Best first dungeon monsters

[Schultzie87]

Hey, I'm new to DMing and was wondering what monsters make for a good first dungeon boss? In my first campaign I'm thinking of making it a barghest? Any thoughts would be appreciated!!

[Khedrac]

This totally depends on the level the party is expected to be when they reach the boss.

As maligned as it is, this is what the CR system is actually for! A good metric for the climactic encounter of an adventure is APL+3 (or APL+4 for a really major fight with a good chance of PC deaths).

Now, the CR system is maligned for a reason, and especially at low level one has to look at what resources the party will have available. If the party is expected to be level 1 without magic weapons then a bargest can be expected to kill all of them without getting particularly hurt...

[Schultzie87]

I would like them to be around level 3 by the time they get to the monster. A few of them may have magical equipment at this point as well. The group would have to track the beast to its lair, outside the city it's minions have been threatening.

[OldTrees1]

For a very first dungeon I would roll out the classic: Orcs -> Ogres -> Troll. This gives you CR 1s, 3s, and 5 to throw around and combine. The final encounter would be 1 Troll + 2 Orcs (EL 6 = Boss fight for ECL 3).

Something similar can be done with Goblins->Hobgoblins->Bugbears->Barghest. Final encounter 1 Barghest + 2 Bugbears (EL 6 = Boss fight for ECL 3).

[WeaselGuy]

I think the first campaign I DMed for newbies, my first dungeon consisted of Kobolds. Kobolds are a lot of fun. You can easily add more kobolds to an encounter to make it more challenging on multiple levels, and when you factor in their traps, you give places for the rest of the party to shine as well! For the last boss in the dungeon, I'm pretty sure I used a Half-Dragon Cleric of Tiamat, who basically bullied the kobolds into working for him. Cleric is a great platform for a boss, because you can run him as a meat shield with buff spells, or as a focused caster, depending on how your party is doing at that point.

Also, as an aside, Kobolds aren't mindless, which means that they can be swayed into working for the party through social skills.

#deekinforpresident2016

[Troacctid]

I'm a fan of using zombies as mooks with the necromancer as the boss.

[WeaselGuy]

I'm a fan of using zombies as mooks with the necromancer as the boss.

My only problem with using zombies in a group's first dungeon is that they can really screw over the rogue and the enchanter/illusionist (and other assorted casters focusing on those schools). Good for dungeon #2 though.

[Schultzie87]

Thanks for the advice!!

[Triskavanski]

I had a cat necromancer.