Encounters

Simplified Enemies

Wolf

Beast  
Count 1
Motivation Food
Statistics hp:1, ac:10, damage:4
Modifiers STR/DEX/CON: +0, WIS/INT/CHA: +0
Special Abilities None
Concept

Most enemies that player characters face do not need fully fleshed out statblocks.

Unlike player characters, enemies are defined wholly by the challenge they provide. A stripped down statblock is sufficient for the purposes of combat.

This approach has three benefits. One, it reduces the prep time for the game master. Two, it keeps combat running smoothly. And three, it makes improvisation easier.

The Three Templates
  1. Swarm: A group of weaker enemies treated as one unit.
  2. Bear: A strong enemy that can form an encounter by itself.
  3. Boss: A powerful enemy occasionally used as the finale of a dungeon.
Flat Damage
  1. When an enemy attacks, it rolls to hit as normal.
  2. If it succeeds, it deals a flat amount of damage rather than rolling.

The main benefit of this mechanic is increasing the lethality of fights. Less time is spent on attacks that deal 1 or 2 damage; instead, every hit becomes a meaningfully dangerous experience for players.

Uncontested Rolls

Most elements traditionally found on a creature’s statblock can be replaced by the Difficulty Class Ladder.

Example: Spellcasting

If a creature casts a spell, we do not need to know its spellcasting modifier. We can instead treat the spell as we would any other challenge. If the caster is weak, we set the check to DC 10 (Easy). If they are skilled, we set the check to DC 15 (Moderate). If the caster is a powerful mage, we set the check to DC 20 (Hard).

Example: Stealth

We do not need to know the creature’s perception score to determine if a player character sneaks up on it. We simply treat it as a DC 10 (Easy) check if the creature is unobservant, a DC 15 (Moderate) check it they are watchful, and a DC 20 (Hard) if they are actively searching.

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