24 More Town Encounters, Day or Night

By request, a sequel to 16 Town Encounters, Day or Night. To skew the use of this list and its prequel in favor of more ordinary townsfolk, simply use this list only when a "random encounter" is called for but otherwise assume there will always there will be some ordinary folk around during the day. Multiply the rolls of two d4's to determine the number. Randomly decide whether they are male or female, and then assume they are "nondescript" unless you think of something better fitting to the situation. At night, there will only be people out and about when a "random encounter" is called for, but alternate or randomly select (50/50) whether to use this table or to randomly roll for ordinary folk.

1. A garish but otherwise well-dressed woman that is 50% likely to be confused as a magic-user or 50% likely to be confused for a haughty courtesan but is actually a goodwife! (F0, 2 hp) Any offensive treatment or seeming threat will be likely to cause the woman to scream for help, accusing the offending party of any number of crimes, assault, rape, theft, or murder. She is 20% likely to know interesting gossip which she will share without hesitation if the NPC reaction result is enthusiastically friendly. A similar result can be obtained by virtually any PC who asks her more about herself and is willing and able to listen to her ramble on for 1-4 turns, but this requires a saving throw vs spell for all listening, those failing affected as if by Feeblemind for 1-4 hours.
2. A swordsman (F4, 14 hp) with a henchman (F2, 10 hp). They can be befriended, even cooperate on some small task as the swordsman is very confident in his skills among other humans, but has a strong fear of the unknown and will not venture outside of town except perhaps to accompany a caravan.
3. A foppish dandy (F0, 4 hp) and 2 sycophants (F0, 3 hp) draw attention with their dress and mannerisms and despite being generally annoying, they aren’t intentionally bothering anyone. Any rude remarks will give offense, and the fop will seek revenge by causing trouble for the party with officials.
4. An old man (F0, 2 hp) with a wooden holy symbol is beseeching alms. There is a 5% chance he will have some useful information for the PCs which he will give in exchange for donations. However any gift or gratuity will attract the attention of 8 other nearby beggars. There is a 25% chance that this is actually a thief (T5, 16 hp) intending to keep any donations for himself and a 5% chance that he is blessed with power equal to one cleric spell usable once per week.
5. A gnome (F1/T2, 8 hp) attempting to sell oddities. There is a 50% chance he is also a tinker and will have some unique items for sale of questionable merit, otherwise he is an adventurer looking to join a party. He is an expert negotiator and will never settle for less than a full share but will over-exaggerate his abilities (in a nonchalant manner) and initially ask for 3 or 4 shares. He will hold the party to any verbal contract. Either way, there is a 25% chance that he is actually an illusionist/thief instead (I1/T2, 8 hp).
6. A dwarf (F2, 10 hp) with a wagon. There is a 75% chance he is a smith new in town with no shop of his own and will try to peddle is wares to the group. His sales skills are subpar and he will seem to desperately over-sell the qualities of his goods, but in truth they are of unsurpassed quality. Otherwise he is an adventurer and his wagon is full of any gear an adventurer could hope for. He will accept one share as fair if the party can demonstrate their skills to him. Otherwise he will insist on 2 shares, and to a fledgling party he be well worth it.
7. 12 fellows of shabby appearance and mean disposition are ruffians. They are armed with hidden clubs and daggers (F2, 8 hp). One of the 12 is actually an assassin (A5, 20 hp). During the day, they will treat peddlers, beggars, and passersby rudely. At night, they will attempt to rob any group half their number of fewer.
8. 3 obvious drunks. 25% likely to be a mercenary (F1, 10 hp), his captain (F3, 20 hp), and a gentleman (F6, 24 hp) celebrating after the closing of some business. Otherwise it will be 3 tradesmen (F0, 5 hp) engaged in revelry. In either case, if addressed by a party member, use the NPC reaction table, treating any reaction bonus due to the PC’s Charisma as a penalty, or any penalty as a bonus. Any neutral result, or any positive result short of enthusiastically friendly indicates the drunks ignore the party. Treat any negative result, including neutral with negative tendencies, as hostile. They will shout harsh words at the party for 1 round. If the party does not leave the area in that time, they will attack. There is 10% chance of sobering up each melee round.
9. Some unknown evil spooks a herd of cattle (HD 3, 8 hp) brought to market for sale and they begin to stampede through the town. Any caught in their path will be trampled by 2d4 individuals taking 1-4 damage each.
10. Highly uncharacteristic, a hellhound (HD 4, 16 hp) will be creating some sort of mischief in town. It may appear day or night. If during the day, it will look for large crowds of ordinary people, especially if such a gathering involves one or more officials, and use its hellish breath to cause as much death and turmoil as possible. If encountered during the night, it will be looking for lone individuals to stalk, frighten, and/or kill. It will avoid churches, temples, or other sacred sites and will shy away from confronting a strong, well-equipped party.
11. A green slime (HD 2, 12 hp) that will either 50% drop down from an eve or canopy on a hapless passerby, or else attack a horse or other animal as it drinks from a water trough.
