Encounter Tables

At times during a game when you're looking to liven things up (perhaps during a long overland journey, or maybe when the party's decided to camp in a dangerous dungeon), you can use the following encounter tables to randomly generate monster encounters. These tables do not include all of the monsters in this book—likewise, they don't cover all possible locations the PCs might find themselves in during the course of a game, but you can use these tables as models for generating additional encounter tables of your own design. Note that each of the following tables has been assigned a CR score—this indicates the average difficulty of the encounters that can be rolled up on the table. A CR 4 encounter table works well when challenging a group of 4th level PCs, for example.

Desert CR 6

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–8	1 giant spider	1
9–12	1 skeletal champion	2
13–18	1d8 skeletons	2
19–22	1 bat swarm	2
23–30	1 giant scorpion	3
31–34	1d3 dire bats	4
35–42	1d6 venomous snakes	4
43–46	1 basilisk	5
47–52	1 mummy	5
53–56	1d4 jann	6
57–60	1 lamia	6
61–68	2d6 giant ants	6
69–72	1 brass dragon (young)	7
73–80	2d6 gnolls and 1d4 hyenas	7
81–84	1 remorhaz (cold desert only)	7
85–88	1 behir	8
89–92	1 sphinx	8
93–96	1 blue dragon (young)	9
97–98	1 brass dragon (adult)	11
99–100	1 blue dragon (adult)	13

Dungeon (Low-Level) CR 2

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–6	1d6 dire rats	1
7–12	1d6 fire beetles	1
13–20	1d6 human skeletons	1
21–24	1d4 giant centipedes	1
25–26	1 spider swarm	1
27–32	1d6 human zombies	2
33–34	1 choker	2
35–36	1 skeletal champion	2
37–44	2d6 goblins	3
45–48	1d4 ghouls	3
49–54	1d4 giant spiders	3
55–56	1 cockatrice	3
57–60	1 gelatinous cube	3
61–64	1 rust monster	3
65–68	1 shadow	3
69–70	1 wight	3
71–76	2d4 stirges	4
77–82	1d6 darkmantles	4
83–86	1d6 troglodytes	4
87–90	1d4 bugbears	4
91–92	1d4 vargouilles	4
93–94	1 gray ooze	4
95–96	1 mimic	4
97–100	1 ogre	4

Dungeon (Mid-Level) CR 5

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–4	1 gelatinous cube	3
5–8	1 rust monster	3
9–16	2d4 stirges	4
17–22	1 gray ooze	4
23–26	1 mimic	4
27–30	1 basilisk	5
31–34	1 cloaker	5
35–38	1 gibbering mouther	5
39–42	1 ochre jelly	5
43–46	1 wraith	5
47–48	1 bearded devil	5
49–52	1d4 shadows	5
53–56	1d4 wights	5
57–62	1d8 skeletal champions	6
63–68	2d4 ghouls plus 1 ghast	6
69–72	1 ettin	6
73–78	1 minotaur	4
79–84	1d4 ogres	6
85–88	1d4 trolls	7
89–90	1 babau	7
91–94	1 black pudding	7
95–96	1 medusa	7
97–98	1 shadow demon	7
99–100	1d4 xills	8

Dungeon (High-Level) CR 10

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–4	1 black pudding	7
5–8	1 dark naga	8
9–14	1 mohrg	8
15–18	1 nabasu	8
19–22	1d6 cloakers	8
23–28	1d6 wraiths	8
29–36	1d4 ettins	8
37–40	1 bone devil	9
41–44	1 night hag	9
45–48	1 spirit naga	9
49–54	1 vampire	9
55–58	1 vrock	9
59–66	1d6 minotaurs	9
67–72	2d4 trolls	9
73–76	1d4 greater shadows	10
77–78	1 bebilith	10
79–82	1 barbed devil	11
83–86	1 devourer	11
87–88	1 hezrou	11
89–92	1d4 rakshasas	12
93–94	1 lich	12
95–96	1 glabrezu	13
97–98	1 ice devil	13
99–100	1 nalfeshnee	14

