Designing Bosses and End-Game Threats

[DragonBaneDM]

Hey guys,

So one thing that I've been doing over the hiatuses that the adult-world has been imposing into my group's play-time is trying to flesh out and even stat a lot of my recurring villains.

However, one thing that I lack experience in is 5E end-game. My party is climbing the ranks and is currently level 5, but we for the most part agree that we're in it for the long haul, and I'm trying my best to prepare for that.

So I've been reading optimization guides, finding online tools like CR calculators and tweaking fights via Kobold Fight Club and Angry DM's Guide (Paragon Monsters rule), but one thing that I'm lacking understanding on is monster design, especially when it comes to end-game bosses like Tiamat (who as I understand is more of a 'prevent this boss from being summoned' than 'hey kill this god with your 5 tweaked assassidans' type encounter).

The bosses I'm specifically looking to build are Belashyrra, the Lord of Eyes, from Eberron as well as an archangel of the Traveler called Terminus (my own villain, he's starting as a Radiant Idol and moving into the Host's good graces from there). I've got a 4E base and 3.5 Daelkyr stats to work with, but I'm more interested in sharing stories of strong monster design, cool Legendary Actions, and interesting boss mechanics you guys have used.

To start: I'm a big believer in Paragon Monsters, I was very attached to Angry DM's 4E works and I really like the idea of one monster inside another. Also, I've been steering away from Legendary Actions in favor of a list of Instinctive Actions to try and keep track of less. Do Legendary/Lair actions work well for you guys as boss monsters?

I also use MMORPG tactics a lot in my fight. Massive swarms of faeries get a lot easier to fight when you maneuver them close to exploding spores that kill dozens at a time, and using skills as a bonus action to unravel the secrets held within a book-golem causes them to crumble.

[Ninja_Prawn]

one thing that I'm lacking understanding on is monster design

I'm hardly an expert, but the following points come to mind as being important:

Mobility. If the party can pin a monster in place, it's a lot less scary.
Action Economy. Related to the above, but it bears repeating: if the monster can't hack it in the action economy, it will not be a challenge.
Progress Markers. The beauty of paragon monsters is that they change as the battle goes on, which means the players know they are making progress. If you're not using that system, you should come up with a way to replicate this effect.
Variety. If the monster does the same thing every turn, it will quickly get boring. Recharge abilities only go so far; a high-level boss should have a range of options. Especially if it isn't a spellcaster. This goes for mobs as well: if you attack your party with a pack of gnolls, have some hang back and shoot bows while the others close in. Have one (or two, with the Help action) grapple the tank and drag them out of the way so that the others can get at the squishies.
Rewards for Creative Play. Like defeating the book golem by reading it. Allow characters to make knowledge checks to work out weak points. For example, if a creature is fast but has a poor strength save, maybe one of the characters remembers reading a story where a legendary hero beat one by wrestling it to the ground.

[MrFahrenheit]

Keep bounded accuracy in mind. A party of level 20 characters can probably take out a solo CR 24, regardless of lair actions, in a couple turns, barring the boss going first and taking out a couple party members off the bat.

On the flip side, you can throw in a dozen CR 5 lackeys with out greatly increasing the challenge level...but still giving the boss room to breathe. And given bounded accuracy, those CR 5s can't simply be ignored (giant crocodiles come to mind).

[Gastronomie]

Concentrating on multiple spells at once, and being able to activate multiple non-Cantrip spells in the same turn. Solves the Action Economy problem.

If you want a really badass Boss Monster meant for epic levels, give it Innate Spellcasting, with spells like Earthquake, Firestorm, Reverse Gravity, Tsunami, Sunburst, Prismatic Spray, Time Stop, Prismatic Wall... the list goes on (1/day each, but perhaps with some action that allows it to regain the "slots"). Something like:

Actions
Multiaction. The Boss Monster casts 1 spell of Level 5 or lower, and either makes 2 *whatever* attacks or casts 1 spell of Level 5 or lower.
Greater Multiaction (Recharge 5-6). The Boss Monster casts 1 spell, and either makes 2 *whatever* attacks or casts 1 spell of Level 5 or lower.

