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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Trit One-Ear" data-source="post: 8433944" data-attributes="member: 6678017">Hey all,I'm finally putting together the details for a big boss fight as the end to a murder mystery my players have been sorting out. Part of the "twist" is that a tiny group of mind flayers are responsible for murder as well as several other mysterious happenings in the local town. The heroes will venture into the caverns below the town and find the small surviving mind flayers from a colony mostly destroyed by githyanki attackers.My part of 6 is all 11th level, and are heavy on magic users: Eloquence Bard (control focus), Tempest Cleric (tank/healer/blaster swing), Wild Magic Sorcerer (blaster), Hexblade Warlock (striker), Scribe Wizard (controler) ... and their friendly Ancestral Guardian Barbarian (tank/striker). So far, they've stomped through most "Deadly" encounters I've thrown at them, with the occasional KO but no deaths. I'm still not super confident in my ability to gauge the difficulty of encounters, despite years of 5e play, so I figured I'd ask for some input.I'm learning to stop pulling my punches (a bad DM habit I picked up from when we first started playing), so I'm thinking "Hell with it, throw an Elder Brain at them." It fits in narratively (with a little tweaking) and will certainly be a memorable encounter. But looking through the stats... I'm starting to wonder if this is going to be too deadly a fight.I'm looking at designing either 1 huge and difficult encounter, with both the Elder Brain, the Ulitharid, and their small group of thralls/normal mind flayers, or splitting it into 2 encounters, with the Ulitharid confronting the party before they get to the Elder Brain.The Ulitharid has been kidnapping some of the local populace, including some of the Leonin Royal Guards and Gnomish resistance fighters, so these aren't going to be pushover thralls. CR 5ish Paladins and Rouge types. There are also a small number of normal mind flayers present.I'm also considering including Swarms of Cranium Rats, a few lowly Quaggoths for minion fodder, and Intellect Devourers to burst out of the powerful thralls when those are defeated.These minions will be split between the two encounters if I decide to go that route.My main concern is... the Elder Brain looks super nasty. High amounts of psychic damage (screwing over the Barbarian), breaking spell Concentration for my various casters, Intelligence Saving Throws (difficult for all but the Wizard)... not to mention Magic Resistance and Lair Actions.Am I over thinking this? I'm staying within my daily XP limits, but the Elder Brain is only 1 CR below XGTE's suggested Solo Monster rating, and it's definitely not going to be without some minions. I know encounter building is more an art than a science, but I'm just looking for some feedback.Thanks for any and all input!Trit</blockquote>

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