In my last post I talked about how splitting up action economy can force your players to think about their actions. BBEGs are so versatile though. So I needed to talk about this subject more.
• the bbeg doesn't always need to fight: the bbeg is a tool used in storys to add depth to a plot. This means it can be used in a way that makes it accomplish that through other means than just fighting. The bbeg could be throwing minions and bounty hunters at The players to slow them down. This gives the players the indication that the big bad thinks of them more as an annoyance then a liability. By doing this I only make them fight the bbeg in person when the players pose a threat to his evil scheme, but even then I like to give him/her a escape plan. One thing that will accomplish its job in adding depth to the story is making the players swallow their pride, and partner up with the bbeg for a greater cause.
•maybe the bbeg isn't the bbeg at all: Give your villain a motive, and backstory to back up his actions. Perhaps the acolyte that gave the players a lead on the dragon cult didn't tell you he is a acolyte to vecna. the dragon cult is trying to summon taimat because they know the cult of vecna is bringing vecna back to the world, and their last hope is to call upon the aid of taimat. This is just a small example of what you could do with the bbeg.
•make the environment just as dangerous as the bbeg: the bbeg's lair/environment is an important part of a good boss fight. Add obstacles and traps. Maybe swinging axes swing across the room on initiative count 10, or there are large crystals that heal the bbeg at the end of every round. You could also add natural hazards such as strong wind, quicksand, acid pools, razor grass, and lightning. By adding traps and obstacles like those, combat can become way more immersive.
•give the bbeg more diverse actions: by giving the bbeg some spells or different lair actions you can make combat way less boring and repetitive. Try homebrewing, if you homebrew, it will throw your players off guard, because they have never seen this creature do that action before.
•it's ok to kill a few players: if you want a bbeg to be betrayed as anime powerful you have to drop a few player's to zero hit points. Players won't feel any sense of danger if they've never encountered death before. By dropping a player's hit points to zero, the other players get the sense that the same could happen to them if they are not careful. Dungeon Masters need to get over their stigma of character deaths. Characters can always be revived, and character deaths when handled properly can make for a memorable session.
Those are my five tips on BBEGs if you have any other tips please share them.
I would like to add that many of my dungeons don't have a BBEG at all. Players are greedy and they'll go in search of treasures for its own sake. There are dangerous monsters, and by default one of them is the toughest in the joint, but my dungeons are almost always based on the unknown. Do I have to fight this monster? Is this monster hiding some good treasure? Maybe the good stuff is just hidden away and I have to find it and it's wisest to just avoid the monsters.
1) Make the BBEG Come to Them: Why is it that characters must always seek out their nemesis? This is relationship can work both ways. Two of the party's characters are getting married? Surprise wedding guest! The town is hosting a feast in honor of a God? That doesn't mean the white dragon has to take the day off. Celebrating the death of a local tyrant and the freedom of the recently oppressed? Doesn't mean that a hag can't teleport in asking who killed her sister form the East. The town could be in possession of an artifact the BBEG needs. Or the party is being pursued by the BBEG for reasons yet to be revealed. Or maybe, the party has escaped the clutches of the BBEG in the past and they want to recapture them.
Should you explore this, depending on the level in the campaign, consider adding in the following effect(s). During the confrontation, starting at initiative 20 in the combat announce that the area or terrain alters in a way that is related to the creature. It should start simple (say just for color and flair), but in subsequent rounds at initiative 20 a new effect occurs. The lower rounds should result in a minor effect on time effect (say a character(s) make a save or experience disadvantage or the area is lightly obscured for a round). Then add a permanent (difficult terrain) or reoccurring element (cycle through the players to save against being frightened). Eventually this should lead to a liar effect that occurs here on the later rounds. The idea is you want to time scaling this so it feels like an inconvenience but as the party gets closer to killing the BBEG this power comes in and threatens to shift the balance out of their favor.
2) Character Death is Not the Risk: I am not saying remove character death. What I am saying is the failure of the encounter is not solely related to character death. Remember that 10 rounds is roughly 1 minute of combat. Use this to your advantage. Perhaps the general of the city's security forces is dangling as a sacrifice over the pit that houses a horrible beast. Or a ceremony will awaken the slumbering god that the BBEG has pledged allegiance to. Not only does this set the standard for the players to consider that if their individual PC dies, no biggie, we can still complete this task. But it establishes that the BBEG can die but still succeed in their goals. What happens when the aberration dies only to lead to the following narration "a shimmering disc appears toward the back of the chamber. Its rotation accelerates until it grows into a vortex; swirling colors of glowing purple mixed with the dark of space is contained in a 9' diameter. The center of the disc collapses in on itself and revealing the reality of a world that you have never seen before. The emerging from this porthole is a Mind Flayer. Followed by a second. Now a fourth and more still to come."
