Need help with homebrew bosses: 5 Terrors

[Arctic Wolf]

Oo. Just that from what I've noticed you come up with rather complex overarching ideas and design in a top-down way. For example, not many DMs would start campaign planning by statting up the BBEG. Not a criticism, an observation.

Ah I gotcha. Was wondering whatcha meant heh.

Ok so what would be an example of that? With "Innocence" (I'm reading that amorality btw), I'd come up with a scenario that challenges the PCs' ability to distinguish right from wrong, something that really gives them pause.

Hmm, what ideas do you have? Like I mentioned before I am going to give encounter ideas tomorrow to check out before I stat the bosses.

Who or what is Kikin? Is that the BBEG?

Kikin is the destruction and final boss of all of these guys. His name is actually japanese for famine and this is where the PCs will get the first gem and also see a vision of Nihilious' past. Figured I would add some flavor in there too.

Also I think if you want an emotionally poignant encounter, I would not run it as a combat at all. Or at least have combat as just one (subpar) option. As @Trit One-Ear points out the "Omnipotent Child" archetype usually is bested by being shown the err of their ways, not by violence which tends to reinforce whatever distorted worldview they have. At least that seems to be the archetype you're going for.

That is what I am going for and might make combat the last part or like you said, not have it at all. Will def need help with this xD

Are you open to designing it as something besides a combat?

I sure am! All ideas are good in my book

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

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[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=6686199]Arctic Wolf[/MENTION]
Here's a possible scenario for "Innocence" that also might explain why this particular town/region is plagued by Terrors. It draws on real world Roma folklore (Vistani in D&D), and refers to the devil and hell, though you might want to replace those with demons and the Abyss.

A young Vistani girl was swept up by a dark-haired handsome stranger at the local midsummer's dance. He lured her back to the bridge but she hesitated, for it was known that the devil haunted that bridge. However, she foolishly ignored her better judgment and went to embrace the stranger and they danced under the moonlight. However she looked down and beheld a cloven hoof emerging from his pantaloons. Then the devil assumed his true form and declared he would take her to hell, and with her spirit the bridge to hell would be complete. A nearby cleric heard the ruckus and raced out brandishing his holy symbol. The cleric pleaded with the devil to take his soul instead; the devil agreed, for the soul of a cleric was more valuable in hell than that of a foolish girl. To this day Vistani know it as the Devil's Bridge and dissuade travelers at night.

Running with that legend...the cleric has acted as a metaphysical "stopper". Because of the purity of his soul he couldn't enter hell fully, but because he was a harsh disciplinarian in his early years (including against the child "Innocence") heaven couldnt claim him outright. So he is trapped in a type of limbo, his hands clutching to the mortal world while his feet dangle over the fires of hell. While this prevents the devil from completing the bridge to hell and allowing legions of devils to march into the mortal world, it also prevents the conduit to hell from being sealed by ritual magic.

So thats a moral dilemma for your PCs. Put this cleric out of his misery and risk the bridge to hell being completed. Leave him to suffer and a steady trickle of minor devils can infiltrate the world.

"Innocence" could comes into play in several ways:
* Maybe he needs to use the bridge to get to Kikin?
* Maybe the vistani girl was his friend and he's trying to right the wrong done to her?
* Maybe he is just feeling vindictive against this cleric who embarrassed him in school?
* Maybe all of the above?

Very human motives, neither good nor bad, but the caveat is "and consequences be damned." Indeed, "Innocence" might not even understand the consequences of his actions. For him it's just about proving he's not a weak defenseless child anymore.

Would that work?

 

[Arctic Wolf]

[MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION] : That does sound pretty awesome but not really the thing I am looking for. What I was thinking that before his parents deaths, he was like all kids are, which is trying to make their parents proud of him with his psionic magic since he is very skilled. I want the death of his parents to have caused a breaking point and sent his mental state back to a few years when all he cared about was having fun and this is what shows his *innocence*. How does that sound?

Anyways, here is how I plan to do this.

Innocence

Phase 1: Hide and Seek!- The PCs will do a skill challenge to see if they can hide from him for 10 rounds(?). If they are found then they have to navigate out of the cornfield to get back to the house they are in (there will be a portal).

Phase 2: Destroy the Construct- Innocence will summon a *robotic* construct (because who didn't love playing with any sort of robot growing up as a kid ). which will be infused with his *life essence*. Once they beat it, then they will get the scripted event I have planned .

Beauty

Phase 1: Free the slaves?- I really like the idea of attempting to do a skill challenge on the some of the townfolks, so the PCs can either save them, or kill them (I know a few who will).

Phase 2: Fight Beauty- Depending on how the PCs free the slaves I will make her a bitch or a bit easier. If they kill slaves, she will be easier since she will think that she has found some new slaves to take their place. If they free them, then she will be harder to deal with (I can always change the way it works but I figured I would go backwards lol).

Insanity

Phase 1: The unknown warlock- I want a fight against a star-pact warlock who is insane. Pretty simple and I figure after the first 2 would be welcome since as I mentioned before, my group likes to outright kill stuff lol

Phase 2: Far Realm Menace- The warlock tells the group he was sent here by Ilsensine, god of the illithid, and then tranforms into an illithid and takes on the group with improved psychic powers.

