Most of the big fights i have planned for my campaign are people who have been granted some abilities by their patron, and each are the embodiments of different fears. Some of these fights include: fear of death, dreams, violence, or fire- however the abilities im imagining these 'people' to have are probably far too difficult to beat in a fight.
The powers im imagining for each fear are as follows:
Death- ability to drain and give energy, and create weapons of which have a power determined by how much energy has been put into the weapon
Control- mind control and manipulation
Insanity- a doppelganger with the power to use the traits of things they turn into
Punishment- judge whether or not someone will be good in life in the eyes of their patron
Fire- control over heat and light
Dreaming- basically lucid dreaming, if she can convince you something is real it becomes real to the person convinced (say she has a water pistol but convinces you its a real gun, she can shoot you, but if she tries shooting someone who doesnt believe her it doesnt work)
Space/the dark- pocket dimensions, portals and a limited time stop power
Violence- induced fear and bloodlust
------
Idk how im supposed to make these balanced encounters down the line, but i know the first one they fight will be the fear of being punished since she doesnt have much combat potential
Fear of dreaming has a pocket dimension where theyre basically in control, but if the pcs convince her of something, it becomes real in that pocket dimension
Fear of control can only control you if you respond to something she says, although she does have illusion magic so she can use other people voices
Fear of death has to come in contact in order to lifesteal
There was a post yesterday that you should look at:
Then the final confrontation is along the lines of: can the Party beat down, or manipulate, the demigod into a position where they can employ the divine artifacts to destroy him or her. To that end, I might have the demigod stunned under certain conditions - e.g, if the Party can deal X number of HP damage in a round, if the Party can collapse the roof of the cavern and expose the demigod to the rays of sun ( for a demigod of night, shadow, or deception, etc. ), etc. Such instances would give the Party the chance to use their divine weaponry against the demigod.
I really like Vedexentideas, the players aren't trying to kill the thing that is way beyond them just trying to survive long enough for the mechanic to work. You'll needs lots of telegraphing of what the mechanic would be to defeat the entity. For example as you pointed out if the players are able to manifest things in the dream world in some specific circumstances have a way for the players to find out what circumstances and make a plan.
I don't know what level you plan these fights to be, but there are a ton of monster statblocks already in the books that give a decent representation of various things. The Sorrowsworn are a good example of monsters that could be used to simulate some of those Fears/powers.
I'd check out at least a few monster stat blocks before going full homebrew, if nothing else then at least to generate some ideas.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
Most of the big fights i have planned for my campaign are people who have been granted some abilities by their patron, and each are the embodiments of different fears. Some of these fights include: fear of death, dreams, violence, or fire- however the abilities im imagining these 'people' to have are probably far too difficult to beat in a fight.
The powers im imagining for each fear are as follows:
Death- ability to drain and give energy, and create weapons of which have a power determined by how much energy has been put into the weapon
Control- mind control and manipulation
Insanity- a doppelganger with the power to use the traits of things they turn into
Punishment- judge whether or not someone will be good in life in the eyes of their patron
Fire- control over heat and light
Dreaming- basically lucid dreaming, if she can convince you something is real it becomes real to the person convinced (say she has a water pistol but convinces you its a real gun, she can shoot you, but if she tries shooting someone who doesnt believe her it doesnt work)
Space/the dark- pocket dimensions, portals and a limited time stop power
Violence- induced fear and bloodlust
------
Idk how im supposed to make these balanced encounters down the line, but i know the first one they fight will be the fear of being punished since she doesnt have much combat potential
If it helps, some weaknesses i have planned are:
Fear of dreaming has a pocket dimension where theyre basically in control, but if the pcs convince her of something, it becomes real in that pocket dimension
Fear of control can only control you if you respond to something she says, although she does have illusion magic so she can use other people voices
Fear of death has to come in contact in order to lifesteal
There was a post yesterday that you should look at:
Post Link: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/dungeon-masters-only/79700-mechanics-of-becoming-a-demigod?comment=2 (the full post expands more, and should jump start your ideas)
I really like Vedexentideas, the players aren't trying to kill the thing that is way beyond them just trying to survive long enough for the mechanic to work. You'll needs lots of telegraphing of what the mechanic would be to defeat the entity. For example as you pointed out if the players are able to manifest things in the dream world in some specific circumstances have a way for the players to find out what circumstances and make a plan.
I don't know what level you plan these fights to be, but there are a ton of monster statblocks already in the books that give a decent representation of various things. The Sorrowsworn are a good example of monsters that could be used to simulate some of those Fears/powers.
I'd check out at least a few monster stat blocks before going full homebrew, if nothing else then at least to generate some ideas.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
For Punishment you could possibly use or take ideas from the Oracle, utilizing its Divine Insight.
For Dream you could take a look at the Night Hag, with its Nightmare Haunting, or Dusk Hag with its Nightmare Touch. Or a Dream Eater.
For Control you could use the Deathpact Angel or an Elder Brain. Or a Incubbus/Succubus.
For Death you could use an Abominable Yeti, or a Vampire. Or a Death Slaad.
For Insanity you could use a Master of Cruelties. Or an Elder Oblex.
For Fire you could use the Azer, Burnished Hart, or Efreeti.
For Space and Time you could use an Androsphinx or Gynoshinx.
For Violence you could use a Hellfire Engine, a Froghemoth, or a Hydra.