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DMs! Have you ever had a “boss encounter” turn into a cakewalk? What happened?
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<blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 7540052" data-attributes="member: 6801286"><p>Then what is the point of having stats for your villains at all?</p><p></p><p>I would feel like I was robbing my players of their well earned victory if I did that. I'm not going to have my big bad make his save, when the dice said otherwise. Take for example what happened a few sessions ago. One of my players managed to cast a Feeblemind spell on my big bad evil wizard, and he failed his save. This rendered the big bad completely unable to cast any spells, but it is exactly what this spell is meant for. If I told my players that he made his save, that would be straight up unfair to them. It would also render the spell useless, because what is the point of having this spell in your spellbook, if the DM is going to fudge the save for big bads anyway? </p><p></p><p>I do not know in advance how a fight is going to play out. Sometimes the players get lucky, and a very hard fight becomes a bit more manageable (as was the case here), and sometimes they make a fight way too easy. But as a DM I have to keep in mind that the players can also get very unlucky. They can have fights where they keep failing their important saves and get absolutely wrecked. I have tought myself to there for let the dice fall where they may. </p><p></p><p>I have learned to embrace the epic close calls that happen naturally by following the rules, and also the epic defeats.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>There is no need to fake a climax to your epic boss fight. Not every boss fight has to end in a climax, and if you just let the dice fall as they may, you will still have the occasional epic moment, I guarantee it. And knowing that it wasn't a fudge on the part of the DM makes it all the more special. It also means that your players can feel rewarded for being clever, and can feel confident in the knowledge that the same rules that apply to them, also apply to their opponents.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Imaculata, post: 7540052, member: 6801286"] Then what is the point of having stats for your villains at all? I would feel like I was robbing my players of their well earned victory if I did that. I'm not going to have my big bad make his save, when the dice said otherwise. Take for example what happened a few sessions ago. One of my players managed to cast a Feeblemind spell on my big bad evil wizard, and he failed his save. This rendered the big bad completely unable to cast any spells, but it is exactly what this spell is meant for. If I told my players that he made his save, that would be straight up unfair to them. It would also render the spell useless, because what is the point of having this spell in your spellbook, if the DM is going to fudge the save for big bads anyway? I do not know in advance how a fight is going to play out. Sometimes the players get lucky, and a very hard fight becomes a bit more manageable (as was the case here), and sometimes they make a fight way too easy. But as a DM I have to keep in mind that the players can also get very unlucky. They can have fights where they keep failing their important saves and get absolutely wrecked. I have tought myself to there for let the dice fall where they may. I have learned to embrace the epic close calls that happen naturally by following the rules, and also the epic defeats. There is no need to fake a climax to your epic boss fight. Not every boss fight has to end in a climax, and if you just let the dice fall as they may, you will still have the occasional epic moment, I guarantee it. And knowing that it wasn't a fudge on the part of the DM makes it all the more special. It also means that your players can feel rewarded for being clever, and can feel confident in the knowledge that the same rules that apply to them, also apply to their opponents. [/QUOTE]
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DMs! Have you ever had a “boss encounter” turn into a cakewalk? What happened?
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