Justice

Phase 1: The PCs are captured by *judges* from the town and sent to trial and must defend themselves with a skill challenge because they are the ones believed to have kidnapped them when it was Beauty.

Phase 2: The PCs discover that Justice has set things up and must fight him and his minions and realize that afterwards he joined Destruction (Kikin) to get justice for the assassin in the group because he left the guild.

Destruction

Phase 1: The beginning- Normal fight, he thinks that the PCs are trash and doesn't bother to go all out. His recharge ability can drain a healing surge since it fits the theme of famine well.

Phase 2: Burn Everything- Kikin is pissed and uses his ability, basically his attacks all do blasts and bursts.

Phase 3:The Towering Inferno- Kikin goes all out and his body breaks like porcelain and his true form is a fire elemental(dragon, was thinking this because dragons can cause tons of destruction). His power is upped for this last stage of the fight and this will test the PCs.

Well what do you think? I know I didn't go into too much detail about the other 4 but Innocence was very ambiguous so I felt I had to explain the situation more .

 

[Quickleaf]

Yikes there's a lot happening there! I'll just focus on Innocence since that's your most pressing need (1st game session) and let others tackle the rest.

Phase 1: Hide and Seek!- The PCs will do a skill challenge to see if they can hide from him for 10 rounds(?). If they are found then they have to navigate out of the cornfield to get back to the house they are in (there will be a portal).

PC psychology 101 says that getting an entire party to voluntarily hide is just about as hard as getting them to retreat. I wouldn't count on it. Could you run your skill challenge with the PCs as the finders instead of the hiders?

Phase 2: Destroy the Construct- Innocence will summon a *robotic* construct (because who didn't love playing with any sort of robot growing up as a kid ). which will be infused with his *life essence*. Once they beat it, then they will get the scripted event I have planned .

So is the construct fight intended to be run like a normal fight or is it still more of a skill challenge? For example, finding a way to weaken the connection between the boy's life and the robot? As in if they kill the robot they kill the boy, so they've got to separate that link if they want to save him?

Btw When you say "scripted" do you mean your group plays online? Or are you referring to adventure path style play?

 

[Arctic Wolf]

PC psychology 101 says that getting an entire party to voluntarily hide is just about as hard as getting them to retreat. I wouldn't count on it. Could you run your skill challenge with the PCs as the finders instead of the hiders?

I could, and I could do it where there are fake versions of him that explode and do dmg to give them a surprise or if they find the wrong one, one gets teleported to the cornfield.

So is the construct fight intended to be run like a normal fight or is it still more of a skill challenge? For example, finding a way to weaken the connection between the boy's life and the robot? As in if they kill the robot they kill the boy, so they've got to separate that link if they want to save him?

Well since he is young, he doesn't know any better so it is connected to his life. If the PCs want to attempt it I will let them though.

Btw When you say "scripted" do you mean your group plays online? Or are you referring to adventure path style play?

Oh, I guess cut-scene would work better. It is for after the battle and I sorta mentioned what would happen afterwards xD.

 

[GreyICE]

For the boy, make sure it's clear he's being manipulated and is just killing because he's convinced it's all a game. Maybe he's convinced he's asleep and dreaming this (and maybe he really is).

For beauty, it'd be a shame not to have at least one dominate power. You have to go light on those, they're "most hated power" status, but it's too iconic.

 

[treex]

No idea when the first session will be but here goes...
Innocence, as a soul, has been captured by let's say X. X is a vile, pedophilic demon that puts Innocence in a teddy bear and tells him to befriend the local children.

What's actually happening is that X is using Innocence to "tag" and uses some kind of magic ritual to poof them away. However, it needs time to take effect and it's rather close ranged, so X uses Innocence to do his dirty work.

Innocence thinks he's just playing with children, he's a magical f*cking teddy bear. C'mon, we all'd love that. And X casts illusion magic to make Innocence think everything's alright. He might casts images of the children that gives various reasons as to why they have to leave (cover story for X's magical kidnapping).

The PCs might stumble onto the kidnapping as it's going on (the child is engulfed by light) and Innocence comes back to "play". He might be talking to himself, thinking he's in a conversation. Then he cries/sees the PCs and ask for consolation.

"This happens all the time T^T My friends. They always leave me."

 

[Arctic Wolf]

For the boy, make sure it's clear he's being manipulated and is just killing because he's convinced it's all a game. Maybe he's convinced he's asleep and dreaming this (and maybe he really is).

Oh, that gave me an idea. Since the boy is sorta sent back in his mental state, I will have it that Kikin told him that if he kills enough people, he can make his parents come back to life. That sounds perfect I think

For beauty, it'd be a shame not to have at least one dominate power. You have to go light on those, they're "most hated power" status, but it's too iconic.

That is my plan, I just forgot to mention it

 

[Ryujin]

Are you at all amenable to changing "Justice" to "Vengeance"?


4th Terror: Vengeance- a paladin after the assassin in our group since he betrayed and left the guild.
phase 1: Flee from a mob, looking for their blood (skill challenge)
phase 2: Fight a group of family members, of one of the Assassin's victims
phase 3: one v one against the assassin