D&D 5E Help me balance a BBEG, please.

[Quartz]

What minions does the BBEG have? How can the PCs prevent him escaping via teleport? Or simply flying away.

BTW if this guy is a fallen celestial, why is he still resistant to Radiant damage? This is a significant nerf on the Paladin.

 

[Buck_]

Since you're keeping things at groud level where the Monk can go straight to melee I'd give it somewhat better Con saves, because stunning strike will use up the legendary resistances too fast, and a stun-locked creature is not a satisfying solo enemy for a party. If, on the other hand, it was flying and it was a multi-round struggle to get the thing in melee with the Monk then I wouldn't worry about it.

Funny thing is that the Monk almost never uses stunning strike. He used it only once in 9 levels, I think, prefering to keep his ki to do flurry of blows. But yeah, it's something to think about.

What minions does the BBEG have? How can the PCs prevent him escaping via teleport? Or simply flying away.

BTW if this guy is a fallen celestial, why is he still resistant to Radiant damage? This is a significant nerf on the Paladin.

I'm still in the fence about adding minions to the fight, I'm worried that the round will take too long to go. He'll not go away because the party will be trying to enter his Goddess' cathedral and he's supposed to guard it. And he's not a fallen celestial, but you are right about the paladin.

 

[aco175]

If this is the grand, big, cool fight- then add minions. I would even have waves of them coming from around the city. They do not have to be powerful but enough to take a couple hits. I would have some guards of 4-5th level to start and the PCs may use some of their power to blast them to then focus on the BBEG, but have another 2d4 come of a lower level each round to at least get a few crossbow shots off before being blasted with something. Eventually the little pecks start to become a problem and the PCs will focus on them.

 

[Flamestrike]

So, we'll be having my homebrew campaign 'Grand Finale' in a few weeks with an all or nothing fight (no fleeing, no surrender) against the BBEG. It's going to happen at a big city square and the BBEG will keep the fight at ground level, for campaign reasons. My question is: how balanced is it for a end-of-campaign epic fight against a 9th level fully rested party? Any help is appreciated.

The party (all 9th level):
Elf Wildfire Druid
Halfling Celestial Warlock
Dwarf Battlemaster Fighter (shieldmaster feat)
Human Drunken Master Monk
Human Homebrew Paladin

Spoiler: BBEG

View attachment 124717

Edit: forgot about the paladin

Hit points look a bit low. As a Solo for 9th level PCs you should be aiming for a CR of around 13 or so (so around 250 HP).

 

[dave2008]

Not 100% what your goal is, but this guy is likely to fall pretty quickly and not be overly threatening to your PCs. I would look to beef it up to the CR 13-15 range to make it interesting. I would give a melee attack option and big hit recharge attack (like a dragon's breath weapon) to give it more variety as well. Except of the legendary actions it is a bit of a one trick pony.

As a point of reference: Strahd is a difficult CR 15 monster with a lot of advantages in his castle, and 5 10th level PCs are expected to beat him.

 

[Azuresun]

What sort of debuffs do the PC's throw around? They're the things that can really turn a boss fight into an anticlimax.

I'd also strong suggest having some minions. Even if they're just speedbumps, they soak up attacks and break up the focus fire.

 

[Imaculata]

Have you given any thought to how the environment will factor into the fight? Is there anything the big bad or the players can use to their advantage? Are there secondary objectives to complicate matters? Is there a 2nd phase to the fight?

Examples: the town is on fire, and as the fire spreads, it affects where the players can safely fight, and their ability to breath.

Or: the big bad is about to execute an npc that needs saving. The players must deal with 2 problems at the same time.

Or: halfway into the fight the floor gives way, dropping all combatants into a new area.

 

[NotAYakk]

20 AC. PCs are level 9, and I'll assume +1 items. So +10 to hit. They hit on an 10+.

Baseline damage is 10.5 x 2 for 12.1 DPR. 5 players is 60.5 DPR. In 3 rounds, 181.5 DPR. This is before spells and class abilities beyond "I can attack 2x a turn".

I'd consider doubling its HP as a first step. Alternatively, add in some minions, and give them the power to sacrifice themselves for your celestial (healing the celestial).

You have 50 encounter points worth of PCs. Deadly starts at 20 encounter points (CR 14 or so). A suicidal battle is 50 encounter points, at CR 24.

His DPR is about 150 or so. XP value 20,000+.

 

[Griffon Lore Games]

I suggest making his CR attributes/abilities CR 13 AND add minions, specifically guys that can attack any PC making death saves, for the kill.

 

[Imaculata]

I think adding minions is always a good idea for any big bad. Ideally, some melee minions to block the players, some ranged minions to harass them, and a spellcaster or two to oppose their magic.

In my pirate campaign I had a big fight, where the villain was aided by one powerful spellcaster (a mini boss in her own right), several bodyguards that could smite (so the players couldn't just run up to the boss), and several riflemen on higher ground. Also, the room started flooding during the fight, and there was another powerful minion who was being boosted from a ritual by some cultists. Thankfully the players took care of that before taking on the boss, so he wasn't at full strength.