Adjusting Encounters

Telling stories where a large group of low-level monsters can still be a significant threat to a high-level PC (and conversely, where a single higher-level monster is not much of a threat to a group of PCs) requires some significant shifts in encounter building, including shifts in the PCs' rewards. Under the default math, two monsters of a certain level are roughly as challenging as a single monster 2 levels higher. However, with level removed from proficiency, this assumption is no longer true. The XP budget for creatures uses a different scale, as shown in the Creature XP (No Level) table. You'll still use the same XP budget for a given threat level as shown on the Encounter Budget (80 XP for a moderate-threat encounter, 120 for a severe-threat encounter, and so on). ### Creature XP (No Level) Creature's Level XP Party level – 7 9 Party level – 6 12 Party level – 5 14 Party level – 4 18 Party level – 3 21 Party level – 2 26 Party level – 1 32 Party level 40 Party level + 1 48 Party level + 2 60 Party level + 3 72 Party level + 4 90 Party level + 5 108 Party level + 6 135 Party level + 7 160 While the XP values in the Creature XP (No Level) table work well in most cases, sometimes they might not account for the effects of creatures' special abilities when facing a party of a drastically different level. For instance, a ghost mage could prove too much for 5th-level PCs with its incorporeality, flight, and high-rank spells, even though it's outnumbered.