Random Table Love

Random Table, oh how I love thee!
Ok, silliness aside, I do really love to use random tables in my White Box game. White Box itself is chocked full of randomness, from rolling up the PCs to finding out if a monster comes down the hall while the party is trying to get the stuck door open. What kind of monster is it, how many are there and what is their disposition to the party...all answers can be found by rolling on the random tables. Several of the products for use with the White Box have even more random tables than thus in the core rules. Say the PC walks into a tavern, lets roll and see what kind of tavern, it's an upscale tavern with a "magic" theme. PC orders a drink and feeling adventuresome decides on something called "lover's leap". Downing the "lover's Leap" drink and failing a saving throw, the referee now rolls on a random table to determine the object of the now enchanted lover's affection. The random table may look something like this:
      1 - hairy gentleman standing at the bar
      2 - a random member of the PCs party
      3 - beautiful barmaid
      4 - wooden bar stool or other inanimate object
      5 - PCs own reflection in the mirror above the bar
      6 - MU seated at a nearby table
Rolling a die 6 or just going with what sounds like fun, the referee announces that the PC will be madly in love with (insert random object of affection) for the next, say 24 minus your constitution score hours. The random table can provide humor, surprise and inspiration for both the PCs and referee and helps keep things interesting. A random table can take the evening's game in a new direction if the referee is willing to improvise. To be most effective the random table should of course be closely tied to the situation at hand.I am especially fond of tables specifically designed for a given locale, encounter, etc. A custom random table is pretty easy to design and can be a way to reflect what is unique in an area. Obviously wilderness random encounter tables should vary according to terrain type, but it may be less obvious that a unique random table for each urban neighborhood or street can give character to the town. Different taverns with different random tables will have a different feel to PCs. Random results determined by the roll of a die is at the heart of the White Box. There is a significant amount of randomness that goes into creating the PC who is never going to be far from the randomness brought about by rolling dice in combat, avoiding misfortune and acquiring treasure. Personally I like to roll with the randomness and go with where ever it takes me, as a PC and as a referee. It is one of the things I really love about the White Box game.