Commoners	Dignitaries	Traders	Nobles	Officials
Dragon 105	-	-	-	Dragon

T h e   e n c o u n t e r   t a b l e s   i n   t h e   D u n g e o n
M a s t e r s   G u i d e   a n d   t h e   F I E N D   F O L I O ®
T o m e   a r e   v e r y   l i m i t e d   w h e r e   f e l l o w   t r a v e l e r s
a r e   c o n c e r n e d .   T h e   d o z e n   t y p e s   o f   m e n
l i s t e d   l a c k   v a r i e t y   a n d   s o o n   b e c o m e   p r e d i c t a b l e .
T h i s   i s n ' t   s o   i m p o r t a n t   w h e n   t h e   o n l y
t r a v e l i n g   i s   b e t w e e n   u n r e l a t e d   d u n g e o n s   --
e v e r y   e n c o u n t e r   a t   l e a s t   g e n e r a t e s   s o m e
i n t e r e s t   o r   d a n g e r   t o   o v e r c o m e  --  b u t   w h e n
t h e y   a r e   u s e d   i n   c a m p a i g n   p l a y ,   t h e   t a b l e s
s o o n   p r o v e   i n a d e q u a t e .

O n e   o f   t h e   b e s t   t h i n g s   a b o u t   p l a y i n g   i n   a
w e l l - r u n   c a m p a i g n   i s   t h a t   y o u   c a n   a l m o s t
b e l i e v e   t h a t   t h e   p l a c e   a c t u a l l y   e x i s t s .
U n f o r t u n a t e l y ,   w h e n   t h e   o n l y   t r a v e l e r s   y o u   m e e t
a r e   p a t r o l s ,   r o b b e r s ,   m e r c h a n t   c a r a v a n s ,
r o o t l e s s   t r i b e s m e n ,   a n d   b a n d s   o f   p i l g r i m s   o n
t h e i r   w a y   t o   u n k n o w n   s h r i n e s ,   t h e   i l l u s i o n   i s
s o o n   s h a t t e r e d .   W h a t   h a p p e n e d   t o   t h e   o t h e r
p e o p l e ?   T h i s   i s   a   q u e s t i o n   t h a t   y o u   m u s t
a n s w e r   f o r   y o u r s e l f   i n   a c c o r d a n c e   w i t h   t h e
t y p e   o f   c a m p a i g n   y o u   r u n .

M y   o w n   c a m p a i g n   i s   l o o s e l y   b a s e d   o n
m e d i e v a l   E n g l a n d ,   a n d   i t s   r o a d s   a r e   u s e d
m a i n l y   b y   t h e   t y p e s   o f   t r a v e l e r   w h i c h   w o u l d
h a v e   b e e n found there. A selection of those
whom adventurers might meet is represented on the accompanying tables, and
detailed descriptions of the types are given
below. Most of the material was gleaned
from various history books, especially English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages, by
J. J. Jusserand.

C o m m o n e r s
In settled areas especially, a large number
of encounters are with common people
going about their everyday affairs. Although rarely posing a threat to adventurers, they are useful sources of general
information about the area, gossip about
political situation, and news of past,
present, and future local events. Many of
the following are also good disguises for
those not wishing to draw attention to themselves, perhaps for nefarious purposes.

Villagers (level 0, AC 9 to 10, 1-6 hp): If
encountered near their village, these people
are involved in agricultural tasks (herding,
tending crops, gathering wild nuts or berries, searching for straying animals, etc.) or
other everyday affairs. If encountered on
roads they might be taking agricultural
produce to a local market, returning from
market with their purchases, on the way to
or from visiting relatives, and so on. Villagers possess arms which could be easily
manufactured or cheaply purchased by the
users, or they use agricultural implements
employed as weapons. These "peasant
weapons" include clubs, staves, bill hooks,
scythes, axes, sickles, and short bows.

