Boss Battles

[HarryTheHeretic]

It has been my unfortunate experience that the big baddies in my campaigns aren't very thrilling to fight. It isn't that the proper theatrical attention hasn't been paid, or that the baddies are too hard or too easy. Rather, it feels "reduce his hitpoints to zero" just like every mob that came before is too simplistic for these grand figures.

Seeking an alternate, I look to video games. Specifically, I look the The Legend of Zelda, a game series I have nothing but fond memories for (except the Water Temple, amirite?:smallcool:) and could be said to be one of my stepping stones into D&D itself. THIS is what I want out of my dungeon crawls. Interesting puzzles, cool items, and memorable boss battles.

Remember that time Link got to the boss chamber and then charged the boss with wreckless abandon, flailing his sword about at the thing until it fell? No? Right, that never happened. What's more often the case? The environment plays a big role. Whether you're throwing bombs into a dinosaur's mouth or Spider-Maning your way across a set of pillars with dual hookshots to reach a dragon's back, there was a way of hurting the boss that involved thinking and timing. How might I translate such elements into a game of D&D?

Does anyone here have any particularly memorable boss fights they've used in their campaigns that everyone enjoyed?

PS: Out of sheer curiosity, what's a fair estimation of Link as a D&D character? I think Ranger/Rogue/Dungeon Delver might be close, but anyone who's played LoZ can attest that Link CANNOT pick a lock. :smalltongue:

[AnonymousD&Der]

I can't speak on too many epic boss battles.... I remember an enemy that had very poor base attack, but some how was capable of making traps appear and work from any point in the room. Random attacks appearing, enemies spawning, all while that puny enemy I just want to slash is out of reach..... It was kinda fun....

As for Link, I feel he could be a martial adept. Or a Ranger / Fighter. Special Attacks seem like they sync well with Maneuvers (Warblade especially). But Fighters get all sorts of training that you'd assume Link to have learned (not to mention proficiency with Bows, which is another thing of Links). Then Rangers got the whole "Animal" thing, as well as some spells to simulate some of Link's special magicy abilities....

He'd have to be a multiclass character.... or a gestalt (spell check!).

And yes. Link can not pick locks. He really can't be strong enough to break them down either... or the dungeon doors would have to be made out of adamantine....

[flabort]

By giving a BBEG non-magical flight, puting the battle in an AMF, and making the battlefield bottomless, then expecting the players to find interesting ways of keeping up (Dual hookshot, or whatever) and reaching the BBEG to attack, would be cool, but not for the casters. :smallmad:

Actually, I can't think of any boss battle that a caster wouldn't just beat like boom, or would leave them useless. Casters or non-casters? Always that choice. I can't think of anything that would be awesome like that, and let both roles shine.

[Sarco_Phage]

My BBEGs rely on the buildup principle in order to be exciting. Also, cutscenes.

See, it's like professional wrestling. Watching two large sweaty muscular men slug it out with beautifully (ideally) choreographed moves and plot turns in the middle of the match is good and all, but it's not worth it unless there's been a decent buildup to the fight. Why are these people in the ring? Oh, because Big Steve is holding Coolbert's pet chihuahua hostage, and Coolbert has to beat him in order to get both him and the title belt.

Same with BBEGs. I played in one (DH) campaign once where the heretic governor we'd been investigating, and later, hunting down for the better part of seven sessions was abruptly splattered against a wall by a Lesser Khornate Daemon - which ended up as our final boss (we won, or rather, the Guardsman won. The rest of us ended up as corpses or, in the case of the Psyker, a bloody smear across the floor). Anyway, that fight was spectacular and nerve wracking (fighting a souped up Bloodletter will do that) but not as satisfying as if we'd had the opportunity to take out the governor ourselves. You're telling a story here, people.

[ffone]

Keep in mind that 'figuring out' how to fight a boss, in a video game, is fun b/c

1. you are guaranteed to possess the needed ability, you just have to think to use it (and maybe do so with sufficient dexterity). Or die and search the dungeon for that needed item (though Zelda bosses almost always require it to reach the boss, and the boss is more like a test of your mastery with the timing/aim of it).

2. save game and reload while you try to figure it out and die.

3. there's one player and probably one character, so no one feels left out

These things can easily come off as 'railroading' in DnD. You'll want a boss who

- Has great defenses but a withstandable offense, so the players have rounds to try ineffective types of attack. Consider even using an over-CR boss who for plot reasons doesn't plan to attack the PCs until he actually realizes they can hurt him, and may waste combat rounds doing nothing but taunts (possibly Intimidate checks or certain defense or battlefield control spells).

Also

- Ideally each archetype has a way of dealing with the boss, so that people don't feel left out, and a 1PCK doesn't mean a TPK.

- Ideally they can figure it out by cleverness (the layout of the room, earlier clues) rather than trial and error ("is his DR or SR really high?").

[Ranger Mattos]

I try to design my boss battles sort of like in Legend of Zelda, with plenty of thinking required, but also allowing the barbarian or whatever to still participate even if they can't do anything but deal damage.

And I think that Link would be a gestalt Factotum//Warblade, with absolutely no Open Lock whatsoever.