5e encounter calculator
Add your party and your monsters to see how hard the fight is: the 2024 XP budgets (Low, Moderate, High) or the 2014 thresholds with encounter multipliers, plus the XP each character earns.
How the 2024 XP budget works
The 2024 rules (the Dungeon Master’s Guide and the SRD 5.2) keep it simple. Pick a difficulty, look up each character’s XP budget for that difficulty, and add them up. That’s how much monster XP the encounter can spend. There are no multipliers: ten goblins cost exactly ten goblins’ XP.
- Low: a fight the party should win without much trouble, though it can still cost resources.
- Moderate: a real fight. Without healing or other resources it can go badly.
- High: could be deadly for one or more characters. Use sparingly, and give players a way out.
The calculator rates an encounter by the smallest budget its XP fits in, and calls anything over the High budget “Beyond High”.
XP budget per character (2024)
| Level | Low | Moderate | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50 | 75 | 100 |
| 2 | 100 | 150 | 200 |
| 3 | 150 | 225 | 400 |
| 4 | 250 | 375 | 500 |
| 5 | 500 | 750 | 1,100 |
| 6 | 600 | 1,000 | 1,400 |
| 7 | 750 | 1,300 | 1,700 |
| 8 | 1,000 | 1,700 | 2,100 |
| 9 | 1,300 | 2,000 | 2,600 |
| 10 | 1,600 | 2,300 | 3,100 |
| 11 | 1,900 | 2,900 | 4,100 |
| 12 | 2,200 | 3,700 | 4,700 |
| 13 | 2,600 | 4,200 | 5,400 |
| 14 | 2,900 | 4,900 | 6,200 |
| 15 | 3,300 | 5,400 | 7,800 |
| 16 | 3,800 | 6,100 | 9,800 |
| 17 | 4,500 | 7,200 | 11,700 |
| 18 | 5,000 | 8,700 | 14,200 |
| 19 | 5,500 | 10,700 | 17,200 |
| 20 | 6,400 | 13,200 | 22,000 |
How the 2014 thresholds and multipliers work
The 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide gives each character four XP thresholds (Easy, Medium, Hard and Deadly). Add up the party’s thresholds, then add up the monsters’ XP and multiply it by a number that grows with the number of monsters, because every extra monster is another set of attacks each round. The result is the adjusted XP: compare it with the thresholds, and the highest threshold it reaches is the difficulty.
The multiplier also shifts with party size: for a party of one or two characters use the next step up, and for six or more use the next step down. The Guide also suggests leaving out of the count any monster whose challenge rating is far below the others’, since it barely changes the fight. Adjusted XP is only for judging difficulty; the characters earn the monsters’ real XP.
Encounter multipliers (2014)
| Monsters | Party of 1–2 | Party of 3–5 | Party of 6+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ×1.5 | ×1 | ×0.5 |
| 2 | ×2 | ×1.5 | ×1 |
| 3–6 | ×2.5 | ×2 | ×1.5 |
| 7–10 | ×3 | ×2.5 | ×2 |
| 11–14 | ×4 | ×3 | ×2.5 |
| 15 or more | ×5 | ×4 | ×3 |
XP thresholds per character (2014)
| Level | Easy | Medium | Hard | Deadly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 |
| 2 | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 |
| 3 | 75 | 150 | 225 | 400 |
| 4 | 125 | 250 | 375 | 500 |
| 5 | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1,100 |
| 6 | 300 | 600 | 900 | 1,400 |
| 7 | 350 | 750 | 1,100 | 1,700 |
| 8 | 450 | 900 | 1,400 | 2,100 |
| 9 | 550 | 1,100 | 1,600 | 2,400 |
| 10 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,900 | 2,800 |
| 11 | 800 | 1,600 | 2,400 | 3,600 |
| 12 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 4,500 |
| 13 | 1,100 | 2,200 | 3,400 | 5,100 |
| 14 | 1,250 | 2,500 | 3,800 | 5,700 |
| 15 | 1,400 | 2,800 | 4,300 | 6,400 |
| 16 | 1,600 | 3,200 | 4,800 | 7,200 |
| 17 | 2,000 | 3,900 | 5,900 | 8,800 |
| 18 | 2,100 | 4,200 | 6,300 | 9,500 |
| 19 | 2,400 | 4,900 | 7,300 | 10,900 |
| 20 | 2,800 | 5,700 | 8,500 | 12,700 |
XP by challenge rating
A monster’s XP comes from its challenge rating and is the same in both editions. Every monster stat block lists it.
