I have a question and would like your thoughts with regard to encounter scaling using the new Demonic boons? Here is the situation: I want my party to have a difficult boss encounter so I am having them fight a vampire in its lair. Unfortunately, the group (6 payers) is going to be over-leveled (level 8) for the encounter so I want to add in ways to make it more difficult without turning the vampire into a huge sack of HP. I have added Lair Actions already and I am going to give it a demonic boon of Orcus. Is this enough to make this encounter potentially deadly in your opinion?
Do you have any suggestions that could help me out?
I find single target bosses...odd. In most cases they don't really work by themselves. They get focus fire of the entire party, more chances of taking OA's... Even with Legendary actions its still just a huge HP pool to dwindle down. In the case of a vampire you can charm the low int/wis characters in a party and get an extra minion while taking one away from them.
In the DMG there should be a method explained on how to level up monsters to be more in line of your party. +1 to attack rolls, 1 extra dice roll to improve its hp, maybe the vampire has some magical items/scrolls it can use as preperation. Vampires are intelligent enough to use magical items and scrolls that could give them extra defences. Or a Zephyr strike ability so the vampire can move around without worrying about taking OA's.
Add in environmental hazards. Falling debris, acid pools/jets, arcane wards/glyphs.. anything that would make sense for a vampire to add to its lair.
If it fits add extra opponents/thralls/minions.
Then run simulations of the encounter you want to matter the most. Play your new encounter with the party members. Run it several times in different ways to see how it goes. Then tweak it accordingly.
In my opinion? Make the vampire a caster. You wouldn't need a boon. At level 8 the wizard would have access to level 5 spells. Have the vampire be wearing plate mail to boost his AC to 18. Then, give him access to up to fourth level spells. Here's some good suggestions for the spell list: 1st level: Shield, Magic Missile (To kill a PC when they are unconscious if the players because I'm assuming the PCs have been a thorn in his side for long enough), Thunderwave 2nd Level: Phantasmal Force, Mirror Image 3rd Level: Fireball (i guess, not my favorite spell), Counterspell 4th Level: Evard's Black Tentacles (To trap the players)
This should prove to be helpful in making it challenging. Let us know how that goes!
I find, as some above have noted, that the single target nature of boss encounters is the key for PC victory. IE. the fact that they can concentrate firepower. to mitigate this and make it more difficult, create challenges and obstacles that require someone in the party to focus on those instead. the most common way is having minions. computer game boss design may provide some ideas, e.g. energy pillars that must be disabled, periodic lava, etc.
Give them a corridor of attrition first, where they have no chance to rest but are encountering low/mid level enemies and use up some of their spells/abilities. Don't let them get to the boss without depleting some/most of their resources.
I find that you really need Lair and Legendary actions to make solo monster battles meaningful. Otherwise, the sheer action economy of the PCs will shred the monster in question. For six people, you should up the number of Legendary actions to five (so it gets a total number of actions equal to number of PCs).
Alternatively, don't make the boss a solo monster. Give them lesser minions to hold off. Or make a vast terrain advantage.
I find the addition of minions a good balancer, fluffing the boss with HP isn't a bad way to go either.
Other things you can do is add strategy to the boss creature, don't make it a straight fight. You'd be surprised how simple spells like fly or blink can make a boss much harder to pin down.
A fellow GM that I play with added a feature I'm thinking of adopting. If the number of players is 6 or more, he has the boss get two turns in the initiative order, usually with 2 separate initiative rolls.
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Hey all,
I have a question and would like your thoughts with regard to encounter scaling using the new Demonic boons? Here is the situation: I want my party to have a difficult boss encounter so I am having them fight a vampire in its lair. Unfortunately, the group (6 payers) is going to be over-leveled (level 8) for the encounter so I want to add in ways to make it more difficult without turning the vampire into a huge sack of HP. I have added Lair Actions already and I am going to give it a demonic boon of Orcus. Is this enough to make this encounter potentially deadly in your opinion?
Do you have any suggestions that could help me out?
Thanks!
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You could also use the variants of the vampire: Vampire Warrior or Vampire Spellcaster. Those are CR 15, more appropriate for a solo, deadly monster.
I find single target bosses...odd. In most cases they don't really work by themselves. They get focus fire of the entire party, more chances of taking OA's... Even with Legendary actions its still just a huge HP pool to dwindle down. In the case of a vampire you can charm the low int/wis characters in a party and get an extra minion while taking one away from them.
In the DMG there should be a method explained on how to level up monsters to be more in line of your party. +1 to attack rolls, 1 extra dice roll to improve its hp, maybe the vampire has some magical items/scrolls it can use as preperation. Vampires are intelligent enough to use magical items and scrolls that could give them extra defences. Or a Zephyr strike ability so the vampire can move around without worrying about taking OA's.
Add in environmental hazards. Falling debris, acid pools/jets, arcane wards/glyphs.. anything that would make sense for a vampire to add to its lair.
If it fits add extra opponents/thralls/minions.
Then run simulations of the encounter you want to matter the most. Play your new encounter with the party members. Run it several times in different ways to see how it goes. Then tweak it accordingly.
In my opinion? Make the vampire a caster. You wouldn't need a boon. At level 8 the wizard would have access to level 5 spells. Have the vampire be wearing plate mail to boost his AC to 18. Then, give him access to up to fourth level spells. Here's some good suggestions for the spell list:
1st level: Shield, Magic Missile (To kill a PC when they are unconscious if the players because I'm assuming the PCs have been a thorn in his side for long enough), Thunderwave
2nd Level: Phantasmal Force, Mirror Image
3rd Level: Fireball (i guess, not my favorite spell), Counterspell
4th Level: Evard's Black Tentacles (To trap the players)
This should prove to be helpful in making it challenging. Let us know how that goes!
I find, as some above have noted, that the single target nature of boss encounters is the key for PC victory. IE. the fact that they can concentrate firepower. to mitigate this and make it more difficult, create challenges and obstacles that require someone in the party to focus on those instead. the most common way is having minions. computer game boss design may provide some ideas, e.g. energy pillars that must be disabled, periodic lava, etc.
Give them a corridor of attrition first, where they have no chance to rest but are encountering low/mid level enemies and use up some of their spells/abilities. Don't let them get to the boss without depleting some/most of their resources.
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I find that you really need Lair and Legendary actions to make solo monster battles meaningful. Otherwise, the sheer action economy of the PCs will shred the monster in question. For six people, you should up the number of Legendary actions to five (so it gets a total number of actions equal to number of PCs).
Alternatively, don't make the boss a solo monster. Give them lesser minions to hold off. Or make a vast terrain advantage.
I find the addition of minions a good balancer, fluffing the boss with HP isn't a bad way to go either.
Other things you can do is add strategy to the boss creature, don't make it a straight fight. You'd be surprised how simple spells like fly or blink can make a boss much harder to pin down.
A fellow GM that I play with added a feature I'm thinking of adopting. If the number of players is 6 or more, he has the boss get two turns in the initiative order, usually with 2 separate initiative rolls.