Random Encounters was the regular cartoon Andy draws for the Song of Steel newsletter. Originally a collection of bored doodlings, their popularity rapidly spiralled out of control in late 2000, and they were added to Andy's website by popular request (under threat of death).

Most of these strips rely on knowing the characters involved (a lot of the fun is seeing people you know in cartoon form), so - as usual - they're accompanied by a short "Director's Commentary". Most recent at top.

	>> About the Job: The Inquisition do not do a great deal at SoS, despite their remit to root out all evil and their great truth-divining powers. Thus it was a nice change to see them turn up at the start of a mission organized by their church, to ensure that there were no commie mutant traitors on the party. Those party members who, despite their best intentions, technically fell into the bracket of "enemy" were not so pleased.
	>> One With The Night is something that this character clearly is not. When embarking on a covert night mission into enemy territory, he cunningly dons his bright white pyjamas, becoming visible from fifty paces by candlelight. This is a more or less true and accurate account. (I can't remember the name of the character - I think it's Yoshi, but I can't say for sure.) I'm not terribly sure that the text is readable. It seemed appropriate to the character, though, so there.
	>> With apologies to Peter Jackson: it would have been a crime of some sort to allow the greatest final chapter to a movie trilogy based on a book of the same name to go without mention in a forum such as this. So I didn't, being a law-abiding citizen as I am. I think this one stands by itself, so there's no Director's Commentary to enjoy here... instead, why not entertain yourself by inventing a new word? Knarp.
	>> Roll up, roll up for the world-famous Random Encounters tryouts! This one just sort of happened. I was trying to draw the Powerpuff Girls and then thought, hey, what if they were auditioning for something that needed people with oversized heads and tiny bodies? The rest, as they say, is history. Except for the part where this only got used because I didn't have time to draw the other Random Encounter that I had planned for this month, which involved Finn and a Cave Troll. Maybe I will draw that if I have time, and can consult with people about costumes, limbs and what other characters were present at the time. Oh, FYI, the two judges are Isaac and Tremayne, both characters of mine.
	>> This strip was a request. Yes, I do do them, if I can't come up with anything funnier. To be honest, it's a lot easier than thinking of something myself. Yurimanu and Caitlin's players asked for this because they've never been in Random Encounters. Except one of them has. But never mind that now.
	>> Crom arer a frog: Does exactly what it says on the tin. Except in character, Crom was actually turned into a frog. Apparently the club represented this by locating an actual frog and putting it in tavern, but this did not last because we do not allow animals at our game. Or something.
	>> This delightful scene is another of those that never happened. Yes, the bold adventurers were in search of an Evil Bandit, and yes, at one point Robin O'Shae (shown here wearing Sinister Coat of Evil and not the bathrobe that he was in fact sporting on the day) was indeed holding an illusory oversized comedy cheque. When they found the bandit he wasn't behind a door, but this is what might have happened if he had been.
	>> Dreadneath Cometh: O beware mortal, for the Dread Lord dost approach, and with him he brings a delightful gift for to decorate your hearth. What exactly is the protocol for joining forces with your archnemesis to defeat a common foe? FIND OUT NOW!
	>> Yellow: No, it's not a Coldplay song, it's something else that I drew after the Fey 24hr. Something about the whole thing just reminded me of a line from the Simpsons... apologies to Mr Greownasinng (or whatever).
	>> Do or do not: There is no try. This is something I drew shortly after the Fey 24hr dungeon and neglected to colour and/or upload because I wanted to take the time and do it right. Also I am lazy. After a certain amount of pestering, here it is. Also available as a desktop wallpaper!
	>> Promise: People who read this comic will fall into two groups. Those who know the joke already, and those who don't. The former will need no explanatory notes. The latter will get none. Still, I've tried to make sure there's at least one joke for everybody.
	>> Sketchbook:Every web artist must, at some point in their career, fail to meet a deadline and put up a half-baked replacement, either an earlier unpublished work or a page from their sketchbook. I have decided to take the ill-travelled middle road, and show you an artificially created page from my imaginary sketchbook.
	>> The Dead Harbinger Sketch: Thrak Thor Stormbringer (left) and another Celt whose name I can't remember (played by Adam, right) discuss the events of the day (centre). Actually happened. Possibly, in the future, the harbingers should be nailed to the perch. Imagine Adam's face is half blue. Maybe it will be, if I ever colour this. UPDATE: My sources tell me I wrote 'Heavenly Choir' instead of 'Choir Invisible'. Somehow this happened between me looking the quote up and typing it into the image. It might get fixed at some point.
