Hi, I generally homebrew monsters, but when I was having trouble with making a final boss, I decided I'd reskin a nightwalker...
So, with 6/7 players, when would it be okay to drop the boss fight on them? I can run the campaign for just about any amount of time, and so that isn't a problem.
I'd say with a group that size they could get through it at a 15 if they get time to prep and if your group works together well... I'd say at level 17 they'd be a able to handle it without needing too much prep or if the battlefield is creating a lot of additional challenges, and by level 20 they could probably take on two of them.
The Nightwalker is a huge undead creature with a challenge rating of 20. It's way beyond deadly for a normal party of six 7th level characters. It remains deadly until you have at least eight 7th level characters according to the Encounter Builder tool. If you really want to do it, you'll need to give the players a couple of NPCs to help them. I'd suggest they be Sidekicks, as per the rules in Tasha's, and it will be a hard fight.
Looking at the Nightwalker itself, that's a really nasty critter there. That "Annihilating Aura. Any creature that starts its turn within 30 feet of the nightwalker must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw or take 14 necrotic damage and grant the nightwalker advantage on attack rolls against it until the start of the creature’s next turn. Undead are immune to this aura." of theirs is taking down anything trying to fight it in melee down by 14 points a round, it's got tons of Conditions it's immune to and resistances to a lot of the more common damage types. It also can fly, and it's faster both on land and in the air than most of your players are likely to be.
You'll need to find ways for the party to convince it not to swoop around and attack whomever it likes, it's a DC 21 Con save for most of the things it can do, and about the only thing the party has going for it is that it's very stupid, has an armor class of only 14, and a passive perception of 9. It won't be hard to trick it somehow, and with 8 things beating on it, Action Economy is going to allow them to do it in.
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Hi, I generally homebrew monsters, but when I was having trouble with making a final boss, I decided I'd reskin a nightwalker...
So, with 6/7 players, when would it be okay to drop the boss fight on them? I can run the campaign for just about any amount of time, and so that isn't a problem.
What is the CR of the modified nightwalker, and what are the party’s levels?
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I'd say with a group that size they could get through it at a 15 if they get time to prep and if your group works together well... I'd say at level 17 they'd be a able to handle it without needing too much prep or if the battlefield is creating a lot of additional challenges, and by level 20 they could probably take on two of them.
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Statistically? Same as the normal nightwalker. All changes are thematic. The party is currently level 7.
The Nightwalker is a huge undead creature with a challenge rating of 20. It's way beyond deadly for a normal party of six 7th level characters. It remains deadly until you have at least eight 7th level characters according to the Encounter Builder tool. If you really want to do it, you'll need to give the players a couple of NPCs to help them. I'd suggest they be Sidekicks, as per the rules in Tasha's, and it will be a hard fight.
Looking at the Nightwalker itself, that's a really nasty critter there. That "Annihilating Aura. Any creature that starts its turn within 30 feet of the nightwalker must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw or take 14 necrotic damage and grant the nightwalker advantage on attack rolls against it until the start of the creature’s next turn. Undead are immune to this aura." of theirs is taking down anything trying to fight it in melee down by 14 points a round, it's got tons of Conditions it's immune to and resistances to a lot of the more common damage types. It also can fly, and it's faster both on land and in the air than most of your players are likely to be.
You'll need to find ways for the party to convince it not to swoop around and attack whomever it likes, it's a DC 21 Con save for most of the things it can do, and about the only thing the party has going for it is that it's very stupid, has an armor class of only 14, and a passive perception of 9. It won't be hard to trick it somehow, and with 8 things beating on it, Action Economy is going to allow them to do it in.
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