Straw poll: What level would you use a Boneclaw?

[MaxWilson]

Inspired in part by a recent thread on how early you can find certain magic items, I'm curious about how other DMs construct their adventures w/rt monster difficulty.

Let's say there's an adventure idea I have in mind. It's going to be a mystery/slasher movie: creepy town, people turning up dead, everyone is scared, nobody is talking, you know the drill. About half the people who have turned up dead turn out to be connected in some way to Spoiled Little Rich Brat (tm), and long story short she's got a Boneclaw attached to her horrifically killing all of her frenemies plus lots of random people.

Obviously this is more of a mystery and a drama than a combat grind, especially since they have to work out what to do about Spoiled Little Rich Girl (she's a bad egg but what can you do about it? to spare the player's sensibilities I'll have her react violently when cornered, so that killing her is less of a moral dilemma, but she won't take her shot immediately), but at the same time they will need to deal with the Boneclaw at some point, after they've gathered information about its nature, and depending on how smart the players are and how well they utilize lighting/etc., a CR 12 Boneclaw could really rip their faces off using hit-and-run tactics. (Potentially 80+ HP of damage in a single round, to a squishy target, then a bonus action Hide.)

Reward for killing the Boneclaw permanently is that you get to keep the ornate jewelry on its decaying body, instead of it coming back to kill you. 700 gp + 35 pp total value, plus one Potion of Storm Giant Strength tucked into its tattered robes. (If the players bring a sufficiently-obvious threat to bear, on the order of 10 armored cavalry or more, the Boneclaw will drink the potion before engaging with them if it knows they are coming, otherwise it just try to pick them off one at a time.)

So, my question for various forum DMs:

Knowing what I've outlined above about the scenario, and assuming that the players know basically everything in the Boneclaw stat block thanks to good research and can figure out basically where it lairs underground during the day, and are expected to use Combat As War tactics against it, what level range would you personally advertise this adventure for to players?

Personally I'd advertise this as "4-5 PCs of levels 5-11", with the understanding that the lower the PC level the more skill is expected of the players. I think by level 13ish the physical threat ceases to be interesting (though you might still enjoy the mystery part of the adventure), and I don't think it's really survivable for PCs of levels 1-3, so 5-11 is a nice middle ground. Curious what others would say.

[Malifice]

How many encounters are there that adventuring day, or can the players simply nova it? This changes up challenge greatly.

Is it encountered alone, or with minions? This also changes things up.

What environment is it in? If it's in an area of magical Shadow (dim light that cannot be dispelled unless by a light spell (or similar) cast with a level X slot or higher type thing) then that also buffs it.

I can show you how I would design the adventure, and you can take any ideas you want and run with it if you like?

[Malifice]

Backstory (DMs eyes only): Mordain Drachenhells was a local minor noble of house XXX. As the youngest of several boys, he was never destined for anything important in the family, and the throne itself was a distant dream. Compounding this, he was a sickly child and neglected by his family. His family often left him in the care of servants, as they doted over his older and more 'fitting' siblings.

The servants treated him kindly; especially a shy young red headed beauty of a girl by the name of Elanor. In time Mordain came to love her from afar; the sickly boy too timid to ever express his love openly.

Mordains parents (not knowing what to do with the boy, and feeling him a constant embarrassment) sent the boy away to Wizard college, where he was a troubled and poor student, who likely would not have passed the trials, but for the influence of his family.

Finally, now a man in his 20's and a full fledged Wizard, he returned to his family estate, armed with the courage to ask out his beloved... only to find that she had been betrothed to another.

His love, already bordering on an obsession, quickly turned to something darker. He would use his magic to spy on Elanor and her lover, following her and watching her day and night. He collected hundreds of dolls, all with hair of red like his beloved Elanor, and kept them close in his chambers, secreted away from prying eyes.

Eventually he could take it no more. His obsessision had festered and the shy young boy was now... a monster. In a fit of rage one full moon in midwinter, he stalked from room to room of his family estate, killing his family who neglected him, their servants, and Elanors lover. At last, he reasoned, they could be together.

Elanor, repulsed by what he had become, had other plans. As he finally told her about his 'love', and the terrible things he had done so they could be together, she plunged a knife into her own heart, choosing death rather than be forced to be with such a monster. Mordain, his mind completely shattered, resolved to use his magic to ensure they would still be together forever. He animated Elanor as an undead monster, and (despite lacking the skill with the Weave) attempted to turn himself into a Lich. While Elanor watched on in horror, a prisoner in a foul undead husk, a tiny fragment of her living soul flickered into life.

As the Black Ritual of Transformation reached its zenith, Elanors spirit in her shattered undead corpse was able to override the foul black magics that animated her. Using extreme willpower, she reached out, and dashed the ungents into the magical circle, causing the ritual to go horribly wrong. Consumed by the magical energy, she watched as Mordain was consumed by eldritch fire, and as her own horrid form melted away, her spirit could finally rest in peace.

The Gods were not yet through with Mordain however. Cursed for his evil, he awoke centuries later as a horrible Boneclaw. The monster burns with one overriding passion; to complete the ritual he once started, and to be with his 'love' forever.

Now in the Town of [Gallows Hollow?] Midwinters night approaches, and a young girl has gone missing. Townsfolk say the girl was beloved by all, and had no enemies or anyone who would wish her harm. If the PCs can find her, the town offers a reward of XXX.

