I have been cobbling together short One Shots for my friends, they have been mostly mystery/puzzle based with only small amounts of trivia. This week I'm doing a murder mystery and I want the killer to be some sort of lich (or something) possessed guy who the party will have to defeat once they realize hedunnit.
The party consists of 5 Level 5 characters. I made premade balanced characters for them to play during this story.
I'm hoping to get some input on building a boss that will be challenging but not insane to fight who uses lots of magic and movement that the players will have to be clever about fighting. Any input on the monster and how to play a heavy magic using boss and any examples would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much guys!
They will get quickly overwhelmed and die unspectacularly.
That being said there is a host of fun creatures to use for a whodunnit. One of my favorites is the Allip. Instead of having the person themselves being possessed, have them be driven insane by the knowledge the Allip has been whispering to them. Forcing them to kill with their Whispers of Compulsion.
Another fun one is the Dybbuk. The look on your player's faces when they bust in the room of the person they know MUST be killing everyone only to find them dead on the floor. Then their faces when the body rises and attacks! Their sigh of relief once it's over only to have another of the victims bust into the room and attack. Rinse and repeat until the Dybbuk is slain.
If you decide to go the route of a powerful spellcaster spirit and need minions I suggest Shadows. They hit well above their CR 1/2 due to their deadly Strength Drain.
Let us know what you decide on though! Sounds fun either way!
A heavy magic using boss would definitely require some Summon spells to get more creatures to join the fight.
Legendary actions which cause effects around the combat area will also help - some things to distract some of the PCs so that they have to use their actions doing something other than hitting the boss.
A heavy magic using boss would definitely require some Summon spells to get more creatures to join the fight.
Legendary actions which cause effects around the combat area will also help - some things to distract some of the PCs so that they have to use their actions doing something other than hitting the boss.
For sure, Legendary actions are a good suggestion.
I find that fear is a pretty decent way to mitigate damage if you have a lot of melee in your group, and it'd fit well thematically. But like Farling said, anything that makes them use actions not hitting you are key.
I've taken, reskinned or modified this guy many many times. Pair him with some familiars or henchmen and he represents a difficult to hit, but relatively squishy enemy. For a murder mystery this guy feels like he fits well because he could've been using their illusion magic to misdirect the players as they investigate.
Great! Thanks for all the help guys! Yeah I figured it'd be a challenge to make a boss with no buddies! I'll take a look at the summon suggestions and the illusionist! I'll report back in after tonight and see how it goes! Thanks!
While it's possible to have a boss that doesn't have a buddies or legendary actions that's still a threat, it's much harder to create one that's actually a fun encounter, because you really want to give players more than one thing to think about. That doesn't have to be additional monsters, you can do things with zones and environmental hazards instead, but extra monsters are usually the easiest option.
It's also important to realize just how strong you need a solo monster to actually be. A party of five optimized single-target damage characters can realistically do 300+ damage in turn 1, though most parties aren't quite that focused or front-loaded. Still, if you want to have an interesting combat that isn't just rocket tag (my defense is: dead people do no damage! Hahahaha!) it's important that the PCs can't just all focus fire and unload everything on the boss.
Hey All!
I have been cobbling together short One Shots for my friends, they have been mostly mystery/puzzle based with only small amounts of trivia. This week I'm doing a murder mystery and I want the killer to be some sort of lich (or something) possessed guy who the party will have to defeat once they realize hedunnit.
The party consists of 5 Level 5 characters. I made premade balanced characters for them to play during this story.
I'm hoping to get some input on building a boss that will be challenging but not insane to fight who uses lots of magic and movement that the players will have to be clever about fighting. Any input on the monster and how to play a heavy magic using boss and any examples would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much guys!
-Kelly <3
When I say Trivia, I mean combat lmao
First plan here I cannot stress enough:
DO NOT LET YOUR BOSS FIGHT THE PARTY SOLO.
They will get quickly overwhelmed and die unspectacularly.
That being said there is a host of fun creatures to use for a whodunnit. One of my favorites is the Allip. Instead of having the person themselves being possessed, have them be driven insane by the knowledge the Allip has been whispering to them. Forcing them to kill with their Whispers of Compulsion.
Another fun one is the Dybbuk. The look on your player's faces when they bust in the room of the person they know MUST be killing everyone only to find them dead on the floor. Then their faces when the body rises and attacks! Their sigh of relief once it's over only to have another of the victims bust into the room and attack. Rinse and repeat until the Dybbuk is slain.
If you decide to go the route of a powerful spellcaster spirit and need minions I suggest Shadows. They hit well above their CR 1/2 due to their deadly Strength Drain.
Let us know what you decide on though! Sounds fun either way!
A heavy magic using boss would definitely require some Summon spells to get more creatures to join the fight.
Legendary actions which cause effects around the combat area will also help - some things to distract some of the PCs so that they have to use their actions doing something other than hitting the boss.
For sure, Legendary actions are a good suggestion.
I find that fear is a pretty decent way to mitigate damage if you have a lot of melee in your group, and it'd fit well thematically. But like Farling said, anything that makes them use actions not hitting you are key.
I love the legacy Illusionist - Monsters - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)
I've taken, reskinned or modified this guy many many times. Pair him with some familiars or henchmen and he represents a difficult to hit, but relatively squishy enemy. For a murder mystery this guy feels like he fits well because he could've been using their illusion magic to misdirect the players as they investigate.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
Great! Thanks for all the help guys! Yeah I figured it'd be a challenge to make a boss with no buddies! I'll take a look at the summon suggestions and the illusionist! I'll report back in after tonight and see how it goes! Thanks!
While it's possible to have a boss that doesn't have a buddies or legendary actions that's still a threat, it's much harder to create one that's actually a fun encounter, because you really want to give players more than one thing to think about. That doesn't have to be additional monsters, you can do things with zones and environmental hazards instead, but extra monsters are usually the easiest option.
It's also important to realize just how strong you need a solo monster to actually be. A party of five optimized single-target damage characters can realistically do 300+ damage in turn 1, though most parties aren't quite that focused or front-loaded. Still, if you want to have an interesting combat that isn't just rocket tag (my defense is: dead people do no damage! Hahahaha!) it's important that the PCs can't just all focus fire and unload everything on the boss.