Encounter Builder for Literally Every Situation
Don't know what to put in a dungeon, a city, a forest, or a random encounter on the road? These tables, divided by how difficult the area is supposed to be will help you with that.
And you don't even have to be afraid of these encounters becoming too difficult. If the sum of the CR in an encounter is higher than the Deadly CR Limit of your players according to the table below, the encounter is too difficult for them.
Deadly CR Limit per Character
With thanks to Sly Flourish - The Lazy Dungeon Master
| Level |
CR Limit |
| 1st |
1/4 |
| 2nd |
1/2 |
| 3rd |
3/4 |
| 4th |
1 |
| 5th |
2.5 |
| 6th |
3 |
| 7th |
3.5 |
| 8th |
4 |
| 9th |
4.5 |
| 10th |
5 |
| ⠀ |
⠀ |
| 11th |
5.5 |
| 12th |
6 |
| 13th |
6.5 |
| 14th |
7 |
| 15th |
7.5 |
| 16th |
8 |
| 17th |
8.5 |
| 18th |
9 |
| 19th |
9.5 |
| 20th |
10 |
To grant your players a satisfying experience you should either not use encounters that are too difficult, or make it clear to them beforehand that this encounter is way above their pay grade.
Encounters for Levels 1-4
| d100 |
Creature(s) |
| 01-10 |
2d6 CR 0 |
| 11-25 |
2d6 CR 1/8 |
| 26-35 |
2d4 CR 1/4 |
| 36-45 |
1d6 CR 1/2 |
| 46-65 |
1d6 CR 1 (1d2) |
| 66-73 |
1d4 CR 3 (1d2 + 2) |
| 74-80 |
1 CR 6 (1d4 + 4) |
| 81-85 |
1d2 CR 1 (1d2) with 2d8 CR 1/8 |
| 86-90 |
1 CR 1 (1d2) with 2d6 CR 1/4 |
| 91-95 |
1 CR 2 (1d2 + 1) with 2d4 CR 1/2 |
| 96-00 |
1 CR 2 (1d2 + 1) with 1d4 CR 1 |
Encounters for Levels 5-10
| d100 |
Creature(s) |
| 01-05 |
3d6 CR 1/4 |
| 06-15 |
2d6 CR 1/2 |
| 16-45 |
2d4 CR 1 (1d2) |
| 46-60 |
1d6 CR 3 (1d2 + 2) |
| 61-70 |
1d4 CR 5 (1d2 + 4) |
| 71-77 |
1 CR 9 (1d7 + 6) |
| 78-82 |
1d4 CR 3 (1d4 + 2) with 2d12 CR 1/8 |
| 83-87 |
1d4 CR 3 (1d4 + 2) with 2d10 CR 1/4 |
| 88-91 |
1d4 CR 3 (1d4 + 2) with 2d8 CR 1/2 |
| 92-94 |
1 CR 3 (1d4 + 2) with 2d6 CR 1 |
| 95-97 |
1 CR 3 (1d4 + 2) with 2d4 CR 2 |
| 98-00 |
1 CR 3 (1d4 + 2) with 1d4 CR 3 |
Encounters for Levels 11-16
| d100 |
Creature(s) |
| 01-05 |
4d6 CR 1/2 |
| 06-10 |
4d6 CR 1 |
| 11-20 |
2d6 CR 2 (1d2 + 1) |
| 21-40 |
1d6 CR 5 (1d3 + 3) |
| 41-55 |
1d4 CR 8 (1d5 + 6) |
| 56-70 |
1 CR 17 (1d12 + 11) |
| 71-85 |
1 CR 4 (1d3 + 2) with 4d10 CR 1/2 |
| 86-00 |
1 CR 4 (1d3 + 2) with 3d10 CR 1/4 |
Encounters for Levels 17-20
| d100 |
Creature(s) |
| 01-10 |
2d8 CR 5 |
| 11-25 |
2d6 CR 6 |
| 26-40 |
1d6 CR 8 (1d3 + 6) |
| 41-65 |
1d4 CR 12 (1d5 + 9) |
| 66-85 |
1 CR 18 (1d9 + 14) |
| 86-95 |
1d10 CR 8 (1d3 + 6) with 2d4 CR 2 (1d3) |
| 96-00 |
1 CR 20 with 1d3 CR 5 (1d2 + 4) |
Monster Type
| d8 |
Monster Type |
| 1 |
Aberration, Celestial or Fiend |
| 2 |
Beast, Fey or Plant |
| 3 |
Construct or Ooze |
| 4 |
Dragon or Giant |
| ⠀ |
⠀ |
| 5 |
Elemental or Monstrosity |
| 6 |
Humanoid |
| 7 |
Undead |
| 8 |
Roll again. Twice if you have multiple monsters, they are a mix of the two monster types. |
