Wasn't sure how to title this, but here is the set up. My players are level 5 and I want to make them a somewhat challenging battle.
They have made it to the bottom of an ancient tomb that has been taken over by snake people. In this last room they find the leader working on filling casks with a black liquid goo that he is brewing from his cauldron. It is overflowing and filling a lot of the lower floor. The leader is on one side of the room on a raised area and the players will arrive on a platform on the other side. (there is also some fallen pillars and half made paths for possible traversal.)
In essence, I want the goo to rise up and defend the boss when attacked at ranged (my players have some ranged and I don't want them to nuke him like in previous fights), however, I'm not sure how to handle it... Should I give the goo a health pool and an AC? Is it just a bonus action for the boss?
There will be other things but this one thing has been bothering me. Any suggestions how I should handle this?
You could use it like a re-skinned shield spell. A reaction that gives an AC bonus, maybe with some extra flavor or other add on. But only let them use it a couple times, (balance-wise 1 or 2 is probably right for level 5). for flavor, say it degrades after it helps him a couple times.
That does seem like a good way to handle it. would also give a good feeling of "oh we are getting further!"... of course I'm dealing with my players and I never know what they will come up with as an offensive strategy.
You could have the main room filled with lots of small tunnels and vents under the floor and in the walls. This would fit t he snake theme. the goo could travel and attack from all anglesforcing them to circle up at times to avoid being flanked.
This makes me think of an old (2e?) alchemists spell or crafted item, can't find the reference right now. it created what was essentially "The Blob" from the 1950s movie-acid damage, multi immunity & gained HD the more damage it did.
Something you might want to look at that's more contemporary is "the pudding king" mini-side quest in OotA.
Some good ideas above. I also like to use the 'Lair Actions' rules to elevate boss fights into something memorable and unique. Check Page 11 of the Monster Manual.
Essentially, you can have the very environment become part of the battle - and free from the restrictions of being an enemy creature, you can have it do something exciting and challenging. It also means you don't simply have to make annoying choices, such as surrounding your boss with minions 'just so they have something else to focus on', or simply inflating the boss HP pool to something tedious.
For example, in a battle with a giant spider, I wanted to add more of a challenge. I added more health to this Giant Spider, but each round, the Lair Action spawned in 1d4 Swarm of Spiders. This turned a fairly mundane encounter for the party, into a race to defeat the Giant Spider before being overwhelmed by swarms. It also gave them some choices to have to make - either focus on the Giant Spider and risk being overwhelmed by Swarm of Spiders? Or split their force to try and keep the swarms down, while still damaging the Giant Spider.
In this battle, at its turn in the initiative order, the Lair Action could cause the goo to surround the boss, giving it an additional few points of AC, or temporary hit points. Or it could spread 5ft in every direction from the cauldron. That means each round, the goo covers more of the field. What happens if it touches a PC? Up to you - perhaps a save to avoid being restrained?
Either way, it gives them something else to think about. Either try and brute force their way past the goo, or remove the source (the cauldron) before taking on the boss. It's these choices that elevate a battle from simply picking the most powerful option to nuke, smash, or incapacitate the enemy. and forces them to actually having to think tactically about the situation, and giving every character an opportunity to shine.
If you want to just make it a simple defensive ability, you could copy an abjurer wizard's shield ability. Basically, it gets additional temporary hit points that replenish every time it casts a spell/awakens a barrel, whatever you want to do.
Others have suggested creating the goo as additional enemies, but I'd be careful not to overwhelm the action economy. If you've balanced this fight to make it fair to the players, and you suddenly add in a half-dozen barrels of goo that come in and attack them, the players are going to get overwhelmed in a hurry. If you want to make the goo creatures, make sure the goo's attention is focused on protecting the BBEG rather than lashing out at players. Maybe look at the goblin boss's redirect ability. Maybe the goo can use its reaction to swap places with the leader, or interpose itself in some way, taking damage for him. But I wouldn't make them overly aggressive unless you want to totally rebalance your fight.
You could also just make it living terrain. The goo could splash itself on the floor, becoming difficult terrain and confounding melee combatants. It could form a wall for the BBEG to crouch behind, giving half- or total-cover, depending. It could block certain areas, and force your team to take strategic positions more seriously, depending on where you put your barrels. This could be a really useful tool for teaching tactical positioning, if your team tends to be the "barge in and shoot" types, and you want them to build a little more intelligence and care moving forward. Give the ooze barrels a 10-foot radius area of effect, and let the BBEG spend a bonus action manipulating the barrels however he'd like. Remember, if he creates a wall for full cover, it blocks his area of effect too, so he might want to do that to cover his retreat, or alternate turns as he regains his HP with items/spells. Again, make sure you don't disrupt the balance of your fight, though. Favorable terrain can make an enormous difference in a fight, if used properly.
Wasn't sure how to title this, but here is the set up. My players are level 5 and I want to make them a somewhat challenging battle.