Keeping the players having to evaluate the scenario and what entail success will add to the challenge and ultimately the excitement that comes with the game.
3) Have Them Give Up: There is no reason the confrontation has to be a one and done. Maybe the players are not up the challenge and the BBEG declares "He doesn't have time for these distractions" before summoning some minions and heading away. Or the BBEG achieves what he needs in killing an prominent NPC or the party hears the screams from the courtyard and realizes this was all a diversion. Having a nemesis should be a product of multiple encounters; and the rivalry intensifies when both sides can claim victories; so it good to give the players the opportunities to thwart their plans. Just make sure the BBEG reluctantly and angrily acknowledges that the players "Won this time!" but promises that next time will be different.
4) Not the Guy: As the party celebrates the victory have one of them notice the presence of a scry. Form there, have a Magic Mouth appear on an item and issues satirical congratulations. This whole time the party thought they had found the BBEG but it was merely just a lieutenant.
5) The BBEG Welcomes the Fight: Perhaps the motivation for the character isn't to rule the world or seek revenge. Rather they want to engage in glorious combat. They set up a series of tests to evaluate the party to ensure they are worth of the challenge. Satisfied at their performance they welcome them to engage in the final contest. If player character(s) fall during the trials leading up to the final encounter; have the BBEG lament their loss, praising the characters courage and skill, and regretting that they will not have the honor killing them in battle. The BBEG is genuine, even going so far to disgrace any of their minions that do not show respect to valiant who have fallen.
6) A Tempting Position: Have the creature propose enticing deals to the parties. Riches, boons, assistance in solving other problems. This is works well in longer term campaigns. The players may now have to evaluate if this creature will pose a threat for the long term, or can the relationship between them be leveraged for more benefits. Encounters with the BBEG may now end with skill rolls (Insight, Perception, Deception) as oppose to lethal battles. Perhaps even your players will have to accept that their journey end with success but not with defeat of this this creature. Instead time goes on and the universe remains in balance as good and evil reside to their proper places.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
In my last post I talked about how splitting up action economy can force your players to think about their actions. BBEGs are so versatile though. So I needed to talk about this subject more.
• the bbeg doesn't always need to fight: the bbeg is a tool used in storys to add depth to a plot. This means it can be used in a way that makes it accomplish that through other means than just fighting. The bbeg could be throwing minions and bounty hunters at The players to slow them down. This gives the players the indication that the big bad thinks of them more as an annoyance then a liability. By doing this I only make them fight the bbeg in person when the players pose a threat to his evil scheme, but even then I like to give him/her a escape plan. One thing that will accomplish its job in adding depth to the story is making the players swallow their pride, and partner up with the bbeg for a greater cause.
•maybe the bbeg isn't the bbeg at all: Give your villain a motive, and backstory to back up his actions. Perhaps the acolyte that gave the players a lead on the dragon cult didn't tell you he is a acolyte to vecna. the dragon cult is trying to summon taimat because they know the cult of vecna is bringing vecna back to the world, and their last hope is to call upon the aid of taimat. This is just a small example of what you could do with the bbeg.
•make the environment just as dangerous as the bbeg: the bbeg's lair/environment is an important part of a good boss fight. Add obstacles and traps. Maybe swinging axes swing across the room on initiative count 10, or there are large crystals that heal the bbeg at the end of every round. You could also add natural hazards such as strong wind, quicksand, acid pools, razor grass, and lightning. By adding traps and obstacles like those, combat can become way more immersive.
•give the bbeg more diverse actions: by giving the bbeg some spells or different lair actions you can make combat way less boring and repetitive. Try homebrewing, if you homebrew, it will throw your players off guard, because they have never seen this creature do that action before.
•it's ok to kill a few players: if you want a bbeg to be betrayed as anime powerful you have to drop a few player's to zero hit points. Players won't feel any sense of danger if they've never encountered death before. By dropping a player's hit points to zero, the other players get the sense that the same could happen to them if they are not careful. Dungeon Masters need to get over their stigma of character deaths. Characters can always be revived, and character deaths when handled properly can make for a memorable session.
Those are my five tips on BBEGs if you have any other tips please share them.
This is a great post with lots of good ideas.
