Random encounters/Red Dead Redemption

Random Encounters can be encountered anywhere on the map during your travels. They will be marked with a blue dot (although not all of them) on your map and will ask you for help. The tasks you can carry out for them and not considered side-quests done for Strangers, but rather random encounters that will gain you fame and honour. Let it being know that these missions can be done either way, in ways that either gain the player honor, or cost him/her it. Here are some of the types of tasks you can encounter:

The Beauty and the Wagon
Encountered outside of cities. A woman standing near a wagon calls you for help, when you come closer 4-5 men pop up from behind the wagon and start shooting you. Once you kill them all, you have the choice of sparing the women or killing her for her deception. If you choose to spare her she pleads for forgiveness and offers you money.

Winded Lawman
Encountered in the wilderness, near major roads or intersections. You may come across a crashed wagon with an officer in front of it. The officer will be winded and will tell you that two criminals are making an escape and that they killed his companion. He then asks you to go catch them. You can either kill both criminals and receive less fame/money or you can hogtie them and bring them back to the officer which will reward you with more honor and money. Once you kill or capture both criminals, return to the officer and he will pay you a decent sum of money. In some cases, the Lawman will kill a Hogtied criminal most likely in revenge for his fallen partner.

Escort Mission
You will find a stranded party on the side of the road, usually near a broken wagon, asking for assistance. If you agree, you will let the person ride with you to where they want to go. This encounter is easy to confuse with In Need of a Ride and the Beauty and the Wagon. Usually bandits will attack at some point during the mission. You can fight them, or try to outrun them.

In Need of a Ride
Encountered outside of cities. When you are traveling on a horse, a man or a woman calls you over and asks you for a ride. Once you get closer, he/she runs throws you off the horse and starts riding away. Kill him/her or you will lose your horse. Alternatively, if it is your saved horse, you can whistle ("up" on the D-pad) and the offending party will be bucked off. Be warned, killing the thief after your horse bucks him off will cost you some honor.

Alms from the Convent
Encountered in cities/villages. A nun walks up and greets you, and asks you to accept some money from her in form of appreciation for what you are doing. You can accept the money or walk away. Earns 20 Fame. The item Obscuridad del Santo Andres can also be obtained: "A blessed symbol from a far-off land. Enemies have less chance to hit you." According to the nun she and her sisters raised a collection to help "further your cause in this wicked land"

The Gift
Similar to "Alms from the Convent", a random person, outside a city will run up to you and say he has been looking for you everywhere, he will offer you a gift, which is a Pardon Letter (there may be other unconfirmed gifts) for saving his mother. You may choose to accept it or walk away.

You're That Famous Feller
With high enough fame people may say they have heard of your deeds.

Hangman's Noose
Encountered in the wilderness. A man will ride up to you while you are on a horse and ask you to save his wife/brother/friend from being hanged by a group of bandits. Follow him and he will lead you to a couple of horses/carriage. There are 4 to 5 enemies and a hanging man/woman. Shoot the rope quickly before they die, the easiest way to do so is by using Dead-Eye. Then kill all the enemies and you will be rewarded with Fame. A scripted hanging can also occur if you're near the Hanging Rock.

Kidnapper
While in a city (especially Thieves' Landing), you will hear a woman screaming for help. A criminal has tied her up and is running away with her on his back. Shoot him or Hogtie him and cut her free for a decent amount of fame.

Store Robber
When you are in a city, a store owner might run out and yell that somebody just robbed their store. Catch the robber and bring him back to the store or kill him. You will receive Fame and more cash if you keep him alive.

Horse Jacking
When you are walking in a city, there is a chance that a random pedestrian will run up to you and desperately ask you to get his horse back who just got hijacked by some rustler. Catch/kill the criminal and return the horse for Fame and cash. It may be easier to catch the horse if you lasso or throw a knife at the thief. This will avoid spooking the horse with a gunshot.

Nice Eyes
Occasionally, while in open wilderness, you will hear shooting coming from a nearby camp. The man at this camp will challenge you for money to shoot a number of birds in a faster time than him (Dead-Eye helps a lot). You will receive cash as your reward.

This is probably the easiest way to earn a lot of money in a relatively short time. Every time you fail to kill the birds in the allotted time, you will be given the option of "double or nothing". If you fail the challenge several times in a row, the wagers will have been raised by quite a fair amount. After failing the challenge several times in a row, you must then complete it successfully (most likely with Dead-Eye). You will earn all your money back, but not a lot extra. If you then kill the stranger and loot his body, you will receive a huge amount of money (although you will also lose Honor if you don't wear a bandanna).

The Herbalist
Encountered in the wilderness, a person at a campsite will wave you over and you to help him find a few herbs. Accepting causes a short challenge to start where the player must gather two herbs and run back to the herbalist's camp before the herbalist. You will receive cash as your reward.

The Trapper
Encountered in the wilderness, a person at a campsite will wave you over and ask you to help him gather some pelts. On accepting the challenge, the hunter will give Marston some bait to use and indicate what type of pelts he needs. The player simply needs to use the bait just outside the camp and skin the animals that come.

