Encounter Builder — Stage Combats Like a Set Designer
Encounter Builder — Stage Combats Like a Set Designer
Prepping combat encounters used to mean a notepad, some scratch math, and hoping you remembered which monsters have which abilities. The Encounter Builder changes that.
What It Does
The Encounter Builder is a pre-session tool for GMs. Before the session starts, you:
- Open a new encounter from the session panel
- Search and add monsters from the stat block database
- Set quantities, arrange into initiative groups, and add terrain notes
- Save the encounter to your session roster
When the fight starts, you open the saved encounter and it drops everything into the initiative tracker — monsters, HP, AC, attacks — ready to run.
Building an Encounter
Drag monsters from the library list into the encounter canvas. Each added monster shows its HP, AC, and damage so you can eyeball threat level at a glance.
The encounter panel shows an estimated difficulty rating as you add monsters — based on total monster HD vs. party level and size. This is a reference, not a rule: SWN doesn't have formal encounter balance math, but the estimate helps you avoid "this fight murders everyone" surprises.
Terrain Notes Each encounter has a freeform terrain notes field. Write your room description, highlight the dangerous elements, note which doors are locked. When the fight starts, your notes are one click away.
Saving and Reusing Encounters save to your campaign. You can reuse them — useful for recurring enemy types or lair encounters your players keep returning to.
Currently available in the Stars Without Number VTT. GrimDelve encounter support is coming soon.