Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Beefing Up The Big Bad
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ryan_Czech" data-source="post: 6832363" data-attributes="member: 6818957"><p>BBEGs almost always (and especially in Pathfinder) tend to need some mooks or significant environmental advantage in order to not be simply dogpiled on and stunlocked into death.</p><p></p><p>I love the idea of a big bad orc leader badass as a BBEG, but to make sure he's not immediately ass-kicked it would probably be handy to either have him aided by either many sucky troops (like level 1 or 2 orc grunts) or 1 or 2 strong lieutenants like (assuming your BBEG is level.. 10?) then a level 5 shaman/sorcerer orc and a maybe more tactical level 5 Fighter. A few easily dispatched or hard-fought lieutenants plus the BBEG orc barbarian's huge hit point pool should let him last a while. And make sure to give the mooks/LTs some handy scrolls or potions that would be able to break any stunlock on the BBEG or buff him up.</p><p></p><p>If the PCs are going to see some devil or something give a boon to the orc then be sure to make that boon something serious. Maybe the devil casts powerful magic on the orc like Globe of Invulnerability (or the lesser form) or Stoneskin or something, either given as one-off spells cast by the devil onto him or maybe a 1/day or one-off magical item that the devil gives the orc for use in tough fights like against PCs. An Orc barbarian warlord is scary, but an orc barbarian warlord with Stoneskin giving DR 10/adamantine? Holy hell scary <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ryan_Czech, post: 6832363, member: 6818957"] BBEGs almost always (and especially in Pathfinder) tend to need some mooks or significant environmental advantage in order to not be simply dogpiled on and stunlocked into death. I love the idea of a big bad orc leader badass as a BBEG, but to make sure he's not immediately ass-kicked it would probably be handy to either have him aided by either many sucky troops (like level 1 or 2 orc grunts) or 1 or 2 strong lieutenants like (assuming your BBEG is level.. 10?) then a level 5 shaman/sorcerer orc and a maybe more tactical level 5 Fighter. A few easily dispatched or hard-fought lieutenants plus the BBEG orc barbarian's huge hit point pool should let him last a while. And make sure to give the mooks/LTs some handy scrolls or potions that would be able to break any stunlock on the BBEG or buff him up. If the PCs are going to see some devil or something give a boon to the orc then be sure to make that boon something serious. Maybe the devil casts powerful magic on the orc like Globe of Invulnerability (or the lesser form) or Stoneskin or something, either given as one-off spells cast by the devil onto him or maybe a 1/day or one-off magical item that the devil gives the orc for use in tough fights like against PCs. An Orc barbarian warlord is scary, but an orc barbarian warlord with Stoneskin giving DR 10/adamantine? Holy hell scary :D [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Beefing Up The Big Bad
Top