Encounters that fit your party.

Every job the NPC generator uses has a basic stat block: tavern keeper, blacksmith, baker, town guard, thief, hedge wizard and more. They are homebrew, made for Roleplay Journal. They are not official monsters, and each one carries a Homebrew tag so nobody mistakes it for one.

Find one: in the Monster builder, the Encounter builder or a scene's Encounter, click the creature box and type the job (for example "tavern keeper") or the word homebrew to list them all.

Make it fit your party

1. Pick the creature. Most start at a low CR, from 0 to about 2.
2. Change its CR. A tavern keeper at CR 5 hits harder, has far more hit points and gains extra attacks. Its cudgel and thrown tankard stay.
3. Some have a special trick that scales too, such as the cook's boiling stew or the hedge wizard's sleep dust.

Good to know

• Noble, Priest, Acolyte and Bard share a name with an official creature, so theirs read "Noble (NPC)" and so on.
• Copy stat block adds a "Source: Homebrew (Roleplay Journal)" line, so it is still marked when you paste it into Roll20.
• Do not want homebrew in the list? In the Encounter builder, untick Allow Homebrew under Creature filters. It is on by default.
• They follow the same CR rules as every other creature, but they are a starting point. Change what you like.

Only the GM sees the encounter. It is saved with the scene.

1. Open a scene and find the Encounter section.
2. Set the Party, then use + Add creature to pick creatures. It works like the Encounter builder, and the rules (2014 or 2024) follow your campaign's Game system in Settings.
3. Open a creature's stat block. Inside it are hit point bars, one for each creature (numbered 1, 2, 3 if you have several).
4. To hurt or heal, type a number in the Update box and press Enter. A positive number heals. A negative number damages. Set the creature's Max HP on its row in the list.
5. Heal all (above the stat blocks) puts everything back to full.
6. Click an attack bonus, a damage roll or a saving throw to roll it. See the "rolling from stat blocks" how-to for advantage and critical hits.

Changes save by themselves (look for Saved beside the Encounter title).

Reusing a fight: Duplicate on a scene makes a copy that is not in a chapter. The copy keeps the encounter, with everyone back at full hit points.

Rolling dice from a scene

You must be the GM, inside a campaign.

1. Open a scene and find the Encounter section. Open a creature's stat block.
2. Click an attack bonus (for example +8) to roll a d20 plus that bonus. Click the dice in a damage line (for example 1d6 + 4) to roll damage. Click a saving throw bonus in the ability table to roll that save.
3. Hold a link down for about half a second (or right-click it, or press the menu key) to choose how to roll:
   • Attacks and saves: Disadvantage, Normal, Advantage
   • Damage: Normal or Critical hit (twice the dice, the bonus added once)
4. A small pop-up shows the result and your roll log (bottom of the screen) keeps it, with the creature's name and what was rolled.

Other dice in a creature's text, such as a Strength drain or how many hours until something happens, are links too. Click to roll them.

On a character's card, the Quick rolls box works the same way.