# 5e Encounter Calculator

Canonical: https://tools.rollrewind.com/encounter-calculator/  
Last updated: 2026-10-16

This 5e encounter calculator adds up your monsters’ XP and compares it with your party’s Low, Moderate and High budgets under the 2024 rules, then shows which band the fight falls in. Enter each character’s level, add monsters by SRD 5.2 name or by CR with a count, and read the result on the bar.

## XP budget per character (SRD 5.2)

| 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 |

Multiply by the number of characters (or add each character’s budget) and compare with the total XP of the monsters.

## Use it

Open https://tools.rollrewind.com/encounter-calculator/ in a browser. The tool works without JavaScript: options and a seed travel as query parameters of the HTML page, so a link reproduces the same results.

## How to use

1. Add each party member’s level; mixed levels are fine.
2. Add monsters by searching an SRD 5.2 name or by picking a CR, and set how many of each.
3. Read the total monster XP against the party’s Low, Moderate and High budgets.
4. Check the bar to see whether the fight is below Low, Low, Moderate, High or above High, and adjust the monsters until it lands where you want.

## A worked example

Take four level 3 characters. At level 3 each character is worth 150 XP for a Low encounter, 225 for Moderate and 400 for High. Multiply by four and the party’s budgets are 600 XP (Low), 900 XP (Moderate) and 1,600 XP (High).

Now add monsters. One CR 3 monster is worth 700 XP, and four CR 1/4 monsters are worth 50 XP each, so 200 XP between them. The total is 900 XP, which is exactly the Moderate budget. Swap the CR 3 monster for a CR 2 one (450 XP) and the total drops to 650 XP: still above the Low budget, but well short of Moderate. Add a second CR 3 monster instead and you reach 1,600 XP, which meets the High budget.

With mixed levels you do the same thing per character. A level 4 character is worth 375 XP at Moderate and a level 2 character 150, so a party of one level 4 and three level 2 characters has a Moderate budget of 375 + 450 = 825 XP. The calculator handles this when you add characters with different levels.

## What changed from the 2014 method

The older method used XP thresholds per character too, but it then multiplied the monsters’ total XP by a factor based on how many monsters there were. Two monsters counted as one and a half times their XP, a big group could count for three or four times, and the multiplier shifted again for very small or very large parties. It was fiddly, and many GMs skipped it.

The 2024 rules drop the multiplier. You add up each monster’s XP at face value and compare it with the budget. The difficulty names changed as well: there are three bands (Low, Moderate and High) instead of four, and the per-character numbers are different, so don’t mix tables from the two methods. This calculator uses only the 2024 budgets and the SRD 5.2 monster XP values.

## Common mistakes

- Forgetting reinforcements. If the guards in the next room will hear the fight, count them. Monsters that arrive in round three still spend the party’s hit points.
- Ignoring action economy. The budget has no multiplier, but numbers still matter. Ten weak monsters get ten turns a round, and a single monster with the same XP gets one. Solo monsters often go down fast unless they have ways to act more than once a round.
- Treating High as the ceiling. You can build above High, and the calculator will tell you. That can be right for a finale or a fight the party should run from. Just do it on purpose.
- Counting each fight on its own. Three Moderate fights between rests are harder than one, because the party starts each fight with less.

## XP budget per character, levels 1 to 20

These are the SRD 5.2 values. Take the number for each character’s level and add them up across the party.

| Character 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 |

Note the jump at level 5. A level 5 party’s Low budget is twice what it was at level 4, because characters gain Extra Attack and third-level spells around then and fights have to scale to match.

## Using the result

The band is a guide, not a promise. Terrain, surprise, a lucky crit and how tired the party is all move the needle. If you would rather have the monsters picked for you, the [encounter generator](https://tools.rollrewind.com/encounter-generator/) builds a group to fit a budget. Once the fight starts, the [initiative tracker](https://tools.rollrewind.com/initiative-tracker/) keeps the turns and hit points in order.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I calculate encounter difficulty in 5e?

With the 2024 rules, find each character’s XP budget for Low, Moderate and High, add them up for the party, then compare the total XP of your monsters. This calculator does both sums and shows the band.

### What is the XP budget for a level 3 party?

Each level 3 character is worth 150 XP for Low, 225 for Moderate and 400 for High. A party of four level 3 characters has budgets of 600, 900 and 1,600 XP.

### Do the 2024 rules still use encounter multipliers?

No. The 2024 method adds each monster’s XP at face value with no multiplier for the number of monsters. That is what this calculator uses.

### Can I calculate an encounter for a party with different levels?

Yes. Add each character with their own level and the calculator adds their individual budgets together.

### What happens if my encounter is above High?

The calculator shows it as above High. That can be deliberate for a finale or a fight the party should avoid, but expect characters to drop.

## Related tools

- [Encounter Generator](https://tools.rollrewind.com/encounter-generator/): Balanced random encounters from SRD 5.2 monsters by party, level and terrain.
- [Initiative Tracker](https://tools.rollrewind.com/initiative-tracker/): Turn order, HP and conditions, keyboard-first, saved in your browser.
- [Dice Roller](https://tools.rollrewind.com/dice-roller/): Roll any dice notation (4d6kh3, 2d20kl1, d%) with 3D dice, advantage and history.
- [All GM tools](https://tools.rollrewind.com/)

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Unofficial fan tools, compatible with fifth edition. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any game publisher.

This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2 ("SRD 5.2") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.