Carters (level 0, AC 8 to 10, 2-5 hp,
armed with daggers or peasant weapons):
Carters are found only on roads or tracks,
carting a large variety of loads. In agricultural areas, they carry agricultural produce
and implements of all kinds (from dung to
grain and ploughs to millstones, either in
service to their lords or on their own account). Alternatively, they could be connected to some local ?industrial?
enterprise, such as a mine, quarry, or claypit, and carry appropriate materials. In less
peaceful areas they could be accompanied
by men-at-arms.

Wandering laborers: Wandering laborers
can either be poor townspeople who supplement their meager incomes by taking agricultural work at certain times of the year
(especially during harvest) or peasants out
of bond who have deserted their former
masters or fled from famine, war, flood,
disease, banditry, inroads by monsters, or
some other catastrophe that has destroyed
their villages. Some lords see them as unwelcome troublemakers, as they often
spread discontent with the status quo. Their
statistics are the same as those for villagers
above.

Beggars (level 0, AC 10, 2-5 hp, armed
with staff, club, or perhaps dagger): Beggars can be wandering laborers who have
been unable to find work, or professional
beggars (most of whom have some real or
feigned disability). Solitary hermits begging
alms from passersby were fairly common in
medieval England and can also be included
in this class. Often they lived near bridges
or small shrines and begged alms ostensibly
for their upkeep. They can be a good source
of local legends ? for a price. Finally, wandering holy men can be found preaching by
the road side, or anywhere else they can
find a congregation. A favorite place for
these (usually good or chaotic) zealots to
preach is in the grounds of lawful temples
on holy days after services so that they can
harangue templegoers as they leave. Naturally, they are also seen as troublemakers by
the authorities.

Common hunters (fighter level 1 to 4,
AC 7 to 10, armed with peasant weapons or
spears): These people hunt for a livelihood,
rather than for pleasure as nobles do. In
settled areas, common hunters have the
statistics given above in parentheses. They
hunt deer, boar, wolves, or fur-bearing
animals, some of which may be reserved by
nobles for their own sport. The more expe

rienced or successful hunters might also
have swords and longbows, for use against
more formidable quarry. Crossbows would
not usually be employed due to their low
rate of fire and the difficulty of maintaining
them in rural areas.
In wilderness areas, hunters pursue more
exotic species, possibly for capture and sale
to menageries, nobles, or other characters.
In this case, they should be treated as bandits as per the Monster Manual, insofar as
levels, capabilities, and equipment are
concerned.

Outlaws: Outlaws are usually runaway
serfs, common hunters who have been
caught with illegal game, or other malefactors fleeing from local justice. Their statistics should conform to the above types.
They might be seen as freedom fighters by
the local populace, but should not pose
much of a threat to most parties of player
characters.

T r a d e s m e n

Medieval villages would not normally be
big enough to support many craftsmen, and
would depend upon itinerant tradesmen to
fulfill many of their needs. Even smiths and
wheelwrights (who doubled as housebuilders, carpenters, coffin-makers, and even
undertakers) would be itinerant workers, if
the local villages were too small to have
their own. Villagers would also have to
trade for necessities (such as salt, metal, and
pitch) and other useful items (tools, pots
and pans), while the richer ones would
attract traders in luxury items such as oil,
wine, and finely woven fabrics.

As professional travelers, these tradesmen
have a fund of knowledge about roads and
inns, useful short-cuts, the state of local
trade (with associated dangers), and the
like, in addition to being among the first to
hear about current local news. Typical
tradesmen who could be encountered include: cobblers and cloggers selling and
repairing leather goods and shoes or cloggs;
tailors selling, repairing, and making various garments to order; joiners repairing
wooden structures and selling wooden implements such as bowls, cooking utensils,
buckets, tubs, and tuns; thatchers constructing and repairing thatched roofs on all
types of buildings; tinkers or itinerant
metal-workers with portable forges selling
and repairing metal implements, sharpening knives and other cutting tools; and,
quack doctors selling universal panaceas
and ?holy relics? to cure all known ills.

