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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sadras" data-source="post: 7282505" data-attributes="member: 6688277">Boss fights are tricky to pull of well. I was running a heavily modified MiBG for 9th level characters, and the first time they faced him in Duke Silvershield's body it was an absolute cake walk. I underestimated the party badly and it just felt like such an anticlimax after participating in a dozen or so great sessions of this module. Fortunately due to a character change by the PC who actually dealt the death blow to Silvershield and through the some creative story-telling the Bhaal curse (now evolved) eventually passed onto Imbralym Skoond.Given a second chance I was determined to ensure the next Bhaal-encounter would be epic. When Bhaal/Skoond next attacked it happened to be the evening of the first meeting between the new Dukes of the city within a secret room under the Hall of Wonders. As it happened that night the party had received one of those black invitations to Mandorcai's Mansion which mansion I had made sentient and which had a link to the Shadowfell. Long story short, I planned a series of unique encounters (nine, including a boss fight) that stretched the characters resources and ensured a final epic boss battle. Thankfully it paid off. Longer version - After defeating/subduing the Mansion's 'spirit' (Encounter 1) and learning the invitation had been at request by Bhaal/Skoond, they raced to the adjacent and boarded up Seskergates believing him to be hiding out there. Seskergates currently was being used by the criminal underworld (Encounter 2-3). At this point, cries of fear and death and the howling and barking of dogs were carried on the violent winds which had gripped city - the cries and bodies led the PCs to the Water Queen's House (Social Encounter 4) - its front doors banging in the wind, waveservant corpses scattered everywhere inside as outside Umberlee's storm demanded justice for her fallen faithful...    The characters realised where Bhaal would be going and they rushed through the city to the Hall of Wonders, following the trail of blood and death, defeating the guardians, riddles and puzzles of the Hall (Encounters 5-8) to find the complex pressure plate system which opened up the to the secret passageways underneath the temple to find/interrupt Bhaal on his murder spree of the newly appointed/elected Dukes. With his appearance initially masked, he got the jumped on them and a difficult battle ensued (Encounter 9). As a solo in Slayer form I had given him Legendary Actions but limited hit points (around 90hp). The fight was difficult and epic primarily because the party's resources were almost exhausted, he had bested them with a surprise and the Legendary Actions made him particularly deadly. It ended with two PCs unconscious, one was attempting to revive the Flood Tide Allandra (one of the new Dukes) and the other two PCs had 15 or less hit points.  The party defeated him (Bhaal/Skoond) and decided not to kill him, so as not to pass on (take on) the evolved curse, but instead muted and blinded him and broke his fingers. They took the unconscious and bound body of their nemesis, made a deal with the sentient Mansion and dumped him into the Shadowfell hoping for the best. The players absolutely loved it and I was happy that I had provided a meaningful challenge at the end of the story-arc.</blockquote>

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