	>> Maharg: This really happened, though the punchline was different: "I'm in catchphrase hell!" which seemed funny at the time but didn't really work on paper due to lack of alcohol. Characters featured are Captain Park, played by Sam, myself, played by Isaac, and Si Lloyd's celtic character whose name I can't remember. Possibly Jimmy. (Not Maharg, who wasn't there at that point. He just decided to join in.) UPDATE: Robbie.
	>> Hooray for Fred: The tale of how a nefarious creature of the night got to be in charge of a whole Barony. The three characters in the first panel are three of the representatives from the various Councils (Of Barons and Of The Wise) that were sent to interview candidates for the job - Baron Owen of Celidar, Baron Draco of Greyguard and Some Old Guy Played By Phil. Frederick of Elmsfall is meant to look startled in that third panel, as though he was interrupted in the middle of doing something naughty.
	>> Look-a-likey: The humour here stems from the fact that Kitsune deWinter, the sort-of high priest of the recently-redeemed Dark God Malgarion, has sprouted similar facial hair to the aforementioned non-Dark God. So there. Also contains a bonus secret festive message for eagle-eyed readers (this was the Christmas 2002 Encounter).
	>> GvE: Quite simplistic, though I spent a bit of time colouring it in and deciding on effects (BONUS EXCLUSIVE COLOUR etc). It helps if you know the characters, and it's too involved to go into now (I've decided). Just worth noting that yes, their skin is meant to be that pale. And it's bloody hard to shade. UPDATE: This Encounter now available as a desktop! In 800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x960 sizes. UPDATE UPDATE: I've realised Lilith's face mark is utterly wrong. I promise I'll retouch it when I have the time...
	>> Pie: I was very busy this month. Well, if people are going to pay me actual money for artwork, who am I to refuse? This is a small sample of what I was up to during the time I should have been Random Encounting - a picture that will not be used in the finished book. Still, never mind, eh?
	>> Boooobs: Sort of a companion strip to our first actual strip cartoon, but much funnier because it actually happened. This is the erstwhile Miss Bacon, accompanied by a zombie protrayed most specifically by the good Neil Turner. (Unless it was another Neil. I forget.) This strip sees a return to the classic low-budget, hastily-scrawled crap format of old, including (but not limited to) hand-drawn speech bubbles. Whoo hoo!
	>> Das Wamphyri: Inspired by the 12-hour Vampire-based dungeonaganza (not a real word), here is a special guest star. This strip is in glorious technicolour so you can appreciate the true, wonderful terror. These coloured strips are becomeing something of a habit - I'll have to start slacking off so that people's expectations are not raised.
	>> UltraViolet: I don't have to explain myself to you. Oh - be warned - this is not a small image. 122K.
	>> Fallout: This strip is purely imaginary, and has been created exclusively for the website in order to comemmorate the wedding of Simon and Tina-Jane, who play Meredith and Maeglin. Love and luck to them both!
	>> I need a hug: This little strip, featuring Ludwig, Tandra, Tremayne, Dorgin and an NPC, is true, accurate and word for word. Oh, except it isn't. It's more of a summary. Trust me, if you'd been there you'd be laughing now.
	>> Ahaaaarh!: Well, hello, here's Jack again! After catching up on recent events, Lightning Jack considered his options carefully. Then he went down the pub with his friends. They spend all evening occupying a table in the middle of tavern, shouting "Arrr!" whenever anyone said anything they remotely agreed with. When Armus came in with news of the Regent's location, this strip is exactly what did not happen, but should have.
	>> Now, pay attention: Celebrating the return of the much-missed scoundrel, Lightning Jack. Jack recently spent a year dead (not for tax reasons), and was revived at great personal risk by his ship's cat. Rather than sit around filling him in on the year's events we suggested arranging some sort of presentation, with flipcharts; and here it is. I've had a lot of queries about this one, and I can confirm that the unshaven gentleman in the cloak is indeed one Darinius Vaunt, being someone generally believed to be on top of this sort of thing. What's that? The Dark Fey? Oh no, I'm not explaining that one. Come along to SoS and find out for yourself.
	>> Walk this way: Like the best encounters, this month appears to be a string of implausible and strangely stilted dialogue. It only becomes funny when you realise that it actually happened, and only the exact wording has changed. For those keeping count: Lady One is the lovely Meredith Adelie, while the guy in the sword tabard is Hans Karlos (though he no longer wears that in character, it's the only way I have of distinguishing him). The gentleman under arrest is fairly generic, because he's an NPC and may or may not have changed players since the dungeon.