Forest (Temperate Forest) CR 5

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–6	1 bat swarm	2
7–8	1 yellow musk creeper	2
9–12	1d4 giant spiders	3
13–16	1 assassin vine	3
17–20	1 giant mantis	3
21–22	1 unicorn	3
23–26	1d4 dire bats	4
27–32	1d4 boars	4
33–34	1 dire boar	4
35–38	1 giant stag beetle	4
39–42	1 owlbear	4
43–46	1 tiger	4
47–52	1d6 werewolves	5
53–56	1d4 dire wolves	5
57–60	1 ettercap and 1d6 giant spiders	5
61–70	2d6 goblins and 1d4 goblin dogs	5
71–74	1 barghest and 2d6 goblins	6
75–78	1d6 centaurs	6
79–86	2d6 wolves	6
87–88	1 nymph	7
89–92	1 dire tiger	8
93–94	1 green dragon (young)	8
95–98	1d4 shambling mounds	8
99–100	1 treant	8

Hill/Mountain CR 8

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–6	1d6 eagles	2
7–14	2d6 orcs	3
15–22	2d6 tengus	4
23–30	2d6 hobgoblins	4
31–36	1d4 giant eagles	5
37–42	1d6 ogres	6
43–44	1 white dragon (young)	6
45–48	1 bulette	7
49–52	1 chimera	7
53–58	1d6 griffons	7
59–64	2d4 bugbears	7
65–66	1d6 cyclopes	8
67–68	1 gorgon	8
69–72	1d4 wyverns	8
73–78	1d6 trolls	8
79–80	1 ogre mage	8
81–82	1 roc	9
83–86	1d6 hill giants	10
87–88	1 silver dragon (young)	10
89–90	1 red dragon (young)	10
91–92	1d4 frost giants	11
93–96	1d6 stone giants	11
97–98	1 cloud giant	11
99–100	1d4 fire giants	12

Jungle (Warm Forest) CR 5

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–4	1 bat swarm	2
5–8	1 yellow musk creeper	2
9–14	1 constrictor snake	2
15–18	1d6 giant centipedes	2
19–26	1 leopard	2
27–30	1d4 giant spiders	3
31–34	1d6 venomous snakes	4
35–40	1d4 boars	4
41–44	1 dire boar	4
45–50	1 tiger	4
51–54	1 giant frilled lizard	5
55–60	1d6 monitor lizards	5
61–62	1 army ant swarm	5
63–64	1 ankylosaurus	6
65–70	1d6 dire apes	6
71–78	2d4 gorillas	6
79–82	2d4 deinonychuses	7
83–84	1 nymph	7
85–86	1d4 girallons	8
87–90	1 dire tiger	8
91–94	1d4 shambling mounds	8
95–96	1 treant	8
97–98	1 tyrannosaurus	9
99–100	1 brachiosaurus	10

Ocean CR 8

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–4	1 octopus	1
5–14	2d6 dolphins	4
15–19	2d6 merfolk	4
20–23	1 sea hag	4
24–31	1d6 squid	4
32–36	1d6 water mephits	6
37–38	1 aboleth	7
39–42	1 giant octopus	8
43–50	2d6 sahuagin	8
51–60	2d6 sharks	8
61–66	2d6 skum	8
67–71	1d6 giant moray eels	8
72–77	1d6 Large water elementals	8
78–79	1 dire shark	9
80–81	1 dragon turtle	9
82–83	1 giant squid	9
84–85	1d4 elasmosauruses	9
86–91	2d4 orcas	9
92–93	1 bronze dragon (young)	9
94–95	1 marid	9
96–97	1 elder water elemental	11
98	1 sea serpent	12
99	1 kraken	18
100	1 shoggoth	19

