My request is to allow monsters to be added as allies into the encounter builder. Right now I can add a generic character to the party. This helps with the encounter threat level calculation, but doesn't help with the monster's stats. It becomes a pain when you have common monsters that are involved in many encounters with the PCs (such as a spelljammer ship's crew).
I would like the ability to add specific monsters into the party. The monsters' CRs will be taken into account when calculating the encounter's threat level. Stat blocks for the allied monsters will be available in the encounter when you run it, just like with enemy monsters.
I know there are work-arounds, such as adding a generic character to the party, and then adding the NPC's monster stat block into the encounter after I've finished adding enemies. I usually make the NCPs have a 0 CR to try and not throw the threat level of the encounter off and to not mess-up the PC XP. It's a wonky work-around that usually causes me to end up giving the generic characters a 0 initiative and skipping through them at the bottom of the monster list when running the encounter.
Most of the feedback portals were shut down shortly after WOTC bought DDB, unfortunately.
I would love to see this possible, too. In my ongoing campaign, one of my players has a wolf warrior sidekick, and the wizard's familiar is an actual pseudodragon, following the alternate rules in the Monster Manual, with a few hose rules. RIght I do the extra player, who gets an initiative of 0, and add the sidekick and the familiar to the encounter after assessing its difficulty.
In tonight's session, they also had friendly NPCS along; yet another reason for being able to label "monsters" as friendly/allies.
I know that part of the state issue is that there is not currently any office CR to level equivalent, meaning there is no official way to calculation the difficulty level of encounters if "monsters" are allie, or if "villains" are built as PCs. I'm hoping (agains hope) that as they retool for 1D&D WOTC will work on encounter difficulty rules/calculations to make this possible.
I would also like to have the ability to have npc/monsters to be flagged as allies so can make an encounter mix better for difficulty in a larger more complex combat system
It should be noted that the encounter builder is built off of the encounter calculations from the Dungeon Master's Guide/Basic Rules. These do not include rules for adjusting encounter difficulty based on non-levelled allies (ie stat blocks with CR). D&D Beyond cannot fabricate rules and so must follow what exists. If this changes however, I'm sure the encounter builder will be changed to reflect this
But you can chose not to include Monsters in your calculations when doing it on paper.
just having the option to exclude monsters would already help a lot
That's some actionable feedback, so thank you.
I would ask this though; why would that (for you) provide a better user experience when using the encounter builder than just adding those monsters after you've done the encounter difficulty calculations (which is what I do)?
Because when you have multiple allied monster that are pressent for a series of encounters (E.G al the allies in light of xaryxis) it is easier to duplicate the encounter a few times once the allies have been aded and add the enemy monsters later.
Also having this checkbox might make it easier to take them into account if Wotc ever decides to provide a calculation option for allied monsters
This is an older topic, but the issue still remains. To be clear, the issue is adding allies increases the encounter difficulty as the encounter builder always assumes every NPC is an enemy. What would be desirable, is for an "ally/enemy" status for NPCs, so CR calculations wouldn't add allies to the enemy CR calculation. I understand D&D does not give guidance on how to estimate the character level of an NPC for difficulty calculations, nor do they gain experience as they aren't player characters. However, any ally certainly impacts the difficulty of an encounter and most certainly doesn't make the encounter moredifficult. Even if there was an option to simply ignore an NPC, it would be preferable.
Workaround
The only way I've been able to estimate an encounter using the encounter builder (as much as that can be done within the confines of D&D's CR system) is to add the NPC ally as a generic extra party member in the encounter builder, Manage Characters (as opposed to adding them to the campaign, which you cannot do for an NPC, unless you build it as a player character). Determining the character level of an NPC is not defined in D&D, but I generally take a guess, based off of CR and hit dice (CR will be too low, and hit dice too high). Your mileage may vary. However, at this point, the ally is considered positively for the party, instead of positively for the enemies, making the overall encounter less difficult.
In my case, I still revert to the NPC being added to the encounter as an enemy, so I get the stat block and hit point tracker. This is not going to work dynamically, where you are adding or removing enemies or allies using manual entry, as the encounter difficulty doesn't show up while running an encounter. This is only a feature provided while editing an encounter.
Hello,
I'm trying to submit a feature request for the encounter builder. When I go to https://portal.productboard.com/zhxxpmzhv5agnvx5liqv5n8w/tabs/48-under-consideration it says the portal does not exist. I have an account and I am logged into the site.
