Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Leugren Nov 29, 2014 23:10:37	I got tired of computing encounter difficulties by hand, and kept forgetting to adjust the encounter XP based on the number of monsters and on the party size, so I whipped up a simple web app to do it for me.  On the off-chance that others might find this useful, I have made the application available for free at http://1-dot-encounter-planner.appspot.com/.  This is obviously intended as a free resource for DMs, so go ahead and take it for a spin.  If you spot a bug, or would like to suggest an enhancement, please post it to this thread.   Cheers!    INSTRUCTIONS:   The application presents two form fields:   Party: Enter an expression describing the composition of the party.  An expression such as "3 x 2, 4, 2x3" means that there are 3 2nd-level characters, 1 4th-level character, and 2 3rd-level characters in the party.   Encounter: Enter an expression describing the composition of team monster.   An expression such as "3 x 1/2, 2, 2x1/8" means that there are 3 monsters with a CR of 1/2, 1 monster with a CR of 2, and 2 monsters with a CR of 1/8 in the encounter.   Results: The following results are all presented when you hit the "Compute Stats" button:   Base XPs:  The number of experience points that the party will gain for completing the encounter. Adjusted XPs:  The number of experience points adjusted based on an experience point multiplier that depends on the number of monsters in the encounter and on the number of characters in the party. Difficulty: The difficulty level of the encounter relative to the party in question. Difficulty Thresholds: The EASY, MEDIUM, HARD, and DEADLY difficulty thresholds for the party in question.  These are the thresholds that the adjusted XPs are compared to for purposes of determining the encounter difficulty level.
#2 Brunax Nov 30, 2014 12:36:13	This is a really helpful tool! Thank you. Just for grins, I used it to compute the difficulty levels for the first set of encounters within the Starter Set Module, assuming a party of four 1st-level characters:   DIFFICULTY LEVELS IN CRAGMAW HIDEOUT   Difficulty Thresholds for Party: { EASY=100, MEDIUM=200, HARD=300, DEADLY= 400 }   Goblin Ambush: DEADLY (Adjusted XP = 400) Goblin Blind: EASY (Adjusted XP = 150) Kennel:  HARD (Adjusted XP = 300) Overpass: EASY (Adjusted XP = 50) Goblin Den: DEADLY (Adjusted XP = 600) Twin Pools Cave: HARD (Adjusted XP = 300) Klarg's Cave: DEADLY (Adjusted XP = 700)   I find it interesting that the areas where people report a lot of character deaths all have a difficulty level of DEADLY.  This would suggest that the system for computing encounter difficulty is in the right ballpark at least.  I also find it interesting that there are no encounters with a MEDIUM difficulty.  In fact, the last encounter may actually be understated.  If (as the text states) the goblin on the Overpass joins the goblins in the Twin Pools Cave, and if one of those goblins, in turn, runs to warn Klarg, then the last encounter becomes even more overwhelming.     Any way, thanks again for this tool.  The new math to compute encounter difficulty is a bit fidgety, but this makes it a lot easier, and it also helps simplfy different what-if scenarios. I will be using this tool as a sanity check whenever I create any of my own encounters until we get some new digital tools out of WOTC.
#3 Leugren Nov 30, 2014 12:41:31	Brunax wrote:
#4 Brunax Nov 30, 2014 12:52:37	Out of curiosity, what sort of technologies did you use to create this?
#5 Leugren Nov 30, 2014 13:03:22	Brunax wrote:
#6 Brunax Dec 04, 2014 12:44:22	I noticed that you made a few updates to the tool.  Did anything change functionally?
#7 Leugren Dec 04, 2014 12:48:43	Brunax wrote:
#8 AaronOfBarbaria Dec 04, 2014 13:03:01	Don't take it down, I'm going to use it tons... and also why would you answer only a few using it now with removal of the possibility that more people use it later once word of mouth has time to circulate?
#9 Leugren Dec 04, 2014 13:08:30	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
#10 Gnarl Dec 04, 2014 13:16:56	Give it time! You only posted it 5 days ago. And you might want to change the title of your post to indicate that you created a free application.
#11 Leugren Dec 04, 2014 13:20:24	Gnarl wrote:
#12 Devilbass Dec 04, 2014 13:27:38	I will definitely get some use out of this. Thanks for the time and effort!
#13 Leugren Dec 04, 2014 13:36:31	Devilbass wrote:
#14 Eberronknight Dec 04, 2014 16:40:00	I just saw this thread today!  Please keep it up!  This is very useful!
#15 Leugren Dec 04, 2014 18:06:14	Eberronknight wrote: