Thoughts on a custom boss monster

[Eliecc]

Hey guys,

I was chasing some feedback on a high level boss that my players will be facing soon.
the player party is 4 lvl 15's. Trickster Domain Cleric, a Ranger / Rouge. Bear Barbarian and an evocation wizard.


They will be fighting him with around 8 of his underling warlocks (who are lvl 2) in a room with around 20 helpless npcs that will be fodder for the boss. The warlocks will have "gas masks" preventing them from being affected by the bosses Laughing Gas ability. A quick witted PC will be able to work out what they are and utilize them in the fight to nullify Laughing Gas.

Pogo, The Clown King
Large Fiend (Demon), chaotic evil
Armor class 18 (Natural armor)
HP 240
Speed 40ft., fly 40ft., Hover

Stats:
STR: 10 | DEX: 22 | CON: 16 | INT: 18 | WIS: 16 | CHA: 28

Saving throws: Dex +11 | Con +8 | Cha +14
Damage Resistances: cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical weapons
Damage Immunities: poison
Condition Immunities: poisoned
senses: truesight 120ft., passive perception 18
Languages Abyssal, Common
Challenge 20 (24,500 EXP)

Magic Resistance: Pogo has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects
Legendary Resistance (3/day) If Pogo fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead
Spellcasting: Pogo is a 13th-Level spellcaster. It's spell casting ability is Charisma (Spell save DC:18, + 12 to hit with spell attacks), and has the following spells prepared.

At Will: Vicious Mockery, Dissonant Whispers, Charm Person, Shield, Acid Splash
4 per day: Crown of Madness, Enthrall, Tasha's Hideous Laughter
3 per day: Fear, Hypnotic Pattern, Vampiric Touch
2 per day: Evard's Black Tentacles, Phantasmal Killer, Dominate Person
1 per day: Harm, Mass Suggestion, Otto's Irresistible Dance

Attentiveness: Pogo ignores the rules of concentration for all spells he is able to cast

Hideous Laughter: At the start of Pogo's turn, any creature within 20 foot radius of him that is affected by Laughing Gas takes 10 (3d6) necrotic damage.
Pogo regains 15 hp for every creature affected.

Actions:

Multiattack: Can make 2 melee/ranged attacks or cast 2 spells.

Juggling Pin: Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +11 to hit. reach 5ft. range 20/60 ft, one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage

Laughing Gas (Recharge 5-6): Each creature within 20 foot radius must succeed on a DC18 CON Saving Throw or be incapacitated by laughter for 1 minute.
A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of it's turns, ending the effect with a success.

Teleport: Pogo magically teleports, along with any equipment he is wearing or carrying, up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space he can see.

Legendary actions:
Pogo can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Pogo regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn

At Will: Pogo can cast one of his At Will spells.
Teleport (Costs 2 Actions) Pogo can use his Teleport ability
Induced Laughter (Costs 3 Actions) Pogo can use his Laughing Gas ability and activate his Hideous Laughter




any feedback would be greatly appreciated. :)

[supergoji18]

It looks quite interesting, and of course with the warlock assistants this will be a potentially deadly encounter. Seems like a great challenge! go for it!

I think you need to edit the spellcasting a bit, because you seem to have it confused with innate-spellcasting which works slightly different. Innate-spellcasting gives you certain spells that a creature can only use x/day each, while actual spellcasting uses spell slots and all that other nonsense. I guess it really doesn't matter in the end, either way this looks like a fun encounter.

Please tell me there's going to be joker references made?

[Roughishguy86]

My only thought is that you are a special kind of evil making characters fight an evil demon clown in game. its like my greatest fear put too life in a game in my mind.

But aside from the terrifying evilness of demon clowns this could be a fun encounter or a terribly deadly one depending on how well your party plays it out.

[Eliecc]

I think you need to edit the spellcasting a bit, because you seem to have it confused with innate-spellcasting which works slightly different. Innate-spellcasting gives you certain spells that a creature can only use x/day each, while actual spellcasting uses spell slots and all that other nonsense. I guess it really doesn't matter in the end, either way this looks like a fun encounter.

Yes I guess I was going for the innate-spellcasting. I'll edit that ...


Please tell me there's going to be joker references made?

I hadn't quite thought about that ... but i'm sure I can add some in somewhere, just for you :P

[supergoji18]

Yes I guess I was going for the innate-spellcasting. I'll edit that ...



I hadn't quite thought about that ... but i'm sure I can add some in somewhere, just for you :P

his entry speech has to include a "why the long face?" reference, or the "magic trick" scene. It is a requirement of all evil clowns. Failure to do so can lead to a revocation of their evil clown license.

[RumoCrytuf]

Hey guys,

I was chasing some feedback on a high level boss that my players will be facing soon.
the player party is 4 lvl 15's. Trickster Domain Cleric, a Ranger / Rouge. Bear Barbarian and an evocation wizard.


They will be fighting him with around 8 of his underling warlocks (who are lvl 2) in a room with around 20 helpless npcs that will be fodder for the boss. The warlocks will have "gas masks" preventing them from being affected by the bosses Laughing Gas ability. A quick witted PC will be able to work out what they are and utilize them in the fight to nullify Laughing Gas.

Pogo, The Clown King
Large Fiend (Demon), chaotic evil
Armor class 18 (Natural armor)
HP 240
Speed 40ft., fly 40ft., Hover

Stats:
STR: 10 | DEX: 22 | CON: 16 | INT: 18 | WIS: 16 | CHA: 28

Saving throws: Dex +11 | Con +8 | Cha +14
Damage Resistances: cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical weapons
Damage Immunities: poison
Condition Immunities: poisoned
senses: truesight 120ft., passive perception 18
Languages Abyssal, Common
Challenge 20 (24,500 EXP)

Magic Resistance: Pogo has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects
Legendary Resistance (3/day) If Pogo fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead
Spellcasting: Pogo is a 13th-Level spellcaster. It's spell casting ability is Charisma (Spell save DC:18, + 12 to hit with spell attacks), and has the following spells prepared.

At Will: Vicious Mockery, Dissonant Whispers, Charm Person, Shield, Acid Splash
4 per day: Crown of Madness, Enthrall, Tasha's Hideous Laughter
3 per day: Fear, Hypnotic Pattern, Vampiric Touch
2 per day: Evard's Black Tentacles, Phantasmal Killer, Dominate Person
1 per day: Harm, Mass Suggestion, Otto's Irresistible Dance

Attentiveness: Pogo ignores the rules of concentration for all spells he is able to cast

Hideous Laughter: At the start of Pogo's turn, any creature within 20 foot radius of him that is affected by Laughing Gas takes 10 (3d6) necrotic damage.
Pogo regains 15 hp for every creature affected.

Actions:

Multiattack: Can make 2 melee/ranged attacks or cast 2 spells.

Juggling Pin: Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +11 to hit. reach 5ft. range 20/60 ft, one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage

Laughing Gas (Recharge 5-6): Each creature within 20 foot radius must succeed on a DC18 CON Saving Throw or be incapacitated by laughter for 1 minute.
A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of it's turns, ending the effect with a success.

Teleport: Pogo magically teleports, along with any equipment he is wearing or carrying, up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space he can see.

Legendary actions:
Pogo can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Pogo regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn

At Will: Pogo can cast one of his At Will spells.
Teleport (Costs 2 Actions) Pogo can use his Teleport ability
Induced Laughter (Costs 3 Actions) Pogo can use his Laughing Gas ability and activate his Hideous Laughter




any feedback would be greatly appreciated. :)

I like the look of this boss, but may I inquire as to which campaign this is, and if my grubby hands could take a peek at it? :D

[R.Shackleford]

Hey guys,

I was chasing some feedback on a high level boss that my players will be facing soon.
the player party is 4 lvl 15's. Trickster Domain Cleric, a Ranger / Rouge. Bear Barbarian and an evocation wizard.


They will be fighting him with around 8 of his underling warlocks (who are lvl 2) in a room with around 20 helpless npcs that will be fodder for the boss. The warlocks will have "gas masks" preventing them from being affected by the bosses Laughing Gas ability. A quick witted PC will be able to work out what they are and utilize them in the fight to nullify Laughing Gas.

Pogo, The Clown King
Large Fiend (Demon), chaotic evil
Armor class 18 (Natural armor)
HP 240
Speed 40ft., fly 40ft., Hover

Stats:
STR: 10 | DEX: 22 | CON: 16 | INT: 18 | WIS: 16 | CHA: 28

Saving throws: Dex +11 | Con +8 | Cha +14
Damage Resistances: cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical weapons
Damage Immunities: poison
Condition Immunities: poisoned
senses: truesight 120ft., passive perception 18
Languages Abyssal, Common
Challenge 20 (24,500 EXP)

Magic Resistance: Pogo has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects
Legendary Resistance (3/day) If Pogo fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead
Spellcasting: Pogo is a 13th-Level spellcaster. It's spell casting ability is Charisma (Spell save DC:18, + 12 to hit with spell attacks), and has the following spells prepared.

At Will: Vicious Mockery, Dissonant Whispers, Charm Person, Shield, Acid Splash
4 per day: Crown of Madness, Enthrall, Tasha's Hideous Laughter
3 per day: Fear, Hypnotic Pattern, Vampiric Touch
2 per day: Evard's Black Tentacles, Phantasmal Killer, Dominate Person
1 per day: Harm, Mass Suggestion, Otto's Irresistible Dance

Attentiveness: Pogo ignores the rules of concentration for all spells he is able to cast

Hideous Laughter: At the start of Pogo's turn, any creature within 20 foot radius of him that is affected by Laughing Gas takes 10 (3d6) necrotic damage.
Pogo regains 15 hp for every creature affected.

Actions:

Multiattack: Can make 2 melee/ranged attacks or cast 2 spells.

Juggling Pin: Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +11 to hit. reach 5ft. range 20/60 ft, one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage

Laughing Gas (Recharge 5-6): Each creature within 20 foot radius must succeed on a DC18 CON Saving Throw or be incapacitated by laughter for 1 minute.
A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of it's turns, ending the effect with a success.

Teleport: Pogo magically teleports, along with any equipment he is wearing or carrying, up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space he can see.

Legendary actions:
Pogo can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Pogo regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn

At Will: Pogo can cast one of his At Will spells.
Teleport (Costs 2 Actions) Pogo can use his Teleport ability
Induced Laughter (Costs 3 Actions) Pogo can use his Laughing Gas ability and activate his Hideous Laughter




any feedback would be greatly appreciated. :)

This really comes down to a battle of attrition like any other battle. There doesn't really seem to be anything to make it dynamic.

Give the NPCs gas masks or they die the first round. Hide some warlocks among them. Or make the NPCs all air Genasi ... ;) no gas masks needed.

Give some hints that Pogo loves a good joke. As a bonus action a player can tell a joke and if they make you laugh or chuckle, Pogo looses his legendary actions until the start of his next turn (this doesn't stack). This is purely role play and no rolls.

[Eliecc]

I like the look of this boss, but may I inquire as to which campaign this is, and if my grubby hands could take a peek at it? :D

I'm glad you like it. It's a homebrew that I've been pretty much making up as we go along. The party encountered a a circus and people in the city soon started to disappear.
I had a few ideas about what would happen, and I got talking to a friend about it. We had the funny thought of a demon clown who ate children's souls. That's how Pogo was born.

I'm happy to share more if you.

[Eliecc]

This really comes down to a battle of attrition like any other battle. There doesn't really seem to be anything to make it dynamic.

Give the NPCs gas masks or they die the first round. Hide some warlocks among them. Or make the NPCs all air Genasi ... ;) no gas masks needed.

Give some hints that Pogo loves a good joke. As a bonus action a player can tell a joke and if they make you laugh or chuckle, Pogo looses his legendary actions until the start of his next turn (this doesn't stack). This is purely role play and no rolls.

Those are some interesting ideas, I might just use that :D

[Eliecc]

I have just finished with his lair.

but I can't post pictures yet ....

[Eliecc]

5 more posts should do it ...

[Eliecc]

4 more :sigh:

[Eliecc]

stupid forums rule :confused:

[Eliecc]

2 more .....

[Eliecc]

last one before picture ..... sorry about the spam.

[Eliecc]

Alright ... Pogo's Lair:

http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac249/eliecc/Pogos%20Lair%20fourm%20edit.jpg

[unwise]

The encounter looks cool, I just have two gripes.

1) 28 CHA is pretty nuts, it means he is more forceful than Asmodeus most likely. You seem to have built him using normal PC math for something, but his spell DC and To-Hit seem low for somebody with 28CHA to me, I might have the math wrong though. That being said, they still seem really high, I doubt anybody will be resisting his spells. That might feel a bit frustrating to PCs.

2) The no-concentration thing is cool for him maintaining multiple spells, but not cool for PCs slapping him to break concentration. PCs love breaking concentration on enemy casters, some people even have feats for that. For legendary guys, what I do is allow them to spend legendary resistance for concentration tests. I also make it so that damage alone never forces a test. You have to knock them prone, knock them back, grapple them, something, anything else to force the concentration test. This makes it more interesting, as you have to chose to do that, rather than it just being a side effect of damage you were going to do anyway.

[RumoCrytuf]

I'm glad you like it. It's a homebrew that I've been pretty much making up as we go along. The party encountered a circus and people in the city soon started to disappear.
I had a few ideas about what would happen, and I got talking to a friend about it. We had the funny thought of a demon clown who ate children's souls. That's how Pogo was born.

I'm happy to share more if you.

Oh yes please! I would love to incorporate this into my campaign for my players! Also, what website/tool did you use to build Pogo's lair?

[Linker2k]

If you are putting those 20 NPCs something cool would be for the clonw to use them as magic feed. (You can add a recharge 4-6) each time the clown feeds from a NPC he restores one spell of a certain level or restores hp (or both) or can cast resurrect one of his minions.

This will add the flavour to the fight that each round the clown lives more casulaties are added, the NPCs will have only 1hp, (you will tell the players the NPCs look tired and weak) and at one point they will have to make the moral choice of killing NPCs not to let the clonw regenerate.

[Bubzors]

I love this idea of a demon clown in a warped carnival. I think the boss itself is cool, though a bit overpowered. Thoughts in no particular order:

- How are the PC'S supposed to save the helpless npcs? It seems like just one laughing gas would kill all of them
- What is the point of the spinning tunnels? If they aren't going to be attacked or trigger a trap or something else bad it just falls flat. The players will just sit there until they get that dc twice. I feel it should just be fluffed in as a description or evolve into a larger encounter. It's not really fun just rolling for 2 minutes until you hit the dc for no reason
- how are you going to have them navigate the maze? Visually describe it or give them the map? I find mazes are hard in d&d, either they don't quite understand what you are describing or just one person solves the maze leaving out the rest of the party.
- I think it would be cool to incorporate some kind of perception check or disadvantage on attack in the mirror maze. It's hard to keep track of which enemies are real and which are reflections.
- I would play up the general creepiness of the lair and maybe have weird carnival music playing softly in the background to enforce that creepy vibe.

Overall I love the idea man. Keep it up

[Eliecc]

The encounter looks cool, I just have two gripes.

1) 28 CHA is pretty nuts, it means he is more forceful than Asmodeus most likely. You seem to have built him using normal PC math for something, but his spell DC and To-Hit seem low for somebody with 28CHA to me, I might have the math wrong though. That being said, they still seem really high, I doubt anybody will be resisting his spells. That might feel a bit frustrating to PCs.

2) The no-concentration thing is cool for him maintaining multiple spells, but not cool for PCs slapping him to break concentration. PCs love breaking concentration on enemy casters, some people even have feats for that. For legendary guys, what I do is allow them to spend legendary resistance for concentration tests. I also make it so that damage alone never forces a test. You have to knock them prone, knock them back, grapple them, something, anything else to force the concentration test. This makes it more interesting, as you have to chose to do that, rather than it just being a side effect of damage you were going to do anyway.

1) I set his Charisma that high purely for the skill checks, after all he is a clown who loves tells jokes and talking people into to doing things they might not always want to do. While have high stats for something funny out of combat doesn't relate to combat too well, if i followed the stats Pogo would end up with a DC of 22 and a to hit of 14. I deemed this a little too high for his intended challenge, but I still wanted him to have that monster persuasion/deception check. Instead I intentionally lowered the values. His DC is now 2 below a Lich and his to hit is equal.

