I'm one session away from ending my current campaign, and I've improvised myself into a corner...
My party are currently climbing up a dilapidated wizard tower on the back of a T-Rex that they charmed and fed a potion of climbing, on their way to face the BBEG, who is currently trying to destroy the world and rebuild it to his liking (something he has done 10 times before in the history of this world, and won't stop until he gets it exactly right according to his preference).
The party are all really creative problem solvers, so I want their final battle to be engaging and take up a significant portion of the session. The BBEG's spell/ceremony thingy is taking place at the top of the 500ft tower in a 30x30ft room.
My first thought is, instead of a room, put the fight on the roof. It’s much more dramatic, and it will allow for people to be pushed off. And have the wizard have gust of wind prepared, or the telekinesis feat, or other pushing effects because he’s ready for this kind of thing. Even if no one actually falls, the idea that they might will amp up the tension, and force the party to stay away from the edges. Have him start by pushing the T-Rex off to establish that he can. And he’ll have some contingencies in place, like he’s cast fly on himself, or has boots of flying so he doesn’t have to worry about falling.
Have some pillars around as part of the ritual, and they give off some kind of energy. Like necrotic or whatever, basically as a lair action, that does a little damage. Just enough to be annoying, but it gives the party another target — do they focus on the wizard, or destroy the pillars?
Make a plan for what happens if they fail, so you can either describe the world being destroyed, or perhaps add another session or two somehow. (eg: the players interrupt the ceremony and delay the bbeg's plan before dying, and so their allies are able to find their bodies and revive them)
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"Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are to fast: I would catch it."
"I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation."
"Well of course I know that. What else is there? A kitten?"
"You'd like to think that, Wouldn't you?"
"What do you mean? An African or European swallow?"
In a final boss fight in one game, the BBEG couldn't be hurt (really) until you took out 4 of the protection items in the room. Only once you did that, he entered Super Charged mode and really brought down the hammer. Could leverage that.
End of the day you want to create interesting choices for the PC's. Do they do THIS or do they do THAT? I tried that (poorly) in one game where the players had to help keep the gunners on a naval ship safe while they worked to fire cannons at the dragon strafing them. They could also attempt to do direct damage to the dragon if they wanted. Sadly the PC"s hated the encounter, felt it was too confining and ultimately it was our literal last game session because, and I paraphrase, I sucked at making encounters.
I also think there's value in looking at the "narrative" of the combat: What can you offer to up the stakes, turn by turn? For my illfated one, every other turn the dragon made a pass at the ship with it's breath weapon, damaging the hull and potentially injuring the characters. It also meant that after 5 rounds, there was a risk the ship would break apart so there was an incentive to get the most damage on the dragon.
Since he probably knows they're coming. T-rexs aren't exactly known for their stealthy attributes he would be sufficiently prepared by the time they get to him. Think about all the ways the group would attack him, all their strengths and have him able to defend accordingly. Without knowing anything else about your campaign I can't really suggest how he would defend himself, or what knowledge of the players he has but if you want a combat that lasts most of a session you need to have layers to it. They need to reach certain check points, ramp up the encounter with every phase, using a threshold of a sort (can be his hp or a broken defensive item like another poster mentioned.) Have whatever the BBEG uses for guards, or can control, attack the party while he heals or prepares the next phase, use winged creatures like Dragons or Demons,
Just use a 3 part act structure, set up, middle, big finish.
Consider having them fight a Simulacrum on the way to the top first. Its there to hold them off while the real deal tries to finish the spell and destroy then recreate the world. Minions are your friend. A lone BBEG can be swamped and seem like a slog of a fight without much reward but you add in weak minions that the heroes can kill swams of and it feels like a rewarding battle.
For the bad guy themselves, consider them fighting it on different terms but when the BBEG approaches half or low health they teleport and cast a high level force cage to protect themselves as they complete the final part of the ritual. Here, you give players a puzzle to make some arcana, history or even religion rolls. Maybe investigation, using any tool proficiencies they have, etc. Work it into the puzzle for them to figure out how the BBEG's spell works... And then how to turn it around so it destroys the caster in stead of the world.
So you're bringing in all the elements here. They get the BBEG fight with the simulacrum, they get a smaller battle in the main casting chamber then it turns into a puzzle you must design so they each have a part to play in figuring out how this is working and turning it on the caster. Maybe even a servant or two they charm or convince to their side to help them so there's NPC interaction.
Finally, they have defeated the bad guy, BBEG's spell is turned on them and destroyed them. A shockwave emenates out and they must ride the tower down as it cumbles beneath their feet, falling floor after floor, possibly stopping and catching part way so they can't simply feather fall the eitire way down. Run around to avoid rubble and follow the falling building safely Windows crushed and walls infused with magic barricades block their easy escape to the outside. Down the inside of the tower they must go now, before it continues to crumble and each time it begins falling again they might see some solution to stop it a level above them and buy more time until you reveal some dramatic way to exit to safety (Eagles come, airship, portal to another nearby tower or the ground, maybe a way to destroy the base of the tower and have it tumble sideways towards a cliff face they could escape to or another tower).
