Encounter calculator
Put in your party and the monsters you have in mind. The calculator adds up their XP, compares it with the party's Low, Moderate and High budgets, and warns you about the setups that most often go wrong.
Encounter difficulty calculator
How the budget works
SRD 5.2.1 ("Combat Encounter Difficulty") builds fights in three steps, and the calculator follows them:
- Pick a difficulty. Low means a scary moment or two but no one goes down. Moderate could go badly if the party is out of healing. High could kill a character, and they will need good tactics and some luck.
- Find the budget. Look up the party's level in the table below and multiply by the number of characters.
- Spend it. Add up the XP of the monsters you want, getting as close to the budget as you can without going over.
The calculator runs this backwards: you give it the monsters, and it tells you the lowest difficulty whose budget they fit inside, plus how much of that budget they use.
A worked example
Four level 5 characters have budgets of 2,000 (Low), 3,000 (Moderate) and 4,400 (High) XP. One CR 5 creature (1,800 XP) with two CR 1 helpers (200 XP each) comes to 2,200 XP. That is over the Low budget and under Moderate, so it rates Moderate. Add four more CR 1 creatures and the total is 3,000 XP, right at the top of Moderate. One more and it tips into High.
XP budget per character
| Level | Low | Moderate | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50 | 75 | 100 |
| 2 | 100 | 150 | 200 |
| 3 | 150 | 225 | 400 |
| 4 | 250 | 375 | 500 |
| 5 | 500 | 750 | 1,100 |
| 6 | 600 | 1,000 | 1,400 |
| 7 | 750 | 1,300 | 1,700 |
| 8 | 1,000 | 1,700 | 2,100 |
| 9 | 1,300 | 2,000 | 2,600 |
| 10 | 1,600 | 2,300 | 3,100 |
| 11 | 1,900 | 2,900 | 4,100 |
| 12 | 2,200 | 3,700 | 4,700 |
| 13 | 2,600 | 4,200 | 5,400 |
| 14 | 2,900 | 4,900 | 6,200 |
| 15 | 3,300 | 5,400 | 7,800 |
| 16 | 3,800 | 6,100 | 9,800 |
| 17 | 4,500 | 7,200 | 11,700 |
| 18 | 5,000 | 8,700 | 14,200 |
| 19 | 5,500 | 10,700 | 17,200 |
| 20 | 6,400 | 13,200 | 22,000 |
XP by challenge rating
| CR | XP | CR | XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 or 10 | 17 | 18,000 |
| 1 | 200 | 18 | 20,000 |
| 2 | 450 | 19 | 22,000 |
| 3 | 700 | 20 | 25,000 |
| 4 | 1,100 | 21 | 33,000 |
| 5 | 1,800 | 22 | 41,000 |
| 6 | 2,300 | 23 | 50,000 |
| 7 | 2,900 | 24 | 62,000 |
| 8 | 3,900 | 25 | 75,000 |
| 9 | 5,000 | 26 | 90,000 |
| 10 | 5,900 | 27 | 105,000 |
| 11 | 7,200 | 28 | 120,000 |
| 12 | 8,400 | 29 | 135,000 |
| 13 | 10,000 | 30 | 155,000 |
| 14 | 11,500 | 1/8 | 25 |
| 15 | 13,000 | 1/4 | 50 |
| 16 | 15,000 | 1/2 | 100 |
When the numbers mislead
A budget is a starting point. SRD 5.2.1 points out a few cases where the math undersells the danger, and the calculator flags them:
- Many creatures. More attackers means more chances for a lucky streak of hits. Past two creatures per character, use ones that go down quickly.
- One creature above the party's level. A creature whose CR is higher than the party's level can drop a character with a single hit, even when the total XP looks safe.
- CR 0 crowds. Use creatures worth 0 XP sparingly, and if you want a lot of them, the SRD suggests a swarm instead.
The budget also can't see terrain, surprise, or a party that has already fought three times today. Adjust for those yourself.
Encounter questions
What are the encounter difficulties in 5e?
The SRD 5.2.1 rules use three: Low, Moderate and High. Low should leave the party winning with no one down, Moderate could go badly without healing, and High could kill a character.
Why is there no monster count multiplier?
The XP budget method in SRD 5.2.1 adds up monster XP as it is, with no multiplier. The older multiplier tables are not part of either free System Reference Document, so we do not use them. The SRD handles crowds with advice instead: past two creatures per character, add fragile ones that go down fast.
How do I handle a party of mixed levels?
Add each character's own budget. A level 4 and a level 6 character together have a Low budget of 250 plus 600, or 850 XP. When everyone shares a level, that is the same as the SRD's level budget times the number of characters.
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