So I tried to use the encounter builder to run a complex fight yesterday; five players vs. five unique NPCs.
Now, leaving aside the fact that this was probably a bad idea to begin with (way too much stuff to keep track of on top of the fight's actual gimmick), I did find the encounter builder frequently got in my way more than it helped. But I've a few suggestions to help streamline it a bit:
Reduce Wasted Vertical Space: Before we even get to the encounter builder we've got the full D&D Beyond header, then another large header for the encounter itself, that's a lot of vertical space before the actual important details are visible. The creature list also has a fairly bulky "manual entry" row at the top, even once the encounter has been started. The header really needs to be made slimmer, and the manual entry row needs to be moved to the end of the character list (at least once the encounter is underway).
Improved List: On top of the wasted vertical space (or because of it?) the character list only shows at most six entries without scrolling; that might be fine for an encounter that's just players vs. a single enemy, but anything more complicated will require scrolling a lot. I'd like to see the list entries made a bit more compact, and the list able to be longer so I can have 10+ entries if necessary and not have to keep scrolling around.
Automatically Show Monsters: When a monster's turn begins, the encounter builder should open the monster stat-block automatically. I had a hell of a time constantly having to open monster blocks as required, I'm also not sure if there might be a bug as half the time I would end up with the wrong block appearing, it seemed like I had to always close the currently open block before I could open one reliably, otherwise I ended up with a random one appearing. But all I really want is for the current creature to have some kind of details show automatically.
Lockable Detail Box: Since auto-showing monsters might not suit everyone (or every encounter), a lock button should allow a monster block to be "pinned" open, with a way to quickly switch between the pinned and current details box.
Player Details: In place of monster stat blocks, selecting a player should show some kind of player summary. Scores/AC/HP are required, but it would also be nice to have a tabbed section that can show a simplified listing for actions and spells (with spell slots and limited uses), plus a section for quickly checking/managing conditions.
The tool definitely has potential, and for simpler encounters it's already pretty good, but it definitely needs refinements to make more complex encounters run smoothly, as I found it was more of an impediment than a help; in the end I found it easier to just open everything in browser tabs sorted by initiative order and just switch between them, though it lacked the live stats doing it this way.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
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So I tried to use the encounter builder to run a complex fight yesterday; five players vs. five unique NPCs.
Now, leaving aside the fact that this was probably a bad idea to begin with (way too much stuff to keep track of on top of the fight's actual gimmick), I did find the encounter builder frequently got in my way more than it helped. But I've a few suggestions to help streamline it a bit:
The tool definitely has potential, and for simpler encounters it's already pretty good, but it definitely needs refinements to make more complex encounters run smoothly, as I found it was more of an impediment than a help; in the end I found it easier to just open everything in browser tabs sorted by initiative order and just switch between them, though it lacked the live stats doing it this way.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.