I know the DMG has a semi-cluttered process for this using the difficulty level and exp system, but I was wondering if anyone has a clear step by step process they have for building encounters!
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Well, you can use an app such as Kobold Fight Club which can calculate your encounters for you (and determine if they're easy/medium/hard/difficult) which can be found here: http://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder
The UA guide is definitely a good start, but it does have some problems. Often the single monsters (especially for a large group) do too much damage in a single hit (and will kill your players in one and a half blows), but still lead to a relatively short encounter because the PC's have so many more attacks than the one monster.
If you have a big party, you really need to have multiple monsters. I tend to err on the side of more difficult (because normally my party can handle it), and then scale back the HP of a few of the larger monsters mid-battle if they struggle too much. I like to calculate of the average amount of damage my players will do in one round, and then compare that to the total HP of the collective monsters. Then I'll make sure no single monster can take out a player in one hit, and that the total monster damage per round is enough to at the very least scare my players. It's a fair bit of math, but it leads to more balanced and interesting encounters.
I actually wasn't concious of this but I use the Why/How/What to prepare this: - What does the encounter add to the story (Why) Can be either building up a story, but also simply to drain spells, to give a sense of urgency/danger, to reveal a clue, or to give a sense of realism, to try and divert them towards a certain area or part of the storyline, loot....etc.
- How am I going to convey that part of the story (How) What kind of monsters make sense here, or relate to what I want to achieve, what numer do they usually travel or can I scale it however, what area / setting will help the story etc.
What:
- I have the setting, the purpose and the monster type(s) now I calculate the difficulty (DMG) and see if either I increase/decrease numbers or buff/debuff monsters to seem fit. - I then start working on personalizing the monsters and any evil NPC's that might be part of it, often I add some magic item if it's a big encounter and calculate that into the creatures stats and work out their looks, perks and personality - Most often I work out the surroundings after that, because then I can design it so it fits the encounter, NPC and monsters best - Determine treasure, I use the DMG for guidance but customize most of it to fit the story - Aftermath: think ahead of the looting process or the investigations or maybe some civilians where rused, townsguard show-up, the building starts collapsing etc.
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I know the DMG has a semi-cluttered process for this using the difficulty level and exp system, but I was wondering if anyone has a clear step by step process they have for building encounters!
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D&D Beyond StaffWell, you can use an app such as Kobold Fight Club which can calculate your encounters for you (and determine if they're easy/medium/hard/difficult) which can be found here: http://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder
Or if you're more interested in doing it yourself, WoTC released a different way of doing encounters via Unearthed Arcana. https://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/Encounter_Building.pdf
Awesome! Totally missed that UA release lol
I saw someone post earlier about when a player drops food onto the table it instantly becomes a Hard encounter with that food. I up-voted.
Just a tip: sometimes it is just more fun to improvise the encounter.
YOOOOOO that's so awesome XD I'm dying
The UA guide is definitely a good start, but it does have some problems. Often the single monsters (especially for a large group) do too much damage in a single hit (and will kill your players in one and a half blows), but still lead to a relatively short encounter because the PC's have so many more attacks than the one monster.
If you have a big party, you really need to have multiple monsters. I tend to err on the side of more difficult (because normally my party can handle it), and then scale back the HP of a few of the larger monsters mid-battle if they struggle too much. I like to calculate of the average amount of damage my players will do in one round, and then compare that to the total HP of the collective monsters. Then I'll make sure no single monster can take out a player in one hit, and that the total monster damage per round is enough to at the very least scare my players. It's a fair bit of math, but it leads to more balanced and interesting encounters.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
xanathars guide has a pretty good encounter build guide that i use for almost all my encounters
I actually wasn't concious of this but I use the Why/How/What to prepare this:
- What does the encounter add to the story (Why)
Can be either building up a story, but also simply to drain spells, to give a sense of urgency/danger, to reveal a clue, or to give a sense of realism, to try and divert them towards a certain area or part of the storyline, loot....etc.
- How am I going to convey that part of the story (How)
What kind of monsters make sense here, or relate to what I want to achieve, what numer do they usually travel or can I scale it however, what area / setting will help the story etc.
What:
- I have the setting, the purpose and the monster type(s) now I calculate the difficulty (DMG) and see if either I increase/decrease numbers or buff/debuff monsters to seem fit.
- I then start working on personalizing the monsters and any evil NPC's that might be part of it, often I add some magic item if it's a big encounter and calculate that into the creatures stats and work out their looks, perks and personality
- Most often I work out the surroundings after that, because then I can design it so it fits the encounter, NPC and monsters best
- Determine treasure, I use the DMG for guidance but customize most of it to fit the story
- Aftermath: think ahead of the looting process or the investigations or maybe some civilians where rused, townsguard show-up, the building starts collapsing etc.