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<blockquote data-quote="Sunseeker" data-source="post: 7397597">I dunno.&nbsp; Boss fights are something I usually plan for only lightly &quot;OH I plan for the party to fight Strahd at the end of Ravenloft.&quot; but I don't put down his capabilities until I see about where the players are before they face him.&nbsp; Unless there is a particular reason for a bad guy to be a specific power level when the party fights them, but then that's designed differently.When I want to build a challenge, I usually plan for 2/5 PC deaths (death=hits 0 or less and stays there for multiple rounds).&nbsp; That's my bar for &quot;challenge&quot;.&nbsp; So, usually I'm planning to kill some of my party.&nbsp; Who that is depends a lot on luck and their strategy, and maybe a heroic sacrifice.Almost all of my &quot;bosses&quot; are custom NPCs, made from the ground up 4E-style with custom abilities.&nbsp; They are specifically tuned for the party.&nbsp; Usually, if I want to avoid killing the party, it'll be made clear through the story lead-in that the bad guy is a &quot;capture and torture&quot; or &quot;capture and experiment&quot; or &quot;slaver&quot; type and that he's specifically going to try to incapacitate the party and use them for his nefarious plans.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sunseeker, post: 7397597"] I dunno. Boss fights are something I usually plan for only lightly "OH I plan for the party to fight Strahd at the end of Ravenloft." but I don't put down his capabilities until I see about where the players are before they face him. Unless there is a particular reason for a bad guy to be a [I]specific[/I] power level when the party fights them, but then that's designed differently. When I want to build a challenge, I usually plan for 2/5 PC deaths (death=hits 0 or less and stays there for multiple rounds). That's my bar for "challenge". So, usually I'm [I]planning[/I] to kill [I]some[/I] of my party. Who that is depends a lot on luck and their strategy, and maybe a heroic sacrifice. Almost all of my "bosses" are custom NPCs, made from the ground up 4E-style with custom abilities. They are specifically tuned for the party. Usually, if I want to avoid [I]killing[/I] the party, it'll be made clear through the story lead-in that the bad guy is a "capture and torture" or "capture and experiment" or "slaver" type and that he's specifically going to try to incapacitate the party and use them for his nefarious plans. [/QUOTE]

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