D&D 5E Fighting Truly Massive Creatures...

[KarinsDad]

Hiya!

...and the thing about "handwaiving" is this; if it's fun for everyone at the table, the who cares?

Me? I just give bigger creatures more HP's and use "simulated physics" with regards to the beastie attacking the PC's...but usually not the other way around. In other words, if the ogre smacks the gnome with his massive tree-club for almost maximum damage, I'll have the gnome "fly back 20', smacking against the wall; you take a total of 14 points of damage from it all"; so maybe the club did 10 and hitting the wall did 4 more, who cares? It looked cool and made sense. The gnome then chucks her dagger at the ogre and "it hits the ogre in the shin for 2 points...he doesn't even notice as he keeps his attention focused on the barbarian in front of him now". Yes, the ogre "technically" took damage, but the amount in comparison to his maximum HP and his size vs the dagger would make the hit virtually unnoticed.

So, all the "handwaving", or, in less condescending tone, "DM adjudication", is what is expected in a game of make-believe and magic. As long as it's fun now and won't cause future games to be less-fun... just go with it! I DM my 5e games with what I call "consistent inconsistency". Basically, I will describe what happens, apply rules (or not), or otherwise "change stuff" on a case by case, situation by situation, basis. So after a few levels, that gnome get's hit again by a different ogre for the same amount of damage... the gnome isn't thrown back 20'; she "gives with the blow and slides backwards a bit, still on her feet...the ogre looks a bit surprised and glances at his club as if it was it's fault". But I DM this for everything in the game...so my players know what to expect and aren't caught totally off-guard.

The players have a lot to do with this play style; if you have huffy players who want to somehow "win D&D" by the numbers/book, then they will be complaining no matter what you do. If you have players that don't trust you as a DM, they won't have as much fun. If you have players who can't handle anything 'bad' happening to their character, you'll get complaining when something does. But if you have good, mature and socially well adapted players...5e is, IMHO, an excellent RPG system to play.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

I used to have house rules about this several editions back.

Something like 10 points of damage, knocked back 5 feet. 20 points of damage, knocked back 10 feet, etc.

It didn't matter if it was a PC or NPC doing the damage. The foe was going to reel back from more massive amounts of damage and not just not just have the hit bounce off his chest like Superman.

 

[Sunseeker]

The same way Legolas handled the Oliphant.

 

[Wik]

Iron Heroes, which was designed by Mike Mearls, handled this pretty well. For those that never played the game, it was a 3e clone that had all the PCs be non magic-using fighters, similar to Conan, the Gray Mouser, etc. Different classes focused on different types of martial awesomeness.

Anyways, there were still big monsters, and most of them had associated skills or weak points that could be targeted. One, for example, you could try to climb (while it bit at you) so you could damage its weak neck. Of course, you could also try and kill the damned thing from the ground, or with your arrows....

Personally, the only time I really let "reality" get in the way of the game is when someone uses the letter of the rules to do something that would obviously be impossible, thus breaking the suspension of disbelief for all other players at the table. I bring it up a lot, but my main example of this was a guy moving to get a "running start" for a jump check - but then jumping at a right angle from the direction he was running in. That sort of stuff I tend to step in and disallow, but otherwise?

It was already said perfectly. Who Cares!?

 

[Celtavian]

I deal with in a very similar manner to pming.

I usually increase hit points an immense amount. In 3E I would pure brutes 4000 or 5000 hit points. Dragons I'm careful about boosting hit points because of all their extra abilities. I'm not sure how much I'll boost hit points. 5E characters don't do as much damage as 3E characters.

I narrate most of the other bits.

I might start applying damage resistance according to size difference from weapon attacks rather than increased hit points. I'll decide once I see more fights against dragons and other massive creatures.

Massive creatures know humanoids are dangerous just like humans know spiders or snakes are dangerous. So they might avoid them depending on the type of creature. Even a dragon might avoid a particularly dangerous group of humanoids, especially those that wield magic. Creatures that like to live regardless of size know better than to mess with creatures that can kill them.

 

[Jester David]

This is a little easier in D&D than other versions of the genre, as D&D dragons and monsters tend to be on the small scale. Since 4e, gargantuan has been the largest size category, which is 20+ feet tall/wide. So while you're fighting a dragon the size of a two-story building it's belly might be within reach.

 

[Zaruthustran]

Like others have suggested, I use God of War boss battles and Shadow of Colossus as a guide. These are Encounters, not Combats.

Treat the big monster as a terrain puzzle. Skill checks (perception, nature, arcane) to find those Inevitable Weak Spot. Skill checks (acrobatics, athletics) to get there, and/or Intimidate or Perform checks to goad it into exposing itself. Attack rolls and/or Just-The-Right-Spell to inflict damage/hamper the creature. Change up the formula (and move things around the battlefield) to keep things interesting. Don't forget to allow use of the environment: a fight with a Colossal should include bridges and portcullis's to collapse or drop onto the creature, trees to fell, wagons of flaming oil to send careening, floodgates to unleash, herds to stampede, and so on. Big critters require big levers to influence, so as a DM provide those levers for players to discover and use.

Treat the attacks as environmental dangers, avoidable (or mitigate-able) by saving throws. At these differences in scale AC doesn't matter. A creature that can punch through a stone tower doesn't care if the thin layer covering your skin is cloth, leather, or steel. Int or Wis save to see the attack coming and predict where it's going to land, Dex or Con save to avoid or withstand (made with Advantage if you succeeded on previous save).

Failed save doesn't necessarily = death. It could be some serious setback that forces you to regroup or start over. Like, instead of that giant foot literally hitting you (which could only result in SQUISH), it smashes down too close, sending you flying 30 feet for 3d6 damage. Or it collapses the wall you're standing atop of, sending you down in an avalanche of bricks for 4d6 damage and forcing you to start over with the Acrobatics or Athletics checks before you can once again get in position to initiate the next phase in the encounter.

In other words: video games. Multi-stage boss battles are terrific role models for epic fights.