codex), guarding their tree-top nests. |
| 26 | A settlement of 3d6 lizardfolk (75%) or 2d6 lizardfolk,a lizardfolk shaman,and a lizard queen (25%). |
| 27 | A serpentfolk of Yig (see Creature Codex) disguised as a lost wanderer, or a berstuc demon (see Tome of Beasts) disguised as a forest spirit. They beseech the party for aid, begging the heroes to allow them to join the group, and bide their time until they can strike. |
| 28 | 2d4 swarm of insects (50%)or 2d4 swarm of poisonous snakes (50%). |
| 29 | A grove of trees, strangely shrouded in shadow. In the center, a razorleaf (see Tome of Beasts) resides. |
| 30 | A deep river rushes alongside the party. Within is a kappa (see Creature Codex) who follows along with the group, playing pranks and causing mischief. It will leave the party be if they gift it with food and will even aid them if they’re especially polite. |
| 31 | A party of 2d4 centaurs, scouting the migration paths for their herd. |
| 32 | A duskthorn dryad (75%) or a duskthorn dryad protected by a vine troll skeleton (25%) (see Tome of Beasts). |
| 33 | 2d4 kongamato, swarming down from their aeries. |
| 34 | A giant centipede or a giant boar. |
| 35 | A large burrow has been dug under the overturned root ball of a toppled tree. Within the burrow sleeps a peluda drake (see Creature Codex). |
| 36 | A ghost boar (50%) or an elder ghost boar (50%) (see Tome of Beasts). |
| 37 | A kot bayun (see Tome of Beasts) that stalks the group for 4d10 hours before showing itself. Depending on the party’s actions during this time, the kot bayun may attempt to put the heroes to sleep and then attack, or it may speak to them and offer help or healing if the party shows themselves to be shrewd and intelligent (especially if they manage to notice the kot bayun before it’s prepared to reveal itself). |
| 38 | A sweet scent fills the air. If the party follows the smell, they find a small lake, with bones of creatures scattered about the edges. Nearby, a horned serpent (see Creature Codex) lies in wait. |
| 39 | A glass gator (see Tome of Beasts), sleeping along a riverbank. |
| 40 | 1d4 ravenala (see Tome of Beasts), peaceful unless provoked. They wish only to guard the jungle and will interrogate the party as to their intentions within their borders. If they have come to destroy plants or kill the innocent creatures within, they will attempt to turn them away or, as a last resort, subdue and imprison them. |
