Compelling Boss/Recurring Rival

[Nagog]

Hey Ya'll!

I haven't been here in a long time (school has been holding me back), but I'm happy to be back! I also need a little bit of help: I've built up an intimidating reputation for a character that the party will be facing in tonight's session, and I'd like to run his style/build by ya'll to see what ya'll think, find any loopholes you can, and hopefully help me set the stage for an intimidating, memorable, and fearsome character! Admittedly, he does use a lot of broken/unbalanced UA and a lot of cheese, but he's facing three party members at once (Rune Knight, Hexadin, and Cleric), so even with the cheese I feel he may be a bit underpowered.

So, without further ado, here's his build!

Vengeance Paladin 10:
Uses Tunnel Fighter and a Hook Bladed Scythe/Halberd
Tunnel Fighter and PAM, combined with Vengeance Paladin's Relentless Avenger to keep just out of range. (Each time they approach, OoA, dance out of reach, infinitely).
His main weakness is typically ranged attacks, however (because he's a tactical genius), he will never fight the party unless he can set the stage to his advantage; in this case, he has a Shield of Missile Attraction on the wall of the room with a beloved NPC chained to it. Any ranged attacks made get redirected to the NPC (If he dies, he dies).
The only conceivable weakness in his defense I am currently aware of is taking the Disengage action to get into melee range, then the party can also rely on AoO to get him (the Hexadin is the optimizer of the party and has Sentinel), though he also has Mobile, so that's something he wouldn't have to worry about too much. The Rune Knight could potentially cause some issues with Action Surge and a Grapple, but that one I'll leave open to reward creative thinking.
I'm also considering dropping Mobile (Once again to reward some creativity) and giving him an item (like an enchanted fake eye) that allows him to roll competing attacks against attacks against him, to both give them a chance to hit with the few melee attacks they're able to get in range for, and to give it more of a cinematic feel (And convey skill as a fighter).

I'd also love for some music to go with the boss fight (though we're playing over video chat, so I don't typically have music due to other difficulties). I'm leaning towards something akin to Duel of the Fates, but I don't want to lean to heavily into that cliché and have the epic memories of that duel in Star Wars overshadow these memories. Any suggestions?

[Unoriginal]

Hey Ya'll!

I haven't been here in a long time (school has been holding me back), but I'm happy to be back! I also need a little bit of help: I've built up an intimidating reputation for a character that the party will be facing in tonight's session, and I'd like to run his style/build by ya'll to see what ya'll think, find any loopholes you can, and hopefully help me set the stage for an intimidating, memorable, and fearsome character! Admittedly, he does use a lot of broken/unbalanced UA and a lot of cheese, but he's facing three party members at once (Rune Knight, Hexadin, and Cleric), so even with the cheese I feel he may be a bit underpowered.

So, without further ado, here's his build!

Vengeance Paladin 10:
Uses Tunnel Fighter and a Hook Bladed Scythe/Halberd
Tunnel Fighter and PAM, combined with Vengeance Paladin's Relentless Avenger to keep just out of range. (Each time they approach, OoA, dance out of reach, infinitely).
His main weakness is typically ranged attacks, however (because he's a tactical genius), he will never fight the party unless he can set the stage to his advantage; in this case, he has a Shield of Missile Attraction on the wall of the room with a beloved NPC chained to it. Any ranged attacks made get redirected to the NPC (If he dies, he dies).
The only conceivable weakness in his defense I am currently aware of is taking the Disengage action to get into melee range, then the party can also rely on AoO to get him (the Hexadin is the optimizer of the party and has Sentinel), though he also has Mobile, so that's something he wouldn't have to worry about too much. The Rune Knight could potentially cause some issues with Action Surge and a Grapple, but that one I'll leave open to reward creative thinking.
I'm also considering dropping Mobile (Once again to reward some creativity) and giving him an item (like an enchanted fake eye) that allows him to roll competing attacks against attacks against him, to both give them a chance to hit with the few melee attacks they're able to get in range for, and to give it more of a cinematic feel (And convey skill as a fighter).

My advice: this is a boss NPC, you should build him like a NPC, not like a PC.

Building him like a PC will simply make him too fragile, too easily overwhelmed in term of action economy and with too many unnecessary parts to be easy to run.

