D&D 5E Boss Villain Template

[CapnZapp]

My 5E update of Sly Flourish' template:

This template is intended to boost the threat and challenge of specific named creatures. These are your primary villains in your campaign. It isn't intended for every BBEG or nasty monster, just the ones that matter the most to your game's storyline. Save this template for those battles where a named boss really needs the help.

The Boss Villain Template

• This monster starts with twice as many hit points as normal.
• While fatigued, poisoned, stunned, unconscious, dominated, blinded, paralyzed or incapacitated; this creature instead becomes agonized (see below)
• When immobilized, restrained, or slowed, this creature instead subtracts 10 ft from each of its movement Speeds.
• When removed from the battlefield (banished, mazed, forcecaged, turned to stone etc), this creature is instead restrained and agonized (see below).
• This creature is immune to forced movement. It can still choose to be moved.
• This creature cannot be knocked prone.
• After losing more than half its maximum hit points, this creature adds +5 damage per tier to all attacks.

An agonized creature shows clear distress and agony and becomes vulnerable to all damage, but remains on the battlefield capable of fighting back.

Tell your players about this template early and make it clear when a monster has it. This type of house rule shouldn't come as a surprise. Tell your players about it, explain why it is needed, and make sure they know ahead of time when it is in play. Does this break the immersion? Yes. But we're in the middle of a game here, where players choose attacks based on class features and monster knowledge and dice rolls. We can reveal the mechanics early to help them not waste spells they have been saving up. We still want them to enjoy their abilities, yet they shouldn't expect to see them work so effectively on a named boss.

http://slyflourish.com/villain_template.html

 

[jasper]

Legendary Saves. OR I AiN'T dead. 3 times during the story of the villain he can return from the dead. No matter what the PCs have done with his body.
See Ming the Mercyless, Grand Ward, Khan, my ex wife,

 

[hastur_nz]

Don't like it, way too many abilities that pretty much ignore what the PC's can throw at it. And Agonised is actually a huge penalty, which lets the PC's Nova on it to huge effect. So net effect looks like you change the battle, but not necessarily for the better, and the PC's will still probably kill your BBEG in a couple of rounds.

I much prefer something more like the late-game 4e Solo's. The Angry GM put out a decent 4e version of changes to that (3-stages, not 2), then also a 5e 'Paragon' template, of sorts. Those float my boat a lot more, if one is looking for some kind of "epic" Boss Fight.

 

[Fanaelialae]

Since you double the creature's hp and then negate all conditions but grant vulnerability, all you've really done is made the creature (more or less) immune to conditions. The doubling/vulnerability seems to me to be nothing more than a psychological trick to get the players to agree, but overall it seems like a bit of a raw deal (of course, if your players feel like your boss monsters are too weak and would prefer a greater challenge, that's an other story entirely).

I prefer Angry's multi stage bosses myself.

 

[ClaytonCross]

I give health of (level x 4)D10 and I would not make them immune to anything that has a save each turn or give them vulnerability. Instead I would give them advantage on all saves and 3 Legendary saves. That way players still get a chance to do cool things like knock them prone for a round and they would have more health than a barbarian but barbarians would gain on them a little since it is what they do. I would make them immune to permanent effect which would apply "agonized" which would remove advantage on saves for 1 round. The rest is not so bad.