One of the keys for players being able to judge what adventures they might want to attempt, is the Encounter Difficult level of the Zone in which it lies.

Each zone on the map is given an Encounter Difficulty Level that is linked to the foes encountered and hence the treasure to be found. The EDL is roughly tied to being equal in hit dice to 5 times the set level. So, if you have a smaller party than 4-5, you might want to seek out a lower EDL zone or dungeon.

The average encounter will contain approximately a number of hit dice of monsters equal to 5 times the EDL rating, but with a range reaching higher and lower. The Solo Max column indicates the highest HD that a creature can have at this EDL, if encountered alone, So, a EDL-2 dungeon might have 1 Troll (6-HD) as an encounter, but it would have to be alone. The Group Max column refers to the highest HD encountered if they are encounter in a group. So, that same EDL-2 dungeon, even if the encounter roll was “16-HD”, a group could not be made up of higher than 3-HD monsters.

Creatures with less than 1d6 hit points count as half a HD. Monsters with poison, petrification, breath weapons, magic spells, paralysis, invulnerability, energy drain or similar powers count as 1 HD high than their actual total, additionally any creatures with d10 or d12 HD types count as 1 HD higher than their actual total.

Experience Per Encounter: for each encounter where the characters face real danger, if the enemy is defeated, overcome or outwitted each player character present at the encounter receives the number of experience points indicated on the chart. Henchmen receive half the value. If the EDL of the encounter is lower than the character’s level, he also only receives half the encounter experience.

Average Treasure Amount: When a treasure hoard is discovered, guarded by a monster or hidden, the average amount of gold taken will equal the rolls indicated. The main hoard of a dungeon level can be roughly twice the maximum of a random roll.