And some reaction like:
Badass Reaction (1/Day). When the Boss Monster's HP cut *whatever*, as an reaction, it casts 1 spell.

A boss monster with a "Dark Entity"-ish feel could perhaps be able to concentrate on up to 3 "Darkness" spells at a time, with an ability that allows it to substitute an attack with a casting of "Darkness". And stuff like that.

[NewDM]

One thing to keep in mind is that at high levels a decent spell can take out a BBEG instantly. Its why the developers patched the game with Legendary Actions in the first place. If you are like me and don't like Legendary/Lair actions there are many things you can do:

When a condition is applied, have it instead cause a different condition or effect. For instance if the BBEG has Banishment cast on them, have them split and be half between the two planes of existence, so they take half damage but only deals half damage. They get advantage on saves but the players also have advantage against the BBEGs saving throws.

Another thing is a lesser condition. When the BBEG gets 'paralyzed' it instead loses its bonus action and halfs its movement. Mortal spells just aren't as strong against it. When its blinded, it gets blurry vision and makes a saving throw to see if it has disadvantage on attacks and creatures don't have advantage on attacks against it. You can have multiple sources of a condition stack to create the original condition. If both the Wizard and Cleric paralyze the BBEG with Hold Person and Hold Monster then it is 'paralyzed'.

A different tact is to make a negative condition or lots of damage in a single round cause some negative side effect for the players. For instance while 'paralyzed' the BBEG could emit noxious fumes that deal 2d10 damage for anyone entering or starting their turn within 30 feet. Proning the boss could allow it to use its special 'spinning on its back' attack that lets it make 4 attacks against creatures in range. Or maybe it teleports 30 feet when knocked prone as a reaction.

Lots of different ways to make it survivable and even challenging for the players.

[Dr. Cliché]

If you are like me and don't like Legendary/Lair actions there are many things you can do:

If you don't mind me asking, what don't you like about legendary/lair actions?

[NewDM]

If you don't mind me asking, what don't you like about legendary/lair actions?

I don't like that the players can't achieve the same thing. Even with time stop the Wizard is moving or buffing themselves and that's it. Haste doesn't even come close. So to me it comes off as cheating, or cheap shots. Same with Legendary Saving throws which are akin to the DM saying 'nope this random creature is immune to your class features'.

I'm the kind of player that likes to match wits with my players. I'm a 'war as sport' or 'fun as obstacle course'. Which both require a level playing field where everyone plays by the same rules. If the DM can just say "nope, you didn't" 3 times it grates on people like me. If you don't understand those terms check out Gaming for Fun (part 1 and 2) (http://angrydm.com/2014/01/gaming-for-fun-part-1-eight-kinds-of-fun/). both parts of the article are about a scientific study on what people find fun.

[Segev]

Maybe the "legendary" actions are meant to be more individual than they seem, but are generic for the monsters in the MM simply because those are the "only" example of the monster that a given party in a given game are likely to encounter. But if your game has Athranus the Red Dragon and Maxalin the Red Dragon and Grath the Red Dragon as three distinct and powerful bosses, perhaps they should have 3 different sets of "legendary actions."


Taking this a step further, in response to the "I hate legendary actions" reasoning that it's a cheap shot because the PCs can't replicate it (a point to which I am highly sympathetic, as I share the "anything NPCs can do, PCs should be able to theoretically aspire to" school of thought), maybe higher-level PCs should be able to undertake quests, or receive as boons, or develop with some sort of effort, their own "legendary actions."



That said, this probably isn't quite fair, either. Legendary actions exist primarily to enable boss-type monsters to make up for action deficit without having to have minions to pair up with the party. It's kind-of the reverse of the problem with PCs having minions of their own that some of 5e's rules attempt to rectify (to varying degrees of success). The most notorious is the Ranger Beastmaster's pet, which consumes the Ranger's action to make it attack.

So, in a sense, a PC who has minions of any sort has "legendary actions" by virtue of their actions.



The reason the asymmetry is there is because it's designed for asymmetrical fights, where the PCs have action deficit working in their favor. And...to be fair...most legendary abilities aren't actually new capabilities. They're just the monster's ability to do a lesser version of one of his normal actions, or take one of his normal actions, out of turn order. And if I remember correctly, the MOST it can do is give him a number of legendary actions equal to the number of PCs. In most circumstances, they seem to have 3 legendary actions per round, and thus get to act on 3 PC turns, plus their own. Which means a 4-man party vs. a 3-legendary-action boss monster is effectively facing the same number of actions/turn as the party has.

[Dr. Cliché]

I don't like that the players can't achieve the same thing. Even with time stop the Wizard is moving or buffing themselves and that's it. Haste doesn't even come close. So to me it comes off as cheating, or cheap shots. Same with Legendary Saving throws which are akin to the DM saying 'nope this random creature is immune to your class features'.

Ah, I see.

And yeah, Legendary Saving Throws in particular feel like legalising DM fiat.



I'm the kind of player that likes to match wits with my players. I'm a 'war as sport' or 'fun as obstacle course'. Which both require a level playing field where everyone plays by the same rules. If the DM can just say "nope, you didn't" 3 times it grates on people like me. If you don't understand those terms check out Gaming for Fun (part 1 and 2) (http://angrydm.com/2014/01/gaming-for-fun-part-1-eight-kinds-of-fun/). both parts of the article are about a scientific study on what people find fun.

Nah, I agree with you.

To be honest, I haven't used a monster with Legendary Actions yet and hadn't realised how absurd they are. When I glanced at them, I thought monsters got 3 legendary actions per encounter. Getting up to 3 extra actions per turn seems more than a little silly.

I also don't like that monsters are given legendary status apparently at random. A CR13 Beholder is Legendary, but a CR20 Pit Fiend isn't? I'd rather just have a Legendary template, and decide for myself what counts as a 'Legendary Encounter'.

[NewDM]

Ah, I see.

And yeah, Legendary Saving Throws in particular feel like legalising DM fiat.



Nah, I agree with you.

To be honest, I haven't used a monster with Legendary Actions yet and hadn't realised how absurd they are. When I glanced at them, I thought monsters got 3 legendary actions per encounter. Getting up to 3 extra actions per turn seems more than a little silly.

I also don't like that monsters are given legendary status apparently at random. A CR13 Beholder is Legendary, but a CR20 Pit Fiend isn't? I'd rather just have a Legendary template, and decide for myself what counts as a 'Legendary Encounter'.

Yeah. I agree.

Here's my substitute for the Ancient Red Dragons Legendary Actions/Saves:

Replace Legendary Resistances with the following:

Legendary Hardiness
When the Ancient Red Dragon is affected by a condition, the creature that caused the condition must choose one of the following to be affected: Bite, Left Claw, Right Claw, Tail, Breath Weapon. The attack gains the condition that would normally affect the entire creature. For instance if the Ancient Red Dragon is paralyzed, then the caster can choose the Breath Weapon attack which would keep the dragon from using its breath weapon. If 3 or more of the same condition affect the dragon the entire dragon is affected.

Replace Legendary actions with the following:
Legendary Bonus Actions
As a bonus action the dragon can do one of the following: Make a Perception (Wisdom) check, Make a tail attack, or Wing attack (which cannot be repeated the following round).

Add this reaction:
Legendary Reflexes
As a reaction when attacked by a melee or ranged attack the dragon can make an attack against a creature in range with their Bite, Claw, Tail, or Wing attack.

Now their actions are all available to players too. Fighters can use their reaction to attack an enemy under certain conditions, Rogues get a bonus action to do their special features, and the Legendary Hardiness makes up for fighting 4-5 characters.

[Democratus]

I don't like that the players can't achieve the same thing. Even with time stop the Wizard is moving or buffing themselves and that's it. Haste doesn't even come close. So to me it comes off as cheating, or cheap shots. Same with Legendary Saving throws which are akin to the DM saying 'nope this random creature is immune to your class features'.

This is hard to reconcile with your earlier post where you give examples like:


Another thing is a lesser condition. When the BBEG gets 'paralyzed' it instead loses its bonus action and halfs its movement. Mortal spells just aren't as strong against it.

Which explicitly breaks the rules in favor of the monster.

How is saying "your mortal spells don't work" any less DM fiat? That's not matching wits; it's changing the rules for monsters.

[Renvir]

I don't hate legendary actions. I get that they can feel cheap but one great die roll at the beginning of the fight could effectively end the encounter right away, potentially ruining the whole experience for the players and the GM.

I had my players fight a re-skinned beholder (didn't look like a beholder, but largely fought like one minus the floaty bit) that was constantly interrupting turn order to throw out different effects at the characters. It was challenging but they won and told me afterward that more fights like that would be good. One thing I would do is change legendary resistance to give the creature disadvantage on its next action just to make the players feel like they accomplished something.

Also, the paragon monsters are really fun and a great way to replace legendary actions while still maintaining the overall difficulty of the monster you want the players to fight.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I had my players fight a re-skinned beholder (didn't look like a beholder, but largely fought like one minus the floaty bit) that was constantly interrupting turn order to throw out different effects at the characters. It was challenging but they won and told me afterward that more fights like that would be good.

To be fair, the beholder's design is perfect. I wish I could use one sometime, but I only do PbP, and Legendary Actions don't work at all in PbP. :smallfrown:

[Regitnui]

To be fair, the beholder's design is perfect. I wish I could use one sometime, but I only do PbP, and Legendary Actions don't work at all in PbP. :smallfrown:

I found an encounter with a beholder in one of the old 3.5 Eberron books that I'm dying to run in 5e. I can just picture the party trying to get to this beholder floating over a 5ft wide bridge, under which is a lake of lava...:smallbiggrin:

[DragonBaneDM]

This is hard to reconcile with your earlier post where you give examples like:



Which explicitly breaks the rules in favor of the monster.

How is saying "your mortal spells don't work" any less DM fiat? That's not matching wits; it's changing the rules for monsters.

I was gonna point this out. However, I do agree with not allowing a single powerful spell or the action economy to overwhelm a monster.

So I like Legendary Action type effects. I really do think that you need to break the rules in order to make a solo monster work effectively, and that's been true for every edition of DND. Wizards has tried to fix that glitch with Legendary Actions. So I'd probably end up making you both unhappy: giving it resistance against late game spells *and* allowing legendary/instinctive actions.

I still dig the idea of giving lessened effects over something like Banish just straight up not working, though. Probably ending one stage of a Paragon Monster?

[pwykersotz]

I was gonna point this out. However, I do agree with not allowing a single powerful spell or the action economy to overwhelm a monster.

So I like Legendary Action type effects. I really do think that you need to break the rules in order to make a solo monster work effectively, and that's been true for every edition of DND. Wizards has tried to fix that glitch with Legendary Actions. So I'd probably end up making you both unhappy: giving it resistance against late game spells *and* allowing legendary/instinctive actions.

I still dig the idea of giving lessened effects over something like Banish just straight up not working, though. Probably ending one stage of a Paragon Monster?

Having recently become a massive fan of Dungeon World, I like adding narrative options. The "difficult choice" is a great solution here. "You can banish the villain, but you will be banished along with him! What do you do?"

It doesn't work in all cases, and obviously you want to let the players know in advance they're playing this type of game, but it can be a fun way to break outside the box a little.

[Regitnui]

Well, beyond legendary resistance and DM fiat, would making the duration of Save or Bad Things Happen To You spells shorter on BBEGs help?

[NewDM]

This is hard to reconcile with your earlier post where you give examples like:



Which explicitly breaks the rules in favor of the monster.

How is saying "your mortal spells don't work" any less DM fiat? That's not matching wits; it's changing the rules for monsters.

Not any more than race, class, spell, and feat abilities: Dwarven Resilience (half damage from poison), Fey ancestry (no sleep), Halfling Nimblness (breaks the rule of moving through creatures spaces), lucky (reroll 1's on saves, attacks, or ability checks), naturally stealthy (breaks hiding rules), Stout Resilience (see Dwarven Resilience), Variant Human feat (breaks feat progression rule), Draconic Ancestry (DR), Gnome Cunning (advantage on most magic saves), Relentless Endurance (breaks 0 hp rule), Hellish Resistance, Rage (strength saves), Mindless Rage (immune to charm or frightened), Totem Bear (resistant to all damage), Natures Ward (can't be charmed, frightened, immune to poison and disease), Indomitable, Stillness of Mind, Purity of Body, Diamond Soul, Aura of Protection, Aura of Courage, Aura of Devotion, Aura of Warding, Undying Sentinel, Steel Will, Evasion (a lesser effect on a save for certain things), Stroke of Luck, Elemental Affinity, Misty Escape, Beguiling Defenses, Dark One's Own Luck, Fiendish Resilience, Thought Shield, Blade Song (improved saves), Inured to Undeath, Transmuters Stone (prof. in Con saves), Panacea (remove negative status effect 1x day).

I think what I suggested is in line with something like that.


Well, beyond legendary resistance and DM fiat, would making the duration of Save or Bad Things Happen To You spells shorter on BBEGs help?

Not really, a single round is all it takes to get a second alpha strike or for everyone to unload their novas for free crits.

[Drackolus]

If you don't give an enemy things the players can't get, what do you throw at a party levels 15+? Groups of npc's with class levels every single encounter or swarms? I suppose you could do something like a paladin with the fighter's 4 multiattack... But the players can't get that either!

[smcmike]

Yeah, I like some of NewDMs suggestions a lot, but they actually have very little to do with limiting the monsters to things the PCs can get. I think that's a poor design goal for D&D. But partial failures on save or suck spells is a fun replacement for just shrugging them off!

[Segev]

If you don't give an enemy things the players can't get, what do you throw at a party levels 15+? Groups of npc's with class levels every single encounter or swarms? I suppose you could do something like a paladin with the fighter's 4 multiattack... But the players can't get that either!

Theoretically, PCs can get anything a monster has, except Legendary and Lair actions, by turning into said monster (via polymorph or the like).

[Regitnui]

Theoretically, PCs can get anything a monster has, except Legendary and Lair actions, by turning into said monster (via polymorph or the like).

Bam. Problem solved. Now sit back down so the beholder can start throwing petrification rays at the caster, slow rays at the martials, and disintegrate rays at the smart aleck who thinks the game should be retooled from the bottom up because they don't like the fact that players can OHKO monsters.

[Renvir]

To be fair, the beholder's design is perfect. I wish I could use one sometime, but I only do PbP, and Legendary Actions don't work at all in PbP. :smallfrown:

I haven't been able to try out any other creatures with Legendary stuff the MM so I can't say if maybe the Beholder is just an exception to the rule.

I did make a custom Construct with Legendary actions and it worked out all right. It had a magical magnetism and would attempt to pull magical items toward it. Anyone that failed the STR check was dragged closer if they didn't let go. If you got too close you'd get stuck to it. The wizard wasn't a fan but everyone else seemed to think it was fun. That could be because it was custom and unlike anything they'd ever experienced and not necessarily because it was a creature with legendary actions though. I'll have to try more out and see if my view changes.

[NewDM]

An above post just inspired me. Here's a freebee Iron golem BBEG that does not have Legendary stuff:

Iron Golem
Large construct, unaligned
Armor Class 20 (natural armor)
Hit Points 210 (20d10 + 100)
Speed 30ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
24 (+7) 9 (- 1) 20 (+5) 3 (- 4) 11 (+0) 1 (- 5)

Damage Immunities fire, poison, psychic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non-magical weapons that aren't adamantine
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120ft., passive Perception 10
Languages understands the languages of its creator but can't speak
Challenge 16 (15,000 XP)

Fire Absorption. Whenever the golem is subjected to fire damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the fire damage dealt.

Immutable Form. The golem is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.

Magic Resistance. The golem has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. The golem's weapon attacks are magical.

ACTIONS
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack:+13 to hit, reach 5 ft ., one target.
Hit: 20 (3d8 + 7) bludgeoning damage and pushes the target 30 feet and knocks it prone.

Sword. Melee Weapon Attack:+13 to hit, reach 10 ft., all creatures within 10 feet. Hit: 23 (3d10 + 7) slashing damage, and the target must make a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be pushed back 20 feet and knocked prone.

Poison Breath (Recharge 6). The golem exhales poisonous gas in a 15-foot cone, or it spews a ball of it up to 60 feet away that bursts into a 10 foot radius sphere. Each creature in that area must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw, taking 45 (l0d8) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

REACTIONS
Leakage. When the golem's hit points first fall below 168, 126, 84, and 42 Poison Breath recharges and is immediately used as a reaction, except that it fills an area 30 feet around the golem.

Magical Ablation. When a spell or other effect causes the golem to gain a negative condition, instead a part of its iron shell bursts off as a reaction. Its AC is reduced by 2 points as well as taking a penalty of -2 to the damage it deals. This can happen 3 times before the golem is fully affected by conditions as normal (barring immunities).

Reactive Attack. Whenever the golem is hit it makes a slam attack against the attacker as a reaction.

[Chaosvii7]

Personally, I design just about every end of story boss, and while I can't call myself a foremost expert, nor can I say that my creations are perfect (or even good), I think I've gotten the routine down at this point.

For starters, I use the DMG guidelines for making monsters when I take everything into consideration. I make the monster using the APL of the group (usually +1 or 2 to the CR because I like to give them a challenge). From there I identify the character they'll be fighting and try to make it as unique of a fight as possible.

As previously stated in this thread, mobility and action economy are without a doubt the two biggest focuses of elite monster design. A boss monster should be stoppable, but not easily so, and unfortunately a solo boss fight isn't really possible in this edition, which is where legendary and lair actions come in to leverage the playing field.

I also take a very gamist approach to my monster design, in that I make mine feel like dungeon or raid bosses from video games without outright being so. They have special mechanics or attacks that require attention and mechanical finesse to be able to avoid, mitigate, or deal with.

As an example, I'll give you a link to a monster I just recently designed and explain the thought process behind it (and the fight he'll likely be involved in).

http://www.naturalcrit.com/homebrew/share/rJ8P3zlb

The first starting point in monster design is (unsurprisingly) to compare it to an already statted creature. No doubt it'll either be one of the various races of D&D, if not based upon a monster found in the Monster Manual. If not, then you'll have to work from the ground up to create an entirely new entity, which is fine, but if you have a skeleton from another monster your work will immediately become easier.

I find that outright spellcasters are hard to make sufficiently strong if they don't have multiple opportunities to cast spells, so I either give them a spellcasting outlet or the ability to use legendary actions to cast spells, sometimes both if I feel like the spellcasting should be a big draw to the character. In the case of this fight I decided that having my monster cast spells would bog down the fight, so I just settled for a monster with high damage at the cost of no crowd control effects and balanced defenses.

The fight with Lief will likely feature a mechanic that will give him one of a small selection of random demons or devils once per round to help him out. I find that my players prefer a fight with a singular focus that doesn't bog them down with minions, but I try to throw at least two monsters at them per encounter so that they have enough of a target-rich variety that they can't (or don't) dogpile a monster into submission (especially when I work hard to design one or both of them). I expect one fiend a round to be the most manageable solution to this, and so far they don't mind the occasional additional spawn.

Lief does a lot of damage for what he's worth, but it requires he sets it up by making enough vortices to constantly keep tethering and triangulating. The idea is that in the first round he'll teleport, make a vortex of flame where he was standing, connect to it via tether, drag it through some of the party on the next round, and then when he either gets his second vortex or a demon appears he'll connect them together and roast them in a pillar of fire. I expect them to get the idea when the first tether connects, and made sure that there's a mechanic to mitigate the triangle attack if they so choose. Between the minion spawning, his unique vortex stacking mechanics, his varied mobility, and his high damage benchmark, I hope he poses a significant threat while making the party think on their toes or be burnt to a crisp.

I have other monsters I've made as well, if you'd like me to share them with you (especially ones they've already fought and/or killed). I can give you context on all of the fights and their design, but I just make sure that each monster has a unique draw to them that makes the fight require a different strategy from a tank-and-spank or a DPS fest while also having a very strong synergy with it's own abilities.

