I am just starting a campaign out for a group who are level 2, soon to be level 3. I have a fair amount of interesting things planned for them, but I have heard it mentioned a couple of times things like "don't use your spell slots here, we aren't even at the big boss yet".
This has led me to realise that, not only for this mission (which is all planned out already) but for a good deal of subsequent things, I have no "BBEG" characters. The only thing I've got is a massive upheaval which will not be suitable until the players are somewhere around level 15, which is quite a way away yet! I'm concerned that if at least one of the players is expecting or looking forward to a "boss fight", then I should definitely sort them out one for the future!
So, I'm looking for some inspiration for BBEG's which I can work into the game for up to around level 12, for a party of 5 - I've drawn something of a blank here! My vein of storyweaving involves challenges to overcome, more than enemies to be defeated!
A charismatic Half-Orc is uniting tribes of Orcs under their banner. They are opposed by a Hobgoblin General. Both are quite evil, and the players will have to figure how to keep the monsters from overrunning the poor Human settlements in the area. Smart play may be to play "let's you and them fight" and turn them against each other so the Humans can mop up.
A Bard is running around, telling all sorts of (possibly true!) stories about corruption in the local rulers. Pinning the Bard down and stopping their plans may be difficult. The locals may consider that Bard a hero. Who is that Bard working for, and what is the real reason they are doing what they are doing?
A Fiend has been summoned. The party may never actually fight it, but they keep running afoul of its minions. A secret cult is gathering the Chosen Sacrificial People. Time is short!
A Wererat pack in the worst part of the city is tough unless the party is prepared. Who is the Master Rat, and what are their goals? Is the Thieves Guild involved?
Most Big Bad Evil Guys have someone else behind them giving orders. Common play is for players to stop the Big Bad, only to find clues that lead to a larger and more sinister Bigger Nastier Bad. Start with something easy to fight, like those Orcs. Half-Orc is working for the Dark Elves, who don't know it, but there is a Mind Flayer Elder Brain manipulating them. There is a Silver Dragon who can help, but only if the players have shown their honor and valor. Maybe it's a fairly young one, and can't fight the bad guys directly.
take a moment to read your player's backstories, they might have written you one already with motivations, and that player if they rp can fill in the rest of the party, don't introduce them straight off, foreshadow a bit. also, do they have an npc they are attached to no matter how minor if not made into the bbeg make them a victim, being the BBEG is less about how big the stat block is and more about how much they live in your player's heads.
other things to try, The BBEG is the counterforce in your world to your party, if there is some feat your party has accomplished in the past he/she undoes it:
Did they save a person or town making their life better, the BBEG undoes it or perverts the good done into an evil outcome.
this doesn't mean the default Mass murder either it could be subtle as you like even simply a besmirchment of the parties reputation.
Ok this might be controversial, but you don’t have to have a bbeg. Especially at low levels, at this point have a series of encounters and battles but don’t worry about some big bad overseeing it all. At low levels the characters should be worrying about earning coin, learning how to work as a group. They are going to be dealing with low level stuff not world changing events.
Thus far there's only been one encounter (only one session in, and learning roll20 slowed it down) so it's not an issue that the players are too comfy, nor are they powergamers so I'm not concerned with the difficulty.
I guess the issue is that the overall plot of this part of the campaign is one which doesn't have a BBEG who's orchestrating it, it is instead a mistake that has been made and the players are learning what it was and how to put it right. I'm not worried about them not enjoying it per say, but I am worried that they might get to the end expecting a "boss fight" and find that missing. They will have overcome some bosses along the way, but the ending I have in line doesn't involve a big climactic fight. I have a few sessions to go before we get there though, so I can try to adapt the ending if I can think of something that fits!
So don’t think BBEG just think what would you like the final encounter to be - siege warfare, one on one combat with an equal, giant monster etc.
now you have an end point and a beginning so start to work backwards, ask why is that the last fight, be a bit vague, think about motivations etc, not just the villains but your parties, why are they going to get involved, what’s at stake, what would losing mean, what does winning etc.
so keep working backwards vaguely about what brings them to that point, map it all the way back to where the players are now but leave giant chunks out. It’s not about filling in detail but building a skeleton to wrap your narrative around.
now set up some encounters that challenge your players ideal’s, give them lots of chances to RP, listen to every detail they throw your way about anything, pay attention to every wrong idea they have about a mystery and the things they try and do. What are the characters suspicious off, afraid off etc, these are all details for you to apply to your BBEG
What is the event that will end this moment, it does not have to involve combat at all, it could be a series of skill tests, or gathering a set of resources and taking them to a place. You don’t have to end every climax in the campaign with a fight. But if you want to do that then I suggest you work out what level the party will be and use the encounter tool here in DnD beyond to work out a creature that will give a deadly or higher level battle and then base your final battle on that.
As an aside if you are using roll 20 then my advice is that boy map out areas where fights are going to take place, everything else descriptions and imagination is a far better tool for.
