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Boss Monsters? I Just Say No!
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<blockquote data-quote="toucanbuzz" data-source="post: 7758103" data-attributes="member: 19270"><p>One of my favorite "bosses" was a nobody. I understand the video game mentality because I've played it. You have to figure out a gimmick to beat the boss, and you get a few tries, frustrated at having to respawn but you'll eventually succeed with hard work. Doesn't work that way in D&D. The "boss" I mention was a follower (AD&D days) who betrayed the player, corrupted his dreams of founding a Griffon Corps to do good in the land. Instead, the boss manipulated recruitment and eventually staged attacks in which the Griffon Corps would be hired to investigate (due to their mobility) the very attacks the Boss was orchestrating. When the player found out, epic reaction. The "boss" was a low-level nobody in combat. But he'd planned ahead. He had an escape plan in case the player ever found out. He flipped the player the "bird" during his escape. </p><p></p><p>The satisfaction of eventually catching up with this guy (even if he wasn't an epic battle), totally satisfying. That's what differentiates D&D from video games. "Bosses" don't have to be complex battles with a gimmick. It's all about the satisfaction of finally taking the SOB down. In our scenario, it wasn't ever about the boss's abilities. It was about his deception. And once they'd won through all his tricks and located him cowering in his lair, the character took great pleasure in ending the bad guy. Made for a much better story than if I'd transformed this minion into a high level demon-empowered legendary action whatever. </p><p></p><p>Moral of the story? Don't play your tabletop game like a video game.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="toucanbuzz, post: 7758103, member: 19270"] One of my favorite "bosses" was a nobody. I understand the video game mentality because I've played it. You have to figure out a gimmick to beat the boss, and you get a few tries, frustrated at having to respawn but you'll eventually succeed with hard work. Doesn't work that way in D&D. The "boss" I mention was a follower (AD&D days) who betrayed the player, corrupted his dreams of founding a Griffon Corps to do good in the land. Instead, the boss manipulated recruitment and eventually staged attacks in which the Griffon Corps would be hired to investigate (due to their mobility) the very attacks the Boss was orchestrating. When the player found out, epic reaction. The "boss" was a low-level nobody in combat. But he'd planned ahead. He had an escape plan in case the player ever found out. He flipped the player the "bird" during his escape. The satisfaction of eventually catching up with this guy (even if he wasn't an epic battle), totally satisfying. That's what differentiates D&D from video games. "Bosses" don't have to be complex battles with a gimmick. It's all about the satisfaction of finally taking the SOB down. In our scenario, it wasn't ever about the boss's abilities. It was about his deception. And once they'd won through all his tricks and located him cowering in his lair, the character took great pleasure in ending the bad guy. Made for a much better story than if I'd transformed this minion into a high level demon-empowered legendary action whatever. Moral of the story? Don't play your tabletop game like a video game. [/QUOTE]
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