Random events

Random events in RuneScape are described by Jagex as being "the occasional strange event happening near you" though a more accurate description would be "the occasional strange event happening TO you". According to official Jagex announcements in the past, Jagex originally installed them into the game in what is now known as RuneScape Classic (which still exists and was the precursor to RuneScape) in order to combat players that cheated through the use of computer programs that allowed them to use their character to play without the need of human interaction.

While playing RuneScape you might experience a strange, unexpected event, or notice something peculiar taking place nearby. These random events will typically involve the sudden appearance of an unusual animal or person, who will ask you to perform a quick task for them or solve a puzzle. Completing the event won't take long, and if you're lucky you may well profit from it! Make sure you keep your wits about you, though, because random events can happen at almost any time and in almost any place.

List of Events
Gift givers are NPC characters that may quickly appear at any time or anywhere in RuneScape to teleport you away to perform some task for them. If you are teleported away, you cannot resume normal gameplay until you've finished the task.

When a player successfully completes a random event, they will be given a Random event gift, which will contain a selection of rewards to choose from. The reward options are randomised, but players with higher skill totals will generally be offered better rewards, especially if they have a record of passing random events.

If you fail to complete the given task, or just don't speak to the NPC, you might end up finding yourself atop the Wizard's Tower or Ice Mountain, without any rewards.


 * Certers: Involuntary task.

Speak to Giles, Miles or Niles and get a small reward. Ignore any of them and they'll turn all the items in your inventory into notes (including your weapon if notable!) and teleport you to a distant land.


 * Drill Demon: Involuntary task.

Complete his callisthenics tasks and get teleported back from whence you came and get a Random event gift. Ignore him and you cannot leave his training area.


 * Freaky Forester: Involuntary task.

The Freaky Forester may quickly appear and teleport you off to his wooded realm. Kill the pheasant he asks you for to get teleported back from whence you came and get a Random Event Gift. Fail to supply him with the correct pheasant and get teleported to a distant land.


 * Frogs: Voluntary task.

When the player gets teleported to the Land of the Frogs, they have to speak to Frog Herald, which tells them how to solve this random event. The player then has to speak to the frog with the crown, and kiss him/her. If they talk to any other frog in that area, the prince/princess will get angry, and teleport you somewhere, without a reward.


 * Maze: Involuntary task.

The Mysterious Old Man may quickly appear and teleport you into the Maze... run to the centre and tag the spinning box as fast as possible to gain the most reward in coins and items that you can. Move slowly and gain the least reward. Fail to move to the centre in the allowed time you will get no reward. If you don't want to finish talk to Mysterious Old Man you can be teleported a random place in RuneScape.


 * Mime: Involuntary task.

The Mysterious Old Man may quickly appear and teleport you to the Mime... and you must mimic his movements to receive a Random Event Gift and be teleported back from whence you came. Fail to accurately mimic him and you'll eventually fail and be teleported away to a far off location from where you were.


 * Pirate's Combination Lock: Involuntary task.

Speak to Captain Arnav and solve his puzzle to receive a Random event gift. Fail and he'll teleport you away to a distant land. After he bonks you over the head with his bottle.


 * Quiz Master: Involuntary task.

The Mysterious Old Man may quickly appear and teleport you to the Quiz Master... solve his questions, and the player gets a Random Event Gift. before being teleported back from whence you came.


 * Sandwich Lady: Involuntary task.

The Sandwich Lady will appear, and teleport you to her very own café. Here, she will ask you to choose one of her breads. If you choose the correct one, you will get teleported back to where you were. If you don't, you get teleported somewhere far away.


 * Evil Bob: Involuntary task.

Evil Bob may quickly appear and teleport the player onto his private island for servitude. Pick up a small net and catch Bob the correct fish (ask the servant what fish he wants) then "uncook" them before giving them to Bob. Do this until he falls asleep and step into the portal to return with a Random event gift. The player's character will blow Bob a raspberry on the way out.


 * Surprise Exam!: Involuntary task.