Treasure Hunter in Need is a Treasure Indeed
While in the open, you might encounter 2-4 criminals holding up a treasure hunter. If you fail to act fast, he will be killed. Help him by killing the criminals and you will receive a treasure map. *hint* The first treasure map starts off the treasure hunting challenge.

It Might Help if you Aim
While in the wild, you will hear gunfire. It's 2 lawmen chasing after a criminal. Shoot him in the leg and let the lawmen finish him or just kill him. You will receive a thanks from the lawmen and some fame. This event is not marked with a blue dot on the map, probably because you can help either the lawmen or the criminal.

Bad Hunter
Outside cities, you might encounter a man on a horse chasing after some animal trying to shoot it. Help him out and you will receive thanks from him. This event is not marked with a blue blip.

The Prey
A man or a woman in the wild be running away, screaming for help. There are some type of animals, such as Wolves, Cougars, Bobcats or coyotes, chasing after him/her. Help out and receive a reward. (Tip: It helps to use Dead Eye to kill the animals rather then manual/auto targeting could potentially target and kill the victim.)

The Duel
Depending on your fame, you have a chance that townsfolk will want to make a name for themselves by killing you in a duel. On encounter they will harass you and challenge you. Once you are dueling, the game goes into Dead Eye mode. You can draw earlier and have less chance of accuracy or draw later but have less time. Mark spots on your target the number is equal to the number of bullets you have in a clip (example: The mouser will give you 15 shots). Once marked John will automatically shoot him. By killing your opponent you receive 50 Fame. You can also disarm him by shooting his hand which is much harder and receive 100 Fame. It is also possible to shoot his hat off if you choose to disarm him but it's unknown whether it gives you even more Fame.

Be the Pimp
While traveling through a village, you might encounter a screaming prostitute and a man with a knife chasing after her. The man will pull her down and kill her with a knife if you don't stop him in time. On success, you will receive both Fame and money. Do not shoot/kill the man, as for this will count as a murder. You must beat him up so he stays alive.

Crazy Dude
In the open, you can meet a guy with a dog that will try to shoot you and tell you to go away. If you fail to proceed, he will start shooting you and his dog will attack you. Kill him and loot the chest he is sometimes guarding or run away. This event is not marked with a blue dot.

Cannibals
A man will ask you if you want to provide him with company; when you get close enough, he will shoot you. If you kill him, you will find a hostage hogtied under the tent and several human bones and heads scattered around his campsite. It has been rumored that with low enough honor, the cannibal will not attack.

Captured Outlaw
A lawmen or soldier in the wilderness will ask Marston to deliver a hog-tied outlaw to a nearby settlement. It is very much like normal bounty hunting as you will be pursued while en-route. The pay and honor are much lower however and it counts for +1 travelers escorted.

Dynamite Delivery
Two gentlemen with a truck full of dynamite will ask you to deliver the truck to a weaponry shop. You must make sure to avoid bumpy paths, or the dynamite will explode. You will be attacked by thieves who will shoot at you.

One Spark
Out in the wilderness, the player may run across a camp with several crates of dynamite and two men preparing dynamite bundles from these crates. If the player sticks around for a minute or so, one of the men will say something to the effect of "Careful, one spark and we'll all go up". Right afterward, the dynamite will explode, taking the camp and the two men with it. The men can be looted afterward, however, they do not carry anything special. This can also be encountered in Mexico, but without the explosion scripting; you can of course shoot the dynamite at the cost of honor. This encounter does not appear on the minimap.

Wild Posse
Usually found riding into town. A group of around four men will be riding along one dragging a lassoed man behind him while the others fire their guns into the air. +100 honor for aiding the victim and preventing the men from terrorizing the town. A posse will also at times, ride through town firing their pistols. If Marston kills the posse he will receive honor and a thank you from the townfolk.

The Supply Coach
When near a store a woman will tell you her supply wagon is missing, you then can press B/Square to accept her job and find out what happened to the stagecoach. When you find the stagecoach it has been attacked by robbers whom you then have to kill. Following this you will have to drive the stagecoach back to the woman for your reward.

Pit Stop
Randomly in the distance a man may ride up, get off his horse, and walk towards a rock. He will then proceed to what appear to be urinating on the rock.

Camp
Occasionally, (most often at night) Marston may wander upon two people setting up camp. They will offer to let Marston stay with them for awhile and if he does, he can sit and listen to them talk about recent events or tell stories of the past, most often about those relating to John's adventures. One should exercise a certain amount of caution, however, as these campsites will sometimes house hostile gangs or cannibals.

Suicide
Occasionally, you may come across someone grieving over a dead body. If you sit there and watch them for a minute (they will not talk to you) the grieving person will either shoot themselves in the head or drink poison. The situations you come upon will vary slightly, as the couple may be two men, two women, or a man and a woman. In almost every case, it appears the already dead person was shot or possibly knifed (due to the pooling of blood beneath them). You can loot the person who commits suicide once they've died, but not the already-dead body.

Scavenger
Occasionally you may come across a man standing searching over a woman's body before jumping on his horse and riding away. You can search the woman's body for a few dollars.