I am using the encounter builder here on D&D beyond and I am just curious as to how accurate it is when it comes to encounter difficulty. I have 6 character that are level 10 in my game and the final boss in the current adventure is going to be a Mummy lord (CR 15). The builder is telling me this is a easy encounter but I also have also used other encounter builders that are telling me this is a hard encounter for 6 character of level 10. I don't know which encounter builder to believe.
What are the other encounter builders you've used?
I input the scenario that you indicated in the DnDbeyond encounter builder and the encounter was rated as a medium (correction-easy) encounter. Also, if you plan to include a lair for the final boss that will increase the difficulty. Most importantly though, most bosses will not fight alone, so feel free to give it some fodder (zombies and the like) to distract your players and make it more challenging for them.
Action economy is a big deal in D&D 5e so the more you can balance the number of actions available to both parties, the better.
edit: I tested 3 other encounter builders and they all came up with easy as well.
The other one I have been using is "D&D_5E_Encounter_Builder_Spreadsheet" that I got from the DM's Guild way back in 2016. When I plug the numbers into that one, it comes up with a hard encounter. It could be outdated which is why I am asking how accurate the builder is on this sight.
I will build up the encounter if I need to but I like to know my starting base before I start adding more critters and other fun stuff (well fun for me anyways. My players may have a different opinion lol). I just don't want to have the wrong starting info and add more critters and wipe my party. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem killing characters but I do like to give them a fair chance :)
Thanks for the info. It seems like the old builder I was using is off.
I am using the encounter builder here on D&D beyond and I am just curious as to how accurate it is when it comes to encounter difficulty. I have 6 character that are level 10 in my game and the final boss in the current adventure is going to be a Mummy lord (CR 15). The builder is telling me this is a easy encounter but I also have also used other encounter builders that are telling me this is a hard encounter for 6 character of level 10. I don't know which encounter builder to believe.
Anyone have any insight into this?
D&D beyond is doing it right. It's 13,000 base xp, halved because the party size is 6 for adjusted xp of 6,500. A medium encounter would be 1,200 adjusted xp per PC or 7,200 adjusted xp. I suspect other encounter builders are not applying the party size modifier.
However, the actual 'easy', 'medium', 'hard', 'deadly' descriptors in 5e are grossly inaccurate, very few sub-Deadly encounters are interesting at all.
Also make sure to add any additional creatures to the encounter builder so you can see the change in real-time! Lair actions are a bit harder to judge. I try to ensure the players aren't just walking into a hopeless situation, but at high levels (like 10th) the line between TPK and 'too easy' becomes very thin lol
Something else I like to do to even the odds for a boss (that casts spells) is give them a spell like danse macabre to give them a strong action advantage for a portion of the encounter.
I am using the encounter builder here on D&D beyond and I am just curious as to how accurate it is when it comes to encounter difficulty. I have 6 character that are level 10 in my game and the final boss in the current adventure is going to be a Mummy lord (CR 15). The builder is telling me this is a easy encounter but I also have also used other encounter builders that are telling me this is a hard encounter for 6 character of level 10. I don't know which encounter builder to believe.
Anyone have any insight into this?
D&D beyond is doing it right. It's 13,000 base xp, halved because the party size is 6 for adjusted xp of 6,500. A medium encounter would be 1,200 adjusted xp per PC or 7,200 adjusted xp. I suspect other encounter builders are not applying the party size modifier.
However, the actual 'easy', 'medium', 'hard', 'deadly' descriptors in 5e are grossly inaccurate, very few sub-Deadly encounters are interesting at all.
Those are good points. I think I will just use the D&D Beyond builder from now on. I usually like to make most of my encounters hard or deadly. Only when I just want to annoy the players will I use an easy or medium encounter.
Also make sure to add any additional creatures to the encounter builder so you can see the change in real-time! Lair actions are a bit harder to judge. I try to ensure the players aren't just walking into a hopeless situation, but at high levels (like 10th) the line between TPK and 'too easy' becomes very thin lol
Something else I like to do to even the odds for a boss (that casts spells) is give them a spell like danse macabre to give them a strong action advantage for a portion of the encounter.
That spell is awesome. I usually DM so keeping track of all the newer spells that come out in each book is a chore. I think I will swap out Contagion and add in Danse Macabre. With a +9 spell casting ability, those are going to be some hard hitting skeletons. more than enough to be a distraction for the mummy lord. I do wonder why it isn't in the cleric spell list as it sounds like a spell an evil cleric would have. Oh well. That;s what I love about D&D. Nothing is set in stone lol.