All of the above are level 0, AC 8 to 10,
2 - 5   h p ,   a n d   a r e   a r m e d   w i t h   d a g g e r s ,   t o o l s ,
o r   p e a s a n t   w e a p o n s .   T h e y   u s u a l l y   t r a v e l   i n
w a g o n s   o r   c a r t s   i n   t h e   c o m p a n y   o f   o n e   o r
m o r e   h e l p e r s ,   w h o   c o u l d   b e   r e l a t i v e s .
O t h e r   p r o f e s s i o n a l s   w h o   m a y   b e   e n c o u n t e r e d   i n c l u d e :

P e d l a r s   (level 0, AC 10, 2-5 hp, armed
with daggers and peasant weapons):

They
travel on foot, selling a wide range of goods
including pins, musical instruments, purses,
ribbons, points, laces, gloves, knives,
glasses, rabbit skins, vests, caps, hats, girdles, pewterware, and pots. In lawful areas,
they would need licenses and have to keep
to the circuits allotted to them.

H e r b a l i s t s :   They travel on foot between
villages, offering herbal remedies for most
complaints. Statistics are as for pedlers
above.

L o c a l   m e r c h a n t s :   These are similar to the
merchant described in the Monster Manual, but they trade throughout a more
restricted area with a base at a nearby town.
As with pedlars, they trade in a variety of
goods. Towns want surplus agricultural

products such as corn, meat, hides, wool
and other animal products, wood bark for
tanning, and so on, while villages want
necessities like salt, manufactured goods,
metals, and luxury goods for the richer
inhabitants. Alternatively, they could trade
in locally extracted raw materials or be local
entrepreneurs taking raw materials to and
collecting finished articles from their outworkers. Whatever their specialty, they
usually travel in smaller numbers (and are
less well guarded) than merchants traveling
farther afield. Each local merchant are
accompanied by a scribe and 1-3 carts and
carters (or pack animals and handlers). If
men-at-arms are called for, due to local
unrest or dangers, 1-10 will be in the employ of each merchant.

M a s o n s ,   c a r p e n t e r s   a n d   d i g g e r s   (level 0,
AC 8 to 10, 2-7 hp, armed with tools and
peasant weapons): Workers at these trades
would travel vast distances to take employment on large-scale construction projects
such as castles, town walls, and temples.
When Edward I built his castles and forti

fied towns in Wales, for example, masons,
carpenters, and diggers were drafted from
28 shires of England, and some specialists
traveled all the way from Savoy in France.
Cranes and scaffolding would be constructed on-site; tools were often provided
by the employer. Journeymen were presented with their own tools on completing
their apprenticeship, and they would prefer
to use these. The 70 men from Newport
Pagnell, summoned to the king's works in
Wales in 1282, brought all their own tools in
a handcart.

Scribes  (level 0, AC 10, 1-4 hp, armed
with staves or daggers): Such wayfarers are
often in search of permanent employment.
Traveling scribes often take to occasional
scrivening for illiterate folk to offset the
costs of their journeying. Traveling between
towns in the main, they might also head for
one of the construction projects mentioned
above in hopes of finding work in keeping
accounts, etc. They make reliable sources of
information.

Bandits:  Practicing the robbing of trav

T A B L E   1 :   T E M P E R A T E   C O N D I T I O N S ,   I N H A B I T E D / P A T R O L L E D / L A W F U L   A R E A S
 

