Introduction

Our D&D 5th Edition combat simulator provides Dungeon Masters with tools to balance combat between Player Characters and Monsters.

The goal of of the combat simulator is to use AI/Machine Learning with 5e rules to

a) Help with encounter design demonstrating how battles look over multiple encounters video.
b) Help creating competitive adventures even on short notice that dont accidentally kill everyone in the first fight.
c) Managing complex larger scale battles.
d) Testing and optimizing characters or home brew monsters you could only theory craft about.

The Fights tab lets you load fights you saved earlier (if you are logged in).

We have more exciting tools and games planned for the future...

JUMP TO D&D MAPS

What does the D&D combat simulator do

0. Import your D&DBeyond characters with one click (enter character nbr) or create manually with templates.
1. Build a D&D 5th ed. encounter between player characters and monsters.
2. Click fight.
3. See who won, who wins on average, who might not survive, and just how hard the fight is.

Multiple fights/day. use the Add Another Wave button to build multiple groups of monsters to simulate for example the party fighting one, short rest before fighting the next etc.

Disclaimer Most real players will be smarter than the computer but you can use this to challenge them with close fights. Some groups are designed more for role playing than battle and so you can make sure that you are not going to accidentally kill them all!

What you do

Search for PCs. On the New Fight page search by name or class and click on the green icon to add to the PARTY side.
Alternatively add random PCs. You can pick the PCs level and how many in the party and add random characters of that level to the players side.
Search for Monsters. Repeat the search and click the red icon to add to the MONSTERS side.
Note you can add players to the monsters side for PvP or monsters to the players side using the other or button
Start the fight. Click the Execute 25 fights button to generate a sample fight (with a grid) as well as statistics for who is winning or dying on average.
View the results. Click the Simulator tab to view the results. On the first page you have the %won by players and more information.
Use the scroll bar to go from round to round on the sample fight. The last page has additional statistics

What it did

Rolled dice. the simulator is rolling random dice to hit and do damage.
Cast spells. spells or class features are used and the resulting damage or inflicted condition is recorded round to round.
This is NOT Theatre of the mind. Each creature has coordinates, move speed and the AI decides on its movement (e.g. dash) each round. Distance is measured against the range of spells and physical attacks. A grid is used for area of effect spells
Prioritized actions. The software decides whether to attack, or heal someone or cast a particular spell, you can override weights on your own creatures.
It executes bonus actions and lair actions and legendary actions - whatever is need for the fight.

What you can store

Compendium. If you register/log in you can save your PCs or create your own home brew monsters.
Spellbook. Similarly you can create your own spells, feats, features, and magic items to represent your party.
Custom Class Design. Since we have javascript, there are few limits, you can design and implement your own classes to face down the standard set.

What it is not

Character Build Assistant. You will need the Players Handbook in order to determine the correct values. However you CAN create characters, even with UTF support
If you create a character on https://www.dndbeyond.com then you can import it ready for a fight with a single click.
VTT. If you are looking for some serious virtual table top software check out https://foundryvtt.com (there is a character import for Foundry)

What is not finished

Content. You can see the %complete in the menu, still a large number of spells, class features, magic items and monsters to add!
Functionality. From user interface enhancements to finishing full module back to back fights with levelling up, treasure in between encounters, still lots to do.

What is in store for the future

Interactive battles. First step is to be able to walk through the simulation step by step so that you can make changes along the way. Second step is to be able to run the battle online with a friend.
Upload maps. You can already customize the grid size and decide on the starting positions but we will have ability to create walls, tunnels, obstacles etc.
Wargames. Imagine being able to conduct a massive battles with hordes of demons fighting the legions of hell while your players characters are beset on all sides!
Something amazing. Once we have finished all that, there is something quite amazing coming I know you will love... shhh, keep it secret.

Why Dungeons & Dragons

The year was 1982. I was 11 years old at a boarding school in England.

I had borrowed a copy of Basic Dungeons and Dragons after seeing some of the older kids playing.

I drew my first dungeon, a series of tunnels with caves that contained monsters and little more than a one line description.

The following night I took a class mate through the adventure.

We were hooked by the excitement of battling for glory and plundering the caverns for treasure.

While I didn't play D&D again in the 80s I do remember playing Tunnels and Trolls and avidly reading (playing) the Fighting Fantasy books.

1989 - 1992. Glory years of our FR campaign

The greatest campaign in the history of Faerun with legends such as

Athelstan (Holiest of Paladins)
Leyden (Elven Fighter RIP 1991)
Koric (Figher/Mage/Psionisct)
Careb (Elven Fighter - Dual Longswords)
An arch mage turned Lich (shall not whisper his name)

2020 - present. With the outbreak of the Coronavirus it felt like a good time to relive the nostalgia of playing Dungeons & Dragons so I picked up the 5th Edition Players Handbook, Monster Manual and Dungeon Masters guide. Compared to 2nd Edition I realized how far game design has come and with mounting excitement wanted to write glorious adventures again that the world can enjoy.

Back in the day I would always carefully plan the final battle between my powerful player party of 6-8 and my villains. This grew more and more complex as the group levels became higher and higher. In general I calculated the damage output and hit points pool of either side, accounting for spells and magic items. I aimed to make it 50-50 because they were very strategic. This was done with a pencil and paper.

Now, 20 years later, with a computer science degree it is time to do the real deal and have the software simulate the battle, and not just one battle, all the battles. This is possible because the 5th Edition rules are very well designed. SO LETS GO !

Where is the content coming from

DnDCombat.com is not associated with Wizards of the Coast or any other company.

This website does not replace the need to purchase any D&D source books and is not published under the SRD/OGL.

DnDCombat is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

In order to play the full version of D&D 5th edition as a Dungeon Master you need these books below

See the next section though on how to get started playing Dungeons and Dragons with the free Basic Rules

Art

There is a lot of licensed art work commissioned for this website,

The primary artist paid to do characters was abirbose738.
Numerous images were licensed through Shutterstock.
Some character portraits generated from Hero Forge.
Graz'zt and our Paladin was by Coryolis.

Dungeon Master Tools

Two of the brightest minds in adventure design have a podcast called Fear of a Black dragon.
It reviews old school modules and it is pure gold if you are writing your own adventures (I listen on Spotify while walking the dog).

Getting started with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Optionally start with the Starter set! 5 characters, subset of rules and your first adventure.

Basic rules provides more characters, monsters and spells (free to download)

Then as Dungeon Master you get the big 3 - Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide and Monster Manual (above)

Playing Dungeons and Dragons online, jump on the subreddit