The Mysterious Old Man may quickly appear and teleport the player into the classroom of Mr. Mordaut. Answer his three questions correctly to get a Random event gift and be teleported back after exiting from the door the good professor indicates.


 * Beekeeper Involuntary task.

The beekeeper may appear and require help in assembling a beehive. Use the controls to assemble the four parts into one unit. Fail and be mercilessly stung by bees until running to the water!


 * Grab the Evil Twin: Involuntary task.

Molly may quickly appear and teleport the player off to help her capture her evil twin. Use the control panel in the next room to capture her twin and to be sent back with a Random event gift. Fail two attempts and she will complain before teleporting the player off to a distant land. Do nothing and be stuck there forever! Luckily, when you first get teleported you can simply go through the door to make the event go a lot quicker. Molly will ask if you know what you're doing in the room, simply answer yes... be sure to note what she's wearing beforehand however, that's the outfit for twin you need to drop into the cage.


 * Pinball: Involuntary task.

The Mysterious Old Man may quickly appear and teleport the player into the gigantic pinball machine. Tag the 10 poles in order when the glowing rings appear before exiting which will teleport back with a Random event gift. Try to leave early or tag a pole out of order and the score will be reset.


 * Leo the Gravedigger: Involuntary task.

Leo the Gravedigger may appear and quickly teleport the player into his graveyard. He needs each of the five coffins to be placed in the appropriate graves before he'll teleport the player back from whence they came with a Random event gift. Failing to place any coffin in the right spot or doing nothing, will result in being unable to leave (check with Leo to see what is what)! There is a very convenient Bank Deposit Box to deposit items into, so use it if inventory room is needed.


 * Pillory: Involuntary task.

A pillory guard may quickly appear and teleport the player into a Pillory cage where they are forced to solve the locks to escape. Match the appropriate key with the shape on the spinning locks to solve them. Failing the locks or doing nothing will result in the player being stuck there forever while a tramp and any passing players may mercilessly pelt them with rotten tomatoes. Solve all the locks and be teleported back with a Random event gift given as a reward.


 * Prison Pete: Involuntary task.

Evil Bob may quickly appear and teleport the player into the prison where Prison Pete awaits help in escaping. Throw the wall mounted lever to see what balloon animals to pop and give each key to Pete. When you've gotten the 3rd correct key for Pete, move through the gate to the portal where you'll be teleported back to where you were. Fail by getting too many wrong keys and you'll be teleported to a distant land.


 * Lost & Found office: Involuntary task.

While attempting to do any task such as teleport to a city or cook fish on a stove, you may get teleported away and be stuck in the RuneScape Teleportation Matrix. The solution to this problem is simple: simply tug on the one pole that's unlike the other three and you'll be teleported on your way back to your original destination or to your original location with a reward of some runes. If you are being teleported to the essence mines when this event occurs your reward will always be pure or rune essence with the amount calculated by dividing your Mining level by five and rounded down. (minimum of 2 essence).

Discontinued Events
Some random events proved to be so complicated or irritating to many players (or were completely ineffective as a deterrent to macroing) that they were discontinued by Jagex. Some random events have also been refitted or "tweaked" over time... sometimes in an effort by Jagex to streamline them so that they weren't too much of a hassle to players but often also to throw off cheaters that used programs to play the game for them. Ultimately though, much of this tweaking proved to be an exercise in futility because the cheaters could usually reprogram the code they used to cheat so fast and redistribute it over the Internet (often in 12–24 hours!) that it negated what Jagex had done. In any case, here's a short list of some of the events that were taken out of the game by Jagex... and are now in the history books.


 * Dr. Ford: Involuntary task.

Dr. Ford would appear and teleport you away from where you were for a short test if a stray wood or rock shard should hit you in the head while you were mining or woodcutting. Unfortunately, he also often teleported the player back into an area of RuneScape that he/she was NOT at when he came along to intervene, even if the player correctly guessed how many fingers he was holding up, which tended to enrage legitimate players because it wasted their time by making them go all the way back to the location where they were before the event.