12. A gargoyle (HD 4+4, 20 hp) will initially it will be walking or flying calmly down the center of a street much to the shock of bystanders and passersby. It will choose some town official or servant of a town official to menace, kill if possible, but otherwise return to its roost, returning each consecutive day to do the same. Even more puzzling is if tracked down, its home is a church, temple, or fane of good reputation and/or in service of a good-aligned deity, or else the very home of the lord of the manor!
13. A ferocious guard dog (HD 2+2, 10 hp)  is running wild through the town. There is a 25% chance he is also carrying some disease.
14. A young male child with a cleft lip (F0, 1 hp) is begging for change. He is capable of picking pockets as a 4th level thief and will attempt to do so to any PC that approaches unless the PC donates 5 cp or more and the NPC reaction result is friendly or better. Each sp in value given beyond the first increases the reaction roll by 5%, so if a full gp is given, the beggar will automatically be enthusiastically friendly. Any gift given is 50% likely to immediately attract 2d8 other children also begging for money.
15. 3 nondescript men (F2, 12 hp) are really fanatics scouting out for people to kidnap for ritual sacrifice. They are traveling in advance of 8 fanatical warriors (F3, 15 hp). Their preferred victims are young, female, and virgins, in that order of preference, with them willing to take a risk for a target that is all three.
16. A lesser-orc or half-orc (A6, 18 hp), who is 50% likely to be posing as human and will be undetectable as anything but. He is willing and eager to join up with any adventuring party. He will join a more powerful party of reputable sort on only one adventure. He will serve faithfully a more powerful party of disreputable sort. Otherwise he will attempt to cross the party and make off with as much loot as possible.
17. An orc (F4, 18 hp, Str 16) will attempt to bully a 1st or 2nd level party into having him join. He will insist on first choice of all loot and keep 2 shares for himself. Otherwise, he will only join a party if he himself is bullied by a stronger group and will accept as little as a half share for himself. Anything less and he will seek to abandon the group at the first opportunity.
18. A well-dressed woman of above average to very attractive appearance is looking for either lone men or men traveling in groups without women. She is 75% likely to either be a typical streetwalker (F0, 2 hp), otherwise she will appear as a woman with genuine interest but who is 50% likely to be a thief (T3, 14 hp) who will swindle her chosen mark out of a substantial sum of coin and valuables.
19. A group of 4 young men who are either 50% well-dressed with rapiers (F5, 5 hp) or otherwise street toughs (F0, 7 hp) are insulting passersby and looking for trouble.
20. 14 nondescript men and women that are actually 10 mercenaries (F0, 5 hp), 3 serjeants (F1, 8 hp), and a leader (F5, 35 hp). It is 70% likely they are employed. Otherwise they will be available for hire.
21. A fighter (F4, 24 hp) and 3 henchmen (F1, 8 hp). They are willing to join up with the party for 5 shares of any treasure, though they can be negotiated down to as low as 3½ shares, provided the PCs have a good reputation. If the PCs have no reputation, the requested shares will be double. And if the PCs are of ill-repute, they will not join up at all. 20% of such persons actually prefer parties of ill-repute and will offer to join such a party for only 3½ shares but intend to cheat the group somehow. In all cases, an NPC reaction check should be made with the die roll adjusted upwards or downwards appropriately according to the party’s reputation.
22. City Guard - 10 guardsmen (F0, 6 hp), a serjeant (F2, 15 hp), and a lieutenant (F3, 15 hp), if encountered by the gate or wall, they will be guarding that area. Otherwise they will question the PCs regarding any past transgressions or conflicts with other townsfolk. If there are no such matters the question the party on, they will question the group regarding some unrelated problem around town. A negative NPC reaction roll will cause them to treat the PCs as suspects and watch them closely in the future. A positive check, and they will let the PCs go about their business and possibly even share additional information with PCs who express an interest in helping. They are accompanied by a magic-user (MU4, 10 hp) who is indentured for 1 year of service due to non-payment of taxes. A separate NPC reaction roll should be made with regard to the magic-user so that it is possible the magic-user likes the PCs while the guardsmen do not and vice versa.
23. City Watchman - A nighttime squad of 10 men (F0, 6 hp) plus 2 serjeants (F1, 6 hp) and a female lieutenant (F4, 26 hp). They are only looking out to help any being attacked or to arrest lawbreakers. Cases of mistaken identity are more common at nighttime, but otherwise they will not molest innocent PCs. They are accompanied by a cleric(C4, 20 hp) who is indentured for 1 year of service due to bad debts.
24. 12 Giant Rats (½ HD, 1 hp) - Living primarily in the sewer tunnels, they can be encountered virtually anywhere at night as they search for food. They generally avoid attacking strong parties unless commanded by a wererat. There is a 5% chance that 1-2 of the rats will actually be wererats (HD 3+1, 12 hp). This probability increases to a 50% chance of there being 1-4 wererats (HD 3+1, 13 hp) during a full moon.