Figuring out how to make a Dungeons and Dragons encounter hard enough to be a challenge to the players, but not so hard that it kills the entire party, is quite difficult. The method for doing so involves a lot of trial and error and repetitive math.
Here I walk you through creating an Excel spreadsheet to automate this process of determining a Dungeons and Dragons encounter’s difficulty, starting with a blank file and ending with a fully-functional and well-polished tool.
This spreadsheet relies heavily on XLOOKUP, so this tutorial is a great way to learn more about how XLOOKUP works, including some of its advanced features.
Watch the video to learn more.
Related links to building a Dungeons and Dragons encounter tool:
Download the spreadsheet from this video.
How to clean messy data.
How to use absolute, relative, and mixed references to build complex spreadsheets extremely quickly: Part 1. Part 2.
Why you should Center Across Selection instead of merging cells.
Instructions on building Dungeons and Dragons encounters from D&D Beyond.
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