[NewDM]

Personally, I design just about every end of story boss, and while I can't call myself a foremost expert, nor can I say that my creations are perfect (or even good), I think I've gotten the routine down at this point.

For starters, I use the DMG guidelines for making monsters when I take everything into consideration. I make the monster using the APL of the group (usually +1 or 2 to the CR because I like to give them a challenge). From there I identify the character they'll be fighting and try to make it as unique of a fight as possible.

As previously stated in this thread, mobility and action economy are without a doubt the two biggest focuses of elite monster design. A boss monster should be stoppable, but not easily so, and unfortunately a solo boss fight isn't really possible in this edition, which is where legendary and lair actions come in to leverage the playing field.

I also take a very gamist approach to my monster design, in that I make mine feel like dungeon or raid bosses from video games without outright being so. They have special mechanics or attacks that require attention and mechanical finesse to be able to avoid, mitigate, or deal with.

As an example, I'll give you a link to a monster I just recently designed and explain the thought process behind it (and the fight he'll likely be involved in).

http://www.naturalcrit.com/homebrew/share/rJ8P3zlb

The first starting point in monster design is (unsurprisingly) to compare it to an already statted creature. No doubt it'll either be one of the various races of D&D, if not based upon a monster found in the Monster Manual. If not, then you'll have to work from the ground up to create an entirely new entity, which is fine, but if you have a skeleton from another monster your work will immediately become easier.

I find that outright spellcasters are hard to make sufficiently strong if they don't have multiple opportunities to cast spells, so I either give them a spellcasting outlet or the ability to use legendary actions to cast spells, sometimes both if I feel like the spellcasting should be a big draw to the character. In the case of this fight I decided that having my monster cast spells would bog down the fight, so I just settled for a monster with high damage at the cost of no crowd control effects and balanced defenses.

The fight with Lief will likely feature a mechanic that will give him one of a small selection of random demons or devils once per round to help him out. I find that my players prefer a fight with a singular focus that doesn't bog them down with minions, but I try to throw at least two monsters at them per encounter so that they have enough of a target-rich variety that they can't (or don't) dogpile a monster into submission (especially when I work hard to design one or both of them). I expect one fiend a round to be the most manageable solution to this, and so far they don't mind the occasional additional spawn.

Lief does a lot of damage for what he's worth, but it requires he sets it up by making enough vortices to constantly keep tethering and triangulating. The idea is that in the first round he'll teleport, make a vortex of flame where he was standing, connect to it via tether, drag it through some of the party on the next round, and then when he either gets his second vortex or a demon appears he'll connect them together and roast them in a pillar of fire. I expect them to get the idea when the first tether connects, and made sure that there's a mechanic to mitigate the triangle attack if they so choose. Between the minion spawning, his unique vortex stacking mechanics, his varied mobility, and his high damage benchmark, I hope he poses a significant threat while making the party think on their toes or be burnt to a crisp.

I have other monsters I've made as well, if you'd like me to share them with you (especially ones they've already fought and/or killed). I can give you context on all of the fights and their design, but I just make sure that each monster has a unique draw to them that makes the fight require a different strategy from a tank-and-spank or a DPS fest while also having a very strong synergy with it's own abilities.

Looks pretty good. The only problems I have are the Legendary resistance/actions and the Two headed. If it has two heads it should require two blindness, deafness, and unconscious effects to give him the condition. Or you can make him lose half of his damage or one of his attacks if the is unconscious and then give him disadvantage on one attack and perception checks if one head is blinded.

[Chaosvii7]

Looks pretty good. The only problems I have are the Legendary resistance/actions and the Two headed. If it has two heads it should require two blindness, deafness, and unconscious effects to give him the condition. Or you can make him lose half of his damage or one of his attacks if the is unconscious and then give him disadvantage on one attack and perception checks if one head is blinded.

I saw those ideas earlier on in the thread, I'll consider them as they sound cool. I'm always looking for ways to make my monsters a bit more lasting.