It can also coincidentally forget to use some of its special abilities. That's harder to figure out the CR effect with, however - still, the effects of certain traits are listed in the DMG under monster creation as well.
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Any chance you could provide or link us to the stat block, so we can comment on the specifics?
One thing to note - you might not want to reduce the CR all the way to 8 or 9. For a standard party of four, 6th-level PCs, the Hard and Deadly thresholds are 3,600 and 5,600 XP. A CR 9 enemy would only be a Hard encounter (at 5,000 XP) and a CR 8 monster is getting close to being medium (at 3,900 XP).
For a climactic boss encounter, you might be better off reducing the CR to only 10 (5,900 XP, which is slightly above Deadly). If this is going to be the only encounter or one of the only encounters for the PCs that day, then you might even be able to leave it at CR 11, especially since you noted your PCs were unusually powerful for their level.
I have a boss in mind for my (pretty powerful) 6th-level party, but it's CR 11 RAW. How can I nerf it to CR 9 or 8?
Decrease its HP, AC, attack bonus and/or damage following the guidelines in the DMG for creating a monster stat block.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Thanks. :)
It can also coincidentally forget to use some of its special abilities. That's harder to figure out the CR effect with, however - still, the effects of certain traits are listed in the DMG under monster creation as well.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
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In my opinion, one of the biggest ways to debuff a monster is to give it fewer attacks per round if it is a multi-attack monster.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Any chance you could provide or link us to the stat block, so we can comment on the specifics?
One thing to note - you might not want to reduce the CR all the way to 8 or 9. For a standard party of four, 6th-level PCs, the Hard and Deadly thresholds are 3,600 and 5,600 XP. A CR 9 enemy would only be a Hard encounter (at 5,000 XP) and a CR 8 monster is getting close to being medium (at 3,900 XP).
For a climactic boss encounter, you might be better off reducing the CR to only 10 (5,900 XP, which is slightly above Deadly). If this is going to be the only encounter or one of the only encounters for the PCs that day, then you might even be able to leave it at CR 11, especially since you noted your PCs were unusually powerful for their level.
I think a "pretty powerful" level 6 party could take on a CR 11 monster. No Debuffs necessary.