Mechanics Bosses

[MintyThe1st]

just wondering what people think of the concept, a boss that doesn't actually have HP, but a certain condidtion that needs to be met in order to defeat it.

i was thinking of making a boss based on this card:
http://i.tcgplayer.com/39421_200w.jpg
it would be somthing like CR 12, take 4 rounds of atleast 40 damage to kill, reflects all damage dealt to it back at the source, and has 2 claw attacks at +18 (2d6+6Vile) and a bite at +13 (2d8+9Vile).

thoughts?

[icefractal]

The thing is that in this case, the victory condition is still dealing damage, just under certain limitations (has to be at least 40 in a single round, and more than that is wasted), that aren't obvious. So unless you straight-up tell the players it has this mechanic that works this way, or come up with a method to clearly indicate it via description, then from the players' POV it's just a monster with an unusually large amount of health.

Also, I think the mechanics would better translate a little different if you wanted to match the way it plays in MtG, but I don't know if that's the point.

[MintyThe1st]

if i translated the ability 1-1 it would literaly read "kill whatever damages it" which is not at all what i want to do.

i plan to have obvious cues for it being damaged enough.

[DrMotives]

The card art looks more like a half-dragon grell dracolich. Not saying you should necessarily stat it like that, but visually, it has that weird grell-looking face.

[Admiral Squish]

Well, technically, when attacked, the attacker must sacrifice permanents, not necessarily the ones that attacked it.
If you want to be loyal to the card, it would be more like 'whenever you attack it, you lose a magic item'.
But that would put it in the same 'hateful DM' toolbox as rust monsters and the like.

[prufock]

I think conditional boss mechanics are ok as long as they don't break the basic rules assumptions of the players. Hydras, trolls, and other creatures already have immunities to various things. Another example off the top of my head would be a boss with an amulet that glows whenever the wearer takes damage, healing him back up - the condition there being to destroy or remove the amulet first.

[Karl Aegis]

What is the errata on that card? There has to be errata on that card.