	>> I got the poison: I got the remedy. I approach this strip with trepidation because I can't decide whether it's really funny of if it's just me, but then I decide that who cares? Random Encounters was always intended to be elitist and clique-y. The crew-cut-coiffed elf is Armus Belgar, master tracker and all-round paranoid unpoisonable bloke. This month he got poisoned. It would never do for word of that to get out, so we invented a dramatic, plausible, yet wholly fictional account of the evening's events. Presented here for your delectation and amusement.
	>> Lord of the Random Encounters: I was scratching my head trying to think of something for this month, when I suddenly realised that we couldn't let that movie arrive unheralded. We proudly present our modest take on the whole damn trilogy, in four panels or less.
	>> Gone in 60 Seconds: I've been assured that, despite my worries, this is a 'gettable' strip. It might help to know that the elf is Tandra, who was recently rescued by her husband - Ludwig, third panel - in record time. Due to confusion that has risen before, however, I should probably mention that the kidnapper is nobody in particular.
	>> It Is Shrimpy!: To commemorate our first langustine player. Soon to come: This beautiful ceramic handpainted plate. I think this works without much prior knowledge, but I'm not terribly pleased with the size of the langustine and dolls in the last panel. Aside from that I don't have to explain myself to you.
	>> Nyoink: Based on a real event, some have claimed it is a joke about not having a joke. Not so: The lack of joke is simply an excuse for the nyoink. Love the nyoink. Fear the nyoink. (I know, I misspelt 'yoink'. Should I care?)
	>> Resurrection Warriors: This isn't funny. It's just cool. When the SOS system was designed, it was intended that resurrections be rare, and they are - we've had exactly three PC resurrections (plus a few granted by/to NPCs). These are they: Vaina Kainen, Meredith deBrounier and Ash.
	>> Through the Stomach: Not a surreal Alice spoof, but rather a variation on an incredibly old joke. It does, however, fit these two characters - Francesca and Tandra - perfectly. This strip has not been printed yet, and is only here by popular demand. My first foray into the webcomic world of cut-and-paste.
	>> Careless Talk: This was not nearly as funny as it could have been. I had the idea of pastiching those old WW2 propaganda posters (our fantasy world is currently at war, you see), and selected random characters to put in it. I could have used some specific characters who had, recently, passed information on to the empire. But I didn't. 'Toga' is there because the empire is modelled on ancient Rome.
	>> Big Cash Prizes: This should stand alone, but may need a little explanation to fully appreciate its full, rounded goodness. Basically, adverts like this actually happen. This struck me as, well, tactically unsound. So anyway, the characters involved here are (in order of appearance): Maeglin; Francois (with big comedy moustache); Zed; the Evil Elf of Allen El-Sour (Joran?). Zed's line is a tribute to the comedy blockbuster, 'Dungeons & Dragons'.
	>> The Big Fairy: By popular demand. This month, SOS went to the Land of Faerie, home of the Sidhe. Also known as Sidhe, home of the Faerie. There was a whole plot involving Francois, the official Hardest Man Alive. People requested a Random Encounter touching upon this unlikely combination. Me being the attention whore that I am, I could not refuse.
	>> Strip me, baby! Here we see Andy experimenting with the strip format. As a further experiment, this one seems to work with almost no previous knowledge.
	>> To enjoy this cartoon you really need to know that the Stormbringers are the three characters on the right, and that they are Dwarves.
	>> FIGHT! - This one's already been on display in the gallery, but it was lonely for its friends. This actually happened in-game, although without Rex The Runt in the background or health bars.
	>> The now-famous PokéSOS strip. I think this one requires more knowledge of Pokémon than SOS, so for club members I will identify the second humanoid character as the late Balthazar (I had a few puzzled looks at the time).
	>> Zed's good day baffled a lot of people, and was never really meant to be published: I missed a deadline, so we grabbed one off the floor. The general joke is that Zed, the fellow on the left with the pentagram on his face, has just sown sedition and hatred amongst the party of miscellaneous people on the right. He is pleased. If I had this to do over again, I would (a) use recognisable characters and (b) MAKE IT FUNNY.
	>> The Second Ever Random Encounter introduced the Musketeers from our world (who have not, incidentally, ever seen a musket) to Dogtanian and the Three Muskerhounds.
	>> The First Ever Random Encounter pitted the undead-hunting Witchfinder Zell against hordes of undead. Like the best jokes, this actually happened: after being beaten into the ground by undead zombies, at the eleventh hour Zell remembered could cast the 'Dismiss Skeleton' spell. Alex, Zell's player, will never live this down. At least, not while I draw breath.