This is my first time DMing and I'm having trouble making a boss fight for my level 1 players (there are 4 of them). I want it to be a Sorcerer with Fire Bolt and Shield at the least. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this a decently challenging, but balanced fight?
For a level 1 party with 4 members, a CR2 monster would be a deadly encounter. On a quick search, I found this monster: Spellcaster - Mage (Level 2). A quick swap of the Intelligence and Charisma scores would turn this spellcaster into a Sorcerer, and then I would swap Burning Hands for Shield. Alternatively, you could swap out Sleep instead, but at level 1 you risk one-shotting your players if they fail their save when using Burning Hands, so I would be careful of that. Plus, putting your players to sleep can make for some fun tactical choices for your players when they have to decide if they want to spend their action to wake a sleeping party member.
This is my first time DMing and I'm having trouble making a boss fight for my level 1 players (there are 4 of them). I want it to be a Sorcerer with Fire Bolt and Shield at the least. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this a decently challenging, but balanced fight?
Why do you want them to have Shield? Assuming Mage Armour + 2 Dex then Shield puts them at AC 20 which means level 1 characters have a 25% chance to actually hit them. Low chance to hit enemies are usually really boring and frustrating to fight because it is a lot of "nothing happens" because everyone misses all the time.
It's very difficult to make a "boss" fight for level 1 players because many of them go down in a single hit or a single failed save so it's really hard to have a combat last more than 2 rounds without it resulting in a TPK or player death.
There is a CR 1 Evil Mage in Lost Mines of Phandelver that would probably be appropriate, or there is a CR 2 Draconian Mage in Fizban's that would work but that one doesn't feel very "magey" to me. There is the CR 6 "Mage" in MM-14 which you could down level from 9th level to 4th level (i.e. reduce their spellcasting to just their 1st and 2nd level slots and reduce their hit points by half and reduce their to-hit & save DC by 1)
Honestly, for a sorcerer boss, I would probably take a commoner, set it's health to, say, 13-15, give it a charisma of 16, and a dexterity of 13-14. Then spellcasting. A level two spellcasting is probably appropriate, so 3 slots and four cantrips. Probably all combat cantrips. I'd recommend shocking grasp and acid splash, plus your requested firebolt, although ray of frost is probably a better option, because less damage and an interesting debuff for the characters to figure out. For a more boss-like feel, I'd give it a speed of 40, because a mobile threat is more fun than a stationary one. According to 2024 rules, sorcerers get 4 spells, althopugh I'd also probably just give it a free casting of mage armor for a nice armor class of 14-15. For the spells, sleep is definetly an interesting option, but I think color spray might actually be more fun for a good, out of the blue type thing. You could go either way, personal preference. Ice knife is too powerful, it's an easy one shot. So is chromatic orb. Burning hands maybe, but I'd recommend magic missile as an opening spell, spreading the darts across players, naturally. Grease could create a fun little trick, or fog cloud, which could definetly change the battlefield around a little bit. For the last spell, I'd do false life, for a mid-combat boost. You could even give them two sorcery points and, say, quickened or seeking spell, if you're feeling complex.
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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!!!!!!!!!!!!
The trouble is that with level 1 characters, you need to build your boss suboptimally to give the players a chance. Otherwise, Sleep, fight ends. You could go with wizards apprentice maybe?
What I'd say is: You want your boss to both present a threat, be defeatable, and also have a reason to be a boss.
I once used an imp in a similar situation. I had admittedly modified it, but it was kinda cool: It had Minor Illusion, Invisibility, and Suggestion. Using these simple tools it had influenced a whole slew of actually more powerful creatures to do it's bidding - that, and an imposing suit of armor it used it's illusions to pretend was haunted.
I confess that in actual combat it didn't have anything going for it. When the players figured it out, they squished it. But that could be modified.
But I had so much fun with it. A huge suit of armor, sitting on a big throne, with flames crackling in it's eyes, and a voice booming like leaden coffinlids slamming shut in the impenetrable darkness deep underground: GROVEL, YE MAGGOTS, OR JOIN ME IN ETERNAL SUFFERING!!!
Eventually they noticed that other than big talk, it never did anything =)
Anyways - an imp, or mephit, or something similar could easily be mage sorcerer-like enough to fit the bill. While also making a credible 'boss' if tweaked a little.
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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.
Really, my thought is to save a boss fight for 3rd level or so. In systems like this, it's hard to present a credible threat with "boss" vibes in the earliest levels that doesn't have a significant risk of wiping the party- starting HP runs too close to the low end but more than trash mob damage values. Keep the boss in the background, maybe give the party a chance to toss a ranged attack or two at them at some point to showcase this is someone who can soak a few hits, and then once the party has gained some chops they can have a showdown on more even terms.
For a one-shot I'm preparing in case one of my three players can't make it, there are two encounters versus two Bandits each (so a short rest could be taken), and then one solo encounter against the leader, who is a Bandit with a slightly better stat block (14 AC instead of 12 and 17 HP instead of 11). I wouldn't go any tougher than very minor tweaks like that for a "boss" against level 1 characters.
