Encounter Challenge Calc in IOS

Roleplaying

Walkthrough, Guilds, Tips on this special game

Our Site Score

80/100

Encounter Challenge Calc is a utility app that feels like a life-saver for Dungeon Masters. It takes the tedious math out of planning combat encounters for 5th Edition fantasy games. Instead of manually calculating XP thresholds and adjusting for party size, you can just plug in your levels and let the app do the heavy lifting.

The interface is straightforward and utilitarian. While it’s not 'pretty' in a traditional sense, it is extremely efficient. The 'Creature Count per CR' chart is especially helpful when you need to quickly scale an encounter up or down on the fly. It’s a solid, reliable tool that stays out of your way and lets you focus on the storytelling part of your game.

Reviewed on: Sun Mar 17 2024
Dinsun Avatar

Dinsun Review

I’ve been DMing since THAC0 was a thing, so I appreciate a tool that helps me not accidentally kill my entire party. This app does what it says: you put in the numbers, it tells you if you're about to TPK your friends. But as a 'game' or even as a piece of software in 2026, it’s a fossil.

The interface is a sea of grey boxes and tiny text. It’s a calculator, nothing more. With tools like D&D Beyond existing, where the encounter math is integrated into the monster manual and character sheets, why would I manually type numbers into this? It’s useful if you’re playing purely pen-and-paper and have zero internet, but for everyone else, it’s a relic of a simpler time. It hasn't been updated to include any of the newer monster books or alternate encounter math from Xanathar's.

Overall Stats

Pros & Cons

  • Lightweight and works offline
  • Accurately follows DMG math for 5e
  • Free of charge
  • Terrible, dated user interface
  • No database of monsters (manual XP entry)
  • Obsolete compared to modern DM suites

Technical Report

Performance: Instant calculations. Tiny footprint.

Accessibility:
  • Simple layout

Audience Fit

Buy if: You play D&D 5e offline and need a quick way to double-check encounter math without a laptop.

Skip if: You use D&D Beyond or any modern campaign management software.

Similar Games:
  • Fight Club 5th Edition
  • Game Master 5th Edition

Reviewer Context

  • Reviewer: Dinsun, 40-year-old conservative critic
  • Hardware: iPhone SE
  • Playtime: 1 hours
  • Status: Tested with 10 different encounter scenarios

The Game

Available on: iPhone, iPad, iPod

Version Invalid Date


Determining what constitutes an appropriate challenge for your party of heroes can be a real chore. This app handles all the math for you, including modifiers for creature count and number of characters, so you can spend more time planning your adventure.

First, describe the character levels that comprise your party. The app can handle any reasonable number of characters, at levels up to 20. You could, for example, specify that your party is made up of three level-4 characters, one level-5 character, and one level-6 character.

Once your party is defined, the app will tell you the XP thresholds appropriate for challenges of easy, medium, hard, and deadly difficulties. Those thresholds become the basis for a couple of other features: Creature Count per CR, and Custom Encounter Difficulty.

Creature Count per CR is essentially a quick-reference chart which shows you the maximum number of creatures of each Challenge Rating that you can throw at the party to generate encounters of various difficulty. For example, suppose you want the 5-member party described above to have a Hard encounter with some Challenge 2 creatures, such as ogres. The chart will tell you that you'll need to use 4 of those creatures.

Custom Encounter Difficulty is a calculator that allows you to define an encounter that consists of multiple, mixed CR creatures, and then tells you the difficulty of that encounter. To illustrate, consider again our 5-member example party. Using the Custom Encounter Difficulty calculator, you can create an encounter consisting of one CR1, two CR2, and one CR3 creatures, and it will tell you that this constitutes a hard encounter worth 3,600 XP.


Requires iOS 8.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Determining what constitutes an appropriate challenge for your party of heroes can be a real chore. This app handles all the math for you, including modifiers for creature count and number of characters, so you can spend more time planning your adventure.

First, describe the character levels that comprise your party. The app can handle any reasonable number of characters, at levels up to 20. You could, for example, specify that your party is made up of three level-4 characters, one level-5 character, and one level-6 character.

Once your party is defined, the app will tell you the XP thresholds appropriate for challenges of easy, medium, hard, and deadly difficulties. Those thresholds become the basis for a couple of other features: Creature Count per CR, and Custom Encounter Difficulty.

Creature Count per CR is essentially a quick-reference chart which shows you the maximum number of creatures of each Challenge Rating that you can throw at the party to generate encounters of various difficulty. For example, suppose you want the 5-member party described above to have a Hard encounter with some Challenge 2 creatures, such as ogres. The chart will tell you that you'll need to use 4 of those creatures.

Custom Encounter Difficulty is a calculator that allows you to define an encounter that consists of multiple, mixed CR creatures, and then tells you the difficulty of that encounter. To illustrate, consider again our 5-member example party. Using the Custom Encounter Difficulty calculator, you can create an encounter consisting of one CR1, two CR2, and one CR3 creatures, and it will tell you that this constitutes a hard encounter worth 3,600 XP.


Ratings & Reviews

4.3 out of 5 with 3 Counts
Age Rating 4+

Screenshots

Encounter Challenge Calc screenshot 1Encounter Challenge Calc screenshot 2Encounter Challenge Calc screenshot 3Encounter Challenge Calc screenshot 4Encounter Challenge Calc screenshot 5Encounter Challenge Calc screenshot 6Encounter Challenge Calc screenshot 7Encounter Challenge Calc screenshot 8

Encounter Challenge Calc is a tool designed for tabletop roleplaying game masters. It handles complex calculations for encounter difficulty, including modifiers for creature count and party size. Users define their party’s levels, and the app provides XP thresholds for different difficulty tiers. It also features a quick-reference chart for creature counts per Challenge Rating (CR) and a custom calculator for mixed-CR encounters.

Features

1

XP threshold calculations

2

Creature Count per CR chart

3

Mixed CR encounter difficulty calculator

4

Supports party levels up to 20

Tips

Promotion Videos

N/A

Related Videos

Recommended Links

Official D&D Site

Context for the 5e rules this tool uses.

Official

Gameplays

Q&A

Yes, it is specifically designed based on the encounter building rules for 5E fantasy RPGs.

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