My request is to allow monsters to be added as allies into the encounter builder. Right now I can add a generic character to the party. This helps with the encounter threat level calculation, but doesn't help with the monster's stats. It becomes a pain when you have common monsters that are involved in many encounters with the PCs (such as a spelljammer ship's crew).
I would like the ability to add specific monsters into the party. The monsters' CRs will be taken into account when calculating the encounter's threat level. Stat blocks for the allied monsters will be available in the encounter when you run it, just like with enemy monsters.
I know there are work-arounds, such as adding a generic character to the party, and then adding the NPC's monster stat block into the encounter after I've finished adding enemies. I usually make the NCPs have a 0 CR to try and not throw the threat level of the encounter off and to not mess-up the PC XP. It's a wonky work-around that usually causes me to end up giving the generic characters a 0 initiative and skipping through them at the bottom of the monster list when running the encounter.
Thank you,
G
Most of the feedback portals were shut down shortly after WOTC bought DDB, unfortunately.
I would love to see this possible, too. In my ongoing campaign, one of my players has a wolf warrior sidekick, and the wizard's familiar is an actual pseudodragon, following the alternate rules in the Monster Manual, with a few hose rules. RIght I do the extra player, who gets an initiative of 0, and add the sidekick and the familiar to the encounter after assessing its difficulty.
In tonight's session, they also had friendly NPCS along; yet another reason for being able to label "monsters" as friendly/allies.
I know that part of the state issue is that there is not currently any office CR to level equivalent, meaning there is no official way to calculation the difficulty level of encounters if "monsters" are allie, or if "villains" are built as PCs. I'm hoping (agains hope) that as they retool for 1D&D WOTC will work on encounter difficulty rules/calculations to make this possible.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
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I would also like to have the ability to have npc/monsters to be flagged as allies so can make an encounter mix better for difficulty in a larger more complex combat system
It should be noted that the encounter builder is built off of the encounter calculations from the Dungeon Master's Guide/Basic Rules. These do not include rules for adjusting encounter difficulty based on non-levelled allies (ie stat blocks with CR). D&D Beyond cannot fabricate rules and so must follow what exists. If this changes however, I'm sure the encounter builder will be changed to reflect this
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
But you can chose not to include Monsters in your calculations when doing it on paper.
just having the option to exclude monsters would already help a lot
That's some actionable feedback, so thank you.
I would ask this though; why would that (for you) provide a better user experience when using the encounter builder than just adding those monsters after you've done the encounter difficulty calculations (which is what I do)?
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Because when you have multiple allied monster that are pressent for a series of encounters (E.G al the allies in light of xaryxis) it is easier to duplicate the encounter a few times once the allies have been aded and add the enemy monsters later.
Also having this checkbox might make it easier to take them into account if Wotc ever decides to provide a calculation option for allied monsters
This is an older topic, but the issue still remains. To be clear, the issue is adding allies increases the encounter difficulty as the encounter builder always assumes every NPC is an enemy. What would be desirable, is for an "ally/enemy" status for NPCs, so CR calculations wouldn't add allies to the enemy CR calculation. I understand D&D does not give guidance on how to estimate the character level of an NPC for difficulty calculations, nor do they gain experience as they aren't player characters. However, any ally certainly impacts the difficulty of an encounter and most certainly doesn't make the encounter more difficult. Even if there was an option to simply ignore an NPC, it would be preferable.
Workaround
The only way I've been able to estimate an encounter using the encounter builder (as much as that can be done within the confines of D&D's CR system) is to add the NPC ally as a generic extra party member in the encounter builder, Manage Characters (as opposed to adding them to the campaign, which you cannot do for an NPC, unless you build it as a player character). Determining the character level of an NPC is not defined in D&D, but I generally take a guess, based off of CR and hit dice (CR will be too low, and hit dice too high). Your mileage may vary. However, at this point, the ally is considered positively for the party, instead of positively for the enemies, making the overall encounter less difficult.
In my case, I still revert to the NPC being added to the encounter as an enemy, so I get the stat block and hit point tracker. This is not going to work dynamically, where you are adding or removing enemies or allies using manual entry, as the encounter difficulty doesn't show up while running an encounter. This is only a feature provided while editing an encounter.