I'm currently remodeling one of my old dungeons for a new group, and wanted to drop in a couple of tough encounters for the players, who would be at level 4 when they arrive, a group of 5. However, I'm worried now if the second to last boss might actually be more challenging than the final boss. Note that the CR's I've made are just my own estimates based on my changes, and that the Ankheg needs to stay the final boss for story reasons.
The final dungeon boss is a modified Ankheg fighting in a large sand trap, which was once worshipped as a god. Here are my modified stats for it:
The Ankheg Larva I've made as thus:
However, a couple of rooms before this chamber, they will encounter a being I've fully homebrewed, called an Evil Skull. Here's what it looks like, and its stats:
The Evil Skull also works really well in this dungeon for thematic reasons, as there are lots of head statues and stone faces scattered about. However, now I'm wondering if I should save the Evil Skull for a later time and put a weaker boss in its place. But, I can't really think of a situation where having the Evil Skull will make any more sense in their near future, and they will probably be too high leveled by the time such an opportunity comes about anyway. It's a tough one. I could weaken it (I probably won't have it resistant to non-magical weapons for example) or not have it do as much damage on a bite, but I still want it to be a very challenging and unique encounter. Theoretically since it cannot move, they could just squeeze around it and avoid taking much damage which may solve the problem. That said, the party is actually pretty strong and well coordinated, so I don't think they'd be at risk of a TPK, even at level 4 vs this thing. But even so, I don't want it stealing the spotlight from the Ankheg.
I would definitely save the skull for later, especially because it's really more of a challenge 7-8 creature, rather than a challenge 6 creature, just judging by damage, health, and resistances alone, not even factoring in its spells. You don't want your boss to be a high easy/low medium encounter, while a random other creature is 400-1400 xp above deadly.
That's exactly what I'm worried about, yeah. I suppose if the players do get too powerful by the time the skull makes sense to use, I can just beef it up a bit or throw in an extra complication, and swap it out for a different creature or encounter for now. Thanks!
Also, a CR 7 or 8? Really? wow, I guess I'm kind of off on my estimations. Have you just had years of experience to instinctively know what a CR will be based on a monster's combat potential and stats?
Two bites is 62 damage, which is the very top end of offensive cr 9(I'd be tempted to bump it up to offensive 10, as it's got +8 to attack, which is one above the expected to hit for offensive 9). 105 health*1.5 because of three resistances and an expecting challenge of 5-10, which lands it at 157.5 effective health and a defensive cr of 6. Average of 6 and 9 is 7.5. I'd round this up to 8, due to the attack being at the very high end of 9.
It's all in the dungeon master's guide. I'd also recommend the angry dm's series on monster building, which helps you make sense of the shitshow that is the creating a monster section in the DMG.
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"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
Ahh yeah I can see that. I developed it with the assumption that players would be keeping their distance from the skull, making ranged attacks, while the summoned hands try to push them closer so they can be bitten. So the chances of it actually getting to bite should be fairly slim, unless players don't notice what's happening and get within 5 feet of it.
But that does make sense. The DMB is pretty confusing on monster creation, which is why I'm still confused. I'll look up the Angry GM though, I've seen some of his stuff and it's been helpful in the past. Thanks!
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Hey all,
I'm currently remodeling one of my old dungeons for a new group, and wanted to drop in a couple of tough encounters for the players, who would be at level 4 when they arrive, a group of 5. However, I'm worried now if the second to last boss might actually be more challenging than the final boss. Note that the CR's I've made are just my own estimates based on my changes, and that the Ankheg needs to stay the final boss for story reasons.
The final dungeon boss is a modified Ankheg fighting in a large sand trap, which was once worshipped as a god. Here are my modified stats for it:
The Ankheg Larva I've made as thus:
However, a couple of rooms before this chamber, they will encounter a being I've fully homebrewed, called an Evil Skull. Here's what it looks like, and its stats:
The Evil Skull also works really well in this dungeon for thematic reasons, as there are lots of head statues and stone faces scattered about. However, now I'm wondering if I should save the Evil Skull for a later time and put a weaker boss in its place. But, I can't really think of a situation where having the Evil Skull will make any more sense in their near future, and they will probably be too high leveled by the time such an opportunity comes about anyway. It's a tough one. I could weaken it (I probably won't have it resistant to non-magical weapons for example) or not have it do as much damage on a bite, but I still want it to be a very challenging and unique encounter. Theoretically since it cannot move, they could just squeeze around it and avoid taking much damage which may solve the problem. That said, the party is actually pretty strong and well coordinated, so I don't think they'd be at risk of a TPK, even at level 4 vs this thing. But even so, I don't want it stealing the spotlight from the Ankheg.
What do you think?
I would definitely save the skull for later, especially because it's really more of a challenge 7-8 creature, rather than a challenge 6 creature, just judging by damage, health, and resistances alone, not even factoring in its spells. You don't want your boss to be a high easy/low medium encounter, while a random other creature is 400-1400 xp above deadly.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
That's exactly what I'm worried about, yeah. I suppose if the players do get too powerful by the time the skull makes sense to use, I can just beef it up a bit or throw in an extra complication, and swap it out for a different creature or encounter for now. Thanks!
Also, a CR 7 or 8? Really? wow, I guess I'm kind of off on my estimations. Have you just had years of experience to instinctively know what a CR will be based on a monster's combat potential and stats?
Two bites is 62 damage, which is the very top end of offensive cr 9(I'd be tempted to bump it up to offensive 10, as it's got +8 to attack, which is one above the expected to hit for offensive 9). 105 health*1.5 because of three resistances and an expecting challenge of 5-10, which lands it at 157.5 effective health and a defensive cr of 6. Average of 6 and 9 is 7.5. I'd round this up to 8, due to the attack being at the very high end of 9.
It's all in the dungeon master's guide. I'd also recommend the angry dm's series on monster building, which helps you make sense of the shitshow that is the creating a monster section in the DMG.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
Ahh yeah I can see that. I developed it with the assumption that players would be keeping their distance from the skull, making ranged attacks, while the summoned hands try to push them closer so they can be bitten. So the chances of it actually getting to bite should be fairly slim, unless players don't notice what's happening and get within 5 feet of it.
But that does make sense. The DMB is pretty confusing on monster creation, which is why I'm still confused. I'll look up the Angry GM though, I've seen some of his stuff and it's been helpful in the past. Thanks!