How to Balance Your D&D Encounters with Kobold Fight Club
Becoming the Dungeon Master for D&D is a great choice! If you’re new to the game, though, you’re probably feeling a bit overwhelmed.
After all, being a DM means you’re responsible for more than just narrating the story. You’re the architect of the world, the creator of NPCs (non-playable characters), and, most importantly, the one in charge of crafting engaging, challenging, and memorable encounters.
Your players rely on you to design a game that is both fun and fair. A big part of that is creating balanced encounters.
Now, what do we mean by “balanced”? Well, it’s all about making sure the combat situations in your game are challenging enough to engage your players, but not so difficult that they feel hopeless.
On the flip side, you don’t want encounters to be too easy. If the players are constantly steamrolling through the monsters, the game gets boring.
You need to hit that sweet spot: enough of a challenge to keep them on their toes, but not so much that they feel like they can’t win.
This is where Kobold Fight Club became a game-changer for countless DMs.
However, the landscape has changed significantly, so let’s explore what happened to the original tool and how you can still use its proven methodology for balancing encounters today.
What Was Kobold Fight Club?
Kobold Fight Club was once the most beloved online tool for D&D 5th Edition encounter building. It was a fantastic web application that helped DMs create balanced encounters quickly and easily.
Instead of spending hours poring over monster stats and running complex calculations to figure out how many creatures to throw at your party, Kobold Fight Club did all of that for you.
You simply plugged in a few details about your party, like how many players you had, their levels, and the difficulty you were looking for, and it suggested the perfect monsters for the encounter. It was that easy!
How the Original Tool Worked
When you visited the Kobold Fight Club website, you were prompted to enter some basic information about your game:
Number of Players: How many players were in your party? The tool used this information to calculate the difficulty of the encounter.
Party Level: This told the tool how powerful your group was. A party of level 5 characters is much stronger than a party of level 1 characters.
Difficulty Setting: You could choose the difficulty of the encounter. The tool offered options like “Easy,” “Medium,” “Hard,” and “Deadly.” These options determined how challenging the fight would be.
Once you entered this information, Kobold Fight Club suggested a set of monsters that fit the difficulty level and number of players you specified.
It calculated their Challenge Rating (CR) and matched the monsters to your party’s level and difficulty, ensuring that the encounter was fair.
The tool didn’t just throw out random suggestions. It took into account various factors like how many actions each monster could take in a round, how much damage they dealt, and their overall strength.
This ensured that encounters were not only balanced but also dynamic and interesting.
What Happened to the Original Kobold Fight Club?
Unfortunately, the original Kobold Fight Club (kobold.club) is no longer functional. The tool became non-operational in late 2024 due to technical issues with Google Sheets API integration. The original creator, known as Asmor, stopped maintaining the site when these technical problems made it unreliable.
The original tool relied heavily on Google Sheets for its database backend, which created an unsustainable architecture that ultimately led to its demise when Google changed their API policies.
Important clarification: Despite what some sources claim, the original Kobold Fight Club was designed exclusively for D&D 5th Edition only. It never supported D&D 3.5e, 4th Edition, or other systems.
All its encounter calculations, Challenge Rating formulas, and monster databases were specifically built for 5e rules and mechanics.
Kobold Plus Fight Club: The Direct Successor
Fortunately, the D&D community responded to the original’s demise by creating Kobold Plus Fight Club (koboldplus.club), which serves as the most faithful successor to the original tool.
Kobold Plus Fight Club is a complete rewrite by Fantasy Computerworks that maintains the original’s philosophy while addressing its technical limitations. This tool provides nearly identical functionality to what made the original Kobold Fight Club so beloved.