They have made it to the bottom of an ancient tomb that has been taken over by snake people. In this last room they find the leader working on filling casks with a black liquid goo that he is brewing from his cauldron. It is overflowing and filling a lot of the lower floor. The leader is on one side of the room on a raised area and the players will arrive on a platform on the other side. (there is also some fallen pillars and half made paths for possible traversal.)
In essence, I want the goo to rise up and defend the boss when attacked at ranged (my players have some ranged and I don't want them to nuke him like in previous fights), however, I'm not sure how to handle it... Should I give the goo a health pool and an AC? Is it just a bonus action for the boss?
There will be other things but this one thing has been bothering me. Any suggestions how I should handle this?
You could use it like a re-skinned shield spell. A reaction that gives an AC bonus, maybe with some extra flavor or other add on. But only let them use it a couple times, (balance-wise 1 or 2 is probably right for level 5). for flavor, say it degrades after it helps him a couple times.
That does seem like a good way to handle it. would also give a good feeling of "oh we are getting further!"... of course I'm dealing with my players and I never know what they will come up with as an offensive strategy.
I would be tempted by just calling it a Wall of Water.
Or...surprise, its actually on Oblex!!!
I was thinking that it could be an Intelligent Black Pudding which is another fun surprise for PCs.
Professional computer geek
oh that is good too. i didn't know about that monster :D thanks!
You could have the main room filled with lots of small tunnels and vents under the floor and in the walls. This would fit t he snake theme. the goo could travel and attack from all anglesforcing them to circle up at times to avoid being flanked.
This makes me think of an old (2e?) alchemists spell or crafted item, can't find the reference right now. it created what was essentially "The Blob" from the 1950s movie-acid damage, multi immunity & gained HD the more damage it did.
Something you might want to look at that's more contemporary is "the pudding king" mini-side quest in OotA.
Some good ideas above. I also like to use the 'Lair Actions' rules to elevate boss fights into something memorable and unique. Check Page 11 of the Monster Manual.
Essentially, you can have the very environment become part of the battle - and free from the restrictions of being an enemy creature, you can have it do something exciting and challenging. It also means you don't simply have to make annoying choices, such as surrounding your boss with minions 'just so they have something else to focus on', or simply inflating the boss HP pool to something tedious.
For example, in a battle with a giant spider, I wanted to add more of a challenge. I added more health to this Giant Spider, but each round, the Lair Action spawned in 1d4 Swarm of Spiders. This turned a fairly mundane encounter for the party, into a race to defeat the Giant Spider before being overwhelmed by swarms. It also gave them some choices to have to make - either focus on the Giant Spider and risk being overwhelmed by Swarm of Spiders? Or split their force to try and keep the swarms down, while still damaging the Giant Spider.
In this battle, at its turn in the initiative order, the Lair Action could cause the goo to surround the boss, giving it an additional few points of AC, or temporary hit points. Or it could spread 5ft in every direction from the cauldron. That means each round, the goo covers more of the field. What happens if it touches a PC? Up to you - perhaps a save to avoid being restrained?
Either way, it gives them something else to think about. Either try and brute force their way past the goo, or remove the source (the cauldron) before taking on the boss. It's these choices that elevate a battle from simply picking the most powerful option to nuke, smash, or incapacitate the enemy. and forces them to actually having to think tactically about the situation, and giving every character an opportunity to shine.
If you want to just make it a simple defensive ability, you could copy an abjurer wizard's shield ability. Basically, it gets additional temporary hit points that replenish every time it casts a spell/awakens a barrel, whatever you want to do.
Others have suggested creating the goo as additional enemies, but I'd be careful not to overwhelm the action economy. If you've balanced this fight to make it fair to the players, and you suddenly add in a half-dozen barrels of goo that come in and attack them, the players are going to get overwhelmed in a hurry. If you want to make the goo creatures, make sure the goo's attention is focused on protecting the BBEG rather than lashing out at players. Maybe look at the goblin boss's redirect ability. Maybe the goo can use its reaction to swap places with the leader, or interpose itself in some way, taking damage for him. But I wouldn't make them overly aggressive unless you want to totally rebalance your fight.
You could also just make it living terrain. The goo could splash itself on the floor, becoming difficult terrain and confounding melee combatants. It could form a wall for the BBEG to crouch behind, giving half- or total-cover, depending. It could block certain areas, and force your team to take strategic positions more seriously, depending on where you put your barrels. This could be a really useful tool for teaching tactical positioning, if your team tends to be the "barge in and shoot" types, and you want them to build a little more intelligence and care moving forward. Give the ooze barrels a 10-foot radius area of effect, and let the BBEG spend a bonus action manipulating the barrels however he'd like. Remember, if he creates a wall for full cover, it blocks his area of effect too, so he might want to do that to cover his retreat, or alternate turns as he regains his HP with items/spells. Again, make sure you don't disrupt the balance of your fight, though. Favorable terrain can make an enormous difference in a fight, if used properly.
So a lot of talk of reskinning shield spells but what about instead reskinning Bigby’s Hand? https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/bigbys-hand
the sentient goo forms an appendage like an animals clawed paw, a talon, a tentacle.