So, my party are approaching the end of the current adventure where they will have an epic confrontation with the Witch-King himself. Who has been attack the free peoples of Dale and the surrounding lands.
I've had previous experience DMing, but this is my longest run coming close to a year now for this campaign and this is the first UBER powerful villain they have yet to face. Also, due to various brilliantly nat 20s and such, the party are on the more powerful side of the scale despite being level 10 (probably 11 when they face him).
My question is: based on what we know about the WK and his powers, what kind of stats would you recommend i give him? And how would it be best for me flavour the actual battle?
If you stick strictly with the LOTR books (or even films), not much is known about him, save that he has (or had) a Ring of Power, and is a magic-user of some sort ("witch king").
I'd recommend you take a look at creatures of Challenge Rating 17 or so (adult dragons, Titivilus, death knight, marilith, for a few examples). Maybe use the death knight, the deathlock, or a lich as your basic monster "chassis" and customize from there - adding some abilities, subtracting some others. Adapting a dragon's ability to inspire fear seems like a natural trait for a nazgul to have.
I'm a big fan of Matt Colville's approach of not giving NPCs a lot of spells to cast (because that means more in-the-moment decisions for you as the DM) and instead give them traits or capabilities that mimic spells but don't require casting or slots.
I'm sure other folks here will have better and more specific suggestions.
So, my party are approaching the end of the current adventure where they will have an epic confrontation with the Witch-King himself. Who has been attack the free peoples of Dale and the surrounding lands.
I've had previous experience DMing, but this is my longest run coming close to a year now for this campaign and this is the first UBER powerful villain they have yet to face. Also, due to various brilliantly nat 20s and such, the party are on the more powerful side of the scale despite being level 10 (probably 11 when they face him).
My question is: based on what we know about the WK and his powers, what kind of stats would you recommend i give him? And how would it be best for me flavour the actual battle?
Thanks (whether or not you reply :D).
If you stick strictly with the LOTR books (or even films), not much is known about him, save that he has (or had) a Ring of Power, and is a magic-user of some sort ("witch king").
I'd recommend you take a look at creatures of Challenge Rating 17 or so (adult dragons, Titivilus, death knight, marilith, for a few examples). Maybe use the death knight, the deathlock, or a lich as your basic monster "chassis" and customize from there - adding some abilities, subtracting some others. Adapting a dragon's ability to inspire fear seems like a natural trait for a nazgul to have.
I'm a big fan of Matt Colville's approach of not giving NPCs a lot of spells to cast (because that means more in-the-moment decisions for you as the DM) and instead give them traits or capabilities that mimic spells but don't require casting or slots.
I'm sure other folks here will have better and more specific suggestions.
Thank you for the recommendation, I'll have look at those creatures and see what I add to keep in spirit of the books and films.