They have done it, they have saved the day. The relics of the BBEG and the method for destroying the world are held in rubble and high in the sky a large tear in the very fabric of space and time lasts on as a reminder of the BBEG's destruction and the victory of the heroes. It can be important to leave something like that, an ominous scar in the sky, a powerful sword stuck in some magic device they must leave to forever hold the power at bay. Some sign of a scar on the very world from the epic battle they just fought and won to save the world that leaves a trace and symbol of their mighty achievment. The world isn't merely saves, it's changed (and considering part of BBEG's spell was to change the world to their liking, maybe you can even have this adjusted spell make changes to the wider world beyond the destruction scar).
Have the final battle split between this world and the one he's trying to fight forcing the party to use the area to the advantage were one round they are in one world the next they switch.
I think you should definetly do a three-part battle structure, where they have to accomplish something to get to the next part. For example, you could use the afformentioned defensive items (pillars maybe) as phase one, destroying them while dodging the bosses attacks. Phase two is normal combat with the boss, going on to phase three when he's at half health or something. At the end of each phase, the boss uses some sort of move, sort of like the villain actions in MCDM's Flee, mortals! And the players don't have to kill the boss themselves. They could destabelize the ritual, and narrate how the tower collapses on and crushes the BBEG. Just some suggestions.
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DM: He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones.
Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
Also, this is for Redwall nerds: Eeeeeuuuuulllllllaaaaaaaalllllllliiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alright. He should be rather well prepared. At least a few times, while he was in the process of destroying it, other adventurers must have turned up. He will have learned from those. If he's clever, his plan might well be to not fight. Like just have a simulacrum go through the motions, while the real ritual is in a rented venue right in the capital.
Further, maybe one of those earlier attempts ended in failure. For the wizard, that is. He may have tasted defeat, and run. Is he really planning on fighting to the death? Or does he have a secure retreat somewhere?
I realise I'm now stretching your final encounter to something more like three. Or two if they manage to stop him from teleporting out of the second one. Still, for a world ending boss, I consider 'and then they fought to the death' to be hugely anticlimactic. Particularly because such fights invariably end much sooner than you thought. Players pull out all the stops when they think 'THIS IS IT!!' - that makes it so much more fun to have them blast a simulacrum with their best spells.
In the end, have the wizard surrender. Have him claim that the world he wanted to create was one where a sufficiently determined and capable group of heroes were able to defeat him - because only those heroes will be able to stop what is yet to come. This may be true - or a complete fabrication. Or, for that matter, both.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I'm one session away from ending my current campaign, and I've improvised myself into a corner...
My party are currently climbing up a dilapidated wizard tower on the back of a T-Rex that they charmed and fed a potion of climbing, on their way to face the BBEG, who is currently trying to destroy the world and rebuild it to his liking (something he has done 10 times before in the history of this world, and won't stop until he gets it exactly right according to his preference).
The party are all really creative problem solvers, so I want their final battle to be engaging and take up a significant portion of the session. The BBEG's spell/ceremony thingy is taking place at the top of the 500ft tower in a 30x30ft room.
Help me plan a good final encounter?
:)
My first thought is, instead of a room, put the fight on the roof. It’s much more dramatic, and it will allow for people to be pushed off. And have the wizard have gust of wind prepared, or the telekinesis feat, or other pushing effects because he’s ready for this kind of thing. Even if no one actually falls, the idea that they might will amp up the tension, and force the party to stay away from the edges. Have him start by pushing the T-Rex off to establish that he can.
And he’ll have some contingencies in place, like he’s cast fly on himself, or has boots of flying so he doesn’t have to worry about falling.
Have some pillars around as part of the ritual, and they give off some kind of energy. Like necrotic or whatever, basically as a lair action, that does a little damage. Just enough to be annoying, but it gives the party another target — do they focus on the wizard, or destroy the pillars?
Make a plan for what happens if they fail, so you can either describe the world being destroyed, or perhaps add another session or two somehow. (eg: the players interrupt the ceremony and delay the bbeg's plan before dying, and so their allies are able to find their bodies and revive them)
Homebrew spell: dominance
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In a final boss fight in one game, the BBEG couldn't be hurt (really) until you took out 4 of the protection items in the room. Only once you did that, he entered Super Charged mode and really brought down the hammer. Could leverage that.
End of the day you want to create interesting choices for the PC's. Do they do THIS or do they do THAT? I tried that (poorly) in one game where the players had to help keep the gunners on a naval ship safe while they worked to fire cannons at the dragon strafing them. They could also attempt to do direct damage to the dragon if they wanted. Sadly the PC"s hated the encounter, felt it was too confining and ultimately it was our literal last game session because, and I paraphrase, I sucked at making encounters.
I also think there's value in looking at the "narrative" of the combat: What can you offer to up the stakes, turn by turn? For my illfated one, every other turn the dragon made a pass at the ship with it's breath weapon, damaging the hull and potentially injuring the characters. It also meant that after 5 rounds, there was a risk the ship would break apart so there was an incentive to get the most damage on the dragon.
