Shieldmaiden D&D Encounter Builder

There are several encounter builders, combat trackers and initiative trackers for D&D. Each tool has its pros and cons. But there is one encounter builder that is by far the most comprehensive. A tool that helps to organize the chaos and bookkeeping that comes with running combat. If you can only choose one piece of software (next to your notetaking program), let it be Shieldmaiden.

FULL DISCLOSURE

Full disclosure: I know one of the creators personally. I was not asked to write this, nor do I stand to gain from his tool financially. This page is my honest praise for a great tool that deserves more attention. 

There’s a lot to track in D&D combat, and Shieldmaiden is the best tool to help

To explain what Shieldmaiden is, I’ll briefly lay out the reasoning behind this D&D combat tracker. A lot of DMs struggle with the amount of information they have to keep track of during a D&D session. There’s a good chance that you (as a DM) find tracking combats one of the most hectic aspects. Because it is.

You have to pick or create monsters/NPCs. Set up their tactics. Have them behave in a believable manner. Track all their capabilities. Keep track their health. Track their conditions. Keep track the conditions of the players (because you want to ‘exploit’ weaknesses)… and the list goes on. On top of that: you want to keep a fast pace, because no one wants to drag out combat. One of my players wanted to create a solution, and so far, I honestly believe it’s the best solution out there.

Shieldmaiden is designed to automate the challenging and boring parts of combat. Yes, there are several ‘combat trackers’ or initiative trackers. Usually they’ll allow you to enter some monsters/NPCs with initiative values and HP, and perhaps some other static information. But usually it doesn’t go much beyond that. This was such an annoyance to one of my players, since it seemed like such a no-brainer to create a full-fledged combat tracker, that he decided to make it himself (with a friend of his). What they’ve produced so far, is the best D&D encounter builder/combat tracker on the internet that I know of. And you don’t have to take my word for it, you could and should try it yourself. Why? Well…

Shieldmaiden combines all necessary combat information

The reason why many D&D combat trackers come up short, is because they don’t go all the way. With that I mean: combat involves players and their characters. But it also it involves NPCs and monsters, initiative, spells, stats, damage type, healing, conditions, status effects, and more. It’s no reason that combat is usually one of hardest parts of D&D (5e). It’s not just a matter of rules and numbers, you have to keep track of all of it. While trying to pace the encounter and make it as interesting as possible.

Many DMs warn: you don’t want a simple slugfest where players and monsters simply deal damage back and forth. You want tension, extra objectives, a timer, or whatever story telling device you can use in combat. While pursuing that noble goal, it sure helps when you have a virtual buddy keeping track of everything technical. Not just initiative and HP (like most other trackers). Let a tool track conditions while you worry about the best tactical decisions to challenge your players.

A versatile D&D encounter builder and combat tracker

Because Shieldmaiden contains many important elements, it can be almost anything you want it to be. It can be a simple tracker of initiative so you and your players can see whose turn it is. Or it can be a fully virtual tracker of every combat related action. Because you can input nearly everything, you can create entire actions (regular attacks, spells, saves, anything). And you can have your players set their resistances, so the damage is automatically halved. You can set reminders, so you won’t forget to check for concentration. And you can set conditions on players and NPCs.

Most manual work can be foisted upon Shieldmaiden, or you can mix and match how you like. If you just want an organized place to keep all monsters and NPCs, so you can quickly set up an encounter, but you still prefer rolling manually: that’s possible too. It’s honestly hard to imagine a situation where Shieldmaiden can’t at least provide a little help. Because it is so versatile.

Shieldmaiden creates shared responsibility

Shieldmaiden tracks a lot of information, and that is great. But if only you as a DM had access to that information, it would be less helpful. Initiative order is shared information between players and DM. Shieldmaiden allows players to view the encounter, live, so they can see their turn coming up (and their HP going down). It’s up to the DM to share any information he or she wants: the monster’s AC, HP, et cetera. But having this live view of battle means everyone can keep track of the flow of combat. Better yet: DMs can give players control over their character sheets, so they can edit stats (like levelling up). D&D is, by definition, a shared experience. Shieldmaiden incorporates this in its design.

No other encounter builder like this

I am not disparaging anyone who tries to create a tool in order to help others. I think it’s a noble pursuit, even if others perform a better service. That said, I haven’t seen any D&D combat tracker come close to Shieldmaiden when it comes to the sheer amount of features. Perhaps there are amazing tools that I’m unaware of. But as far as I know, Shieldmaiden is the most advanced tool in this regard. If want an encounter builder: there are many of those, including Shieldmaiden. But if you ever decide to track more information virtually, there’s only one option that allows you to expand much further.

There aren’t enough great encounter builder tools

You might suspect me of merely helping out a friend. He did not ask me to write this, I am not making any money from Shieldmaiden. I wrote this (and even made a separate page) because I feel Shieldmaiden deserves more attention. Because our hobby deserves a higher standard for tooling. And while there are several great map making tools, and there are several ways of buying custom mini’s, somehow there isn’t a comprehensive combat tracking tool. In my mind, it would be healthy if DMs threw their weight behind a good tool, in order to motivate others to make an even better tool. Using and supporting Shieldmaiden is a good start.