 * Tangle Vine: Involuntary task.

The Tangle Vine was discontinued because many players did not understand how it worked. Walking or running while in the tangle vine would cause very rapid damage to the player and because of this, many players died very quickly. Some players also took advantage of it and encouraged players to run away so they could collect their items after they had died. Though the Tangle Vines were discontinued, they were referenced to in construction as a trap for the dungeons. The solution to the Tangle Vine was to simply NOT move until the event ran its course.


 * Candlelight: Involuntary task.

Was originally introduced on 20 February 2006 - unknown removal date. This event was removed quietly by Jagex at an unknown date. Pious Pete would teleport you away to his church where players would have to help him keep his candles lit in a draughty room. This random event also tested the patience of most players due to the fact that, while lighting the candles was fairly straight-forward, they were all too frequently blown out by the wind requiring the player to constantly relight blown out candles.


 * Genie: Easily avoidable.

Speaking to the Genie would cause him to give you a lamp that you could rub for free experience points in a skill that you chose. Ignoring him would result in him teleporting you to a distant land or scattering your inventory over the ground near you. After the update he still appears if the lamp is chosen as the reward from a random event gift box, though now he immediately puts the lamp in your inventory and vanishes.


 * Axe handle/Axe head: Only occurred when Mining or Woodcutting. It was removed on July 17th, 2007. This event was installed to combat players that cheated by using bots to cut logs for the gain of a "main" character or to sell for real world money. Unfortunately, many players that weren't cheating were negatively affected as they would frequently lose an expensive component of their axe such as a Dragon axe head, costing them a considerable amount of money to purchase a new axe. Jagex eventually chose to remove the event for this reason and because it wasn't doing much of anything to actually stop bots anyway (see the official news archives for details) as some advanced bots were programmed to pick up the fallen axe head and reattach it. This event was eventually removed after the introduction of the costly Dragon Axe.


 * Security Guard: Easily avoidable.

Speak to him for a reminder to set your recovery questions and some coins or items. Ignore him and he'll attack you! Feel free to run away from him, though he will pursue you until you get a healthy distance away. The Protect from Melee prayer nullifies all damage by him. A Security Guard can be killed but there is NEVER a drop! (Extra Note: you must right click to talk to this NPC).


 * Exploding Rock: Only occurred when Mining.

If the player continued to mine a "steaming" rock, it would explode, breaking their pickaxe as well as damage the player. If a player was LOW on hit points, the explosion could kill them. The solution was to step away quickly and move to another rock or wait until the rock stopped steaming before resuming an attempt to mine it for an ore.


 * 'Poison Gas: Usually occurred when Thieving (though there were other times poison could crop up such as during certain quests - usually involving a chest though). This was a members only random event. You would have to step away 4 or more squares from the chest that you were attempting to pilfer or you would be poisoned to death as the poisonous gas hit between 2 & 3 per round (as if you were in combat).


 * Ent: Only occurred when Woodcutting.

If any player continued to cut the tree after the tree ent appeared (you could see the Ent's arms swinging and the red eyes & mouth on the tree trunk), their axe would be broken. Simply stepping away from the tree and moving to another tree or waiting until the Ent disappeared was the only solution to this random event. Note that ANY player could have suffered a broken axe from an Ent, not just the player that set off the random event in the first place.


 * Rick Turpentine: Easily avoidable.

Players would speak to Rick Turpentine after being hailed by him and they would gain some items or coins. Ignoring him would make Rick Turpentine attack you with his crossbow. Players could feel free to run away from him, though he would pursue you until you got a healthy distance away. The Protect from Range prayer nullified all damage from his crossbow. He can now be found in the Port Sarim maximum security prison, sharing a cell with a mugger who he says he enjoys watching die even though he just comes back.


 * Lost Pirate: Easily avoidable.

