Reaction rolls in practice (OSR)

Here is a small procedure for reaction rolls.

1. Goals and disposition. Decide (or roll for) goals and disposition, in any order.

2. Role-playing and actions. Ask what the PCs say and do.

3. Roll to persuade and reactions. Roll to see how the NPCs react, if it isn't obvious.

Let's analyze each step.

1. Goals and disposition

Goals could be obvious. A beast is looking for food, or protecting if found in lair. Bandits are looking for easy money, not a bloody fight. Etc. But what if you find a chimera in the woods? Well, Teratogenicon has suggestions of goals for most monster types. Here is one that could work for supernatural, chaotic "monsters" in general.

d6 Goals

1 Hate. I want to destroy all natural creatures.

2 Cruelty. I like to play with my prey.

3 Survival. Everyone thinks I’m a menace. I’ll destroy them before they destroy me!

4 Predator. I kill because I need to eat.

5 Collection. I enjoy a specific type of object (gold, shiny things, iron) or flesh (hearts, eyes, fingers).

6 Fear. I must protect myself from anything that comes near!

Disposition is friendly/hostile. Roll 2d6 as usual. Charisma does NOT affect this roll.

Decide in any order. You can roll for disposition and then decide if the wolf is hostile because it is hungry or territorial, or find a goal (hunger) and then roll disposition (a starved wolf might be aggressive or weak and docile enough to beg for food).

2. Role-playing and actions

Ask what the PCs say and do. This part is role-playing and doesn't require a roll. Do the PCs offer the beast some food? Or prepare their weapons when they see a misshapen humanoid? Etc.

This is the time to consider languages, and maybe also alignment, class, race, etc.

The NPCs reaction will sometimes be obvious - for example, bandits that outnumber the PCs seeing weapons drawn, etc. If not obvious, proceed to the next step.

3. Roll to persuade and reactions

If you are unsure if the bandits will accept a bribe to simply walk away, or if the wolf is docile enough to accept meat from humans, make a roll. You can use 2d6, but since you already have a disposition, a good roll will mean it improves by one or two steps (from hostile to uncertain, for example), and a bad roll means the opposite. Charisma applies here.

Since my current game (Dark Fantasy Basic) uses d20 skills, I just make a persuasion check (DC 15) to change disposition.

Friendly bandits (step 1), when offered a small bribe (step 2) and a bad roll (step 3) will ask for more, not attack immediately. But if they are neutral, a small offer and a bad roll will indicate they require A LOT more - maybe ALL OF IT, while a terrible roll means immediate attack ("you try to fool us? Now die!").

And that`s it for the procedure. 

But let me ramble on a bit. After I show you the 2d6 table I'm using (also Teratogenicon):

Why I´m writing this

I have just realized I had not been not using reaction rules in my current sandbox campaign, defaulting instead to "the NPCs will do the predictable thing according to their motivations and your respond to the PCs according to role-playing".

It works fine. But random encounters become a bit predictable and stale. For example, the PCs encountered some wolves, and I thought the wolves wouldn't approach a big group of humans for no reason. The PCs did nothing, so they walked away. Which was okay - but if I had rolled aggressive or friendly wolves, I could have rolled with it and have a more memorable encounter.

Likewise, when they met a group of clerics when looking for a temple, I made the clerics immediately friendly due to circumstances. But again, what if they were suspicious of the PCs motives? Could be interesting, too. 

I have started thinking and talking online about this... And then I remembered I wrote about this before. But I thought it was worth another post.

Initiative, surprise and single-roll reaction

While I like the procedure outline above, it takes three steps instead of a single 2d6 roll. The results are more nuanced and varied, but maybe you prefer a quicker method. 

If that's the case, just use the traditional 2d6. Do not add charisma unless the PCs win initiative (or surprise etc.) and try to talk to their foes. Add circumstantial modifiers as needed (-4 to +4; e.g., NPC is a guard and PCs are invading, the weapons are drawn, NPC has a different language, etc.). 

Rolling 1 on both dice means an immediate hostility regardless, and double 6s mean a positive attitude, within reason.

Even if you don't want the quicker method, using initiative in this way gives PCs meaningful choices. Do they attack now, or do they concede initiative to a potential enemy?

Alignment

In the absence of explicit goals for most monsters, you can use alignment as an indication. Chaotic monsters are more likely to attack when outnumber, cheat, steal, hide, break promises, etc., while lawful ones might be more honorable even when hostile ("I am bound to defend this bridge with my life, scum! Retreat or perish!")

As I mentioned before, alignment would be more useful if more specific.

Morale and courage

As seen on the table above, "hostile" doesn't mean "attack" necessarily. A weak foe might simply run.

Morale can be used to see how the NPCs respond to a credible risk or threat. You can add Charisma to the roll if you want, or require a Charisma check to trigger the morale roll when in doubt (as always, with circumstantial modifiers).

Recommended reading:

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2016/12/how-to-run-npcs-in-combat-days-of.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2017/09/social-skills-role-playing-versus-roll.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2021/05/monster-statblocks-how-good-is-ad.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-d20-reaction-check-osr.html

https://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2023/03/how-to-handle-parley-as-osr-dm.html