How to Design an Encounter

Here is how to design Pathfinder encounters! Just keep in mind that CR is a good estimate, but may change according to party makeup.

How to Calculate the Challenge Rating for an Encounter

1. Calculate the Average Party Level, or APL. That is, total the levels of each player character in the plot, then divide the end result by the number of players, and round it to the nearest number (not necessarily down).

Decrease the APL by 1:

If the number of players is 3 or fewer

If circumstances are heavily slated against the player characters

Increase the APL by 1:

If there are 5 or more players

If circumstances play heavily in their favor

You're playing on Tenebrae

2. Determine the challenge you want to present. Tenebrae characters are stronger than average because of their higher point buy. So, APL+1 or even APL+2 should be considered "Average." (That is, shift the chart below by 1 or even 2.)

Difficulty	Challenge Rating Equals
Easy	APL –1
Average	APL
Challenging	APL +1
Hard	APL +2
Epic	APL +3

3. Compare this modified APL with the charts, below, to determine your XP Budget. For example, if your modified APL was 6, then you have an "XP Budget" of 2,400. Multiple creatures equal a higher CR.

CR Total XP CR Total XP 1-3 4-5 10 9600 1/8 50 11 12800 1/6 65 12 19200 1/4 100 13 25600 1/3 135 14 38400 1/2 200 15 51200 1 400 16 76800 2 600 17 102400 3 800 18 153600 4 1200 19 204800 5 1600 20 307200 6 2400 21 409600 7 3200 22 614400 8 4800 23 819200 9 6400 24 1228800 25 1638400

Number of Creatures Equal to... 1 Creature CR 2 Creatures CR +2 3 Creatures CR +3 4 Creatures CR +4 6 Creatures CR +5 8 Creatures CR +6 12 Creatures CR +7 16 Creatures CR +8

4. Go monster hunting. To find out how many and which monsters you can use, total the individual XP values of each monster. Then, compare the end result with your "XP Budget" number. Once you're close to your number, you've "filled" the monsters for that encounter.

Don't worry if the value isn't exactly equal--just approximate it the best you can.

Advanced Advice on Crafting Challenging Encounters

Guide to Encounter Design	PrP Workshops Logs
	Template:PrPWorkshopList

Cheat Sheets and Etc.

Combat Tools for DMs
Category	Resource	About
Calculating Encounters	Online Encounter Calculator	Free!
Running Combat	Combat Manager	Free! A solid app for finding and adjusting creature stats. It runs on Windows, or on Linux under WINE.
Finding Monsters	Tenebrae Bestiary	Includes links to all Pathfinder Bestiaries we make use of, as well as some custom content.
	Monster Creation Table	While we ask that PrPs use Bestiary entries (templates are fine), sometimes you need a number on the fly, or a DC for a CR 15 trap.

MUX versus Tabletop

Encounters in a MUX tend to take longer due to the nature of the medium. This is one of the reasons we have the 2 encounter limit in PrPs.