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I'd move it to the roof as well.
Since he probably knows they're coming. T-rexs aren't exactly known for their stealthy attributes he would be sufficiently prepared by the time they get to him. Think about all the ways the group would attack him, all their strengths and have him able to defend accordingly. Without knowing anything else about your campaign I can't really suggest how he would defend himself, or what knowledge of the players he has but if you want a combat that lasts most of a session you need to have layers to it. They need to reach certain check points, ramp up the encounter with every phase, using a threshold of a sort (can be his hp or a broken defensive item like another poster mentioned.) Have whatever the BBEG uses for guards, or can control, attack the party while he heals or prepares the next phase, use winged creatures like Dragons or Demons,
Just use a 3 part act structure, set up, middle, big finish.
Consider having them fight a Simulacrum on the way to the top first. Its there to hold them off while the real deal tries to finish the spell and destroy then recreate the world. Minions are your friend. A lone BBEG can be swamped and seem like a slog of a fight without much reward but you add in weak minions that the heroes can kill swams of and it feels like a rewarding battle.
For the bad guy themselves, consider them fighting it on different terms but when the BBEG approaches half or low health they teleport and cast a high level force cage to protect themselves as they complete the final part of the ritual. Here, you give players a puzzle to make some arcana, history or even religion rolls. Maybe investigation, using any tool proficiencies they have, etc. Work it into the puzzle for them to figure out how the BBEG's spell works... And then how to turn it around so it destroys the caster in stead of the world.
So you're bringing in all the elements here. They get the BBEG fight with the simulacrum, they get a smaller battle in the main casting chamber then it turns into a puzzle you must design so they each have a part to play in figuring out how this is working and turning it on the caster. Maybe even a servant or two they charm or convince to their side to help them so there's NPC interaction.
Finally, they have defeated the bad guy, BBEG's spell is turned on them and destroyed them. A shockwave emenates out and they must ride the tower down as it cumbles beneath their feet, falling floor after floor, possibly stopping and catching part way so they can't simply feather fall the eitire way down. Run around to avoid rubble and follow the falling building safely Windows crushed and walls infused with magic barricades block their easy escape to the outside. Down the inside of the tower they must go now, before it continues to crumble and each time it begins falling again they might see some solution to stop it a level above them and buy more time until you reveal some dramatic way to exit to safety (Eagles come, airship, portal to another nearby tower or the ground, maybe a way to destroy the base of the tower and have it tumble sideways towards a cliff face they could escape to or another tower).
They have done it, they have saved the day. The relics of the BBEG and the method for destroying the world are held in rubble and high in the sky a large tear in the very fabric of space and time lasts on as a reminder of the BBEG's destruction and the victory of the heroes. It can be important to leave something like that, an ominous scar in the sky, a powerful sword stuck in some magic device they must leave to forever hold the power at bay. Some sign of a scar on the very world from the epic battle they just fought and won to save the world that leaves a trace and symbol of their mighty achievment. The world isn't merely saves, it's changed (and considering part of BBEG's spell was to change the world to their liking, maybe you can even have this adjusted spell make changes to the wider world beyond the destruction scar).
Cut to the Epilogue.
Have the final battle split between this world and the one he's trying to fight forcing the party to use the area to the advantage were one round they are in one world the next they switch.
I think you should definetly do a three-part battle structure, where they have to accomplish something to get to the next part. For example, you could use the afformentioned defensive items (pillars maybe) as phase one, destroying them while dodging the bosses attacks. Phase two is normal combat with the boss, going on to phase three when he's at half health or something. At the end of each phase, the boss uses some sort of move, sort of like the villain actions in MCDM's Flee, mortals! And the players don't have to kill the boss themselves. They could destabelize the ritual, and narrate how the tower collapses on and crushes the BBEG. Just some suggestions.
DM: He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones.
Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
Also, this is for Redwall nerds: Eeeeeuuuuulllllllaaaaaaaalllllllliiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
He destroyed the world 10 times?
Alright. He should be rather well prepared. At least a few times, while he was in the process of destroying it, other adventurers must have turned up. He will have learned from those. If he's clever, his plan might well be to not fight. Like just have a simulacrum go through the motions, while the real ritual is in a rented venue right in the capital.
Further, maybe one of those earlier attempts ended in failure. For the wizard, that is. He may have tasted defeat, and run. Is he really planning on fighting to the death? Or does he have a secure retreat somewhere?
I realise I'm now stretching your final encounter to something more like three. Or two if they manage to stop him from teleporting out of the second one. Still, for a world ending boss, I consider 'and then they fought to the death' to be hugely anticlimactic. Particularly because such fights invariably end much sooner than you thought. Players pull out all the stops when they think 'THIS IS IT!!' - that makes it so much more fun to have them blast a simulacrum with their best spells.
In the end, have the wizard surrender. Have him claim that the world he wanted to create was one where a sufficiently determined and capable group of heroes were able to defeat him - because only those heroes will be able to stop what is yet to come. This may be true - or a complete fabrication. Or, for that matter, both.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Make the BBEG charm to trex and make it fight the party.