Also even if they can't use ranged attacks, nothing is stopping your players' characters from using AoE spells.

I can help you build him as a NPC, if you want.

Here's what I suggest: start with the Blackguard NPC from the Volo's, and change him to make him *fast*. Give him Evasion, the ability to Disengage or Dash as a bonus action, Legendary Actions that allow him to move 30ft without triggering AoOs, and as a Reaction the "attack the attack to parry it" ability you were talking about. Or you could give him an ability like the Drunken Monk one, where you can redirect a missed attack against you to make it land on an enemy.


For the battle itself, I feel it's likely the PCs will try to free the NPC-hostage ASAP, so be prepared for that.


Sorry if I'm sounding rude/blunt, I think your idea for a boss is pretty good and I'm pumped with ideas, but a lvl 10 PC alone against three PCs is going to suffer a quick and painful death before he gets the chance to show much.

Have you considered giving him a couple Quickling underlings?



I'd also love for some music to go with the boss fight (though we're playing over video chat, so I don't typically have music due to other difficulties). I'm leaning towards something akin to Duel of the Fates, but I don't want to lean to heavily into that cliché and have the epic memories of that duel in Star Wars overshadow these memories. Any suggestions?

I have suggestions, indeed, but would you mind telling us more about this NPC and the circumstances of the fight, to get something truly fitting?

[Kurt Kurageous]

You'd better have a reason why this recurring foe didn't just smash the party the moment they become aware of them.

Once you answer that, there's got to be more to it than a 'phantom menace' going on. Are there social norms preventing the rival from acting directly while the power balance is in their favor?

It definitely looks like you're making a blackguard, per Unoriginal. And a stupid one. Why would he attack them when they are together and fully equipped?

Get an unwitting ally to invite them to a social event that clearly doesn't require you to have all your gear, magics, armors, weapons. THEN attack them from ambush on the route home while they are drunk(poisoned). He's a villain, right? Use some cunning.

[Unoriginal]

You'd better have a reason why this recurring foe didn't just smash the party the moment they become aware of them.

Once you answer that, there's got to be more to it than a 'phantom menace' going on. Are there social norms preventing the rival from acting directly while the power balance is in their favor?

It definitely looks like you're making a blackguard, per Unoriginal. And a stupid one. Why would he attack them when they are together and fully equipped?

Get an unwitting ally to invite them to a social event that clearly doesn't require you to have all your gear, magics, armors, weapons. THEN attack them from ambush on the route home while they are drunk(poisoned). He's a villain, right? Use some cunning.

I was under the impression the PCs were on the "have found where the guy is and are attacking" point of confrontation.

Presumably the guy doesn't want to abandon a lair because of three people.

[Nagog]

You'd better have a reason why this recurring foe didn't just smash the party the moment they become aware of them.

Once you answer that, there's got to be more to it than a 'phantom menace' going on. Are there social norms preventing the rival from acting directly while the power balance is in their favor?

It definitely looks like you're making a blackguard, per Unoriginal. And a stupid one. Why would he attack them when they are together and fully equipped?

Get an unwitting ally to invite them to a social event that clearly doesn't require you to have all your gear, magics, armors, weapons. THEN attack them from ambush on the route home while they are drunk(poisoned). He's a villain, right? Use some cunning.

He's set the stage for them and spit the party using Cause Fear in Warding Symbols, so there are other small groups of party members being attacked by other members of his team. He has plans for countering each party member, and has trained his team to do so.

As for attacking when they're ill equipped, that would not have a lasting impact on the players: They'd attribute any difficulty or loss to "Oh we weren't prepared". I'm intending to create an enemy they legitimately fear, and that they know they will need to prepare for. Defeating them when they are prepared and geared up for battle is a prime method of instilling that fear.

Lastly, he will not be utterly destroying them for one reason: His plans are set for destroying this party, and the intelligence his team has been gathering for the last few months, while scarily accurate, did not account for a new player joining the party and one character leaving (replaced by a temp character). Rather than risk a partial victory (and creating martyrs of the fallen), or worse, a member of his team falling and their resources lost to the party, when one of their team begins to fall, his Wizard (keeping everybody in touch via Rary's Telepathic Bond) will use his Helm of Teleportation to extract them all. From there he is free to gain new intelligence, recoup, and re-engage.


