How to use the encounter generator
- Set up your party: their level and how many players there are. Every fight is sized for them.
- Pick where they are, or leave it on Anywhere: forest, swamp, mountains, desert, tundra, underground, coast and sea, city, ruins, sky, volcanic or otherworld.
- Pick the difficulty and the kind, or let the generator choose. About half of random encounters are fights; the rest are meetings, hazards and discoveries.
- Lock, reroll and run it. Press 🔓 to keep a part, ↻ to change one, then open the stat blocks and roll initiative right on this page.
Four kinds of encounter
Not every encounter should be a fight. Mixing in non-combat encounters keeps travel interesting and gives every player a moment to shine:
- Fight: monsters from our Monster Generator, sized for the party, with stat blocks, a way to avoid the fight and a reward.
- Meeting: someone on the road with a problem, a voice, a want and a mood, and what happens if it goes wrong.
- Hazard: a danger of the place, with a saving throw, damage and a check to spot it in time.
- Discovery: something strange to find, a clue, a rival who wants it too, and treasure.
Every encounter also gets a place and a time, such as a flooded mine shaft, deep underground, in thick fog, and a twist that changes how it plays out. A fight can be avoided: each one has a way to scare off, distract or talk down the foes.
How fights are sized
We use a simple rule of thumb, the same one as our Monster Generator: one monster of a challenge rating (CR) equal to the party's level is a medium fight for four players. For an easy fight we aim at 0.6 times that, 1.35 for hard and 1.75 for deadly, then scale it for bigger or smaller parties. These are our own numbers, not the official encounter-building tables.
| Party level | Easy | Medium | Hard | Deadly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | CR 1/2 | CR 1 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
| Level 3 | CR 2 | CR 3 | CR 4 | CR 5 |
| Level 5 | CR 3 | CR 5 | CR 7 | CR 9 |
| Level 8 | CR 5 | CR 8 | CR 11 | CR 14 |
| Level 11 | CR 7 | CR 11 | CR 15 | CR 19 |
| Level 15 | CR 9 | CR 15 | CR 20 | CR 26 |
| Level 20 | CR 12 | CR 20 | CR 27 | CR 30 |
Groups share the same budget. A pair of monsters is a little weaker each, a pack of three to five weaker again, and a leader and minions puts most of the strength in one boss. The XP shown for each monster comes from the free SRD, so you can use your own XP rules if you prefer.
Hazards: saving throws and damage
Hazards use our own scale for the save DC and the damage, growing with the party's level and the difficulty you pick:
| Party level | Easy | Medium | Hard | Deadly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | DC 10, 1d10 | DC 12, 1d10 | DC 14, 1d10 | DC 16, 1d10 |
| Level 5 | DC 11, 2d10 | DC 13, 3d10 | DC 15, 4d10 | DC 17, 6d10 |
| Level 11 | DC 12, 4d10 | DC 14, 7d10 | DC 16, 9d10 | DC 18, 12d10 |
| Level 17 | DC 13, 7d10 | DC 15, 10d10 | DC 17, 14d10 | DC 19, 19d10 |
Talking down a fight uses a Charisma check at DC 10 for easy, 13 for medium, 15 for hard and 18 for deadly.
Encounters by terrain
| Terrain | A hazard | A discovery |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | A rotten bridge snaps under the first person to cross | A mossy shrine to a forgotten god, with fresh flowers on it |
| Swamp | A rotten bridge snaps under the first person to cross | A mossy shrine to a forgotten god, with fresh flowers on it |
| Mountains | A rockslide thunders down the slope | A mossy shrine to a forgotten god, with fresh flowers on it |
| Desert | The ground gives way into a hidden sinkhole | The skeleton of a huge dragon, picked clean long ago |
| Tundra | A sudden blizzard howls in, and the world turns white | The skeleton of a huge dragon, picked clean long ago |
| Underground | A rockslide thunders down the slope | A glowing pool that shows a different sky |
| Coast & sea | Quicksand swallows the path | A shipwreck stranded far from the sea |
| City | A rotten bridge snaps under the first person to cross | A statue that has turned to face the party |
| Ruins | A rockslide thunders down the slope | A mossy shrine to a forgotten god, with fresh flowers on it |
| Sky | Lightning strikes a tree right beside the party | A cloud island with a tiny cottage on it |
| Volcanic | A rockslide thunders down the slope | The skeleton of a huge dragon, picked clean long ago |
| Otherworld | A whispering mist makes everyone forget where they are going | A statue that has turned to face the party |
Running the fight
Open the stat blocks under the encounter card, then use the initiative tracker. Type each player's name with their initiative bonus (Brann +2), and the tracker rolls for everyone, sorts the order and shows whose turn it is. Change a foe's hit points as they take damage; foes at 0 are skipped. When the party travels for a long time, make a d8 table and roll on it at each stop.
Tips for better random encounters
- Give every encounter a reason. Foes that are doing something, such as guarding, hunting or fleeing, are more interesting than foes that just attack.
- Let players avoid fights. Clever ideas should work. Every fight here has a way out.
- Use the place. A rope bridge, fog or a full moon changes how a fight feels.
- Don't overdo it. One or two encounters a day of travel is plenty.
Frequently asked questions
Is this random encounter generator for D&D 5e?
Yes. Fights come with 5e stat blocks, saving throws and DCs, and they work with the 2014 and 2024 rules. The difficulty maths is our own rule of thumb.
Can it make non-combat encounters?
Yes. Set Kind to Meeting, Hazard or Discovery, or leave it on Any kind for a mix.
Where do the monsters come from?
From our own Monster Generator: original monsters built for each terrain, with stat blocks that match their CR by our estimate.
How do I keep the monsters and change the rest?
Press 🔓 on the foes, then New encounter. The same monsters appear in a new place, with a new twist and reward.
Can I save or share an encounter?
Yes. Save keeps it in this browser, and Share copies a link that opens exactly the same encounter.
Is it free, and does it use AI?
It's free with no login, and it doesn't use AI. Every encounter is put together in your browser from tables written for this site.
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