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This is my first time DMing and I'm having trouble making a boss fight for my level 1 players (there are 4 of them). I want it to be a Sorcerer with Fire Bolt and Shield at the least. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this a decently challenging, but balanced fight?
For a level 1 party with 4 members, a CR2 monster would be a deadly encounter. On a quick search, I found this monster: Spellcaster - Mage (Level 2). A quick swap of the Intelligence and Charisma scores would turn this spellcaster into a Sorcerer, and then I would swap Burning Hands for Shield. Alternatively, you could swap out Sleep instead, but at level 1 you risk one-shotting your players if they fail their save when using Burning Hands, so I would be careful of that. Plus, putting your players to sleep can make for some fun tactical choices for your players when they have to decide if they want to spend their action to wake a sleeping party member.
Why do you want them to have Shield? Assuming Mage Armour + 2 Dex then Shield puts them at AC 20 which means level 1 characters have a 25% chance to actually hit them. Low chance to hit enemies are usually really boring and frustrating to fight because it is a lot of "nothing happens" because everyone misses all the time.
It's very difficult to make a "boss" fight for level 1 players because many of them go down in a single hit or a single failed save so it's really hard to have a combat last more than 2 rounds without it resulting in a TPK or player death.
There is a CR 1 Evil Mage in Lost Mines of Phandelver that would probably be appropriate, or there is a CR 2 Draconian Mage in Fizban's that would work but that one doesn't feel very "magey" to me. There is the CR 6 "Mage" in MM-14 which you could down level from 9th level to 4th level (i.e. reduce their spellcasting to just their 1st and 2nd level slots and reduce their hit points by half and reduce their to-hit & save DC by 1)
Thank you so much!!!
Honestly, for a sorcerer boss, I would probably take a commoner, set it's health to, say, 13-15, give it a charisma of 16, and a dexterity of 13-14. Then spellcasting. A level two spellcasting is probably appropriate, so 3 slots and four cantrips. Probably all combat cantrips. I'd recommend shocking grasp and acid splash, plus your requested firebolt, although ray of frost is probably a better option, because less damage and an interesting debuff for the characters to figure out. For a more boss-like feel, I'd give it a speed of 40, because a mobile threat is more fun than a stationary one. According to 2024 rules, sorcerers get 4 spells, althopugh I'd also probably just give it a free casting of mage armor for a nice armor class of 14-15. For the spells, sleep is definetly an interesting option, but I think color spray might actually be more fun for a good, out of the blue type thing. You could go either way, personal preference. Ice knife is too powerful, it's an easy one shot. So is chromatic orb. Burning hands maybe, but I'd recommend magic missile as an opening spell, spreading the darts across players, naturally. Grease could create a fun little trick, or fog cloud, which could definetly change the battlefield around a little bit. For the last spell, I'd do false life, for a mid-combat boost. You could even give them two sorcery points and, say, quickened or seeking spell, if you're feeling complex.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, the apprentice mage stat block in Morddenkainens is also available, although I don't know if it is that difficult.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!
The trouble is that with level 1 characters, you need to build your boss suboptimally to give the players a chance. Otherwise, Sleep, fight ends. You could go with wizards apprentice maybe?
What I'd say is: You want your boss to both present a threat, be defeatable, and also have a reason to be a boss.
I once used an imp in a similar situation. I had admittedly modified it, but it was kinda cool: It had Minor Illusion, Invisibility, and Suggestion. Using these simple tools it had influenced a whole slew of actually more powerful creatures to do it's bidding - that, and an imposing suit of armor it used it's illusions to pretend was haunted.
I confess that in actual combat it didn't have anything going for it. When the players figured it out, they squished it. But that could be modified.
But I had so much fun with it. A huge suit of armor, sitting on a big throne, with flames crackling in it's eyes, and a voice booming like leaden coffinlids slamming shut in the impenetrable darkness deep underground: GROVEL, YE MAGGOTS, OR JOIN ME IN ETERNAL SUFFERING!!!
Eventually they noticed that other than big talk, it never did anything =)
Anyways - an imp, or mephit, or something similar could easily be mage sorcerer-like enough to fit the bill. While also making a credible 'boss' if tweaked a little.
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.
Really, my thought is to save a boss fight for 3rd level or so. In systems like this, it's hard to present a credible threat with "boss" vibes in the earliest levels that doesn't have a significant risk of wiping the party- starting HP runs too close to the low end but more than trash mob damage values. Keep the boss in the background, maybe give the party a chance to toss a ranged attack or two at them at some point to showcase this is someone who can soak a few hits, and then once the party has gained some chops they can have a showdown on more even terms.
For a one-shot I'm preparing in case one of my three players can't make it, there are two encounters versus two Bandits each (so a short rest could be taken), and then one solo encounter against the leader, who is a Bandit with a slightly better stat block (14 AC instead of 12 and 17 HP instead of 11). I wouldn't go any tougher than very minor tweaks like that for a "boss" against level 1 characters.