Encounters & Combat
An encounter is a group of creatures you plan to throw at your players. Combat is what happens when you run it.
This page covers both: building the encounter, then running it.
What an encounter is
Section titled “What an encounter is”An encounter is a stand-alone thing. It is not part of a map.
That is deliberate. Because the two are separate, any encounter can be run on any map. Build “Kobold Ambush” once and use it on every forest map you own.
An encounter holds combatants, their hit points, and their conditions. A map holds terrain, tokens and fog. They meet on the game screen.
Building an encounter
Section titled “Building an encounter”Open the add menu next to the initiative window. You get three ways to add combatants:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Load Combatant | Pick a creature from the library |
| New Combatant | Create a one-off combatant by hand |
| Load Party | Add every player character in the current campaign |
Load Combatant is the usual one. Tap the same creature more than once to add several copies — the app numbers them for you.
New Combatant is for something that only exists in this fight. It is not saved to the library.
Load Party needs a current campaign with player characters in it. See Campaigns & Modules.
Every combatant has a role, and it does more than colour the row:
| Role | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Hostile | An enemy. The default. |
| Friendly | A party member or ally. |
| Neutral | A bystander. |
Role decides the token ring colour on the map, whether initiative is rolled automatically, and whether the creature counts toward encounter difficulty.
Hit points
Section titled “Hit points”A monster’s hit points are worked out when it is loaded. You choose how under Settings → Combat → Hit Points — rolled, average, minimum or maximum.
This applies at load time only. Creatures already in the fight keep the hit points they have.
Difficulty
Section titled “Difficulty”With D&D 5E loaded, the game screen shows a difficulty rating for the current encounter. It compares the experience value of the hostile creatures against the levels of your party.
Add or remove a creature and the rating updates. It is a guide, not a rule.
Loading onto the map too
Section titled “Loading onto the map too”By default, loading a creature adds it to combat and puts a token on the map. Change this under Settings → Combat → Load Mode.
If you build encounters in front of your players, turn on Hidden by Default so creatures arrive hidden and you reveal them when you want.
Running combat
Section titled “Running combat”Tap start. The app rolls initiative for the creatures and sorts the list.
By default it does not roll for player characters — you type their numbers in. You can change that in Combat Settings.
- next moves to the next combatant.
- previous goes back.
- The current turn is highlighted, and rounds count up on their own.
Hit points
Section titled “Hit points”Tap a combatant’s hit points to open the damage input. Type a number and it is subtracted.
Switch the input to healing to add hit points instead. Temporary hit points and maximum hit points can be adjusted the same way.
Conditions
Section titled “Conditions”Swipe a row to reach its actions. From there you can add conditions, edit the combatant, or remove it.
A condition can carry a duration and a source, so you can see where it came from and when it ends. Tap a condition under a combatant to read what it does, or to remove it.
Editing mid-fight
Section titled “Editing mid-fight”Swipe to edit a combatant to change its name, label, hit points, light or notes, or to hide it from your players. Everything here is safe to change during combat.
Ending combat
Section titled “Ending combat”Tap stop. The order is kept, so tapping start again resumes where you were — you are asked whether to re-roll initiative.
Two more actions in the menu are worth knowing:
- Award Experience splits the encounter’s experience among the party.
- Reset Encounter clears the board and starts over.
Saving and reusing
Section titled “Saving and reusing”Save Encounter stores the current fight — combatants, hit points and conditions — in your current campaign. Load it again later in one tap.
Saving a map is separate, and keeps token positions, fog of war and drawings.
Because the two are separate, you can save an encounter once and run it on a different map every time.
Common questions
Section titled “Common questions”Can I add creatures after combat has started?
Section titled “Can I add creatures after combat has started?”Yes. New combatants join at the bottom of the order until initiative is rolled again.
My player characters are not in the list
Section titled “My player characters are not in the list”Load Party only adds player characters attached to the current campaign. Check Settings → Current Campaign, and check the characters are assigned to it.
The difficulty rating is missing
Section titled “The difficulty rating is missing”It only appears with a 5E-compatible system loaded.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- Combat Settings — every setting on this screen, row by row.
- Battle Maps — running the same fight on a map.
- The Player Screen — showing the initiative order to your table.