-	No. in group	Road/plain	Scrub	Forest	Rough	Hills	Mountains	Marsh
Villagers	3-18	01-12	01-16	01-16	01-16	01-16	01-16	01-16
Carters	1-4	13-20	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wandering laborers	2-12	21-24	17-20	17-20	17-20	17-20	17-20	17-20
Beggars	1	25	21-23	21-23	21-23	21-23	21-23	21-23
Beggars	2-8	26-27	24	24	24	24	24	24
Common hunters	3-12	28-30	25-29	25-29	25-29	25-29	25-29	25-29
Outlaws	3-18	31-32	30-32	30-32	30-32	30-32	30-32	30-32
Cobbler/clogger	1	33-35	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tinker	1	36-38	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tailor	1	39-41	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joiner	1	42-44	-	33-35	-	-	-	-
Thatcher	1	45-46	-	-	-	-	-	33-35
Quack	1	47-48	-	-	-	-	-	-
Pedlar	1	49-56	33-50	36-50	33-50	33-50	33-50	36-50
Herbalist	1	57-60	51-56	51-56	51-56	51-56	51-56	51-56
Local merchant*	1-2	61-65	57-65	57-65	57-65	57-65	57-65	57-65
Masons, diggers, and  carpenters	4-16	66-68	66-67	66-67	66-67	66-67	66-67	66-67
Scribes	1-2	69-71	68-69	68-69	68-69	68-69	68-69	68-69
Bandits	3-30	72	70-72	70-72	70-72	70-72	70-72	70-72
Nobles*	1	73-74	73	73	73	-	-	-
Church dignitaries	1	75	-	-	-	-	-	-
Noble hunters	2-20	76	74-76	74-76	74-76	73-76	73-74	73
Knights on expedition	1-2	77	77	77	77	77	75-76	74-76
Robbers	**	78	78	78	78	78	77-78	77-78
Sherriff*	1	79	79	79	79	-	-	-
Bailiffs*	1-2	80-81	80-81	80-81	80-81	79	79	79
Steward*	1	82	82	82-83	82-83	80-81	80-81	80
Purveyors*	1-3	83-84	83	84	84	-	-	-
Messenger	1	85	84	85	85	82-83	82-83	81-82
Patrol	**	86-88	85-88	86-88	86-88	84-88	84-88	83-88
Entertainers (minor troupe)	1-4	89-92	89-93	89-93	89-93	89-93	89-94	89-94
Entertainers  (major troupe)	2-12	93-94	94	94	94	94	95	95
Entertainers (players or menagerie)	***	95	95	95	95	95	-	-
Merchants	50-300	96-97	96	-	96	96	-	-
Characters	****	98-99	97-99	96-98	97-99	97-98	96-98	96-98
Pilgrims	10-100	00	00	99-00	00	99-00	99-00	99-00

* -- These persons will have suitable retinues and escorts.
** -- See p. 182,  DMG.
*** -- See listing in article.
**** -- See p. 175,  DMG.

e l e r s   a s   a   p r o f e s s i o n   ( r a t h e r   t h a n   f r o m   n e c e s s i t y   a s   d o   o u t l a w s ) ,   b a n d i t s   c a n   b e   p l a y e d
a s   d e t a i l e d   i n   t h e   M o n s t e r   M a n u a l   o r   i n   t h e
B e s t   o f   D R A G O N ®   M a g a z i n e ,   V o l .   4 .   M o s t
bandit gangs are made up of exmercenaries, deserters from military companies, successful outlaws, landless knights,
and other sorts of dangerous malcontents.

D i g n i t a r i e s
Wayfaring adventurers might also meet
up with people of considerable importance,
traveling in a style befitting their rank.
Although these important personages are
unlikely to have much time for common
soldiers-of-fortune and riffraff adventurers,
these encounters give the opportunity to
make influential friends (or powerful enemies), and can result in some interesting
commissions for a party.

N o b l e s   a n d   r e t i n u e s :   In medieval England, important lords (those with the rank
of baron or above) often had many estates
scattered over the country. This aspect of
royal policy made the nobles easier to control, as it deprived them of compact individual power bases, lessening the chances of
rebellion. In France, on the other hand,
where individual nobles controlled vast
blocks of land, they could defy royal authority with impunity (and often did so). The
only exceptions to this rule were the Lords
of the Marches, who controlled counties on
the borders with Scotland and Wales. These
lords needed their resources to counter
foreign attacks. With the ever-present  threat
of raids on their domains by the Welsh and
Scots, it was felt that these lords would not
be free to rebel anyway.

Instead of having all their dues sent to a
central collection point, it was common
practice for lords and their followers to
spend much time traveling between estates,
literally eating their dues when they stayed
at an estate for a few days before moving on
to the next one. This custom applied even
to kings. In the year 1299-1300, for example, King Edward I changed his abode 75
times without leaving the kingdom, moving
on the average three times a fortnight.
Purveyors (see below) would go on ahead of
the main party, requisitioning carts (often
for no payment) and demanding corn, hay,
oats, beer, and meat from unfortunate
peasants.