Incidentally, the encounter size modifier adjustment for party size has severe granularity problems, particularly for single creatures. For 4 PCs at level 10, a medium encounter is CR 9. For 5 PCs, it's CR 11. For 6 PCs, it's CR 16. It should probably be around CR 13-14.
Incidentally, the encounter size modifier adjustment for party size has severe granularity problems, particularly for single creatures. For 4 PCs at level 10, a medium encounter is CR 9. For 5 PCs, it's CR 11. For 6 PCs, it's CR 16. It should probably be around CR 13-14.
That's good info to know. Thanks.
Hopefully when they release 5.5 they will fix CR ratings and calculations.
Incidentally, the encounter size modifier adjustment for party size has severe granularity problems, particularly for single creatures. For 4 PCs at level 10, a medium encounter is CR 9. For 5 PCs, it's CR 11. For 6 PCs, it's CR 16. It should probably be around CR 13-14.
That's good info to know. Thanks.
Hopefully when they release 5.5 they will fix CR ratings and calculations.
Well, you can use the system in Xanatar's. It doesn't have concepts such as a daily budget or easy/medium/hard/deadly (it basically sets all encounters at medium; I suggest building two encounters, both at or slightly below the party's size, and combining them) but it has generally better granularity.
I personally have found the builder OK up to about level 6 characters, in a 4 person party, at least. I have used it to run a couple one-shot's with level 10 and throwing 3 Hard encounters a them DID deplete their resources significantly, but it was a struggle to give them a proper challenge, where anyone ended up in danger of going down, which to me, is when you have the challenge right. Real risk of someone hitting the ground, without making it a near-certainty, lol. For any major encounters I am setting up in the proper campaign I am running, minion types are in the wings, with a method of introduction (hole in the cave wall, paths from the forest, etc) so I can filter in things to keep the encounter "on the edge" for them. I can add more, or let them stop coming as needed, to help balance Action Economy against the party. I also ensure the minion types tend to be pretty menial when it comes to AC and HP, so they can be easily cleared out if the need arises to prevent a PK or some such.
Someone mentioned that around level 10 the TPK/Easy line is pretty fine and that's true. At that level, players and monsters are getting access to some skills, spells and abilities that, on a series of GOOD rolls, can really shift the balance quickly and do a LOT of burst damage. This makes it risky for both sides, as I have seen, in our group, at level 11, an "easy" encounter dropped 2 of our party due to 2 rounds of crap rolls from us and good rolls from the monsters. At higher levels, the Dice Gods wield frightening power, so be careful.
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
One of the largest issues is that the only thing that the builder takes into account is the average party level. This means it's not accounting for magic items, features or really anything on top, especially if you homebrew magic items quite often, like I do.
I find that after level 5, pretty much every encounter I build is rated as deadly in the encounter builder, and ranges from a breeze to fairly challenging to the party, but never even close to lethal.
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Greetings fellow DMs.
I am using the encounter builder here on D&D beyond and I am just curious as to how accurate it is when it comes to encounter difficulty. I have 6 character that are level 10 in my game and the final boss in the current adventure is going to be a Mummy lord (CR 15). The builder is telling me this is a easy encounter but I also have also used other encounter builders that are telling me this is a hard encounter for 6 character of level 10. I don't know which encounter builder to believe.
Anyone have any insight into this?
What are the other encounter builders you've used?
I input the scenario that you indicated in the DnDbeyond encounter builder and the encounter was rated as a medium (correction-easy) encounter.
Also, if you plan to include a lair for the final boss that will increase the difficulty. Most importantly though, most bosses will not fight alone, so feel free to give it some fodder (zombies and the like) to distract your players and make it more challenging for them.
Action economy is a big deal in D&D 5e so the more you can balance the number of actions available to both parties, the better.
edit: I tested 3 other encounter builders and they all came up with easy as well.
Sunday DM and creator of homebrew for both DMs and players. I do lots of conversions!
My best brews: Berserker (Fire Emblem - barbarian subclass) | Swordmaster (Fire Emblem - fighter subclass) | Deserter (background) | Flame Atronach (Skyrim - monster)
My Fire Emblem Conversion Thread
General homebrew links
Spells | Monsters | Magic Items | Backgrounds | Feats | Races | Subclasses
The other one I have been using is "D&D_5E_Encounter_Builder_Spreadsheet" that I got from the DM's Guild way back in 2016. When I plug the numbers into that one, it comes up with a hard encounter. It could be outdated which is why I am asking how accurate the builder is on this sight.
