Quick NPC/BBEG building

[Shadowbane13]

Hey,
I know a lot of you do your homebrew campaigns and all that fun stuff. I'm currently running one myself and I somewhat have the gist of the BBEG defined, hes just not built. Like I have his appearance and what hes done to the world but I don't have a legit build for him. Is there any strategy or generator you guys know of that helps build high level NPCs/BBEG for games? It's mostly just me being lazy but figured it may help.

Thanks

[PhoenixPhyre]

Hey,
I know a lot of you do your homebrew campaigns and all that fun stuff. I'm currently running one myself and I somewhat have the gist of the BBEG defined, hes just not built. Like I have his appearance and what hes done to the world but I don't have a legit build for him. Is there any strategy or generator you guys know of that helps build high level NPCs/BBEG for games? It's mostly just me being lazy but figured it may help.

Thanks

I tend to take a regular stat-block from MM or Volos and modify it to fit. Only a few modifications actually change CR significantly, so it's quick and easy.

[Grear Bylls]

The Sorcerer King is the final boss

All though, I do suggest taking a look at Volos or back of MM. They have kind of class write ups. If that doesn't fit, flip through MM. Death Knight might work if that's the Idea. Or lich. Depends on what the villain is. Also, DMG has rules for adjusting or creating monsters

[MrStabby]

It depends on style of play to be honest. I, and my players, like campaigns lethal so I aim for about a 60% chance of a PC win in any final battle (my target at the start of the campaign - players actions along the way obviously adjust the odds).

What I usually do (assuming decently high level campaign) is to start off with the lair actions - yes make them a legendary bad guy. This lays down the flavour of the encounter. Next up I name the actions - just list, don't stat. These are the big things they do in combat. This builds on the lair actions and gives me a sense of where the encounter is going. Next up the passive stuff - resistances, immunities, speeds, languages etc..

Next up I work out what the defence is. Invisibility/hiding? Mobility? Toughness? Regeneration? High AC? Generally you want a mix and for a high level boss at least some mobility like misty step - either through a magic item or a spell/innate ability. You want an epic fight not a 1-round slaughter. Build some abilities that play into this - I had one set of demons I was fond of that had immunity to the last two types of damage they had sustained which tended to put a cap on the per round damage any one PC could do.

Rounding this out I add some legendary actions. I like low level spells for my characters - at will dissonant whispers, tasha's hideous laughter (remember concentration) and magic missile was one set I used. A rule of thumb I find good is to put one movement effect, one attack effect and one control effect in the mix. This also works for martial characters: say a huge leap or somersault or monk style shadowstep, an extra attack and an intimidate that might have a fear effect on those nearby.

Finally I look at balance. CR is pretty much garbage for this type of encounter so you have to use some judgement here. In this step I set stats first - what stats should be better than what other beings in the world and which ones worse? Are there any above what a humanoid PC should be able to reach. What DC do you want on spells or other saves? This should give stats and proficiency.

Now come back to the actions. At this point you should have a pretty clear idea how the bbeg will play out, where their strengths are and knowing things like DCs, legendary actions etc. you can form a view as to how powerful each action has to be to bring up to the total power level. This lets you look at how many attacks to give them, what damage die, what level of spells they can reasonably have. If you like ave a little bit of power here, then add a magic item or two so the PCs can find some cool loot.

[chando]

It depends on style of play to be honest. I, and my players, like campaigns lethal so I aim for about a 60% chance of a PC win in any final battle (my target at the start of the campaign - players actions along the way obviously adjust the odds).

What I usually do (assuming decently high level campaign) is to start off with the lair actions - yes make them a legendary bad guy. This lays down the flavour of the encounter. Next up I name the actions - just list, don't stat. These are the big things they do in combat. This builds on the lair actions and gives me a sense of where the encounter is going. Next up the passive stuff - resistances, immunities, speeds, languages etc..

Next up I work out what the defence is. Invisibility/hiding? Mobility? Toughness? Regeneration? High AC? Generally you want a mix and for a high level boss at least some mobility like misty step - either through a magic item or a spell/innate ability. You want an epic fight not a 1-round slaughter. Build some abilities that play into this - I had one set of demons I was fond of that had immunity to the last two types of damage they had sustained which tended to put a cap on the per round damage any one PC could do.

Rounding this out I add some legendary actions. I like low level spells for my characters - at will dissonant whispers, tasha's hideous laughter (remember concentration) and magic missile was one set I used. A rule of thumb I find good is to put one movement effect, one attack effect and one control effect in the mix. This also works for martial characters: say a huge leap or somersault or monk style shadowstep, an extra attack and an intimidate that might have a fear effect on those nearby.

Finally I look at balance. CR is pretty much garbage for this type of encounter so you have to use some judgement here. In this step I set stats first - what stats should be better than what other beings in the world and which ones worse? Are there any above what a humanoid PC should be able to reach. What DC do you want on spells or other saves? This should give stats and proficiency.

Now come back to the actions. At this point you should have a pretty clear idea how the bbeg will play out, where their strengths are and knowing things like DCs, legendary actions etc. you can form a view as to how powerful each action has to be to bring up to the total power level. This lets you look at how many attacks to give them, what damage die, what level of spells they can reasonably have. If you like ave a little bit of power here, then add a magic item or two so the PCs can find some cool loot.

Thank you! Yours is an amazing creative process and I am saving this for later reference.

and just so I add my couple cents in the thread:
What I usually do is... I have no clue! as in, I know what or who the BBEG is, its aproximate power and influence and on what level I Expect my players to be when they meet... but the specifics? I leave for the preparation of that session that I know the BBEG is gonna be in scene with the characters. Sometimes i have more of an idea, say the bbeg is a mindflayer, so i know basic one has CR7 but the spcific one in my campagin might be an Arcanist with higher CR and spellcasting level, or he might have eaten too many great warriors and is now a great warrior himself having incorporate many habits of the devoured brains like exercises and pratices, or has made a pact with another entity and has warlock powers and invocations. So if its not gonna be bythe book for some reason, i usually leave the details for when they are needed.


But what if the players meet up with the BBEG before you planned for some reason? improvise! If i know the BBEG has arcane magic, i know the kind of spells he might have access to. So using sleep, misty spet or invisibility is not outside of the realm of possibilities even if I dont know the exact spellist he has on that ocasion. If i know he is a great manipulator, I don't need to know his exact modifier to make a Cha(deception) check vs the passive insight of the PCs, i might just say he should be able to pass those scores on a 5+ unless theres somebody with a really high insight score, or have the PCs roll insight with a DC 25, or just say he has a +10 and later figure it out what combination of Stats, proficiency , expertise and magic would better reach that value, or any other ways to play the same scene.

I am also fan of BBEG that dont really need stats, either because they would be so grandious (say, a deity) or so insignificant (say, a frail bodied noble). In the examples above, in the case of grand entity you might never come in confrontation with the being, but acheive vitory by other means, such as stopping macchinations or delaying grand schemes. In the other example the noble would not last much more than a couple strikes of the warrior or a well target spell of the spellslinger, but he is surounded by bodyguards and an organization that wont let the pcs simply murder the guy, and in his lair just get to him would be a epic challange... murdering him at the end might even be anticlimatic, maybe bringing him to be exacuted by the king but not before his name being ereased from the noble houses and his lands reapropriated(maybe to the PCs), that might give a lit bit more closure

[damascoplay]

The Sorcerer King is the final boss
oh God, no.