Key Features of Kobold Plus Fight Club:
- Faithful Recreation: Nearly identical interface and workflow to the original
- Comprehensive Monster Database: Extensive filtering by Challenge Rating, environment, size, type, alignment, and more
- Automatic Calculations: Party configuration with automatic difficulty calculations using official D&D 5e formulas
- Real-Time Adjustments: Modify encounters on the fly with instant difficulty recalculation
- Custom Content: Import capabilities for custom monsters
- Export Options: Send encounters to other tools like Improved Initiative
- Free Access: No subscriptions or fees required
- Mobile Optimised: Works excellently on phones and tablets
Current Status
Kobold Plus Fight Club is actively maintained and functional as of 2025. The development team is working on implementing D&D 2024 rules to combat difficulty and stay current with the latest edition updates.
How to Use Kobold Plus Fight Club for Balanced Encounters
The process for using Kobold Plus Fight Club follows the same proven methodology that made the original so effective:
Step 1: Set Up Your Party
Navigate to koboldplus. Club and enter your party details:
- Number of players in your group
- Character levels (the tool can handle mixed-level parties)
- Any special considerations for your campaign
Step 2: Choose Encounter Difficulty
Select from the standard D&D 5e difficulty levels:
- Easy: Players should win with minimal resource expenditure
- Medium: Players should win, but use some resources
- Hard: Players should win, but use significant resources
- Deadly: Players might lose without smart tactics
Step 3: Filter and Select Monsters
Use the extensive filtering system to find appropriate creatures:
- Challenge Rating (CR): Match monsters to your party’s power level
- Environment: Forest, dungeon, urban, arctic, etc.
- Monster Type: Beast, humanoid, undead, dragon, etc.
- Size: From tiny creatures to gargantuan monsters
- Alignment: Good, evil, neutral, or specific alignments
Step 4: Build Your Encounter
Add monsters to your encounter and watch the tool automatically:
- Calculate adjusted experience points (XP)
- Account for multiple monster multipliers
- Display the final difficulty rating
- Show whether the encounter fits your target difficulty
Step 5: Adjust and Refine
Make real-time adjustments:
- Add or remove monsters
- Swap creatures for different tactical challenges
- Adjust quantities based on your party’s specific strengths and weaknesses
Step 6: Export or Save
- Save encounters for future sessions
- Export to virtual tabletops or combat trackers
- Print encounter details for offline use
Other Encounter Building Alternatives
While Kobold Plus Fight Club is the most direct successor, several other tools can help with encounter balancing:
D&D Beyond Encounter Builder
- Pros: Most complete official monster database, integrated with D&D Beyond ecosystem
- Cons: Requires subscription, won’t be updated for D&D 2024 rules
- Best For: DMs already invested in the D&D Beyond platform
Shieldmaiden Encounter Builder
- Pros: Built-in combat tracker, monster creator tools, comprehensive features
- Cons: Requires account creation, less familiar interface
- Best For: DMs who want encounter building and combat management in one tool
Simple Online Calculators
- Examples: Kastark’s D&D 5th Edition Encounter Calculator, AideDD Encounter Builder
- Pros: Quick, simple, no account required
- Cons: Limited features, basic functionality only
- Best For: DMs who prefer straightforward calculation tools
Why the Kobold Fight Club Approach Works
The methodology pioneered by Kobold Fight Club became the standard for good reasons:
Mathematical Precision
The tool uses official D&D 5e encounter building formulas from the Dungeon Master’s Guide, ensuring encounters are balanced according to the game’s design principles. This removes guesswork and provides consistent results.
Action Economy Considerations
Kobold Fight Club-style tools account for the action economy, how multiple weaker monsters can be more dangerous than single strong monsters due to the number of attacks and actions they can take each round.
Scalable Difficulty
The system allows you to create encounters that scale appropriately with party level and size, ensuring consistent challenge regardless of campaign progression.
Time Efficiency
What once took hours of manual calculation now takes minutes, allowing DMs to focus on storytelling and world-building rather than mathematical calculations.