Nobles and their ladies traveled in fine
carriages (costing up to 24,000 gp in
AD&D® game terms) as well as on horseback. Their accompanying retinues could
be very large indeed. The king, for example, was preceded by two dozen archers and
accompanied by his foreign marshall (his
military commander in the field), inner
marshall (responsible for royal palaces and
castles, whose duties included keeping them
free of courtesans), chamberlain (chief
accountant), marshall of the hall (to eject
dogs and unworthy persons from the royal
presence), steward (the organizer of the
trip, who informed sheriffs and other notables who were expected to entertain the
king's party of his forthcoming arrival), and
chancellor (chief dispenser of justice), all of
whom would have servants of their own. In
addition, there would be a host of knights,
squires, clerks, valets, grooms, carters,
porters, falconers, huntsmen, messengers,
bakers, and kitchen servants.

The retinue proper would be followed by
parties with lawsuits, out-of-favor nobles
seeking to reinstate themselves with the
king, and other types of petitioners and
solicitors. This latter group spent much
time quarreling, robbing, murdering, and
generally making themselves (and the king)
unwelcome. King Edward II, in the ordinances of his household, ordered that these
"men without a character" should be put in
irons for 40 days and be fed only bread and
water. He also forbade those who traveled
with him, his knights, and servants to bring
a wife with them, unless she had a post or
employment at court. Nobles might also be
traveling to important functions, such as
weddings and tournaments; to attend parliament; or, to visit other nobles or important personages.
Lesser nobles, including church dignitaries (who would also be important landowners), would travel in similar style,
though on a smaller scale. The Bishop of
Hereford, for example, had 40 servants,
most of whom accompanied him on his
travels. They included the bishop's champion, who fought for him in judicial duels.

Noble Hunters:  These are either local
dignitaries (with their relatives, friends, or
guests) or members of a noble?s retinue
which is traveling nearby. In either case,
they are hunting for sport and accompanied
by various grooms, huntsmen, falconers,
and other necessary personnel.

Knights on expeditions: Knights could be
seeking adventure for its own sake or be
questing for their lords, for their ladies, or
in fulfillment of a vow. In the former case,
mounted adventurers in knightly armor

c o u l d   b e   c h a l l e n g e d   t o   a n   i m p r o m p t u   j o u s t
i n   t h e   A r t h u r i a n   t r a d i t i o n .   Q u e s t s   c o u l d
range from running down monsters or
b r i g a n d s ,   t o   r e s c u i n g   a b d u c t e e s ;   f r o m   s e e k i n g   r e v e n g e   u p o n   i n d i v i d u a l s   w h o   h a v e
w r o n g e d   t h e   k n i g h t s   t h e m s e l v e s   o r   t h e i r
l o r d s   i n   s o m e   w a y ,   t o   s e e k i n g   k n o w l e d g e
f r o m   e l u s i v e   w i s e m e n .   A l t e r n a t i v e l y ,   t h e
k n i g h t s   c o u l d   b e   o n   t h e i r   w a y   t o   a   m a j o r
c o n f l i c t ,   p e r h a p s   a   c r u s a d e   o r   t o u r n a m e n t .
K n i g h t s   a r e   u s u a l l y   a c c o m p a n i e d   b y   a
s q u i r e ,   a n d   m i g h t   a l s o   h a v e   a   n u m b e r   o f
m e n - a t - a r m s   i f   t h e i r   t a s k   w a r r a n t s   t h e m .