I will build up the encounter if I need to but I like to know my starting base before I start adding more critters and other fun stuff (well fun for me anyways. My players may have a different opinion lol). I just don't want to have the wrong starting info and add more critters and wipe my party. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem killing characters but I do like to give them a fair chance :)
Thanks for the info. It seems like the old builder I was using is off.
D&D beyond is doing it right. It's 13,000 base xp, halved because the party size is 6 for adjusted xp of 6,500. A medium encounter would be 1,200 adjusted xp per PC or 7,200 adjusted xp. I suspect other encounter builders are not applying the party size modifier.
However, the actual 'easy', 'medium', 'hard', 'deadly' descriptors in 5e are grossly inaccurate, very few sub-Deadly encounters are interesting at all.
Also make sure to add any additional creatures to the encounter builder so you can see the change in real-time! Lair actions are a bit harder to judge.
I try to ensure the players aren't just walking into a hopeless situation, but at high levels (like 10th) the line between TPK and 'too easy' becomes very thin lol
Something else I like to do to even the odds for a boss (that casts spells) is give them a spell like danse macabre to give them a strong action advantage for a portion of the encounter.
Sunday DM and creator of homebrew for both DMs and players. I do lots of conversions!
My best brews: Berserker (Fire Emblem - barbarian subclass) | Swordmaster (Fire Emblem - fighter subclass) | Deserter (background) | Flame Atronach (Skyrim - monster)
My Fire Emblem Conversion Thread
General homebrew links
Spells | Monsters | Magic Items | Backgrounds | Feats | Races | Subclasses
Those are good points. I think I will just use the D&D Beyond builder from now on. I usually like to make most of my encounters hard or deadly. Only when I just want to annoy the players will I use an easy or medium encounter.
That spell is awesome. I usually DM so keeping track of all the newer spells that come out in each book is a chore. I think I will swap out Contagion and add in Danse Macabre. With a +9 spell casting ability, those are going to be some hard hitting skeletons. more than enough to be a distraction for the mummy lord. I do wonder why it isn't in the cleric spell list as it sounds like a spell an evil cleric would have. Oh well. That;s what I love about D&D. Nothing is set in stone lol.
Incidentally, the encounter size modifier adjustment for party size has severe granularity problems, particularly for single creatures. For 4 PCs at level 10, a medium encounter is CR 9. For 5 PCs, it's CR 11. For 6 PCs, it's CR 16. It should probably be around CR 13-14.
That's good info to know. Thanks.
Hopefully when they release 5.5 they will fix CR ratings and calculations.
Well, you can use the system in Xanatar's. It doesn't have concepts such as a daily budget or easy/medium/hard/deadly (it basically sets all encounters at medium; I suggest building two encounters, both at or slightly below the party's size, and combining them) but it has generally better granularity.
I personally have found the builder OK up to about level 6 characters, in a 4 person party, at least. I have used it to run a couple one-shot's with level 10 and throwing 3 Hard encounters a them DID deplete their resources significantly, but it was a struggle to give them a proper challenge, where anyone ended up in danger of going down, which to me, is when you have the challenge right. Real risk of someone hitting the ground, without making it a near-certainty, lol. For any major encounters I am setting up in the proper campaign I am running, minion types are in the wings, with a method of introduction (hole in the cave wall, paths from the forest, etc) so I can filter in things to keep the encounter "on the edge" for them. I can add more, or let them stop coming as needed, to help balance Action Economy against the party. I also ensure the minion types tend to be pretty menial when it comes to AC and HP, so they can be easily cleared out if the need arises to prevent a PK or some such.
Someone mentioned that around level 10 the TPK/Easy line is pretty fine and that's true. At that level, players and monsters are getting access to some skills, spells and abilities that, on a series of GOOD rolls, can really shift the balance quickly and do a LOT of burst damage. This makes it risky for both sides, as I have seen, in our group, at level 11, an "easy" encounter dropped 2 of our party due to 2 rounds of crap rolls from us and good rolls from the monsters. At higher levels, the Dice Gods wield frightening power, so be careful.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
One of the largest issues is that the only thing that the builder takes into account is the average party level. This means it's not accounting for magic items, features or really anything on top, especially if you homebrew magic items quite often, like I do.
I find that after level 5, pretty much every encounter I build is rated as deadly in the encounter builder, and ranges from a breeze to fairly challenging to the party, but never even close to lethal.