So the basis for this enemy is essentially a Dark Nut from Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. I found two other ones on here, but I wanted to do a bit of a different take on it. My version actually does not take any damage until you de-armor them. The mechanic for this is simple, he starts with a really high AC, as you hit them you can knock of some of the extra armor on them. Once the AC has been lowered to the thresh hold (in my case 20), they jump back, toss their HUGE sword at the party, drop their shield, and draw their much faster dueling type weapons, and they move faster too.
A few extra things are added in here too that are a little more specific to my campaign, but the backbone is there. The Gambler's Draw is a feature that I plan to introduce to my players and give them opportunity to learn, should they beat this thing. Mage Slayer is also a little more specific and can be taken or left, but I would argue it should stay. A super elite warrior like this would naturally have a lean towards destroying casters, but that is up to interpretation. Plus my party has 3 casters in it, and I enjoy watching them suffer and scramble.
Any way, what I need to ask is, what do you think this thing's challenge rating should be? I started with the Warlord monster and ended here. Obviously, this is waaaaaaaay beefier and more complex to fight, and has more combat options. But I am not sure that it breaks CR 20, but I have a tendency to make things more difficult relative to PC levels and all that. This is important to me because my campaign uses the Experience system, so I am trying to decide what this guy is worth. My justification for not breaking CR 20 is that this guy's main weakness is that he no options for ranged combat, nor any good options for dealing with them. His best option for dealing with them is to use his Legendary actions to close the gap and get at them that way, which is what I plan to do, but in this way it is a little more telegraphed.
So the basis for this enemy is essentially a Dark Nut from Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. I found two other ones on here, but I wanted to do a bit of a different take on it. My version actually does not take any damage until you de-armor them. The mechanic for this is simple, he starts with a really high AC, as you hit them you can knock of some of the extra armor on them. Once the AC has been lowered to the thresh hold (in my case 20), they jump back, toss their HUGE sword at the party, drop their shield, and draw their much faster dueling type weapons, and they move faster too.
A few extra things are added in here too that are a little more specific to my campaign, but the backbone is there. The Gambler's Draw is a feature that I plan to introduce to my players and give them opportunity to learn, should they beat this thing. Mage Slayer is also a little more specific and can be taken or left, but I would argue it should stay. A super elite warrior like this would naturally have a lean towards destroying casters, but that is up to interpretation. Plus my party has 3 casters in it, and I enjoy watching them suffer and scramble.
Any way, what I need to ask is, what do you think this thing's challenge rating should be? I started with the Warlord monster and ended here. Obviously, this is waaaaaaaay beefier and more complex to fight, and has more combat options. But I am not sure that it breaks CR 20, but I have a tendency to make things more difficult relative to PC levels and all that. This is important to me because my campaign uses the Experience system, so I am trying to decide what this guy is worth. My justification for not breaking CR 20 is that this guy's main weakness is that he no options for ranged combat, nor any good options for dealing with them. His best option for dealing with them is to use his Legendary actions to close the gap and get at them that way, which is what I plan to do, but in this way it is a little more telegraphed.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/1289165-dark-knight