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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 9833506" data-attributes="member: 2013">Generally, I would point out that generally, swarms of smaller enemies (assuming they stay apart so they can't be cleared out by a fireball) is better than a single super tough BBEG. This is for two reasons:1. Action economy - OP, you've already stated you're not a fan of legendary actions so that means other than perhaps a reaction, a BBEG is likely getting hit 4x as often every round as the PCs are since there are 4x as many PCs as BBEGs... but face the PCs off against a swarm of lower creatures and now the PCs are getting hit 4x as often every round as they are hitting baddies.2. Wasted damage - If your PCs can deal 20 points of damage in a single hit, and your BBEG has 200 hp, it takes 10 hits to bring him down as none of that damage is wasted. If you instead throw 20 baddies with 10 hp each at the PCs... it takes 20 hits to bring them down as the "extra" 10 damage from each attack beyond the 10 hp needed to incapacitate is wasted.Others have suggested alternative goals, terrain, but I'll throw one more sneaky tough thing in that I think goes underestimated in D&D - give your boss MOBILITY. For instance, the ability to dimension door as a bonus action and then move, is a great way of making sure the PCs can't just surround the boss and whomp on him... every round where the melee characters have to chase a target that has moved farther than their move speed helps.I recall a near-TPK that took place once when a mid-level party of seven characters I was running found themselves up against a single monk that was just one level higher than the party... but had an 18 Strength was equipped with boots of striding and springing. Vertical leap for a character with an 18 strength is 7 feet (3 + modifier of 4) with a 10' running start... but boots of striding and springing triple that, so now the monk could leap 21 feet into the air - meaning he could easily leap up a story or two if near a building. Now imagine encountering the monk in a courtyard of a villa that is 5 stories high. On his first turn, the monk leaps from the courtyard up to a balcony on the second floor. Missile attacks? Deflected. Spell attacks? Evaded. As the party closes in on the balcony, he gets a running start off the balcony and leapt 25' diagonally/horizontally across the courtyard (long jump of 18x3 feet = 54 feet) to a third-floor balcony (since you are at the height apex of a jump at the midpoint, and he's only trying to go "up" 10 feet to the next story, I felt this was easily doable if he is doing half his horizontal distance and half his vertical distance). The party couldn't keep up, couldn't pin him down to target him, and even though he was peppering them only with sling bullets between leaps, it nearly resulted in a TPK ... the party eventually had to retreat. (I had not deliberately planned this; I was actually surprised by how deadly the mobility was, especially the ability to easily change elevation, and the monk's ability to slow fall without taking damage allowed him to quickly and safely drop a couple of stories once the party got close to him to start the chase all over again).Generally, any intelligent BBEG should NEVER be standing in a slugfest with the PCs trading blows; they should almost always be moving out of the PCs' range (or as close to it as they can manage) on every one of their turns. Dragons shouldn't ever be going toe-to-toe with PCs, they should almost always be airborne (or waterborne for green or black dragons), making swoop attacks at the middle of their movement as they dive bomb and fly back up (or better yet, retreat underwater where missile weapons won't help)... or just strafe with breath weapons without ever engaging in melee. Creatures with a burrow speed should attack and burrow back underground before ending their movement... yes the PCs can follow down the hole, but now the creature can burrow around them and attack from any angle, and the PCs can't just move through solid earth to surround them. Incorporeal creatures should retreat through walls after attacking, etc.I would also recommend Map Crow's video on DM tactics (mostly around encounter design) [MEDIA=youtube]9ClB4UewOys[/MEDIA] as they will give you some good ideas on how to design an encounter with multiple layers of threats where the PC's just can't rush the boss and go nova.</blockquote>

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