T A B L E   2 :   T E M P E R A T E   C O N D I T I O N S ,   W I L D E R N E S S / C H A O T I C   A R E A S
 

-	No. in  group	Road/ Plain	Scrub	Forest	Rough	Hills	Mountains	Marsh
Carters*	3-12	01-05	-	-	-	-	-	-
Beggars	1-12	06-08	01-03	01-02	01-03	01-03	01-02	01-02
Common hunters	8-48	09-10	04-10	03-10	04-10	04-10	03-10	03-10
Quack	<>	11-12	11	11	11	11	11	11
Local merchant*	2-5	13-17	12-17	12-16	12-17	12-14	12-16	12-18
Masons, carpteners,    and diggers	6-36	18-20	18	17	18	15	17	19
Bandits	20-200	21-25	19-25	18-25	19-25	16-25	18-25	20-25
Nobles*	1-3	26-31	26-27	26-27	26-27	26-27	26-27	26-27
Church dignitaries*	1-3	32-35	28	28	28	28	28	28
Noble hunters	4-40	36-40	29-36	29-36	29-36	29-34	29-36	29-39
Knights on expedition	1-4	41-45	37-42	37-40	37-42	35-38	37-40	40-45
Robbers	**	46-50	43-50	41-50	43-50	39-50	41-50	46-50
Messengers	2-5	51-55	51-55	51-55	51-55	51-55	51-55	51-55
Nomads	30-300	56-69	56-65	-	56-60	56-66	-	-
Merchants	50-300	70-85	66-79	56-62	61-70	67-78	56-62	56-62
Characters	****	86-87	80-84	63-67	71-75	79-83	63-67	63-67
Pilgrims	10-100	88	85-86	68-69	76-83	84-86	68-73	68-73
Tribesmen	10-100	89	87-89	70-90	84-89	87-89	74-88	74-90
Berserkers	10-100	90	90	-	90	90	89-90	-
Entertainers (minor troupe)	1-4	91-92	91-92	91-96	91-92	91-92	91-96	91-96
Entertainers (major troupe)	2-12	93-94	93-98	97-00	93-98	93-98	97-00	97-00
Entertainers (players or menagerie)	***	95-00	99-00	-	99-00	99-00	-	-

* -- These persons will have suitable retinues and escorts.
** -- See p. 182,  DMG.
*** -- See listing in article.
**** -- See p. 175,  DMG.

Robbers:  In less well-governed areas,
travelers were often robbed (and worse) by
quasi-seigneurial bands under knights or
nobles who acted as a law unto themselves.
The bands of these robber barons should be
treated as hostile patrols as per the  DMG.

Officials

A number of officials involved in the
government of the local area may be encountered. They are a good source of information regarding local rulers, but can be a
great deal of trouble to adventurers if affronted, insulted, or annoyed. These official
types include:

Sheriffs:  They are responsible for tax
collection and judging offenses against the
king (robbery, rape, murder, sorcery, apostasy, destruction of bridges and roads, etc.).
Usually powerful nobles in their own right,
they often travel to hold Hundred Courts (a
county being split into several hundreds) in
addition to sitting at the county court.
Sheriffs are fighters of level 7-10, accompanied by 1-3 bailiffs (fighters of levels 2-3; see
below), 2-4 scribes, 2-5 servants and 3d4+3
men-at-arms.

Bailiff's:  They work under sheriffs, apprehending lawbreakers and collecting taxes.
Bailiffs are fighters of level 2-3, and each is
accompanied by 1 scribe and 2-5 men-atarms.
Stewards:  They are appointed by important nobles having too many estates to
manage personally. They visit their lord?s
manors to formulate and implement agricultural policy, convene the manor court in
the lord?s absence, ensure that services due
are being rendered and that the lord gets
(and keeps) his due, and hear the accounts
of the village reeves. They are fighters of
level 3-6 and are accompanied by 1-2
scribes, 2-5 servants, and 2-8 men-at-arms.

Magistrates:  They also travel to dispense
justice, and are often installed by the king
to curb the power of influential sheriffs.
Their statistics are as for stewards above.

Purveyors:  They precede noble retinues,
having writs to requisition carts and provisions. They are thieves of level 3-6. Opposing a  bona fide  purveyor carries a stiff
penalty, but there is a 30% chance that any
such character encountered is a charlatan.
Messengers (level 0, AC 8, 2-5 hp, armed
with daggers and swords): They are employed by nobles, officials, or church dignitaries, and carry tokens designating their
status. They are always mounted in wilderness areas, though in settled areas there is a

15% chance they are on foot. Hindering
them in their tasks carries stiff penalties, but
could provide useful information. Merchants and important tradesmen also use
messengers on occasion, but they usually
don?t enjoy the same protection under the
law.