2) When I was making the Attentiveness ability for him I honestly forgot about this side of it. I think you have some great ideas there that I might just put to use on Pogo. While he can maintain as many spells as he wants, if he is knocked prone, knocked back or grappled it will force a concentration check, if he fails he loses all spells that have the concentration rule applied to them.

[Eliecc]

Oh yes please! I would love to incorporate this into my campaign for my players! Also, what website/tool did you use to build Pogo's lair?

MS Paint ...

and this website to make the maze. Maze Website (http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/makemaze/index.htm)

That's about it. lol

[Eliecc]

If you are putting those 20 NPCs something cool would be for the clonw to use them as magic feed. (You can add a recharge 4-6) each time the clown feeds from a NPC he restores one spell of a certain level or restores hp (or both) or can cast resurrect one of his minions.

This will add the flavour to the fight that each round the clown lives more casulaties are added, the NPCs will have only 1hp, (you will tell the players the NPCs look tired and weak) and at one point they will have to make the moral choice of killing NPCs not to let the clonw regenerate.

This was the idea. During the fight Pogo will teleport to a group of NPCs (they are in groups of 5 around the room) and using his Laughing Gas / Hideous Laughter. Not only will this kill the NPC's but it will be massive health regeneration for Pogo. Each group of NPCs will be 75 hp just sitting there for him to om nom nom on when he pleases. (As long as Laughing Gas is recharged)

The NPC's will have slightly more hp though, I have them at the moment sitting on 8 hp. So if Pogo doesn't deal too much damage with Hideous Laughter on the first round he may get a second helping from them.

None of my players are "good" aligned most are neutral ... one is evil. So the moral dilemma of killing the NPC's to stop Pogo regenerating so much HP might night be as important as it would be for good characters. I am sure that it will still be a tough choice though once they see him do it at least once.

[Eliecc]

I love this idea of a demon clown in a warped carnival. I think the boss itself is cool, though a bit overpowered. Thoughts in no particular order:

- How are the PC'S supposed to save the helpless npcs? It seems like just one laughing gas would kill all of them
- What is the point of the spinning tunnels? If they aren't going to be attacked or trigger a trap or something else bad it just falls flat. The players will just sit there until they get that dc twice. I feel it should just be fluffed in as a description or evolve into a larger encounter. It's not really fun just rolling for 2 minutes until you hit the dc for no reason
- how are you going to have them navigate the maze? Visually describe it or give them the map? I find mazes are hard in d&d, either they don't quite understand what you are describing or just one person solves the maze leaving out the rest of the party.
- I think it would be cool to incorporate some kind of perception check or disadvantage on attack in the mirror maze. It's hard to keep track of which enemies are real and which are reflections.
- I would play up the general creepiness of the lair and maybe have weird carnival music playing softly in the background to enforce that creepy vibe.

Overall I love the idea man. Keep it up

Like I said in the post above, the NPC's aren't there to be "saved". Though if they PC's do well enough the might just save some. The point is that they are there to 1) be food for Pogo and 2) that decision to kill NPC's to stop Pogo.

I did forget to change this in the picture I posted, I was going to lower the DC to 15 and add 1d4 falling damage when they fail.

We use Roll20, so they will have the maze to look at, however it will be slowly revealed as they walk through it. They will never see the whole maze at any given time. The trap rooms that spin the maze and force a perception check (which they have disadvantage on thanks to the lair effects) I will hide everything but the room they are in, and turn the map to face a different direction. This should prove somewhat of a challenge for them, as the traps will reset when the leave the room. (the exception being the monsters that spawn in the middle)

I do like your idea, however I can think of one thing better. Everything in the maze that wants to make an attack has to follow the rules of the spell Mirror Image. So, when you are targeted with an attack, roll a 1d20 to determine if the attack hits you or a duplicate. They will have 4 duplicates to begin with.
Four duplicates they will have to roll a 5 or lower to hit the actual target, three duplicates have to roll a 6 or lower, two an 8 or lower, one an 11 or lower.
Each attack that hits a duplicate cracks a mirror, reducing the duplicates for all creatures in the room by 1.

Weird/creepy carnival music ... I will have to try and find some.