Boss fight (3.5)

[crazywolf]

Ok, the group i dm has just takin down some goblins and feel that the game is getting easy so, i want to make them feel a chaledge. I've got most of the details :
*the boss is a 2nd level fighter called Damata who was sent by his "boss" to gather local goblins to attack merchants which is the first stage in a bigger plan.
*hes a scondral who has been a bandit before and he has a few of his old "freinds" working with him. ( he didnt bring them with him because he figure it would be esay to rais carvans, but he dint count on adventurers killing the goblins)
* he dosent care about anyone and the only raeson hes worikng under some one else is because its for his own goals
* they have captured a young girl and will use her as bait for the adventurers so he can ambush them
ok there you have it
but how should i have him make an apperance?
i knw everything elese but i'm not just sure who he should make an enterance
hes supposted to be a recuring charecter, so how should he escape if hes hurt badly?
thank you, and give me some feed back :smallsmile:

[ScionoftheVoid]

Ok, the group i dm has just takin down some goblins and feel that the game is getting easy so, i want to make them feel a chaledge. I've got most of the details :
*the boss is a 2nd level fighter called Damata who was sent by his "boss" to gather local goblins to attack merchants which is the first stage in a bigger plan.
*hes a scondral who has been a bandit before and he has a few of his old "freinds" working with him. ( he didnt bring them with him because he figure it would be esay to rais carvans, but he dint count on adventurers killing the goblins)
* he dosent care about anyone and the only raeson hes worikng under some one else is because its for his own goals
* they have captured a young girl and will use her as bait for the adventurers so he can ambush them
ok there you have it
but how should i have him make an apperance?
i knw everything elese but i'm not just sure who he should make an enterance
hes supposted to be a recuring charecter, so how should he escape if hes hurt badly?
thank you, and give me some feed back :smallsmile:

A level 2 Fighter? What level are the PCs, negative three? Even with help he's going down in two, maybe three hits if the players are at all competent. Unless the characters are all cripples I'd advise raising that. On the other hand there could be a lot of help, in which case the characters will die with no contribution from the "boss".

If he's supposed to be a recurring character have a vehicle which can fly ready, or tack on a level of Wizard or Sorcerer and give him Expeditious Retreat and the Run feat (unless his AC is bad anyway). If you choose the latter the PCs won't be able to catch up, though keep him on the edge of the fight or AoOs might take him down. If you choose the latter the PCs will either not be able to catch him or will steal the vehicle and leave him alone, either way the guy lives.

I'd need more info on the characters and what kind of person the "boss" is to give more detail.

Edit: Also, from personal experience, never have an underwater boss fight unless the PCs have Teleport, they will die horribly. This goes double super-mega-extra-quintuple for a boss with a well selected lair, high intelligence and a CR about four higher than the party's level.

[Re'ozul]

Depends on geography.

Have the place be a large hill with a cave and the girl tied to a post outside.Once the PC's get somewhat close, have the Big Bad stepping halfway outside the cave (shadowed upper body) adressing them and the futility of their actions. (Have him obviously holding something that they can't see.
Once the PC's get closer have either a trap or a "mysterious" fire arrow ignite a perimeter made by flammable material (with the characters outside) that illuminates the Big Bad and shows him holding the head of either someone important to the girl (Especially someone the PC's talked to not too long ago) or important to the PC's in Hamlet-fashion. He then looks condescendingly at the party and simply smiles (have him going "tut-tut-tut" if you want the PC's to really despise him). Once it seems like he will die make him give a signal and have a rockslide or trees falling down the hill with the Big Bad retreating into the cave (which obviously has a second exit) or a prepared pitfall-trap (which the party's trap-finder has already found and everyone therefore avoided only to now realize it was an exit-strategy).

[Crossblade]

Agreed with Scoin. More info on builds and situation is needed.
LBEG needs to be higher level.
What is your party made up of and how many players?
What is the build of the LBEG?


At that level, the most HP he could have is 33. (Max hp of fighter is 10 per level, +4 con bonus x2, +3 Toughness, +2 Improved Toughness). A party of 4 level 1's could have him at -10 in 2-3 rounds without any crits. (4PC x Average 4dmg = 16dmg/rd).

For getting away, a war horse is the simple answer. Give it armor to boost its AC, so the PCs can't kill it easily. Hippogriff if you want something that flies.

Honestly, make the fighter at least level 5, that way, it will be harder for the PCs to cast sleep on it and Coup de Gras him.

[crazywolf]

I'd need more info on the characters and what kind of person the "boss" is to give more detail.

no problem
the party:
Dwarf barbarion:hates orks and goblins (more so than most dwarfs)
Human palidin: loves elfs and wants to be one (he worships the god of elfs)elf cleric: shes evil and woships the goddes of night but she will not harm children and she will protect them
sorceror: hes a crazy elf who like to kill stuff (nuff said)
the pary arnt your average "good guys but they will help others
Bad guy:
Hes a real suondral who will kill anyone who gets in his way, He will put himself before others anyday, and dosent care about anyone but himself
he was a bandit with his brothers untill he killed them both out of jelousy and lust for leadership. Hes brave but not stupd, he knows he cant win he will try to escape, but he will always try to fight first, if capture he will try to escape and hunt down he former caprores
he is not apove using people as bait
i plan on him using a little girl to lure the adventurers into a trap
the only reason he is under command of another is because he wants to further his own power
as for escape i as planing on him using a ring of invisibility
but a level of sorceror could help maybe
fighter 2 /sorceror 1
but i planed on him using some goblins as backup for the ambush ( but he will leave them to die if he needs to)

*edit* the pcs are all 1st level and theirs 4 of them (but another might come later)