You had to speak to Cap'n Hand and you would gain some items or coins. Ignoring the pirate resulted in him attacking you with his crossbow. Running away resulted in Cap'n Hand pursuing the player until they were a good distance away. The Protect from Range prayer nullified all damage from his crossbow. He can now be found sharing a cell with a pirate in the Port Sarim maximum security prison.


 * Mysterious Old Man/Strange Box: Involuntary task.

The Mysterious Old Man quickly appeared to stuff a Strange Box into your pocket. The player had to solve the simple puzzle to gain items or coins. Failing to open the box by answering incorrectly or in a timely manner and it would replicate itself endlessly until your inventory was full! Then it would start doubling up on itself relentlessly. There were two solutions, either solve all the boxes or die with them in your inventory.


 * Drunken Dwarf: Easily avoidable.

You had to speak to the Drunken dwarf after he would hail your for your attention and he'd give you a beer and a kebab. Ignore him and he'd attack you with a ranged attack though Protect from Range prayer would nullify all damage. You could feel free to run away from him, though he would pursue you until you got a healthy distance away.


 * Strange Plant: Easily avoidable.

(members only) When you move to perform almost any task, you might have been interrupted by the sudden growth of a strange plant next to you. Picking the Strange fruit after it was fully grown on the plant would prevent the plant from attacking you and it will wither away until it disappeared. Ignoring the plant or failing to pick the fruit in a timely manner... and the plant would sprout legs to attack you! The plant would Poison you if it hit for damage and it could kill you. Slaying it using Ancient Magicks was the only way to kill it but you could also feel free to run away from it, it wouldn't follow far. Protect from Melee prayer nullified all damage.


 * Big fish: Only occurred when Fishing.

While fishing, a large fish would sometimes appear in a fishing spot and grab the player's fishing equipment in its mouth, then it spit the gear somewhere nearby, usually 3 to 10 squares away up on the riverbank. When this happened, the player simply had to find their equipment and pick it up. After 30 seconds, any player could pick it up. When the player had found the equipment, then they could go back to fishing. When this event happened, the fishing spot would often move to a new location as well.


 * Watchman: Only occurred when Thieving.

The Watchman is a former random event that appeared during Thieving, similar to other guardian events such as the Rock Golem. His level was the same as all other random events and differed depending on the player's combat level. He was removed due to players complaining about him killing them too quickly when they were pickpocketing while staying at a low Hitpoint points level and wearing no armour.


 * Rock Golem: Only occurred when Mining.

This NPC appeared when you attempted to mine an ore. You could run away or fight it to the death. Protect from Melee or Protect from Range prayer could be used to nullify all damage. The Golem mainly attacked with melee, however it could also range the player by tossing small rocks from a distance so it was important to have the Protect from Range prayer engaged if you ran away and were low on hit points.


 * River Troll: Only occurred when Fishing.

This NPC appeared when you attempted to catch some fish. You could run away or fight it to the death. Protect from Melee prayer nullified all damage.


 * Tree spirit: Only occurred when Woodcutting.

This NPC appeared when you attempted to cut logs from a tree. You could run away or fight it to the death. Protect from Melee prayer nullified all damage.


 * Shade & Zombie: Only occurred when a player buried bones.

Either of these NPCs could appear when you buried any bones. You could run away or fight either of them to the death. The Protect from Melee prayer nullified all damage. The shades have been installed to the 4th level of the Stronghold of Security so that players can now slay them for the now untradable Shade Robes that shades sometimes drop upon death.


 * Evil Chicken: Occurred at any time, anywhere.

The Evil Chicken would appear when you were doing almost anything in RuneScape, along with training any skill in general and as well as any resource gathering you might be doing. You could run away or fight it to the death. Protect from Magic nullified all damage. The evil chicken can now still be found in Evil Chicken's Lair, as part of Recipe for Disaster.


 * Swarm: Occurred at any time, anywhere.

