final fight ideas

[moonbane]

i am creating a campaign and i need some help coming up with a final boss. im looking for something humanoid and powerful. all i can think of is a nine tailed fox in human form but this seems too generic. dose anyone have any ideas?

[FishAreWet]

Giving us a CR would really help.

[ArcanistSupreme]

Wizard with levels equal to 1 or 2 + the party level. Make his base inside a volcano. Don't make it easy for the party fighter to bull rush him into the lava, though.

EDIT: If it you want to be a jerk, set it up so he can be bull rushed and just make him half red dragon. Don't have him just cast fire spells, though, even if goes with the cool theme. That could be easily countered and lead to a seriously lame final fight.

Since he needs minions, throw in some half dragon friends that try to bull rush the party into the lava, and maybe a dragon of the appropriate CR to help with flying PCs.

[Sinfire Titan]

Forum Tip #2: When asking for information, please specify what system and edition you are playing in. GiantITP's RPG forum is not segregated by games or editions, thus we get traffic for almost everything (save for FATAL).


General DMing Rule #45: Never, under any circumstances, assume a single enemy will be a challenge to a party of 4 or more. Always have minions of some kind. This goes triple for DnD 3.5, as the action economy is screwed up in that system. Seriously, have the BBEG stay hidden for 3 rounds, then have him reveal himself when his minions need him the most.

[moonbane]

i dont know what a CR is but this is going to be the end of a campain that the players, one cleric, one rouge/fighter, and one palidin, are going to be around lv 15-20,

sorry this is D&D 3.5

[Temotei]

i dont know what a CR is but this is going to be the end of a campain that the players, one cleric, one rouge/fighter, and one palidin, are going to be around lv 15-20,

CR -- Challenge Rating. It's in the Monster Manual! Basically, a CR number is the level a four-person party should be using up 20% of their resources on if they're the same level.

CR = class levels if LA +0, RHD +0...

So a human wizard 17 vs. four party members (assuming one fighter, one rogue, one cleric, and one wizard) should challenge them to use up about 30 - 50% of their resources...roughly.

Have the villain be smart. Have many minions. Then one mega-minion that's like a miniboss. Then have the villain come out when the miniboss is nearly defeated. Classic villainy there.

[Sinfire Titan]

+1 to the Wizard suggestion. A 17th level Wizard against a 15th level party will be a challenge for anyone. Word of advice: If the spell has a duration of Minutes/Caster Level or longer, it's safe to assume that spell is active on the Wizard. Remember, you are the DM. It's OK to cheat a little, especially if the BBEG's Int/Wis/Cha score is much higher than your own (which it will be at this level). Just because you didn't remember doesn't mean he didn't either.

[moonbane]

the wizard idea would work wellfor what what i need

thanks

[Temotei]

the wizard idea would work wellfor what what i need

thanks

Just be careful with killing the party. You want it very dangerous, not automatically deadly. Don't use Mordenkainen's Disjunction. :smallannoyed:

[deuxhero]

A Druid/Planar Shepard.

[Sinfire Titan]

A Druid/Planar Shepard.

http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii359/SinfireTitan/PlanarShepherdDemotivator.jpg

[absolmorph]

Just be careful with killing the party. You want it very dangerous, not automatically deadly. Don't use Mordenkainen's Disjunction. :smallannoyed:
Not using Modenkainen's Disjunction should be a general rule. It's too time consuming, destructive and irritating.
And it widens the disparity between melee and casters.
It's just not a polite thing to do.

[deuxhero]

http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii359/SinfireTitan/PlanarShepherdDemotivator.jpg

A Planar Shepard is about the only thing that is going to stand up to 4 PCs hammering on him at a time.

[Temotei]

A Planar Shepard is about the only thing that is going to stand up to 4 PCs hammering on him at a time.

You sure about that?

How about a god? :smallbiggrin:

[FishAreWet]

You sure about that?

How about a god? :smallbiggrin:


Short of the ridiculous No Save and Dies, yes, they will stand up to it.

[mr.fizzypop]

Try adding something to make it more challenging like a time limit. Think of the old legend of zelda games, where all bosses are invulnerable except for their weakpoint. My last campaign had a final boss with someone that couldn't be killed directly and instead the PCs needed to destroy the six pillars in the area that fueled his power.

You'd have to bend a couple rules, but it'd keep the game challenging and exiting.

[deuxhero]

You sure about that?

How about a god? :smallbiggrin:

Given that beyond the "no save, die" Death/Life and Death abilites they are all quite poorly built? Not really.