Writing monster encounter tables is boring (Patreon)

Just thought I'd share my pain with you. 

One of the things I am improving in 0.12, aside from more quests, is a revamp of Abamond. The initial offering will be something like this:

• There will be random encounters each level
• There will be a boss encounter to pass from certain key levels
• There will be collectibles in Abamond that can be turned in for power ups at the curio shop in Port Royale.
• Some sort of mega reward for beating the boss on the 100th level.

The one thing I am struggle with right now is if I should draw the encounters on the map or not. Typically in a classic 'rogue like' the mobs and the fighting all happen on the map, but I'm somewhat against doing the latter because we have a nice combat UI that I'd like to leverage and combat skills I want to build out.

The other option is to do it like a JRPG - where you are traveling and the screen just goes 'ENCOUNTER!' and sends you to a screen. The key here would be to make the pacing not suck.

I'm still stewing this all over in my mind right now, trying to come up with something that I think will be a good compromise and overall enhance those caves. Just thought I'd share!

Mal