Ideas for a Boss Battle?

[LrdoftheRngs]

I am currently creating a dungeon that will be put into use on Sunday, and I want to throw an awesome boss battle at the PCs, one they will hopefully never forget. This is 3.5th edition.

Now for some information about the dungeon. It is an ancient temple-ish thing of a long-lost civilization, and it was buried under the sand long ago. The civilization died out because they accidentally opened a direct line to the Nine Hells and let a bunch of devils come in. It is a 3-floor dungeon, with the first two being the actual dungeon, and the last floor for the boss.

I already have some ideas for the boss battle. It will be on a series of platforms suspended over lava by chains hanging from the ceiling of a large natural cavern. I was thinking that the boss would be some sort of chain devil, but buffed up, essentially the chain devil to end all chain devils. Feel free to totally scrap this if any of you have a better idea.

As for the party, they are six characters that will be level 6 or 7 by the time they reach the boss. However, they all have pretty powerful magic items, and they have handled encounters up to 4 CR above their level without much difficulty. The party is a Duskblade (For those who haven't read the PHII, essentially a fighter/sorcerer wrapped up into one class with a few added benefits), a Barbarian, a Bard, a Sorcerer, a Ranger focused on bows, and an NPC rogue (because none of them wanted to play a sneaky character).

Thanks in advance, everyone!

[Selpharia]

Well, here are a couple of ideas. A chain devil sounds nice, though I would straight out double its hit dice, since it will be fighting six PCs. It doesn't have any surprise Gotcha type abilities, but lava is basically instant death for PCs at that level IIRC, and fire immunity should be reasonably hard to come by (except for devils). The problem with a party of that size is as I mentioned the sheer number of actions they get for every one the boss has, even with the chains. I suggest that each platform have two lengths of chain, one to hold it up(or drop it into the lava on command!), and one to act as a spiked chain and trip anything that tries to land on any of those platforms(Improved Trip?). I don't know how many platforms you want, but assuming >= 6 total, I would relax the normal restriction to 4 chains in a standard action that the chain devil has to something like 8 chains, or have one or two chain devil minions to help with chain control. A kind of veil of chains around its suspended body that it could control to stop fliers and possibly to break line of sight with the party might be nice as well

Another way to buff up the fight is to throw in a few salamanders (perfect servants, guards, jailers) and fire elementals to serve as minions for the big chain devil. This helps even out the action economy from 6:1 to 6:4 or so, which i tyhink would be tough without being overwhelming or swingy.

Perhaps one of the salamanders should have a few sorceror levels to provide debuffs and control. In particular, dispelling any masssive stacks of buffs (fly!) that the sorceror or bard put out will be instrumental in making the fight more memorable. Assu,ing you're not being a stickler for real world physics, lava geysers could be fun, just make sure you give enough clues that your players are not totally blindsided.

Remeber to give/use something with fire immunity as minions, or things could get nasty.

Another minion option to consider is using erinyes, they have natural flight and a nice few spells for pain and deception that could be handy, and their entangling ropes can be fun for restricting movement in tandem with the lava and chains.

P.S. I don't see any rules that say the chain devil can't continuously extend a chain by 15 ft. per round, creating what some might call an Unnecessarily Slow Dipping Mechanism, a staple of classic evil lairs.

P.P.S. Why is this particular chain devil to end all chain devils still here in the cave with lava, and what has it been doing all this time? The answer to that might give you some other ideas for additional features. (Please say it's mad and gibbering, so you can play with mental effects and attacks. This can be a really complex encounter, but as it is an entire floor of your dungeon, that's not necessarily bad.

Hope that helps! I'm interested to hear how this goes.

[LrdoftheRngs]

Thanks! I was thinking of maybe connecting the platforms with essentially rope bridges but with chain instead of rope, to add some more peril to the situation (Who doesn't want the bridge they are walking across to sprout barbs and start attacking them?), and I really like the idea of having minions to add to the fight. I was looking through the monster manual, and I was thinking that bearded devils would make for an interesting battle, what with the frenzy ability and the reach on their glaives. Also, since my PCs are relatively new to D&D, I think that the ability to control the numerous chains in the room will throw them for a loop, as they have definitely never fought a chain devil.

