Encounter Builder

How the D&D 5e Encounter Calculator Works

This encounter builder uses the official Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rules for calculating encounter difficulty. It follows the guidelines in the Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG, Chapter 3) for building combat encounters.

XP Thresholds by Level

Each character level has four XP thresholds: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Deadly. The party's total threshold is the sum of individual thresholds for each party member. The encounter's total XP is compared against these thresholds to determine difficulty.

Adjusted XP for Multiple Monsters

When there are multiple monsters in an encounter, the effective difficulty increases because the action economy favors the side with more combatants. The encounter builder applies multipliers based on the number of monsters:

• 1 monster: x1 multiplier
• 2 monsters: x1.5 multiplier
• 3-6 monsters: x2 multiplier
• 7-10 monsters: x2.5 multiplier
• 11-14 monsters: x3 multiplier
• 15+ monsters: x4 multiplier

Difficulty Levels Explained

• Easy: The party won't break a sweat. Resources are barely taxed.
• Medium: A fair challenge with some risk but unlikely to be lethal.
• Hard: A serious fight. Characters may go down, and there's real danger of death.
• Deadly: Potentially fatal. One or more characters could die. Use with caution.