I would like to add that many of my dungeons don't have a BBEG at all. Players are greedy and they'll go in search of treasures for its own sake. There are dangerous monsters, and by default one of them is the toughest in the joint, but my dungeons are almost always based on the unknown. Do I have to fight this monster? Is this monster hiding some good treasure? Maybe the good stuff is just hidden away and I have to find it and it's wisest to just avoid the monsters.
1) Make the BBEG Come to Them: Why is it that characters must always seek out their nemesis? This is relationship can work both ways. Two of the party's characters are getting married? Surprise wedding guest! The town is hosting a feast in honor of a God? That doesn't mean the white dragon has to take the day off. Celebrating the death of a local tyrant and the freedom of the recently oppressed? Doesn't mean that a hag can't teleport in asking who killed her sister form the East. The town could be in possession of an artifact the BBEG needs. Or the party is being pursued by the BBEG for reasons yet to be revealed. Or maybe, the party has escaped the clutches of the BBEG in the past and they want to recapture them.
Should you explore this, depending on the level in the campaign, consider adding in the following effect(s). During the confrontation, starting at initiative 20 in the combat announce that the area or terrain alters in a way that is related to the creature. It should start simple (say just for color and flair), but in subsequent rounds at initiative 20 a new effect occurs. The lower rounds should result in a minor effect on time effect (say a character(s) make a save or experience disadvantage or the area is lightly obscured for a round). Then add a permanent (difficult terrain) or reoccurring element (cycle through the players to save against being frightened). Eventually this should lead to a liar effect that occurs here on the later rounds. The idea is you want to time scaling this so it feels like an inconvenience but as the party gets closer to killing the BBEG this power comes in and threatens to shift the balance out of their favor.
2) Character Death is Not the Risk: I am not saying remove character death. What I am saying is the failure of the encounter is not solely related to character death. Remember that 10 rounds is roughly 1 minute of combat. Use this to your advantage. Perhaps the general of the city's security forces is dangling as a sacrifice over the pit that houses a horrible beast. Or a ceremony will awaken the slumbering god that the BBEG has pledged allegiance to. Not only does this set the standard for the players to consider that if their individual PC dies, no biggie, we can still complete this task. But it establishes that the BBEG can die but still succeed in their goals. What happens when the aberration dies only to lead to the following narration "a shimmering disc appears toward the back of the chamber. Its rotation accelerates until it grows into a vortex; swirling colors of glowing purple mixed with the dark of space is contained in a 9' diameter. The center of the disc collapses in on itself and revealing the reality of a world that you have never seen before. The emerging from this porthole is a Mind Flayer. Followed by a second. Now a fourth and more still to come."
Keeping the players having to evaluate the scenario and what entail success will add to the challenge and ultimately the excitement that comes with the game.
3) Have Them Give Up: There is no reason the confrontation has to be a one and done. Maybe the players are not up the challenge and the BBEG declares "He doesn't have time for these distractions" before summoning some minions and heading away. Or the BBEG achieves what he needs in killing an prominent NPC or the party hears the screams from the courtyard and realizes this was all a diversion. Having a nemesis should be a product of multiple encounters; and the rivalry intensifies when both sides can claim victories; so it good to give the players the opportunities to thwart their plans. Just make sure the BBEG reluctantly and angrily acknowledges that the players "Won this time!" but promises that next time will be different.
4) Not the Guy: As the party celebrates the victory have one of them notice the presence of a scry. Form there, have a Magic Mouth appear on an item and issues satirical congratulations. This whole time the party thought they had found the BBEG but it was merely just a lieutenant.
5) The BBEG Welcomes the Fight: Perhaps the motivation for the character isn't to rule the world or seek revenge. Rather they want to engage in glorious combat. They set up a series of tests to evaluate the party to ensure they are worth of the challenge. Satisfied at their performance they welcome them to engage in the final contest. If player character(s) fall during the trials leading up to the final encounter; have the BBEG lament their loss, praising the characters courage and skill, and regretting that they will not have the honor killing them in battle. The BBEG is genuine, even going so far to disgrace any of their minions that do not show respect to valiant who have fallen.
6) A Tempting Position: Have the creature propose enticing deals to the parties. Riches, boons, assistance in solving other problems. This is works well in longer term campaigns. The players may now have to evaluate if this creature will pose a threat for the long term, or can the relationship between them be leveraged for more benefits. Encounters with the BBEG may now end with skill rolls (Insight, Perception, Deception) as oppose to lethal battles. Perhaps even your players will have to accept that their journey end with success but not with defeat of this this creature. Instead time goes on and the universe remains in balance as good and evil reside to their proper places.