[THEChanger]

Alright. Chain Devils are some of my favorite of the Devils. So, I'll throw my two coppers in.

This is jumping off the idea of why the Kyton is still there.

You finally manage to push open the stone doors guarding the next floor of the dungeon. The first thing that you feel is a huge blast of heat. Gazing into the next room, you see two cliffs, one jutting out just beneath the doors you opened, the other at the far end of the room. Far beneath you, molten rock broils and bubbles, casting plumes of fire towards the ceiling. Platforms hang from said ceiling, suspended by black chains, stained black from the constant soot. Four salamanders, each bearing the mark of the people who built this place, brandish scimitars and take their posts upon platforms in the four corners of the room. "You have come far, travelers. But you do not know what you disturb here. Turn back now!"
In the center of the room hangs a coil of glowing red chains. They shift and twist, as though powered by some unholy engine. Every so often, a glyph of power shines upon the chains, and a scream lets loose from within. A scream of pain and suffering unlike anything heard on the Prime Material. A scream of pure anguish. And every time the scream lets loose, the chains vibrate with the pure power of it, the shaking continuing to the chains supporting the four platforms the salamanders occupy.
If you wish to free whatever lies within, you shall have to destroy the salamanders, and break the platforms.

Guess whose inside that ball of chains? :smallbiggrin:

[Slipperychicken]

I hear collapsing terrain is all the rage these days. Maybe the place starts falling apart (or the devils start pulling the ceiling down on them) once they wake the Devil up?

Maybe some independent animated chains try to grapple/trip/disarm them, pull them into the lava, or hold their limbs to prevent them from moving? (of course they do this slowly, and can be climbed or broken, so the PCs have a chance to break the chains or survive)

Maybe some bridges separating the platforms fall (or fell) out, forcing some of them to swing over on chains?

Maybe some of the platforms start breaking?

The Super-Kyton could also swing around the place like Spiderman due to Dancing Chains (rule of cool?), harrassing them then moving to another platform.

[Grelna the Blue]

If I were playing in your game (sounds fun, btw), I'd be almost disappointed if something big and fire immune (or several somethings small to medium) did NOT emerge from the lava at some point. It could be something as simple as a half-fiendish giant octopus or even just some magma crocs that are there just for flavor (or to give a desperate/swashbuckling PC something to jump from back to back on if they need an alternate route to reach some goal).

As for your BBEG, I'm picturing a fallen version of the Arch Angel Tyrael in Diablo 2, with wings of dancing chains (whether he can use them to actually fly or not).

If the chains in the room are suspended over lava, they will of course be extremely hot, but the party may have Energy Resist Fire going if they have any idea what is down there. However, chains are also conductive to electricity. You might be able to use that...

[LrdoftheRngs]

Sorry to disappoint anyone waiting for news on how it went, but the players didn't exactly get to the boss. They spent much more time than I expected in a riddle room, so they didn't get very far in the dungeon. I will most likely have another session Sunday, and they will hopefully get to it. Thanks for all the great suggestions, and I have a better idea of what I'll be doing. I'll post my current thoughts later tonight.

[Galdelonian]

Teleporting and Planeshifting is a powerful tool for higher level parties. This is especially true in boss fights. It's an easy way for high level bosses to traverse their castle or wherever they are.



78% of all DM's start their first campaign in a tavern. If you're among the 22% who didn't, copy and paste this into your signature and tell us where you DID begin.

My party was lost separately in a sandstorm and found the same chasm simultaneously.


Thanks! I was thinking of maybe connecting the platforms with essentially rope bridges but with chain instead of rope, to add some more peril to the situation (Who doesn't want the bridge they are walking across to sprout barbs and start attacking them?), and I really like the idea of having minions to add to the fight. I was looking through the monster manual, and I was thinking that bearded devils would make for an interesting battle, what with the frenzy ability and the reach on their glaives. Also, since my PCs are relatively new to D&D, I think that the ability to control the numerous chains in the room will throw them for a loop, as they have definitely never fought a chain devil.