I'm running my first proper BBEG fight and I'm hoping for some feedback on the character/creature I have created for the party to fight:
I want them to fight a Lich, but something of a weak one. They will be in the lair of the lich (a hollow beneath an ancient willow tree) and surrounded by the roots of the tree. Barian has sent his wicker creations out before - they just finished fighting wicker copies of themselves. He also has the power to turn those he strikes into wicker slaves, so that has potential to really screw them over.
I want this to be an interesting fight, and I'm torn between two options:
1: Barian conjures a pair of brown bears at the start (made of wicker) and then the fight plays out as it will. 2: Barian withholds conjure animals until he is battered down, at which point he will summon a warhorse and 3 CR1/2 creatures to cover his escape, and then ride out of the lair towards the town the party are trying to save.
I have some puzzles for them to solve before they get there but am aiming to let them stay reasonably fresh, they are having a short rest to recover before next session. I might see how their first round goes and how time goes. If they look like they're getting it easy, then Barian wil lride out to attack the town, and if they look like they are struggling a bit, then Barian will stay to fight it out, I think.
I aim for Barian to be a recurring villain as his Phylactery is bound within a tree, which includes any and all trees sown from it's seeds or cuttings, so he's pretty difficult to destroy!
Anyway, any feedback you can give for this villain and his abilities considering a party of 3 level 5's (one of which is a wizard who likes fire) gratefully recieved!
(regarding his fire resistance, he is woven from the wood of Gnarlbough, which is magically enchanted to resist fire).
I understand this might be too late to make a difference and I also apologize if this feels less constructive and more like criticism.
Right off the top, I suggest that you make a separate statblock for the Wicker Servant and shorten up your Lashing Willow description. Same suggestion for the conjured animals, create a separate statblock for them so that you don't have to describe them in their entirety on your BBE statblock. The suggested intent is to make this statblock short and concise to keep things organized during combat. I'm not a fan of searching through blocks of text to find a specific stat in the middle of combat. Slows things down too much, IMHO.
Second part for the Lashing Willow, consider revision to read a bit more like the Petrifying Claws from the Stone Cursed with the change that petrified creatures instead are transformed into Wicker Servants. (More on this below...)
[Edit:]The spell Ensnaring Strike is a BA, and closely mimics the Lashing Willow attack. So much so that it makes the spell almost obsolete. Consider moving it to a BA slot with a recharge of 5-6 (1d6) and eliminating the condition rider to the attack, or removing the spell from the creature altogether, as it's effect is already present.[/Edit:] Also consider Turning Conjure Animals into an Action with a recharge of 6 (1d6), shift the Counterspell spell into a Reaction with a recharge of 6 (1d6) and omit the non-combat spell listing. If you want them to be able to perform magical feats out of combat, you can always narrate that instead of run from a statblock. As you well know, statblocks are for combat, flavor text is for lore and roleplay. The purpose behind the recharge is to limit the number of times per combat the ability can be used while still allowing for the dynamic possibility of the ability to be useable again. If you want prefer to limit each to 1/day or 2/day that is also a good method.
A creature that can cause the restrained condition (ie, the Constrictor Snake) limits movement and the ability to strike effectively and grants a +1 bonus to the Effective AC for CR calc. The Legendary Resistance trait at an expected CR of 5 - 10 grants a 20 point boost to effective HP. This alters the Defensive CR to around 8. The damage per round and to-hit/save DC land Offense in the CR 8 category (potentially higher, I only worked with the Lashing Willow/Ensaring Strike Combo and omitted the Brown Bears from damage calc.), which, when averaged is a CR 8. I intentionally omitted the Lair Action debilitations and damage from this assessment. Adding Lair Actions and additional combatants to the enemy list will almost certainly skew this encounter towards TPK. This encounter could easily be deadly if played optimally by the DM.
The Lich's potential ability (Lashing Willow --> Wicker Servant) to remove a PC from combat and turn that PC into an enemy of the party might need some consideration. It could heavily skew action economy and the XP Calc for the encounter in a very dynamic way, with no method of reversal for the player to leverage. It is effectively a one-way road to a mass gravesite. The Petrification of a PC alone might be devastating for a party of 3.
I want this to be an interesting fight, and I'm torn between two options:
1: Barian conjures a pair of brown bears at the start (made of wicker) and then the fight plays out as it will.
Undead with the ability to reform will not fear "Death". They have that little inconvenience handled and would do anything to prevent someone from finding and exploiting that phylactery. They would leverage any ability, means or opportunity to maintain "Life", even killing a party of meddling adventurers so that they can, in fact, "get away with it." This might be the default move if the party were close to the phylactery. The consumption of souls is also a thing that Lich's might need to do to maintain their "youthful glow" or risk becoming a demi-lich.
2: Barian withholds conjure animals until he is battered down, at which point he will summon a warhorse and 3 CR1/2 creatures to cover his escape, and then ride out of the lair towards the town the party are trying to save.
I might suggest using this tactic for when the party starts flagging the encounter. Give them an opportunity to make this a mulltipart encounter. But only under the caveat that they don't have, or know about, the phylactery. Should the Lich hold the upper hand and the party is merely a nuisance, this would likely be the default plan.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
It looks pretty reasonable to me. One thing I'd ask though is "Why is this wicker creature resistant to fire?" Vulnerability would seem more likely. If one particular character is going to affected more than the others, remove the resistance and add 1/6 to its overall hit points. It's never fun to find your main arsenal is working at half power, but blasting away more hit points is fun.
It looks pretty reasonable to me. One thing I'd ask though is "Why is this wicker creature resistant to fire?" Vulnerability would seem more likely. If one particular character is going to affected more than the others, remove the resistance and add 1/6 to its overall hit points. It's never fun to find your main arsenal is working at half power, but blasting away more hit points is fun.
