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
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Boss Monsters? I Just Say No!
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="Grainger" data-source="post: 7758131" data-attributes="member: 6779234"><p>I think it's interesting that we tend to see it as "natural" for there to be a big fight at the climax to a story. I think that's just a trope we get from, mostly, movies, or rather the current approach that exciting-but-vacuous movies take. Stories don't have to end with a fight at all. </p><p></p><p>Playing in a convention game recently made me realise how much players assume that D&D has to be heavily combat-based, and thus end in a big fight, but I'm not really interested in that. You could have the climax to a campaign be proving conclusively that an NPC is plotting against the King, persuading an NPC to change their mind, restoring an NPC's reputation, reconciling two factions, or bringing a key NPC back to life (or rescuing them, for a more prosaic variant). Or, if you want it to be action-oriented, having them make a race against time to deliver an important message or to activate a magic artefact. It doesn't <em>have</em> to be about beating down a monster or powerful wizard, although I suspect that most players in most D&D games would be disappointed if they didn't get that.</p><p></p><p>However, I never like to do what's obvious in my campaign, and so I'm going to see how many ways I can avoid having boss fights. Actually, thinking about it, I haven't done that yet. For example, my first main narrative ended with the PCs escaping the antagonists' base and helping the authorities arrest them. Another one had them defending their manoral village in a battle scene (OK, there was fighting, with Orcs/Trolls against the PCs and men at arms and other NPCs, but there was no "boss" to speak of). When I do have antagonists, I tend to have them as intelligent but weedy, so they could be killed easily - once the PCs get the opportunity to do so (and once the PCs have identified them, and I'm not sure they've done so yet).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Grainger, post: 7758131, member: 6779234"] I think it's interesting that we tend to see it as "natural" for there to be a big fight at the climax to a story. I think that's just a trope we get from, mostly, movies, or rather the current approach that exciting-but-vacuous movies take. Stories don't have to end with a fight at all. Playing in a convention game recently made me realise how much players assume that D&D has to be heavily combat-based, and thus end in a big fight, but I'm not really interested in that. You could have the climax to a campaign be proving conclusively that an NPC is plotting against the King, persuading an NPC to change their mind, restoring an NPC's reputation, reconciling two factions, or bringing a key NPC back to life (or rescuing them, for a more prosaic variant). Or, if you want it to be action-oriented, having them make a race against time to deliver an important message or to activate a magic artefact. It doesn't [I]have[/I] to be about beating down a monster or powerful wizard, although I suspect that most players in most D&D games would be disappointed if they didn't get that. However, I never like to do what's obvious in my campaign, and so I'm going to see how many ways I can avoid having boss fights. Actually, thinking about it, I haven't done that yet. For example, my first main narrative ended with the PCs escaping the antagonists' base and helping the authorities arrest them. Another one had them defending their manoral village in a battle scene (OK, there was fighting, with Orcs/Trolls against the PCs and men at arms and other NPCs, but there was no "boss" to speak of). When I do have antagonists, I tend to have them as intelligent but weedy, so they could be killed easily - once the PCs get the opportunity to do so (and once the PCs have identified them, and I'm not sure they've done so yet). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Boss Monsters? I Just Say No!
Top