For a Game Master, an encounter is anything that happens to the party: an ambush, a stranger with a warning, a bridge that won't hold. Critsmith keeps the fight, the people and the rewards together, so nothing slips through the cracks between prep and play.
Start an encounter
From your campaign's Build screen, open Encounters, and choose Create with Wizard.
EncountersPrepare scenes ahead of time, written yourself or imported from the community, so they're ready to drop into a session.also in Run
Encounters, on your campaign's Build screen
The wizard goes one step at a time and saves as you go. Only the name is required, so you can jot an idea down in seconds and finish it later.
Basics
Give it a name, and a one-line summary you'll spot at a glance, even mid-session.
1. Basics
2. Difficulty & place
3. Scene
4. Plays out
5. Soundscape
6. Review
Name
What shows in your encounters list. Keep it short enough to spot at a glance.
The Toll Bridge Ambush
Summary
A one-line hook you can read straight off the list, e.g. "an ambush on the toll bridge at dusk."
Bandits
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Basics: a name and a one-line summary
Difficulty and place
Next, the difficulty, the party level it's built for, and where it happens.
Difficulty
How challenging this is meant to be for the party, on the three-band 2024 scale. Only relevant if this turns into a fight; leave it as Not set otherwise. Shown as a badge if you share this encounter to the community library.
Moderate▾
Suggested party level
The party level this is built for. Also shown to other DMs if you share it.
3▾
Location
Ties this encounter to one of your campaign's locations, if it belongs to one.
None▾
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The difficulty, the party level and the location
Scene
The Scene step is what the party walks into: the setup, the creatures, and the terrain and hazards. It's all there to read from when the moment comes.
Setup
The scene: where it happens, what the party walks into, the situation.
The old toll bridge at dusk. The gate is down, a lantern swings on the far side, and two planks have been pulled up.
Creatures
Who or what shows up, e.g. "2 Bandits and a Bandit Captain."
A Bandit Captain, two Scouts in the reeds, a
Terrain and hazards
Cover, obstacles, traps, environmental effects.
Cover, obstacles, traps, environmental effects
Not every encounter is a fight. If this one turns into one, or the party meets someone worth naming, use the sections below.
Combat (Optional)
Not every encounter is a fight. If this one becomes one, add or roll the combat here.
Add combat
NPCs here (Optional)
Anyone the party meets in this encounter, so their sheet is one click away during play.
Nobody linked yet.
Add NPC
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The Scene step: setup, creatures, and terrain and hazards
If it turns into a fight
If it turns into a fight, press Add combat. Manual starts an empty fight. Generate builds one to suit your party and the difficulty you chose, which saves you balancing it by hand. Re-roll until it looks right.
Generate a fight
Nothing is saved until you accept it. Re-roll as often as you like.
Already made the fight? Pick it from the list and press Attach.
Attach an existing fight…▾Attach
Attach a fight you've already made
Press Accept and start setting up. Critsmith saves this step, attaches the fight and opens it. Setting it up has its own guide.
Your encounter waits in your list, marked Unfinished. Open it, and you carry on where you left off.
The Toll Bridge Ambush
Bandits demand a toll no one can pay.
Unfinished
Delete
The encounter waiting on your list, marked Unfinished
NPCs here
Under NPCs here, press Add NPC, choose who the party meets, and press Link. Their sheet is then one click away during play, so you're never hunting for a name.
NPCs here (Optional)
Anyone the party meets in this encounter, so their sheet is one click away during play.
Joss Fenwick
Remove
Add NPC
NPCs here, with one NPC linked
How it plays out
Then, how it plays out: the creatures' tactics, the rewards, and DM-only notes your players never see.
The Rewards box is flavour only. For real rewards, use Linked items: link an item you already have, or make a new one.
Linked items (Optional)
Item rewards for this encounter. A pending reward moves into inventory once this encounter is marked complete on the Run Campaign screen, and its gold is added to party gold. Change this in Settings
No items linked yet.
Add item
Link an item+ New item
Choose an item…▾
Link
Roll new loot
SignificanceNotable find▾
CR (optional)e.g. 3
A worthwhile reward for a real fight. Add a challenge rating to scale the drop to this encounter.
At the table
✓Brannoc HaleLevel 3
✓Isolde FennLevel 3
✓Sir Roland BrightshieldLevel 3
✓Wren AshdownLevel 3
Party levels3, 3, 3, 3
4 characters · average level 3
Roll loot
Linked items, for rewards the party really receives
Or roll new loot. Choose how big a find it is, press Roll loot, and if you like it, press Add to inventory and link to this encounter.
86 gp 5 sp2 items
Potion of Healing x2Common
Cloak of ProtectionUncommon
Add to inventory & link to this encounter
Rolled loot, ready to add and link
Everything linked waits as Pending. When you mark the encounter complete on the Run screen, the items go to the party and the gold is paid out for you, so there's no tally to keep.
Mark it complete on the Run screen
The items go to the party
The gold is paid out for you
What happens when you mark the encounter complete
Soundscape and review
Pick a soundscape if you like, check the Review step, and press Finish.
Review
Everything you set on the previous steps. Go back to change anything, or finish to save.
Name
The Toll Bridge Ambush
Summary
Bandits demand a toll no one can pay.
Difficulty
Moderate
Suggested party level
Level 3
Location
Havenreach
Setup
The old toll bridge at dusk. The gate is down, a lantern swings on the far side, and two planks have been pulled up.
Creatures
A Bandit Captain, two Scouts in the reeds, and six Bandits.
Terrain and hazards
Rotten planks over a fast river. The reeds give the scouts cover.
Tactics
The captain talks first. If the party won't pay, the scouts shoot from the reeds.
Rewards
The captain's ledger names who paid him to close the road.
DM-only notes
The ledger points to Mayor Thornwick.
Combat
The Toll Bridge Ambush (setup)
NPCs here
Joss Fenwick
Review: the whole encounter on one card
Built once, ready whenever the party needs it, so you can focus on running the game.