BBEG for dungeon crawler

[SSGoW]

Ok so i will be running a 3.5 dungeon crawler (that miiight become a full blown campy in the future) and i have the dungeon full of traps and puzzles and monsters... but the BBEG is giving me some trouble

the players will be 3 newbs and 2 that have played before (not alot by many standards lol)

although i'm not sure what level they will end up being i think it should be around 15-20 (they are starting out as 5th level)

so should i just go with something basic (like an ogre that uses physical attacks witha couple minions) or should i go with sometype of caster with lots of minions?

[Pharaoh's Fist]

Kobold snipers firing through small holes in the walls with a kobold sorcerer leading them.

[Assassin89]

Kobold snipers firing through small holes in the walls with a kobold sorcerer leading them.

Why is the first thing that comes to mind for some people Tucker's Kolbolds?
I think that a summary of the party might help set up a suitable challenge.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

Why is the first thing that comes to mind for some people Tucker's Kolbolds?

Because some of us are sadists.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

A succubus with a good hide check is actually more effective than Tucker's Kobolds. She shapechanges into a small humanoid to use the tunnels like the Kobolds.
Unlike the Kobolds, she can teleport at will, she has decent Damage Reduction, Spell Resistance and Energy Resistances, she can spy on the party while Ethereal and she can spam Charm Monster and telepathic Suggestions instead of arrows.


[telepathic suggestion]
*Ooh, look at that nice cookie under the seven-ton rock that hangs overhead. Don't you want to go get and eat it before it gets crushed? On and better hide right there under the big rock to eat it. You don't want to share with your companions now, do you?"*
[/telepathic suggestion]

[herrhauptmann]

Ok so i will be running a 3.5 dungeon crawler (that miiight become a full blown campy in the future) and i have the dungeon full of traps and puzzles and monsters... but the BBEG is giving me some trouble

the players will be 3 newbs and 2 that have played before (not alot by many standards lol)

although i'm not sure what level they will end up being i think it should be around 15-20 (they are starting out as 5th level)

so should i just go with something basic (like an ogre that uses physical attacks witha couple minions) or should i go with sometype of caster with lots of minions?

So a dungeon crawl that starts out at level 5, and will last until 15. Unless it's a real level grinder, you've got a long time to start working on that BBEG.

If you've seen the module "Something's cooking in the kitchen" on the WoTC site, check out the golem at the end. My party thought it was a ridiculous fight when it first came at them, then 2/3rds of it's hitpoints later, it's suddenly rocking them. The party kept hitting it with fire, which did no damage gave it a higher AC.
So a custom monster like that would always be great, even if you randomly decide which things make it stronger (instead of intentionally nerfing a character's best mode of attack). Party still talks about how insane a fight it was, and it was only a CR3 against five level 2's.

[RTGoodman]

If you've got access to the Dungeonscape supplement, take a look at that. I can't remember the name (Dungeon Lord, maybe, but once again, someone has "borrowed" that book ), but it's a PrC specifically designed to be able to be a dungeon crawl BBEG. Gets cool abilities in its dungeon and all that. I think a mind flayer is the example, but you could probably do it with anything.

My suggestion, if you don't use that, is maybe an Aboleth Mage with a few dominated minions. That'd be an appropriate challenge for characters of 15th-20th level.

Or, of course, you could just go with the class and throw in a dragon.

[chiasaur11]

A succubus with a good hide check is actually more effective than Tucker's Kobolds. She shapechanges into a small humanoid to use the tunnels like the Kobolds.
Unlike the Kobolds, she can teleport at will, she has decent Damage Reduction, Spell Resistance and Energy Resistances, she can spy on the party while Ethereal and she can spam Charm Monster and telepathic Suggestions instead of arrows.


[telepathic suggestion]
*Ooh, look at that nice cookie under the seven-ton rock that hangs overhead. Don't you want to go get and eat it before it gets crushed? On and better hide right there under the big rock to eat it. You don't want to share with your companions now, do you?"*
[/telepathic suggestion]

Eh. Parties EXPECT trouble from succubi.

Kobolds, though, have to earn a reputation. Usually through adventurer slaughtering.

[Kol Korran]

ending at level 15/ 20? i suggest a dragon or a strong outsider (demon, devil). what's the purpose of the dungeon? why are they exploring it? or is the campaign is basically just a big dungeon they need to hack through?

[SSGoW]

I'm still thinking of a reason why they are in it :p but its basically....


They are part of a (somewhat) small rebel militia and they are stuck inside a city, an underground path is found and the leaders think that it may be old tunnels that may have secret passages out of the city. they party is sent down to explore the dungeon for a few reasons..

1) it will be handy to have routes in and out of the city that are unknown to the enemy
2) the leaders dont want the enemies having a way into the city right under their noses
3)dungeons tend to have hidden treasures which will help with their rebellion
4)dungeons tend to have monsters... best get rid of them now before the rebellion goes full throttle

the leaders decided on these people to go because they are not the lowest level (newbs that will die easily) but they are not strong enough to be missed if anything goes wrong (the governemnt finds out about the rebellion)

just the normal stuff