This is a review of Venger’s Guide to Mastering Chaos at the Table.
Venger, also known as Scott C. Docherty, is a really nice guy. I’ve met him two or three times in person at gaming conventions, and when he offered me a review copy of the book, I was delighted to accept, although with the warning that I’m very slow to review.
What I didn’t do was actually read the blurb. I was just excited and honoured by the offer.
The blurb says: “This book guides you, as a new or seasoned dungeon or games master, through a brief history and theory of chaos, randomness, and improvisation in the multiverse of tabletop roleplaying, before walking you through techniques for embracing the unknown in your fantasy or futuristic games, helping you grow a little more comfortable with not knowing what’s going to happen in your sessions from one moment to the next.” That’s a fantastic pitch. If I had read it, however, I would not have been tipped off to the main topic of the book.
(Note: Scott even sent me the blurb in advance.)
I would argue that Mastering the Chaos at the Table is pretty dominated by random encounter tables, and that is a spicy topic. If you’re not into gaming, you might not realise just how controversial wandering monsters and random encounters can be. I have a love-hate relationship with them. In his book, Scott argues that we should learn to embrace random encounter tables, and I’m not convinced. I agree with many points Scott makes, but I still think that random encounter tables are a dangerous weapon that can sometimes create more problems than they solve.
I concede, however, that the point of Scott’s book is probably to help you avoid those mistakes and get the most out of random encounter tables. The book is helpful and certainly educational. Scott also sells an alternative to random encounter tables through his Venger’s Decks – packs of cards from which you can pull random monsters and other encounters. In some ways, they are a better narrative tool than traditional random monster tables. So, if you want to be cynical, this 280-page book could be seen as a very long product placement.
Ease of use
Mastering the Chaos at the Table is a well-produced book. Scott is a fantastic cartographer, and there are pictures of battle maps included in these pages really help to break up the text. There are also examples of hex grids. Roughly the last two-fifths of the book are actual random encounter tables – good ones that bring encounters to life, even though I don’t always think they’d fit any game I’d run. The first half of the book is a sort of academic treatise combined with a hand-holding training/education, all written in a really fun, conversational style. I particularly like Scott’s use of one-sentence paragraphs; I must steal that myself.
If you prefer to be persuaded rather than told what to do, then Venger’s Guide to Mastering Chaos at the Table is a good match for you. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a quick bullet point of a tip, a magic wand to give you confidence to add something random to your game, you might not appreciate all the reading.
The book guides you through the reasons why random encounter tables can be helpful and why they’re controversial, and it acknowledges some of the associated problems. Sometimes, random encounter tables suggest encounters that are so improbable they ruin the suspense you’ve been planning, or so dramatically weird that they throw a curveball and derail your campaign -in other words, they cause chaos.
In my own experience, I first realised a random encounter table was nonsense when my players were crawling through a short, small, cramped goblin warren, and the table put a hulking troll in front of them. How did the troll get down there? How was it standing? What was it doing hanging around in these tiny warrens? It made no sense, and the penny didn’t drop in my young, naive Games Master mind until well after the combat had begun. I’ve regretted that roll ever since.
Scott’s book provides techniques to avoid encountering random trolls in unexpected places. His example is 2d4 wolves. Perhaps a third party put the wolves -or in my case, the troll – there deliberately. If so, what is the agenda of that third party? One of the best things about Scott’s book is how it ties back to tabletop roleplaying game academia. It cites other books and serves as a history lesson as well as a practical guide. Scott doesn’t just listicle his way through Games Mastering techniques; he talks you through them and builds up his case as to why certain approaches are worth bothering with.
Ultimately, Mastering Chaos at the Table is a pitch to encourage Games Masters to accept that they can’t do all the work themselves and that their game would be better if something unexpected were to happen.
My pitch for random encounter tables is that there should be an element of the unknown. If the players, for example, decide to save some time on their journey by cutting through a bandit-rich forest, are you going to decide they definitely get ambushed, or are you going to see if that risk pays off by rolling some dice?
I prefer to let the players know the odds. “If you stick to the King’s Road, the chance of encountering criminals is probably less than 10 percent. But if you try to cut through the forest, your local guide warns you that the risk probably trebles to about 30 percent.” If the characters say, “We’ll save the time, we’re cutting through,” I would roll a d6, and on a 1 or 2, it’s a bandit encounter. So even I can admit that sometimes, random encounters are the best and fairest thing to do. This isn’t Scott’s technique as such, but it’s where we both agree that randomness is needed.
Overall?
Do I recommend the book? I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it gets a little harder when I put my reviewer’s hat on and try to anticipate whether you would enjoy it.
- If you’re a brand-new Games Master who’s been watching Critical Role and is unlikely to use random encounters, then you probably don’t need this book.
- If you’re a new GM interested in the hobby, this is quite a good introduction to gaming theory. As I said, it cites other books and is a friendly, academic introduction to some of the clever people who have done so much for this hobby.
- If you’re an old, long-in-the-tooth Games Master, you’ll appreciate the debate in here and will probably enjoy it as a read.
- If you’re on the fence about using random encounter tables, then absolutely, Mastering the Chaos at the Table is for you.
- If you are a Vampire: The Masquerade Storyteller, where every beat in your story is carefully planned out, this may not be the one for you.
Yes, the focus is random encounters, but the book is so thoughtful that it will give you more confidence as a GM. Promise kept.
All in all, I enjoyed it. It would make a great potential present, and I’m an idiot for leaving the review so late. Why? Venger’s Guide to Mastering Chaos at the Table would make an excellent Father’s Day gift or a great gift to give yourself a serotonin boost.
Disclaimer: My copy of Venger’s Guide to Mastering Chaos at the Table was provided for free to review.