Ruined City CR 6

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–4	1 spider swarm	1
5–8	1 rat swarm	1
9–16	2d6 human skeletons	3
17–24	1d6 stirges	3
25–28	1 assassin vine	3
29–36	1d6 ghouls	4
37–38	1 barghest	4
39–44	1d6 skeletal champions	5
45–48	1d4 yeth hounds	5
49–54	1d6 ogres	6
55–58	1d6 shadows	6
59–62	1d6 wights	6
63–64	1 lamia	6
65–70	1d6 harpies	7
71–72	1 medusa	7
73–74	1 nabasu	8
75–76	1 dark naga	8
77–84	1d8 gargoyles	8
85–88	1d6 cyclopes	8
89–92	1d6 wraiths	8
93–94	1 behir	8
95–96	1 sphinx	8
97–98	1 spirit naga	9
99–100	1d4 spectres	9

Savannah (Warm Plains) CR 7

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–6	1 cheetah	2
7–10	1 cockatrice	3
11–16	1 giant scorpion	3
17–20	1 dire lion	5
21–26	1 giant frilled lizard	5
27–30	1d6 ankhegs	6
31–34	1d6 pteranodons	6
35–40	1d8 monitor lizards	6
41–44	1d6 dire hyenas	6
45–52	2d6 hyenas	6
53–60	2d6 gnolls	6
61–66	1d6 lions	6
67–70	2d6 giant ants	7
71–74	2d4 pegasi	7
75–78	2d6 centaurs	8
79–80	1 dire tiger	8
81–82	1d6 ankylosauruses	9
83–84	1d6 stegosauruses	10
85–88	2d4 rhinoceroses	10
89–90	1 gold dragon (young)	11
91–94	2d4 elephants	11
95–96	1d6 tyrannosauruses	12
97–98	1d8 triceratops	12
99–100	1d6 brachiosauruses	13

Swamp CR 7

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–6	1 constrictor snake	2
7–10	1 hydra	4
11–14	1 leech swarm	4
15–18	1 gray ooze	4
19–22	1 green hag	5
23–26	1 ochre jelly	5
27–32	2d6 stirges	5
33–38	1d6 crocodiles	5
39–46	2d6 giant frogs	6
47–52	2d6 goblin dogs	6
53–56	1d4 harpies	6
57–64	2d6 lizardfolk	6
65–72	2d6 boggards	7
73–74	1 chuul	7
75–76	1 dracolisk	7
77–80	2d6 giant leeches	7
81–82	1 black dragon (young)	7
83–84	1 giant slug	8
85–88	1d6 shambling mounds	9
89–90	1 spirit naga	9
91–94	1d6 will-o'-wisps	9
95–96	1 dire crocodile	9
97–98	1 giant flytrap	10
99–100	1 froghemoth	13

Underground CR 9

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–10	2d6 duergar	4
11–16	1d6 cave fishers	5
17–22	1 basidirond	5
23–32	2d6 drow and 1 drow noble	5
33–40	2d6 giant spiders	6
41–46	1d6 violet fungi	6
47–52	1d8 derros	7
53–60	2d6 morlocks	7
61–64	1 black pudding	7
65–68	1 giant slug	8
69–72	1d6 cloakers	8
73–82	2d6 dark creepers, 1 dark stalker	8
83–86	1d6 driders	10
87–90	1d6 intellect devourers	11
91–92	1 purple worm	12
93–96	1d4 ropers	14
97–98	1 neothelid	15
99–100	1 shoggoth	19

Urban (Dangerous City) CR 6

d%	Encounter	Avg. CR
1–12	1d6 dogs	1
13–20	1 rat swarm	2
21–30	1d6 riding dogs	2
31–32	1 werewolf	2
33–40	3d6 dire rats	4
41–48	2d6 tengus	4
49–56	2d6 tieflings	4
57–62	1d6 ghouls	4
63–68	1d6 doppelgangers	5
69–78	2d6 wererats	7
79–82	1 succubus	7
83–86	1d6 jann	7
87–90	1d8 gargoyles	8
91–92	1 mohrg	8
93–94	1 intellect devourer (body theft)	8
95–96	1 vampire	9
97–98	1 night hag	9
99–100	1 rakshasa	10