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Tell me about your Bossfights! What went right, what went wrong?
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<blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 9240922" data-attributes="member: 6877472"><p>So things I've noticed. </p><p></p><p>1- as stated, action economy. You can load up someone with all sorts of "cheats" like immunities, resistances, legendary actions, lair actions, whatever, but at the end of the fight, it will come down to the fact that 4 guys beating up one guy is a losing proposition, since, unlike in movies, your opponents don't attack you one at a time hoping that works.</p><p></p><p>2- the more fiddly the BBEG, the worse it gets if you add more foes. In the past 2 sessions, we were fighting a Lich and 16 Wights. The Lich (being a Cleric type) had Legendary actions like the ability to cast Sacred Flame at the start of an enemy's turn, but as the fight wore on, the DM kept forgetting about it.</p><p></p><p>3- what I've learned is that it's best to not only use multiple foes, but subvert expectations. The obvious BBEG shouldn't be the toughest thing on the field! Either have a "secret BBEG" or give them a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDragon" target="_blank">Dragon</a> (not necessarily an actual Dragon)- a nasty enforcer who does all the dirty work.</p><p></p><p>I ran a really neat boss fight once where the actual bad guy was just this noble (I gave him the ability to shout orders in combat for some Warlord-style action. Bonus actions, movement, bonuses to rolls, that sort of thing), but the most dangerous foe was the leader of his personal guard.</p><p></p><p>2e's Dragon Mountain does something neat along these lines- you finally get to the Dragon's lair, and see her in all her glory, so the party unloads on her...but oops!</p><p></p><p>It was just a Kobold polymorphed into a dragon! The real dragon was hanging out polymorphed as a small bird!</p><p></p><p>Now the real fight begins!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="James Gasik, post: 9240922, member: 6877472"] So things I've noticed. 1- as stated, action economy. You can load up someone with all sorts of "cheats" like immunities, resistances, legendary actions, lair actions, whatever, but at the end of the fight, it will come down to the fact that 4 guys beating up one guy is a losing proposition, since, unlike in movies, your opponents don't attack you one at a time hoping that works. 2- the more fiddly the BBEG, the worse it gets if you add more foes. In the past 2 sessions, we were fighting a Lich and 16 Wights. The Lich (being a Cleric type) had Legendary actions like the ability to cast Sacred Flame at the start of an enemy's turn, but as the fight wore on, the DM kept forgetting about it. 3- what I've learned is that it's best to not only use multiple foes, but subvert expectations. The obvious BBEG shouldn't be the toughest thing on the field! Either have a "secret BBEG" or give them a [URL='https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDragon']Dragon[/URL] (not necessarily an actual Dragon)- a nasty enforcer who does all the dirty work. I ran a really neat boss fight once where the actual bad guy was just this noble (I gave him the ability to shout orders in combat for some Warlord-style action. Bonus actions, movement, bonuses to rolls, that sort of thing), but the most dangerous foe was the leader of his personal guard. 2e's Dragon Mountain does something neat along these lines- you finally get to the Dragon's lair, and see her in all her glory, so the party unloads on her...but oops! It was just a Kobold polymorphed into a dragon! The real dragon was hanging out polymorphed as a small bird! Now the real fight begins! [/QUOTE]
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