[crazywolf]

the geograpy is

the cave is a shot ways from the pcs campsite in the middle of the forrest
they already discovered the dead bodys of the parents and saved her brother
the cave is located in the side of a hill and their are three entrinces
the main entrince
their is a secret tunnel closeby in the woods
there is an entrice towards the back of the cave ( his horse is near there)
the place is surronded by trees

[crazywolf]

as for the severed head guy
i could use the contact who told them were he was attacked by the goblins and that they were acually goblins
or i could us the severed head on the mother
ether way it'll piss of the pcs

[ScionoftheVoid]

no problem
the party:
Dwarf barbarion:hates orks and goblins (more so than most dwarfs)
Human palidin: loves elfs and wants to be one (he worships the god of elfs)elf cleric: shes evil and woships the goddes of night but she will not harm children and she will protect them
sorceror: hes a crazy elf who like to kill stuff (nuff said)
the pary arnt your average "good guys but they will help others
Bad guy:
Hes a real suondral who will kill anyone who gets in his way, He will put himself before others anyday, and dosent care about anyone but himself
he was a bandit with his brothers untill he killed them both out of jelousy and lust for leadership. Hes brave but not stupd, he knows he cant win he will try to escape, but he will always try to fight first, if capture he will try to escape and hunt down he former caprores
he is not apove using people as bait
i plan on him using a little girl to lure the adventurers into a trap
the only reason he is under command of another is because he wants to further his own power
as for escape i as planing on him using a ring of invisibility
but a level of sorceror could help maybe
fighter 2 /sorceror 1
but i planed on him using some goblins as backup for the ambush ( but he will leave them to die if he needs to)

*edit* the pcs are all 1st level and theirs 4 of them (but another might come later)

The Setup

How about making him a Rogue 1/Fighter 2/Sorcerer 1 (Grease, Expeditious Retreat and Enlarge Person as spells). Two Goblin warriors as backup. Have the ambush in a small ruin, plenty of rubble and pillars to prevent charges, dark areas to hide in wait, odd symbols on the wall for atmosphere. Have him leave the girl in the back of the ruin beside a large, bullet-shaped metal contraption, a goblin placing a note in the PCs camp/inn room/whatever to inform them of the rendevous point for a ridiculous sum of ransom money. When the PCs have almost reached the girl he steps out from behind a pillar to confront them, the goblin goons come out of the shadows somewhere behind the PCs. He introduces himself under a false name and is wearing a mask bearing the mark of the person he's working for, he then asks for the money. When the PCs don't have it he starts the fight.

The Fight

If the PCs have made a reasonable amount of noise after entering the ruin, but before getting to the boss room (down a wide set of stairs and through one room with writing in an ancient language on the walls (use something no-one in the party has yet, but they can spend skill points to learn it as normal if they take samples to compare to notes on the language in a library), a short corridor leads them to the chamber where the boss is waiting), then the boss has Expeditious Retreat already active, if not he doesn't have any buffs already on him. He wields a Greatsword (possibly a +1 Greatsword).

He opens the fight with a Grease spell under someone he can charge to. The person(s) on the Grease use flat-footed armour class, even if they make the save. This allows him to sneak attack anyone on the Grease (make sure he has 5 or more ranks in Balance, so he isn't flat-footed if he moves on to the Grease). If he cannot charge to anyone he casts Enlarge Person on himself. When reduced to one quarter his hp he throws down a smoke bomb (ten foot radius, grants concealment for 2d4 rounds, wind speeds are irrelevant since level 1 PCs can't affect them and its indoors (though normally they would disperse the cloud quicker), anyone in the area who hasn't covered their eyes (anyone except the boss) must make a DC 13 Fort save or be blinded for one round) and moves to the back of the room with the machine. He takes a standard action to use a command word in the language from earlier and moves into the door that opens in the machine, which then shuts behind him. The machine is then revealed to be a magical train of an ancient empire, still able to be activated by one trained in its use, as it moves away at 300 ft per round. It is made of iron and has walls three inches thick, in case the PCs try to damage it. It is in a five-foot deep trench, previously inaccessible because the train was in the way of getting down there. An evil laugh echoes down the tunnel back to the PCs.

The Aftermath

The company the boss is working for is tapping into the power of a long-dead civilisation (which the PCs can also do to a lesser extent if they learn the ancient language that holds the codes for all of their devices). The PCs get the girl back and will probably suspect the boss to arrive at another similar ruin, and they can track down up to five with appropriate checks (e.g. Knowledge: History, Gather Information, etc.) at DC 15+5 for each additional ruin. The PCs have had their first introduction to the Big Bad Evil Company and the boss gets away without anyone knowing he is working for the company.

Sorry if that seems too specific and/or messes with the setting/plot too much, but feel free to adapt or use that at any time. Hope I've been of help.

Edit: I had to have dinner between starting writing this and finishing, so I didn't see the posts after the one I quoted. Have the ruins be inside the cave, if neccessary. Have fun!

[Runestar]

If you have monsters of faerun, consider using the tanarruk. It is basically an orc-tiefling, and is fairly tough with 5 outsider HD. Cr2, so should be tough enough to dish out a few hard hits and take a licking before fleeing.

Looks badass as well. :smallamused:
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQuh7_63jTg_ebr6_oLh2nc8D1Nxz8-KjmaOqwIjwppsD6PpgQ&t=1&usg=__cWLSZe0-UX041ResTdVzDDIOjX0=

[Dr.Epic]

Yeah, a level 2 character as a boss? Not going to work for any level campaign. I don't see it working unless they're a race with a level adjustment.

[AslanCross]

Agreed, it's likely too weak. If the PCs are level 1, Level 2 is still considered a 'normal' or 'challenging' encounter. You'd need to go Lv 3 (with backup) or 4 to be intimidating.