Dragons Are Real

Creature Dispositions

When an encounter or scene takes place the initial disposition of the NPCs or Creatures can largely influence the way the players approach the situation.

As the referee it is sometimes obvious what the starting disposition is. I like to have a little uncertainty in my game, it keeps me on my toes and can give me some juice on how to play it out. There are various ways you can do it, here are some ideas.

Initial Position

The simplest way to determine starting position is roll a single dice low is negative and high is positive, the higher or lower the roll the more extreme it is. In original D&D, they used 2d6, and the GM only rolled the dice if the monsters were both intelligent and confronted by an "obviously superior force", otherwise the default position was they attacked the PC's.

2-5: Negative Reaction
6-8: Uncertain reaction
9-12: Positive Reaction

Later editions expanded this table.

2: Immediate Attack
2-5: Hostile, possible attack
6-8: Uncertain, monster confused
9-11: No attack, monster leaves or considers offers
12: Enthusiastic friendship

This can be expanded to a 3d6 roll.

3: Attacks immediately, fights to the death
4-5: Monster attacks
6-8: Monster is aggressive
9-12: Monster is cautious or suspicious
13-15: Monster is neutral, willing to talk
16-17: Monster is friendly
18: Monster is surprisingly helpful

List of possible outcomes

The game Troika has a d6 table for each creature in the Bestiary with a list of dispositions, or as they call it "Mien". Coming up with a list of 6 for each will take a little preparation or just choose a word from the following list.

Abstracted, Acquisitive, Admiring, Aggressive, Angry, Arresting, Austere, Barbaric, Beatific, Belligerent, Bemused, Bored, Busy, Cautious, Challenging, Childish, Confused, Contemplative, Covetous, Cowardly, Cruel, Curious, Defensive, Depressed, Detached, Dismissive, Disrespectful, Distracted, Distressed, Dormant, Doubting, Drunk, Duplicitous, Ecstatic, Evasive, Exhilarated, Fascinated, Fearful, Flighty, Friendly, Frustrated, Generous, Gossipy, Gregarious, Grieving, Guarded, Happy, Hateful, Heedful, Homesick, Hostile, Hungry, Impassioned, Impassive, Inappropriate, Industrious, Infatuated, Inquisitive, Insolent, Intent, Intolerant, Lazy, Malicious, Melancholic, Mischievous, Nauseated, Oblivious, Observing, Obsessed, Obstinate, Offensive, Overly Friendly, Paranoid, Patient, Perturbed, Petulant, Pious, Playful, Pondering, Predatory, Preoccupied, Probing, Protective, Questioning, Quizzical, Recoiling, Resigned, Rowdy, Rude, Sarcastic, Scared, Severe, Shameful, Sincere, Sinister, Skulking, Sleeping, Smug, Sombre, Spiteful, Stalking, Standoffish, Starving, Stationary, Sullen, Suspicious, Tearful, Tentative, Thoughtful, Threatening, Tired, Tranquil, Transgressive, Unhappy, Unperturbed, Unreal, Unstable, Vicious, Violent, Virulent, Wary, Watchful, Wrathful

The Emotion Wheel

The Emotion Wheel is a tool that helps individuals identify and articulate their feelings by categorizing emotions into core, nuanced variations. There are several variants of the Wheel online. The version I have been using is this one:

emotion wheel

We can use this wheel, handily there are six core emotions which we can pick using a d6 roll.

  1. Anger
  2. Disgust
  3. Sad
  4. Happy
  5. Surprise
  6. Fear

Then roll on the corresponding d4, d6 or d8 table. Each result is further details with a 50:50 result.

Example. Initial roll 1: Anger. On the Anger table a 4 is rolled Mad, another 50:50 roll is made with odds for the first result or evens second result, a 3 is rolled: Furious. This gives us an initial disposition of Ange - Mad - Furious.

Anger

  1. Hurt (Devastated | Embarrassed)
  2. Threatened (Jealous | Insecure)
  3. Hateful (Violated | Resentful)
  4. Mad (Furious | Enraged)
  5. Aggressive (Provoked | Hostile)
  6. Frustrated (Infuriated | Irritated)

Disgust

  1. Disapproval (Judgemental | Loathing)
  2. Disappointed (Repugnant | Revolted)
  3. Awful (Revulsion | Detestable)
  4. Avoidance (Aversion | Hesitant)

Sad

  1. Guilty (Remorseful | Ashamed)
  2. Abandoned (Ignored | Victimised)
  3. Despair (Powerless | Vulnerable)
  4. Depressed (Inferior | Empty)
  5. Lonely (Abandoned | Isolated )
  6. Bored (Apathetic | Indifferent)

Happy

  1. Joyful (Liberated | Ecstatic)
  2. Interested (Amused | Inquisitive)
  3. Proud (Important | Confident)
  4. Accepted (Respected | Fulfilled)
  5. Powerful (Courageous | Provocative)
  6. Peaceful (Hopeful | Loving)
  7. Intimate (Playful | Sensitive)
  8. Optimistic (Inspired | Open)

Surprise

  1. Startled (Shocked | Dismayed)
  2. Confused (Disillusioned | Perplexed)
  3. Amazed (Astonished | Awe)
  4. Excited (Eager | Energetic)

Fear

  1. Humiliated (Ridiculed | Disrespected)
  2. Rejected (Alienated | Inadequate)
  3. Submissive (Worthless | Inferior)
  4. Insecure (Inadequate | Inferior)
  5. Anxious (Worried | Overwhelmed)
  6. Scared (Frightened | Terrified)

#gm