Giffyglyph
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Monster Maker
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Building an Encounter

Giffyglyph's Monster Maker : Chapter 9

Once you have some monsters, it's time to start a fight. Monsters typically don't act alone, preferring instead to work with monstrous allies to surround and overcome their enemies—unless they're independent solos on a wild, destructive rampage.

This chapter provides some basic guidelines on how to build quickstart encounters with varying types of monster for your players to battle.

The Basic Encounter

Building a basic encounter using quickstart monsters is very simple, requiring three steps:

  1. Get some Monster Points: Decide how dangerous the encounter should be for your players. The more dangerous your encounter, the more monster points (MP) you'll have to spend on monsters.
  2. Add monsters: Spend your MP to add monsters to the encounter until you reach the limit.
  3. Build the monsters: Create your monster profiles as normal with an eye for interesting synergies.

1Get some Monster Points

First, decide the difficulty of the encounter to see how many monster points (MP) you get to spend.

Encounter Difficulty

Difficulty Total Monster Points (MP)
Easy Number of players x 0.5
Normal Number of players
Hard Number of players x 1.5
Extreme Number of players x 2

The GM wants to create a normal encounter for 4 players. As shown in the Encounter Difficulty table, this gives the GM 4 monster points with which to spend on monsters and build their encounter.

2Add Monsters

Now it's time to start adding monsters to your encounter. Each monster type costs a certain number of monster points—the bigger the threat, the bigger the cost. Keep adding monsters until you've spent all of your MP.

Monster Value

Type MP Cost
Minion 0.25
Standard 1
Elite 2
Solo 1 per player

Monster Levels

Values listed in the Monster Value table assume you're using monsters within -3/+3 levels of the average player character—but this may not always be the case. If your monster is under or over-leveled, adjust its MP cost.

For every 4 levels higher than the players, double the monster's MP cost. For every 4 levels lower, halve it.

The GM wants to create a horde-style normal encounter for 4 players. They add one elite monster worth 2 points, leaving 2 points for assorted minions.

Normally, 2 points can buy 8 minions. By using minions 4 levels lower than the players, however, the GM is able to add 16 minions instead.

3Build your Monsters

Once you've decided on your encounter monsters, it's time to start building them. Use the normal quickstart rules to help you generate these stat-blocks.

Look for interesting synergies between your monsters based on their type and role—defenders protecting snipers, supporters buffing strikers, controllers enabling lurkers—but try to limit the number of monster roles to three per encounter to avoid overcomplicating things.

Encounter Outlines

Here are some encounter outlines you might use to help construct your own encounters. Each assumes a 4-player party with a budget of 4 monster points to spend—change this to suit your own game as and when needed.

ABasic Encounters

Basic encounters focus on using standard and minion monsters, usually in equal numbers to the players for simple one-on-one battles. Use these to give your players a straightforward combat challenge against a relatively few opponents.

Basic Brawl

  • Two defenders protect two damage-dealers.
  • 4 MP
Normal vs 4
Qty Monster Level MP
1 Standard Sniper +0 1
1 Standard Striker +0 1
2 Standard Defender +0 2

Sneak Attack

  • A defender and controller cover two lurkers.
  • 4 MP
Normal vs 4
Qty Monster Level MP
1 Standard Controller +0 1
1 Standard Defender +0 1
2 Standard Lurker +0 2

Sharpshooter

  • Snipers supported for maximum damage.
  • 6 MP
Hard vs 4
Qty Monster Level MP
2 Standard Support +0 2
3 Standard Sniper +0 3
4 Minion Defender +0 1

Wild Mob

  • A mob of wild attackers out for blood.
  • 8 MP
Extreme vs 4
Qty Monster Level MP
6 Standard Striker +0 6
8 Minion Sniper −4 1
4 Minion Supporter +0 1

BHorde Encounters

Horde encounters swarm your players with huge numbers of weak minions to overwhelm and overrun them. Use these to pit your players against mobs, hordes, and armies.

Vast Minion Horde

  • An overwhelming horde of minions.
  • 6 MP
Hard vs 4
Qty Monster Level MP
16 Minion Defender −8 1
16 Minion Lurker −8 1
32 Minion Sniper −8 2
32 Minion Striker −8 2

CElite Encounters

Elite encounters feature powerful leaders and champions leading—or supporting—a troupe of other monsters. Use these for your mid-boss encounters or scenes involving named monsters.

Elite Force

  • An elite monster commands a band of monsters.
  • 6 MP
Hard vs 4
Qty Monster Level MP
1 Elite Controller +0 2
1 Standard Defender +0 1
1 Standard Supporter +0 1
4 Minion Striker +0 1
4 Minion Sniper +0 1

Twin Terrors

  • Two strong champions are ready to fight.
  • 4 MP
Normal vs 4
Qty Monster Level MP
1 Elite Defender +0 2
1 Elite Striker +0 2

DSolo Encounters

Solo encounters put the party against a single, overwhelming monster. Use these for your major bosses and villains, and to capstone an adventure with a climatic boss battle.

Single Combat

  • A solo monster with one stat block.
  • 4 MP
Normal vs 4
Qty Monster Level MP
1 Solo Striker +0 4

This Isn't Even My Final Form

  • A solo monster with three distinct phases.
  • 4 MP
Normal vs 4
Qty Monster Level MP
1 Solo Defender/Controller/Striker +0 4
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