Patrols: These are as described in the
DMG,  p.182.

E n t e r t a i n e r s

Many different types of entertainers can
be found traveling between markets, fairs,
towns, festivals, and banquets at wealthy
houses. They have much interesting information concerning local towns, and they
possess a wealth of juicy gossip. Details of
rich residences (including layouts) which
they have visited are of special interest to
thieves. Entertainers are likely to travel in
bands, increasingly so as the following list
progresses:

Minstrels and bards:  They sing and recite
the deeds of heroes. Bards had their own
guild in England until the sixteenth century,
complete with a guild marshall and two
wardens. Famous practitioners are in great
demand among cities and noble houses.
They are bards, fighters, or thieves of levels
1-8.

Conjurors:  They could be charlatans, or
they could be magic-users or illusionists of
levels 1-2.

Bearwards:  They display performing
bears or other animals. They are level 0,
AC 8, 4-7 hp, typically armed with staves,
daggers, or whips.

Jugglers:  Depending on their ability, they
may handle anything from apples to deadly
sharp knives.

Fire-eaters:  Performers who are able to
breathe flames from 2? to 8? in length.

Tumblers and acrobats:  A group of these
would make a good cover for members of
the thief-acrobat split class.

Jugglers, fire-eaters, tumblers, and acrobats are all either level 0 characters (2-5 hp)
or thieves of levels 1-3, AC 10 (though
dexterity will lower this), typically armed
with daggers.

Traveling players:  They perform plays
based on legends or important historical
figures. They could also be commissioned to
perform plays lampooning certain characters by their political opponents. They
travel in bands of 10-30 and have wagons to
transport scenery, costumes and props.
Players are level 0, AC 8-10, 2-5 hp, and
are typically armed with daggers or peasant
weapons. The leading actors could be fighters or thieves of up to 5th level; various
weapons, and armor as good as AC 4, could
be found among the props.

Traveling menageries:  These are the
forerunners of zoos and circuses. The animals would be transported in wheeled
cages, accompanied by 1-2 owners (level 0,
AC 10, 2-5 hp, armed with swords or daggers), 3-10 carters, 3-10 animal handlers
(statistics as bearwards), and 3-8 men-atarms. Large menageries could be accompanied by 2-12 conjurors, jugglers, fire-eaters,
umblers, and acrobats, so as to make up a
circus.

All of the above wayfarers are included in
the accompanying tables, which can be used
whenever an encounter with men (including
patrols and characters) is called for by the
DMG  or FIEND FOLIO® Tome encounter
tables. Those groups not mentioned in the
article should be played as outlined in the
Monster Manual.

In a well-structured campaign, the comings and goings of important personages
who are integral to an adventure plot are
preordained to a large extent. When an
encounter with an important personage is
called for by the encounter tables given with
this article, this could be an opportunity to
call into play an existing noble who isn?t
doing very much at the time. Alternatively,
the personage encountered could be ?just
passing through,? visiting an existing noble,
or the dice roll could be ignored. When the
encounter tables are used in areas that are
not carefully structured by the Dungeon
Master, as in a campaign based upon
dungeon-delving, the details and goals of
encountered dignitaries can be tailored to
the situation in hand.

The tables here are by no means exhaustive, and refer only to a campaign based on
medieval northern Europe. Various other
types of wayfarers could be added, and
considerable changes must be made if they
are to be used in campaigns with other
backgrounds. In a middle-eastern campaign, for example, grand viziers, slave
traders, and troops of exotic dancing girls
could be substituted for some of the above
types.

These tables show how the standard
encounter tables can be expanded to help a
particular campaign come alive. If this is
done, the background of the campaign
becomes much more real and believable.
Chance encounters with many of these
wayfarers can provide entertaining subplots to the main adventure, information
may be gained to help the main adventure
along. Traveling, especially in settled regions, becomes a much more interesting
occupation, rather than just a necessary
interlude between dungeoneering and city
intrigue.