She should be easy to find they say, for she has hair as red as autumn leaves...

[Malifice]

Premise: Red headed girl (Arlen) has gone missing. She's been abducted by Mordain (now a Boneclaw, see backstory above) and taken to the ruins of his old family estate.

The PCs have to piece together the mystery (culminating in a visit to the ruined manor where Ghosts of Mordains family can give clues as to the backstory of Mordain), entering the catacombs below and slaying the foul creature before he can complete his dark ritual at midnight, and kill Arlen, turning her into a foul undead monster.

[Malifice]

From there you break it into three sections.

Firstly the murder mystery (PCs poking around in town, picking up clues that direct them to the Manor; for example a painting on the wall of the tavern might depict a picture of Elanor [with striking red hair] that bears a resemblance to the missing girl. Asking Granny Mavis reveals that the girl was a servant for a local family of nobles that were all killed in a fire at the local manor 66 years prior etc).

Secondly, exploring the ruined manor and encountering clues as to what happened that fateful night 66 years prior (encounters with ghosts, and other mundane clues point out what happened... with the PCs eventually stumbling on the really CREEPY bedroom of Mordain, still filled with hundreds of dolls, all with red hair...). Eventually, once they figure it out, Elanors Ghost appears and directs them to the catacombs with a warning: The ritual is scheduled for midnight, in just 3 hours time!

Thirdly, the catacombs. This plays out like a normal mini dungeon with around 6 encounters (undead heavy), enough time for 2 short rests, and with the final encounter being a show down with Mordain himself (now a Boneclaw) before he can finish the ritual, to save the captive girl.

The final encounter should feature magical shadowed room (only dispellable by a Light spell cast with a slot of 5th level or higher or similar), several low CR but still troubling mooks (half a dozen shadows or similar) and the Boneclaw, plus some kind of weapon the PCs can use against him based on his backstory (a picture of Elanor or similar that if presented to him, gives him disadvantage on attack rolls for 3 rounds or something?).

Spend a bit of time designing the final encounter, and on the clues dropped both at the first stage (in town) and fleshing out the backstory (the Manor exploration). You should link the final encounters difficulty to how well the PCs did figuring out the backstory and with the investigation stuff (certain clues they discover should provide some kind of assistance in the final battle, or some sort of information they can use against the Bone-claw)

To answer your initial question, a party of 5 x PCs of around 9th level should be around right for this adventure (simply CR/ Encounter budget all 6 encounters around this level).

[NRSASD]

Level 5 might be a bit too weak, but certainly within reasonable expectations. As Malifice mentioned, it really depends if the party can a. choose when, where, and how to engage the boneclaw, and b. bring their full might to bear on it.

For me, I'd probably say level 7 or so. But I wouldn't want to use the boneclaw after level 9.

[Coffee_Dragon]

Is the "know basically everything in the Boneclaw stat block" part important? In 5E it's pretty easy to adjust HPs, DCs, resistances, abilities etc. up or down to satisfy balance concerns while keeping the fluff constant.

[MaxWilson]

I should note that I've run this fight against a notional level 5 party and they absolutely curbstomped the Boneclaw, in part thanks to Disguise Self and Conjure Animals and a Giant Octopus Moon Druid, which is why I don't think level 5 is too early.


Level 5 might be a bit too weak, but certainly within reasonable expectations. As Malifice mentioned, it really depends if the party can a. choose when, where, and how to engage the boneclaw, and b. bring their full might to bear on it.

For me, I'd probably say level 7 or so. But I wouldn't want to use the boneclaw after level 9.

As per the OP, assume that the players can work out where it lairs during the day underground and proactively go after it, and it will try to pick them off one at a time with hit-and-run tactics when they show up.

It's certainly possible for things to go the other way around (Boneclaw comes looking for them at night while they're asleep) but assume that only happens if the PCs mess up. This is supposed to be more of a slasher mystery than combat grind.

Thanks for the data.


Is the "know basically everything in the Boneclaw stat block" part important? In 5E it's pretty easy to adjust HPs, DCs, resistances, abilities etc. up or down to satisfy balance concerns while keeping the fluff constant.

It's important to the straw poll in the sense that it reduces uncertainty about how much the players know. E.g. a Boneclaw in pitch darkness is a lot deadlier than a Boneclaw grappled in torchlight, so "know basically everything about the stat block" means that part of your reward for solving the mystery is that you know to bring torches. Obviously you can also just bypass the mystery and start killing things, which makes the Boneclaw harder and means you'll probably also have to kill it more than once.

The details of exactly how many HP/resistances/etc. it has are not particularly important to know though. Mostly its rejuvenation, bonus action hide, teleportation, and reach attack reaction are what I had in mind as important. E.g. in the context of the full adventure, there may be different people you can consult, some of whom tell you that the killer "simply vanished" into darkness, like a Cheshire Cat, another who can describe the Boneclaw eviscerating someone with its reach attack, etc. These are the "clues" in the mystery and the climax is where the players use the clues to solve the problem, and the denoument is where they hopefully deal with the problem once and for all by arresting/accusing Spoiled Little Rich Brat (leading to her violent resistance and death), in order to avoid a second climax later on.