Encounter tool
Encounter Builder
Size a fight in seconds. Give it your party and a target difficulty, and it returns a threat budget, a workable mix of foes, and a few twists that turn a stat swap into a scene.
This is a planning aid, not a rulebook. The threat number below comes from a simple point heuristic of our own, built so counts stay sensible at any level. Use it to get close fast, then trust your read of the table. If your system has its own encounter math, that math wins.
Build the fight
Set the three controls, then press Forge encounter. Press it again to reroll the mix and the twists until something clicks. Copy sends a clean text block to your clipboard for your prep notes.
Encounter blueprint
The threat points are an original abstract unit, not a published experience or challenge table. They keep the ratio of foes to party in a sane range so you can plan quickly. Always pressure test the result against your own game before you sit down to run it.
How to read the results
Threat budget
A single number that scales with party size, level, and difficulty. Higher difficulty means a bigger budget to spend on foes. Think of it as a spending limit for the fight, not a target you must hit exactly.
Suggested mix
A ready pattern such as one elite plus a screen of minions, or a solo boss with support. Reskin the roles to your setting. A big budget can also be split into waves rather than thrown at the party all at once.
Shape
The one-line idea behind the mix. It tells you who anchors the fight and who fills it out, which shapes how the round-by-round action economy will feel.
The three twists
Terrain changes the map, an objective changes the win condition, and an escalation changes the fight over time. Keep one or use all three. They are what people remember after the dice go back in the bag.
Difficulty is a feeling as much as a formula. Action economy, terrain, and whether the party has an escape valve move a fight more than raw numbers do. Roll a budget here, then read the room and adjust in the moment.