The resistance to fire is a plot device - he is formed from the roots of the tree which is his phylactery, and he has enchanted it to be fire-proof (among many other things). His creations are just made of regular willow. He is notably different in being made of this black wood, and the party had earlier tried to burn the tree, and failed, so it was also foreshadowed.
I'm running my first proper BBEG fight and I'm hoping for some feedback on the character/creature I have created for the party to fight:
I want them to fight a Lich, but something of a weak one. They will be in the lair of the lich (a hollow beneath an ancient willow tree) and surrounded by the roots of the tree. Barian has sent his wicker creations out before - they just finished fighting wicker copies of themselves. He also has the power to turn those he strikes into wicker slaves, so that has potential to really screw them over.
I want this to be an interesting fight, and I'm torn between two options:
1: Barian conjures a pair of brown bears at the start (made of wicker) and then the fight plays out as it will.
2: Barian withholds conjure animals until he is battered down, at which point he will summon a warhorse and 3 CR1/2 creatures to cover his escape, and then ride out of the lair towards the town the party are trying to save.
I have some puzzles for them to solve before they get there but am aiming to let them stay reasonably fresh, they are having a short rest to recover before next session. I might see how their first round goes and how time goes. If they look like they're getting it easy, then Barian wil lride out to attack the town, and if they look like they are struggling a bit, then Barian will stay to fight it out, I think.
I aim for Barian to be a recurring villain as his Phylactery is bound within a tree, which includes any and all trees sown from it's seeds or cuttings, so he's pretty difficult to destroy!
Anyway, any feedback you can give for this villain and his abilities considering a party of 3 level 5's (one of which is a wizard who likes fire) gratefully recieved!
(regarding his fire resistance, he is woven from the wood of Gnarlbough, which is magically enchanted to resist fire).
Thanks!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
I understand this might be too late to make a difference and I also apologize if this feels less constructive and more like criticism.
Right off the top, I suggest that you make a separate statblock for the Wicker Servant and shorten up your Lashing Willow description. Same suggestion for the conjured animals, create a separate statblock for them so that you don't have to describe them in their entirety on your BBE statblock. The suggested intent is to make this statblock short and concise to keep things organized during combat. I'm not a fan of searching through blocks of text to find a specific stat in the middle of combat. Slows things down too much, IMHO.
Second part for the Lashing Willow, consider revision to read a bit more like the Petrifying Claws from the Stone Cursed with the change that petrified creatures instead are transformed into Wicker Servants. (More on this below...)
[Edit:]The spell Ensnaring Strike is a BA, and closely mimics the Lashing Willow attack. So much so that it makes the spell almost obsolete. Consider moving it to a BA slot with a recharge of 5-6 (1d6) and eliminating the condition rider to the attack, or removing the spell from the creature altogether, as it's effect is already present.[/Edit:] Also consider Turning Conjure Animals into an Action with a recharge of 6 (1d6), shift the Counterspell spell into a Reaction with a recharge of 6 (1d6) and omit the non-combat spell listing. If you want them to be able to perform magical feats out of combat, you can always narrate that instead of run from a statblock. As you well know, statblocks are for combat, flavor text is for lore and roleplay. The purpose behind the recharge is to limit the number of times per combat the ability can be used while still allowing for the dynamic possibility of the ability to be useable again. If you
wantprefer to limit each to 1/day or 2/day that is also a good method.A creature that can cause the restrained condition (ie, the Constrictor Snake) limits movement and the ability to strike effectively and grants a +1 bonus to the Effective AC for CR calc. The Legendary Resistance trait at an expected CR of 5 - 10 grants a 20 point boost to effective HP. This alters the Defensive CR to around 8. The damage per round and to-hit/save DC land Offense in the CR 8 category (potentially higher, I only worked with the Lashing Willow/Ensaring Strike Combo and omitted the Brown Bears from damage calc.), which, when averaged is a CR 8. I intentionally omitted the Lair Action debilitations and damage from this assessment. Adding Lair Actions and additional combatants to the enemy list will almost certainly skew this encounter towards TPK. This encounter could easily be deadly if played optimally by the DM.
The Lich's potential ability (Lashing Willow --> Wicker Servant) to remove a PC from combat and turn that PC into an enemy of the party might need some consideration. It could heavily skew action economy and the XP Calc for the encounter in a very dynamic way, with no method of reversal for the player to leverage. It is effectively a one-way road to a mass gravesite. The Petrification of a PC alone might be devastating for a party of 3.
Undead with the ability to reform will not fear "Death". They have that little inconvenience handled and would do anything to prevent someone from finding and exploiting that phylactery. They would leverage any ability, means or opportunity to maintain "Life", even killing a party of meddling adventurers so that they can, in fact, "get away with it." This might be the default move if the party were close to the phylactery. The consumption of souls is also a thing that Lich's might need to do to maintain their "youthful glow" or risk becoming a demi-lich.
I might suggest using this tactic for when the party starts flagging the encounter. Give them an opportunity to make this a mulltipart encounter. But only under the caveat that they don't have, or know about, the phylactery. Should the Lich hold the upper hand and the party is merely a nuisance, this would likely be the default plan.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
It looks pretty reasonable to me. One thing I'd ask though is "Why is this wicker creature resistant to fire?" Vulnerability would seem more likely. If one particular character is going to affected more than the others, remove the resistance and add 1/6 to its overall hit points. It's never fun to find your main arsenal is working at half power, but blasting away more hit points is fun.
The resistance to fire is a plot device - he is formed from the roots of the tree which is his phylactery, and he has enchanted it to be fire-proof (among many other things). His creations are just made of regular willow. He is notably different in being made of this black wood, and the party had earlier tried to burn the tree, and failed, so it was also foreshadowed.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!