I am just starting a campaign out for a group who are level 2, soon to be level 3. I have a fair amount of interesting things planned for them, but I have heard it mentioned a couple of times things like "don't use your spell slots here, we aren't even at the big boss yet".
This has led me to realise that, not only for this mission (which is all planned out already) but for a good deal of subsequent things, I have no "BBEG" characters. The only thing I've got is a massive upheaval which will not be suitable until the players are somewhere around level 15, which is quite a way away yet! I'm concerned that if at least one of the players is expecting or looking forward to a "boss fight", then I should definitely sort them out one for the future!
So, I'm looking for some inspiration for BBEG's which I can work into the game for up to around level 12, for a party of 5 - I've drawn something of a blank here! My vein of storyweaving involves challenges to overcome, more than enemies to be defeated!
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!
A charismatic Half-Orc is uniting tribes of Orcs under their banner. They are opposed by a Hobgoblin General. Both are quite evil, and the players will have to figure how to keep the monsters from overrunning the poor Human settlements in the area. Smart play may be to play "let's you and them fight" and turn them against each other so the Humans can mop up.
A Bard is running around, telling all sorts of (possibly true!) stories about corruption in the local rulers. Pinning the Bard down and stopping their plans may be difficult. The locals may consider that Bard a hero. Who is that Bard working for, and what is the real reason they are doing what they are doing?
A Fiend has been summoned. The party may never actually fight it, but they keep running afoul of its minions. A secret cult is gathering the Chosen Sacrificial People. Time is short!
A Wererat pack in the worst part of the city is tough unless the party is prepared. Who is the Master Rat, and what are their goals? Is the Thieves Guild involved?
Most Big Bad Evil Guys have someone else behind them giving orders. Common play is for players to stop the Big Bad, only to find clues that lead to a larger and more sinister Bigger Nastier Bad. Start with something easy to fight, like those Orcs. Half-Orc is working for the Dark Elves, who don't know it, but there is a Mind Flayer Elder Brain manipulating them. There is a Silver Dragon who can help, but only if the players have shown their honor and valor. Maybe it's a fairly young one, and can't fight the bad guys directly.
<Insert clever signature here>
take a moment to read your player's backstories, they might have written you one already with motivations, and that player if they rp can fill in the rest of the party, don't introduce them straight off, foreshadow a bit. also, do they have an npc they are attached to no matter how minor if not made into the bbeg make them a victim, being the BBEG is less about how big the stat block is and more about how much they live in your player's heads.
other things to try, The BBEG is the counterforce in your world to your party, if there is some feat your party has accomplished in the past he/she undoes it:
Did they save a person or town making their life better, the BBEG undoes it or perverts the good done into an evil outcome.
this doesn't mean the default Mass murder either it could be subtle as you like even simply a besmirchment of the parties reputation.
Ok this might be controversial, but you don’t have to have a bbeg. Especially at low levels, at this point have a series of encounters and battles but don’t worry about some big bad overseeing it all. At low levels the characters should be worrying about earning coin, learning how to work as a group. They are going to be dealing with low level stuff not world changing events.
Thankyou for the replies!
Thus far there's only been one encounter (only one session in, and learning roll20 slowed it down) so it's not an issue that the players are too comfy, nor are they powergamers so I'm not concerned with the difficulty.
I guess the issue is that the overall plot of this part of the campaign is one which doesn't have a BBEG who's orchestrating it, it is instead a mistake that has been made and the players are learning what it was and how to put it right. I'm not worried about them not enjoying it per say, but I am worried that they might get to the end expecting a "boss fight" and find that missing. They will have overcome some bosses along the way, but the ending I have in line doesn't involve a big climactic fight. I have a few sessions to go before we get there though, so I can try to adapt the ending if I can think of something that fits!
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!
So don’t think BBEG just think what would you like the final encounter to be - siege warfare, one on one combat with an equal, giant monster etc.
now you have an end point and a beginning so start to work backwards, ask why is that the last fight, be a bit vague, think about motivations etc, not just the villains but your parties, why are they going to get involved, what’s at stake, what would losing mean, what does winning etc.
so keep working backwards vaguely about what brings them to that point, map it all the way back to where the players are now but leave giant chunks out. It’s not about filling in detail but building a skeleton to wrap your narrative around.
now set up some encounters that challenge your players ideal’s, give them lots of chances to RP, listen to every detail they throw your way about anything, pay attention to every wrong idea they have about a mystery and the things they try and do. What are the characters suspicious off, afraid off etc, these are all details for you to apply to your BBEG
What is the event that will end this moment, it does not have to involve combat at all, it could be a series of skill tests, or gathering a set of resources and taking them to a place. You don’t have to end every climax in the campaign with a fight. But if you want to do that then I suggest you work out what level the party will be and use the encounter tool here in DnD beyond to work out a creature that will give a deadly or higher level battle and then base your final battle on that.
As an aside if you are using roll 20 then my advice is that boy map out areas where fights are going to take place, everything else descriptions and imagination is a far better tool for.