Facing demon lords at full strength

[Tyler Dunn]

Has anyone fought a demon lord, perhaps one from Mordenkainen's Tome of foes or Out of the Abyss, at full power? I imagine it would take a party of high level, if not max level, players to even survive such a battle, much less triumph.

 

[aco175]

No, but it depends on how they are played. If they are a solo monster, then it is easier then if they are with allies like they should be. Kind of like a mob boss in the movies where there is always red shirts around and other aids.

 

[Tyler Dunn]

I feel like a demon lord should always have some backup with them, unless they need their forces focused elsewhere or they were performing a ritual that could empower themselves that another demon could hijack and they didn't want to take the chance that one of their minions would try to betray them.

 

[robus]

Yep, not as tough as you’d expect. My group is cleaning up the Underdark in an OotA reboot and while I keep upping their threat, they keep taking them down. You definitely want to soften the PCs up quite a bit before hand.

 

[dave2008]

Has anyone fought a demon lord, perhaps one from Mordenkainen's Tome of foes or Out of the Abyss, at full power? I imagine it would take a party of high level, if not max level, players to even survive such a battle, much less triumph.

There are several people on these forums who have. The general opinion is that a group of lvl 15+/- can take them down without much worry. Variables of party optimization, equipment, tactical ability, and absence or presence of minions and tactical environment can modify this by quite a lot though.

 

[Quartz]

One of the good - for PCs anyway - things about demons is their lack of loyalty. If the PCs are attacking the boss they'll hang back and let the boss deal with them. Then consider attacking the victor.

 

[Stalker0]

Has anyone fought a demon lord, perhaps one from Mordenkainen's Tome of foes or Out of the Abyss, at full power? I imagine it would take a party of high level, if not max level, players to even survive such a battle, much less triumph.

High level parties are monstrously strong. Unless the demon has help I think they clean its clock without even breaking a sweat.

 

[ThePlanarDM]

They just don't do enough damage solo. If they devote all legendary actions to extra attacks and hit on every attack, you're looking at a range of 100 - 140 damage. That would be exhausting all of their resources. That's just not enough damage compared to what high level heroes can do and how hard it is to make them stay dead.

Strangely, a CR 11 Balhannoth can do 120 damage per round, can teleport away with a victim, and its AC is close to a demon lord.

 

[5atbu]

I want a demon for a big bad boss fight.
The PCs will be at full strength.
They have magical weapons.
They could have allies.
The story so far means the demon will be unprepared and not in a lair.
But the players are 3 * 3rd level... Warlock, Barbarian and Rogue.
Could I risk a Glabrezu?
I know I shouldn't, but they look so cool and it is the end of a story arc...

 

[aco175]

I want a demon for a big bad boss fight.
The PCs will be at full strength.
They have magical weapons.
They could have allies.
The story so far means the demon will be unprepared and not in a lair.
But the players are 3 * 3rd level... Warlock, Barbarian and Rogue.
Could I risk a Glabrezu?
I know I shouldn't, but they look so cool and it is the end of a story arc...

With only 3 PCs and no cleric it may be hard, but PCs can take on more than you think, especially if they are at full HP. You could insert a cleric NPC for the trip. Once Protection from Evil is cast, it goes quickly. Even if the NPC only cast a few spells like ProEvil and cures and not bless which will make things swing a bit as well.