SotC-style fight rules?

[G.Cube]

Has anyone ever run a boss fight against a titan-esqe opponent, reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus? I'd love to run one for a low-magic 3.5 campaign I plan on running, but I don't want it to be just "-climb checkX10-, STR check to hold on, attackX10"

What rules did you employ and remove? What seemed to work? What made it fun?

[Ravens_cry]

Ooh, I would be interested in this as well, Far too many big single monster fights devolve into hit with 'full attacks until it dies or or until a spell takes it down'.

[G.Cube]

Ooh, I would be interested in this as well, Far too many big single monster fights devolve into hit with 'full attacks until it dies or or until a spell takes it down'.

Exactly! It's low magic so I don't feel I need to worry about the mage taking it down easily, but I won't more then just "climb, hit hit hit, str check, hit hit hit." Which is really all I've got so far.

[Blackhawk748]

Make the monster the Dungeon, its covered in smaller creatures that the PCs have to fight as they scale the beast. Then they get to the top and they have to fight a smaller version of the thing (still probably Huge) and then after they kill the smaller version they can just stab the "soft bit" that kills the big version.

I think there is an Elder Evil that does something like this.

[Fax Celestis]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?121426-d20r-Skill-Grapple

[G.Cube]

Make the monster the Dungeon, its covered in smaller creatures that the PCs have to fight as they scale the beast. Then they get to the top and they have to fight a smaller version of the thing (still probably Huge) and then after they kill the smaller version they can just stab the "soft bit" that kills the big version.

I think there is an Elder Evil that does something like this.

This is an awesomely inspiring idea, running with it, thank you!


http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?121426-d20r-Skill-Grapple

This is darn helpful as well, thank you, will definitely be utilizing this!

[Threadnaught]

Make the monster the Dungeon, its covered in smaller creatures that the PCs have to fight as they scale the beast. Then they get to the top and they have to fight a smaller version of the thing (still probably Huge) and then after they kill the smaller version they can just stab the "soft bit" that kills the big version.

I think there is an Elder Evil that does something like this.

Atropus, it is a world and his aspect roams its face. PCs lure Atropus' aspect to them by expending their own abilities against its underlings in important locations. It has an Intelligence of 25 and can choose to fight the PCs whenever it deems necessary, the DM could postpone the fight indefinitely, but there must be a reason for it to go after the PCs other than to simply be a final boss. Perhaps the Undead denizens of the World Born Dead are the key to ending it's attack and it is the most powerful defence Atropus has against those capable of stopping it.

There's also Ragnorra who has several cysts which she uses to boost her abilities during the actual encounter with her, once you actually reach her, after trekking over her skin, she is effectively a Zerg Hatchery. There's not a whole lot of climbing involved, but there are important locations and targets to look for.

The Leviathan requires that the PCs take a specific artifact (like Wander's sword) and drop it right into the Leviathan's heart, which mostly consists of swimming with very little actual combat required.

And last of all, Father Llymic has an actual mountain to climb before you reach him. It's just a mountain though, the actual Elder Evil is tiny compared to the location it's in. Though there are other things around the mountain to contend with as well.

[DJroboninja]

There's so many cool ways to do something like this, but all in all the monster should be looked at as a dungeon or hazard, rather than a creature. Some ideas:
- at the beginning of each players turn in combat, they roll 1d10 - on a roll of 1, the beast lurches and everyone must make an Acrobatics check to remain standing
- the party must briefly cross the beasts underbelly - they are waylayed by opponents and must fight while hanging from the creatures hair or skin
- an entire village of smaller humanoids has taken up residence in a safe patch of skin
- at one point, the creature takes a dip in a lake, and everyone must attempt to hang on, hold their breath, and fight a group of sahuagin raiders that enter the fray
I LOVE non traditional encounters, so I'll post more ideas if I have them

[G.Cube]

Atropus, it is a world and his aspect roams its face. PCs lure Atropus' aspect to them by expending their own abilities against its underlings in important locations. It has an Intelligence of 25 and can choose to fight the PCs whenever it deems necessary, the DM could postpone the fight indefinitely, but there must be a reason for it to go after the PCs other than to simply be a final boss. Perhaps the Undead denizens of the World Born Dead are the key to ending it's attack and it is the most powerful defence Atropus has against those capable of stopping it.

There's also Ragnorra who has several cysts which she uses to boost her abilities during the actual encounter with her, once you actually reach her, after trekking over her skin, she is effectively a Zerg Hatchery. There's not a whole lot of climbing involved, but there are important locations and targets to look for.

The Leviathan requires that the PCs take a specific artifact (like Wander's sword) and drop it right into the Leviathan's heart, which mostly consists of swimming with very little actual combat required.

And last of all, Father Llymic has an actual mountain to climb before you reach him. It's just a mountain though, the actual Elder Evil is tiny compared to the location it's in. Though there are other things around the mountain to contend with as well.


There's so many cool ways to do something like this, but all in all the monster should be looked at as a dungeon or hazard, rather than a creature. Some ideas:
- at the beginning of each players turn in combat, they roll 1d10 - on a roll of 1, the beast lurches and everyone must make an Acrobatics check to remain standing
- the party must briefly cross the beasts underbelly - they are waylayed by opponents and must fight while hanging from the creatures hair or skin
- an entire village of smaller humanoids has taken up residence in a safe patch of skin
- at one point, the creature takes a dip in a lake, and everyone must attempt to hang on, hold their breath, and fight a group of sahuagin raiders that enter the fray
I LOVE non traditional encounters, so I'll post more ideas if I have them

You two are flipping awesome! I'm am taking these ideas and running as hard as I can with them! Thank you guys(and everyone else) for posting, my campaign just grew exponentially because of these great suggestions and references.