I was under the impression the PCs were on the "have found where the guy is and are attacking" point of confrontation.

Presumably the guy doesn't want to abandon a lair because of three people.
Yes, last session ended with the cliffhanger of the party being split and this character (ancient tortle named Jadu Snakehead) making his presence known.

[Nagog]

My advice: this is a boss NPC, you should build him like a NPC, not like a PC.

Building him like a PC will simply make him too fragile, too easily overwhelmed in term of action economy and with too many unnecessary parts to be easy to run.


The Action Economy issue is the one I feel is the biggest issue, however I feel it's fairly well handled between Tunnel Fighter and plenty of ways to trigger and AoO. On top of that, being able to defend with a competing attack roll is a really strong ability, one that may not even come into play if the brunt of the strategy (Hit and Run, mixed with Kiteing) continues to function well.



Also even if they can't use ranged attacks, nothing is stopping your players' characters from using AoE spells.

Being a level 10 Cha-focused Paladin (same level as the party), this character's saves are amazingly high. Combined with a small room, AoE attacks are likely to deal as much damage to themselves as it is to the party.



I can help you build him as a NPC, if you want.

Here's what I suggest: start with the Blackguard NPC from the Volo's, and change him to make him *fast*. Give him Evasion, the ability to Disengage or Dash as a bonus action, Legendary Actions that allow him to move 30ft without triggering AoOs, and as a Reaction the "attack the attack to parry it" ability you were talking about. Or you could give him an ability like the Drunken Monk one, where you can redirect a missed attack against you to make it land on an enemy.


I'd like to keep this character built like a PC so that when he reappears later, he's also gained power in a similar way to the party. That being said, I have beefed up his HP considerably to compensate for the fact that PCs are Glass Cannons and Monsters are typically Angry Punching Bags.



For the battle itself, I feel it's likely the PCs will try to free the NPC-hostage ASAP, so be prepared for that.


Yes, the NPC is tied out of reach above their heads, in the rafters of the room. If one of the Melee combatants begins going after them, Jadu (the Boss) will thro out a Compelled Duel to keep them close, and if the Cleric manages to get up to the rafters, the Boss's support Wizard is up there keeping an eye on each of the duels going around the building, and a Caster Battle will commence, with Acrobatics checks to hope between the rafters, and knockback spells having the potential to incur 4d6 fall damage.



Sorry if I'm sounding rude/blunt, I think your idea for a boss is pretty good and I'm pumped with ideas, but a lvl 10 PC alone against three PCs is going to suffer a quick and painful death before he gets the chance to show much.

Have you considered giving him a couple Quickling underlings?


Overall I'd like to structure this battle more as a duel that ends without a clear victor, but that does give the PCs a taste of who they're up against. Similar to an early appearance of the BBEG of a campaign, but a little more... Direct. Having just run a Cultist rush as the last boss, I've discovered that minions are... well cannon fodder. That and a former party member was a Darkling Elder (Reflavored Elf, with some homebrew), darklings may cause some serious red herrings.



I have suggestions, indeed, but would you mind telling us more about this NPC and the circumstances of the fight, to get something truly fitting?

Sure! His name is Jadu (Yah-Duu) Snakehead, he works for the main antagonistic group of this campaign, a religious worldwide peacekeeping organization called the Knights of Eden. The party opposes this organization because they have good reason to believe that the organization is heavily corrupt and plotting a massive genocide event in preparation for their version of Armageddon. Jadu himself isn't strongly religious, but he is heavily committed to power and the acquisition of it, and has been working with the Knights of Eden for little over 100 years. He is a bit of a perfectionist, and heavily leans into the "Evil Mastermind" trope, with a healthy dose of "Dark Lord of the Sith" vibes. He was tasked with eliminating this group after they foiled a few of the Knight's plots, and in one instance, had the Knights completely ousted from a city (which has since become the Party's home base). Eliminating or otherwise removing them from the laying field is his primary objective, and, if possible, he either like to kill them all in one fell swoop (an overwhelming show of power to prevent any avenging forces from forming) or better yet entirely discrediting them to prevent them from becoming martyrs. As he is a warrior first and foremost, he'd prefer to destroy them in combat, but as long as a course of action will complete his objective, he will pursue it.