Although not very dangerous, the swarm could not be hit by any attack from any player and eventually, if no action was taken, it might have killed lesser players that were really low on hit points. Swarms stopped players from being able to thieve, hunt, farm, etc. High level players could choose to ignore it while they completed their tasks (the swarm weren't very likely to do damage to a high level player) or anyone could simply run away from it. Ever since the swarm was removed, it has since appeared in Musa Point (for free players as well) as a non-attackable monster.


 * Whirlpool: Occurred when Fishing.

You made an attempt to fish somewhere and suddenly a Whirlpool appeared at your fishing hole. Players could often step away quickly once they saw the Whirlpool appear to avoid losing their fishing gear but sometimes the fishing equipment would be sucked up by the Whirlpool, out of your inventory. It was either lost straight out or would be tossed up onto the riverbank as in the Big Fish random event.

Grand update (25-02-09)
Some random events have been removed from the game. Poison-gas chests, smoking rocks, broken pickaxes and ents became things of the past. Though, you'll still be able to obtain shade robes, strange fruit and security books; they do not discontinue any existing rewards.

All Broken axes and Broken pickaxes were replaced with a fixed pickaxe and hatchet, unless the players only had the handle, in which case the handle was deleted.

Old random events can still be visited today. Some of the guardians, which include the Tree spirit, River troll and Rock Golem, now spend their days in the Enchanted Valley (which you can get to using the fairy rings, with the code BKQ). The more unsavoury types, like Cap'n Hand and Rick Turpentine, reside in Port Sarim Jail. You can still see Dr Jekyll from time to time, dashing to the Varrock apothecary in a desperate bid to keep Mr Hyde in check; and if you're in Karamja to the south-west of Brimhaven, you may come across the strange plant, which still produces rather excellent fruit.

The Drunken Dwarf will also be seen on occasion, staggering about in an erratic fashion. If you talk to him, and he takes a liking to you, he might treat you to a kebab and some beer. The Shade, which would appear when burying bones, is now placed into the lowest level of the Stronghold of Security. It is now the only possibility for obtaining Shade robes.

Trivia

 * In the feast cut scene of the Recipe for Disaster quest, the Duke of Lumbridge gets the strange box random event and Evil Bob teleports Osman away.
 * In Swan Song, there is a cut scene in which the Wise Old Man gets the Drunken Dwarf. The old man replies "I'm not your mate" and kills the unfortunate dwarf.
 * If a player moderator gets a random event that makes the player involuntarily say something, their crown won't appear for that one line.
 * When My Arm is farming his hardy Goutweed in the quest My Arm's Big Adventure, he gets a Drunken Dwarf random event. My Arm will smack the Drunken Dwarf with his arm, knocking the dwarf away from him and off the nearby cliff.
 * Random event clothing can be stored in the appropriate chest in a POH Costume Room (members only).
 * When the Drill Demon event was initially installed by Jagex, for a short time, the camo clothing could be bought or sold though Jagex eventually put a stop to it. The asking price for the original helmet climbed as high as 100K before they were made untradable.
 * It is possible for any player to get more than one random event at a time. This can be accomplished by ignoring a prior event (if possible), standing still in one square, never adjusting your viewpoint, doing the same task for as long as possible, not engaging in any conversation or trade with other players, trapping the NPC behind a door or in the crook of two or more objects such as rocks, trees, walls, etc.
 * The Maze, Mime & Strange Box events were introduced by Jagex on 4 August 2004.
 * The Surprise Exam! random event was introduced by Jagex on 17 July 2007.
 * Bob the Jagex Cat was introduced on a Friday the 13th 2004.
 * If you end up with the Lost & Found office random event, choosing the wrong lever will temporarily lower your Magic skill.
 * Sometimes when you are underwater scuba-diving, random events still show up. But they will have their scuba gear on as well, or changed to 'a swarm of vicious plankton' in the case of the swarm event. {citation needed}
 * During the Evil Bob fishing random event, if you use cooked food on the uncooking pot, it would say "You do not have the required Uncooking level to uncook this. You need a Uncooking level of 50-80... Wait, Uncooking isn't even a stat!"