Are monsters with legendary and or lair actions supposed to be boss monsters/
Sword of Spirit
Legend
Yes, but also add minions to the fight because solos don't work in 5e.
True but let's face it, solo creatures do not really work that well in most rpg's.
dave2008
Legend
That is a bit of a loaded question. To me "Boss" monster has video game implications of the final "solo" monster at the end of the level or something similar that your party faces. Legendary monsters can fill that roll, but they are not limited to that roll. For instance, both unicorn, kirin, and solar are legendary monsters, but they don't fit the stereo type of "boss" monster. The legendary monsters are simply monsters WotC has deemed a little bit more interesting than typical monsters.
Legendary monsters are able to do more things in a round (either from legendary actions and/or lair actions) than a standard monster. This makes them more interesting in a solo combat, but it doesn't make them any more difficult for the party. The CR still governs the difficulty, not the absence or presence of legendary actions. So, if you want to use a legendary monster as a "boss" monster you will need to do one or more of the following: make sure it is sufficiently higher in CR than the group (5-10 above your groups level), or give it max hit points (and possibly max damage), or give it minions, or give it advantageous terrain/environment, or some combination of these concepts.
dave2008
Legend
I disagree with that. I can't say for your group, but they work fine for mine. In my experience you just have to have a good understanding of your parties capabilities and the monster's capabilities. I can run a RAW legendary monster and make it exciting and deadly for my group. But I would probably have trouble with other groups (based on what I see on this forum at least) if I didn't make some modifications.
MonkeezOnFire
Adventurer
Most creatures with Lair actions are intended to be bosses, but they seem to be willing to experiment with it. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes as the Merrenoloth which has lair actions. It's only CR 3, and it's lair actions are more utility focused abilities on giving boons to a ship that it is in control of to fit with its ferry-man flavour.
MechaTarrasque
Hero
And honestly if the party hasn't run a gauntlet to get to the "boss" monster, it isn't much of a boss anyway.....
cmad1977
Hero
Yup. Solo monsters work great if the party has dealt with the monsters minions or lair before hand. If the heroes plough through the lair/minions, get to the door of the bosses lair... and then rest... well... that’s a failure on the part of the DM.
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