Advanced Tips for Encounter Balancing
Consider Party Composition
While tools calculate mathematical balance, consider your specific party’s strengths:
- Spellcaster-Heavy Parties: Might struggle with many low-CR enemies that can break concentration
- Martial-Heavy Parties: Might find single powerful enemies less challenging
- Mixed Parties: Usually handle encounters closest to calculated difficulty
Account for Rest Patterns
D&D 5e assumes specific rest patterns that affect encounter difficulty:
- Fresh Parties: Will find encounters easier than calculated
- Resource-Depleted Parties: Will find encounters harder than expected
- Optimal Balance: 2-3 short rests per long rest with multiple encounters between rests
Environmental Factors
Consider how terrain and environment affect encounter difficulty:
- Difficult Terrain: Can make encounters harder for both sides
- Cover and Elevation: Affects tactical options
- Environmental Hazards: Add effective “damage” to encounters
Don’t Rely Solely on CR
Challenge Rating is useful but imperfect:
- Monster Abilities: Some creatures punch above or below their CR
- Party Tactics: Experienced players can handle higher difficulties
- Magic Items: Can significantly affect party power level
My Personal Experience with Kobold Fight Club Tools
As a long-time DM, I relied heavily on the original Kobold Fight Club and have since transitioned to Kobold Plus Fight Club.
The tool has saved me countless hours of preparation time and helped me create more consistently balanced encounters.
In one memorable campaign, I had a party of four level 3 characters exploring a goblin warren.
Using the tool, I created a “Medium” difficulty encounter with 6 goblins and a goblin boss. The mathematical balance was perfect; the players had to use tactical thinking and resource management without feeling overwhelmed.
What I love most about this approach is the confidence it provides.
Instead of worrying whether an encounter will be too easy or too hard, I can focus on the narrative elements, environmental features, and role-playing opportunities that make encounters memorable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I still access the original Kobold Fight Club?
A: No, the original kobold. The club website is no longer functional. Use Kobold Plus Fight Club (koboldplus.club) as the closest alternative.
Q: Which tool is most similar to the original Kobold Fight Club?
A: Kobold Plus Fight Club (koboldplus.club) is the most direct successor, maintaining the same interface philosophy and encounter-building methodology.
Q: Do these tools support D&D 2024 edition?
A: Support varies. Kobold Plus Fight Club is working on D&D 2024 implementation, while some tools like AideDD already support both 2014 and 2024 rules.
Q: Are there mobile apps available?
A: Kobold Plus Fight Club and most alternatives are web-based and mobile-optimised, working excellently on phones and tablets through browsers.
Q: Can I import custom monsters?
A: Yes, Kobold Plus Fight Club supports custom monster imports through formatted spreadsheets, maintaining the flexibility that made the original so useful.
Q: Is the tool really free?
A: Yes, Kobold Plus Fight Club is completely free to use with no subscription fees, staying true to the original’s philosophy of accessibility.
Conclusion
While the original Kobold Fight Club is no longer available, its legacy lives on through excellent alternatives that carry forward its core philosophy of making encounter building accessible, accurate, and efficient for DMs.
Kobold Plus Fight Club represents the best continuation of the original’s approach, providing the same reliable encounter-balancing methodology that helped countless DMs create memorable gaming experiences.
Whether you’re a new DM learning the ropes or a veteran looking to streamline your preparation, these tools embody the same principles that made Kobold Fight Club legendary.
The key to successful encounter balancing isn’t just in the mathematical calculations, though those are important, but in understanding your players, considering your campaign’s narrative needs, and using these tools as a foundation for creative encounter design.
With Kobold Plus Fight Club in your toolkit, you’ll spend less time on math and more time crafting the memorable adventures that will keep your players excited to return to your table week after week.
That’s exactly what the original Kobold Fight Club was designed to do, and its successor continues that tradition admirably.
Remember, balanced encounters aren’t just about the numbers; they’re about creating moments of tension, triumph, and storytelling that make your D&D sessions unforgettable.
These tools simply ensure that the mathematical foundation supports those epic moments rather than undermining them.