| CR | XP | CR | XP | CR | XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 10 | 9 | 5,000 | 21 | 33,000 |
| 1/8 | 25 | 10 | 5,900 | 22 | 41,000 |
| 1/4 | 50 | 11 | 7,200 | 23 | 50,000 |
| 1/2 | 100 | 12 | 8,400 | 24 | 62,000 |
| 1 | 200 | 13 | 10,000 | 25 | 75,000 |
| 2 | 450 | 14 | 11,500 | 26 | 90,000 |
| 3 | 700 | 15 | 13,000 | 27 | 105,000 |
| 4 | 1,100 | 16 | 15,000 | 28 | 120,000 |
| 5 | 1,800 | 17 | 18,000 | 29 | 135,000 |
| 6 | 2,300 | 18 | 20,000 | 30 | 155,000 |
| 7 | 2,900 | 19 | 22,000 | ||
| 8 | 3,900 | 20 | 25,000 |
Worked examples
Four level 3 characters against four orcs (CR 1/2, 100 XP each). The monsters are worth 400 XP.
- 2024: the party’s budgets are 600 (Low), 900 (Moderate), 1,600 (High). 400 XP fits the Low budget, so it’s a Low encounter.
- 2014: four monsters use the ×2 multiplier, for 800 adjusted XP. The party’s thresholds are 300 (Easy), 600 (Medium), 900 (Hard), 1,600 (Deadly), so it’s Medium.
Four level 5 characters against one troll (CR 5, 1,800 XP) or four ogres (CR 2, 450 XP each, 1,800 XP in all). The XP is the same, and under 2024 rules so is the rating: both are Low. Under 2014 rules the troll is Easy (×1, 1,800 adjusted XP) but the ogres are Hard (×2, 3,600 adjusted XP). That’s the main difference between the editions: 2014 charges extra for groups of monsters, 2024 doesn’t.
Beyond the numbers
- Count actions, not just XP. A single monster gets one turn a round against the party’s four or five. Solo monsters without legendary actions often fall faster than their XP suggests; add a few minions or pick one with legendary actions.
- Watch the monsters’ damage at low levels. A 1st-level wizard can drop to one hit from a CR 2 monster, whatever the budget says.
- Terrain and surprise matter. Cover, ranged attackers on a ledge or a fight in the dark can move an encounter up a band.
- Spread difficulty across the day. A string of Low and Moderate fights wears a party down as effectively as one High fight, and spends different resources.
Common questions
How do I work out encounter difficulty in the 2024 rules?
Look up each character’s XP budget for the difficulty you want (Low, Moderate or High), add them together, and spend that much XP on monsters. There are no multipliers for the number of monsters in the 2024 rules.
What is the encounter multiplier in 5e?
It’s the 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide’s adjustment for the number of monsters: ×1 for one, ×1.5 for two, ×2 for three to six, up to ×4 for fifteen or more, moved a step up for parties of one or two and a step down for six or more. It only affects difficulty, not the XP the characters earn.
Why does the same fight rate differently in 2014 and 2024?
The 2014 rules multiply monster XP for groups of monsters and compare it with thresholds; the 2024 rules use plain XP against budgets. Crowds of weak monsters rate much harder under 2014 rules, and single monsters rate about the same.
How much XP does each character get?
Divide the monsters’ total XP by the number of characters. In 2014 use the real XP, not the adjusted XP. The calculator shows it as XP per character.
Can I use 2014 monsters with the 2024 budgets?
Yes. XP by challenge rating is the same in both editions, so any stat block with a CR works with either method.
Where do the monsters in the search come from?
From the 334 monsters in the SRD 5.1, each with a full stat block on this site. For other monsters, add a row with their challenge rating.
Related pages
- D&D 5e monsters stat blocks by CR
- Orc CR 1/2
- Troll CR 5
- How to make a character