tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-699951736004887261.post5820153795617284655..comments2023-12-24T09:23:11.590+00:00Comments on A Sword for Hire: And Now For Something Completely Different: Encounter calculator with a GUIMikko Kalliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993661189723068135noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-699951736004887261.post-73424906872677807022015-01-15T22:45:57.537+00:002015-01-15T22:45:57.537+00:00After I posted the article, I started adding new f...After I posted the article, I started adding new features. There's now a database of creatures from the Bestiary and the GameMastery Guide, and you only have to type the name of a creature and it automatically checks the CR and calculates the xp. And there's even a search function, so you can specify, for example, that you're looking for creatures between CR 4 and 8 that have "air" in the name. The database itself, however, is still very much incomplete. If I had the time to populate it with data from the various bestiaries, it'd be a really powerful encounter building tool.<br /><br />As for the question about CRs, it really depends on the type of creatures. Generally speaking, though, I'd say that 3 weaker creatures is a more interesting encounter than 1 stronger creature because they have a better action economy than a single creature, and more tactical options too. They're usually also more balanced encounters, whereas a strong solo monster might get ganged up on really quickly OR it might blast the PCs into oblivion before they even get to act, depending on how the die falls.Mikko Kalliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14993661189723068135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-699951736004887261.post-90887699838762286122015-01-15T22:17:38.171+00:002015-01-15T22:17:38.171+00:00Interesting - feel free to share that spreadsheet!...Interesting - feel free to share that spreadsheet!<br /><br />I like that you can see how much of the total CR is taken up by each creature. Though it's intended that two encounters with the same CR should be equally challenging, I've wondered about the differences between an encounter where most of the CR is taken up by one creature versus one where the CR is distributed across several or many creatures. Without knowing anything else, would you expect to have an easier time with a single CR 10 or a group of 3 CR 7's? Or, do you think that they really are as equal as intended by the CR math?Joe Kondrakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13823837802573662407noreply@blogger.com