I'll be running aa game soon and I've come to a problem. The idea of this campaign is that the players travel to a certain city in my world. On their way they'll have to do sidequests to to earn money and XP for their travels. In one of the cities they come past, they'll have to buy a boat to get to the place they have to go. Boats in D&D are expensive, so I decided that this could be a place that they will stay in for a long time. In the city there is a larger story with a main villain. This is also where the boss fight will take place, although there is room for changing certain parts. Here's the problem: the boss fight will be put in the middle of the game, which means that the rest of the game (consisting of travel) will either be anti-climactic or will be stretched out so long that it will become boring. I can't put the fight at the end, because then they would already be at their destination and they wouldn't have any motivation to continue the quest. How would I make the climax interesting without stretching it out too long?
Lots of stories have a middle tier Boss fight... even if it is the master villain. It introduces them to the Boss. You just need a reason for the Boss to either escape or defeat the party without killing them. If the Boss defeats them and takes something valuable from them, it motivates them to go after him. If he escapes and takes an innocent with him (assuming a good party) there is motivation to go after him ... (you know, the kid brother or sister of one of the players or the child of the local king).
Anyway, this is a problem i've run into planning my games as well. The solution i've followed so far is to have each of these "side quests" you mentioned to have miniature boss fights of their own. Either that, or be sure to load the new places they go with plenty of interesting things. If the party is really into the exploring or role playing aspect of the game, the latter is a great idea. Of course, both of these methods put more strain on you as the DM. However, there are a ton of useful resources out there for potential DMs. I recommend even looking through some published adventures, and taking what you find interesting and incorporating it into your own game! I hope this helps, and hope your sessions go well.
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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?
I like the above answers. But you could also think of them defeating the boss as the ending to season 1. Season 2 they are off again down the road to your goal city, with a new bad guy, and a fresh new story to play with.
I recently included a tower in which, with the right (admittedly unstable) magic items, allows very limited travel through time by traversing the floors. This allowed me a give them a small glimpse of a future where the bad guy wins. At the moment they we're working their way out, they found theirselves on a floor that was in the far past. At that moment their unstable magic items cracked and the magic disappated. Locking them in the past for the time being. They'll have to work their way towards getting back. Through this process I'll be building the bad guy up from humble beginnings.
They'll also pass through the distopian future on their way back to their time. Giving me one last opportunity to cement in the consequences for failure in the campaign. Depending on how satisfied I am with how the plays out my result in their being trapped in the future for a short time (to let the story unpack a bit).
The last fight of the campaign will be occurring with everything teetering over the edge of the precipice. The fight will be certainly of deadly difficulty against an enemy that has had time to prepare.
But that's the goal. Make sure the players understand the cost of failure and don't make victory easy to obtain. That climatic moment should be riding on the thinnest thread of hope.
A well-balanced boss fight is one that the players almost lose.
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I'll be running aa game soon and I've come to a problem. The idea of this campaign is that the players travel to a certain city in my world. On their way they'll have to do sidequests to to earn money and XP for their travels. In one of the cities they come past, they'll have to buy a boat to get to the place they have to go. Boats in D&D are expensive, so I decided that this could be a place that they will stay in for a long time. In the city there is a larger story with a main villain. This is also where the boss fight will take place, although there is room for changing certain parts. Here's the problem: the boss fight will be put in the middle of the game, which means that the rest of the game (consisting of travel) will either be anti-climactic or will be stretched out so long that it will become boring. I can't put the fight at the end, because then they would already be at their destination and they wouldn't have any motivation to continue the quest. How would I make the climax interesting without stretching it out too long?
Lots of stories have a middle tier Boss fight... even if it is the master villain. It introduces them to the Boss. You just need a reason for the Boss to either escape or defeat the party without killing them. If the Boss defeats them and takes something valuable from them, it motivates them to go after him. If he escapes and takes an innocent with him (assuming a good party) there is motivation to go after him ... (you know, the kid brother or sister of one of the players or the child of the local king).
Okay firstly, *hahaha climax*
Anyway, this is a problem i've run into planning my games as well. The solution i've followed so far is to have each of these "side quests" you mentioned to have miniature boss fights of their own. Either that, or be sure to load the new places they go with plenty of interesting things. If the party is really into the exploring or role playing aspect of the game, the latter is a great idea. Of course, both of these methods put more strain on you as the DM. However, there are a ton of useful resources out there for potential DMs. I recommend even looking through some published adventures, and taking what you find interesting and incorporating it into your own game! I hope this helps, and hope your sessions go well.
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?
Grayfax has it right; you need to incite a secondary incident.
The fight takes place, the boss is defeated
The fight takes place, the players are defeated
The fight takes place, the boss escapes
I like the above answers. But you could also think of them defeating the boss as the ending to season 1. Season 2 they are off again down the road to your goal city, with a new bad guy, and a fresh new story to play with.
Thank you all for the replies! I'll keep everything in mind continueing my adventure. Great tips!
I recently included a tower in which, with the right (admittedly unstable) magic items, allows very limited travel through time by traversing the floors. This allowed me a give them a small glimpse of a future where the bad guy wins. At the moment they we're working their way out, they found theirselves on a floor that was in the far past. At that moment their unstable magic items cracked and the magic disappated. Locking them in the past for the time being. They'll have to work their way towards getting back. Through this process I'll be building the bad guy up from humble beginnings.
They'll also pass through the distopian future on their way back to their time. Giving me one last opportunity to cement in the consequences for failure in the campaign. Depending on how satisfied I am with how the plays out my result in their being trapped in the future for a short time (to let the story unpack a bit).
The last fight of the campaign will be occurring with everything teetering over the edge of the precipice. The fight will be certainly of deadly difficulty against an enemy that has had time to prepare.
But that's the goal. Make sure the players understand the cost of failure and don't make victory easy to obtain. That climatic moment should be riding on the thinnest thread of hope.
A well-balanced boss fight is one that the players almost lose.