Encounters, the building blocks of adventures. The time when your players and their characters are tested. There are random encounters, but this isn’t about that. This is about one of the many steps you will put your players through as they slowly work through their adventure.

When many Dungeon Masters (myself included) build encounters, they see it as a step towards the Big Bad Evil Guy (BBEG). Any BBEG worth their weight in salt doesn’t let any adventurer walk on up and attempt to Murder them. No. They surround themselves with various tiers of soldiers and lackeys, so the BBEG only has to stop their Master Plan if they are dealing with a legitimate threat. And that’s the whole thought process there.

My question to you is: What purpose in the story does this encounter hold? Also, what are the stakes, for everyone involved?

Let’s walk through an encounter, beginning…