Hello,
Recently, I DM’d a boss fight event over three phases with 10 players at level 7. I thought this was so out of the ordinary that I could post about it on Reddit. For pictures and the statblocks I used and will reference look here.
Every player created a character at level 7 for the event or alternatively used a character from one of our campaigns, adjusting their level as necessary. No one had magic items, just ordinary (starting) gear.
For the actual fight, we rolled initiative and the players arranged themselves around the table accordingly. The boss did not follow this rule; instead of having legendary actions, it took an action every two players, starting the turn order. Every phase had a special action called “Bite the Bullet” (special thanks to u/Leuku) to end one condition on itself. The boss’s HP scaled with the player count because I wasn’t sure how many of my players would actually be there for the event.
The first phase featured a single melee monster, which I gave high-level spells as recharge abilities (note: the recharge was rolled after each complete turn order).
The second phase utilized the chassis of beholders. In addition, lair actions began to occur on initiative count 30. Here, I used the LED columns you can see in picture 6. Every turn, I would switch on different columns, and after one complete turn order, the effect would trigger. This gave the players the opportunity to move out of the way. I omitted the “nothing” effects with the lair actions in the actual fight because the players quickly realized that the glowing columns were dangerous. Additionally, six Entropic Ghosts spawned across from the boss and would reach him in about three turns, which would mean a lot of healing for the boss. I moved one of them every time the second phase took an action.
The third phase was a mashup of spellcaster (without spells) and dragon abilities. The lair action with the columns continued, but an additonal damage ticker also activated. On initiative count 30, every player needed to pass a saving throw or take damage. In this phase, the boss controlled statues on the battlefield. Each statue had the ability of either a cantrip or a low-level spell. When half of the statues were destroyed, the boss began trying to control players.
In the end, three players almost died, and one did, but they defeated the boss. The entire encounter took around 10 hours, essentially a whole day. It was a blast.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
submitted by /u/PyreCracker
[link] [comments]
r/DnD Hello, Recently, I DM’d a boss fight event over three phases with 10 players at level 7. I thought this was so out of the ordinary that I could post about it on Reddit. For pictures and the statblocks I used and will reference look here. Every player created a character at level 7 for the event or alternatively used a character from one of our campaigns, adjusting their level as necessary. No one had magic items, just ordinary (starting) gear. For the actual fight, we rolled initiative and the players arranged themselves around the table accordingly. The boss did not follow this rule; instead of having legendary actions, it took an action every two players, starting the turn order. Every phase had a special action called “Bite the Bullet” (special thanks to u/Leuku) to end one condition on itself. The boss’s HP scaled with the player count because I wasn’t sure how many of my players would actually be there for the event. The first phase featured a single melee monster, which I gave high-level spells as recharge abilities (note: the recharge was rolled after each complete turn order). The second phase utilized the chassis of beholders. In addition, lair actions began to occur on initiative count 30. Here, I used the LED columns you can see in picture 6. Every turn, I would switch on different columns, and after one complete turn order, the effect would trigger. This gave the players the opportunity to move out of the way. I omitted the “nothing” effects with the lair actions in the actual fight because the players quickly realized that the glowing columns were dangerous. Additionally, six Entropic Ghosts spawned across from the boss and would reach him in about three turns, which would mean a lot of healing for the boss. I moved one of them every time the second phase took an action. The third phase was a mashup of spellcaster (without spells) and dragon abilities. The lair action with the columns continued, but an additonal damage ticker also activated. On initiative count 30, every player needed to pass a saving throw or take damage. In this phase, the boss controlled statues on the battlefield. Each statue had the ability of either a cantrip or a low-level spell. When half of the statues were destroyed, the boss began trying to control players. In the end, three players almost died, and one did, but they defeated the boss. The entire encounter took around 10 hours, essentially a whole day. It was a blast. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. The entire gang after fight submitted by /u/PyreCracker [link] [comments]
Hello,
Recently, I DM’d a boss fight event over three phases with 10 players at level 7. I thought this was so out of the ordinary that I could post about it on Reddit. For pictures and the statblocks I used and will reference look here.
Every player created a character at level 7 for the event or alternatively used a character from one of our campaigns, adjusting their level as necessary. No one had magic items, just ordinary (starting) gear.
For the actual fight, we rolled initiative and the players arranged themselves around the table accordingly. The boss did not follow this rule; instead of having legendary actions, it took an action every two players, starting the turn order. Every phase had a special action called “Bite the Bullet” (special thanks to u/Leuku) to end one condition on itself. The boss’s HP scaled with the player count because I wasn’t sure how many of my players would actually be there for the event.
The first phase featured a single melee monster, which I gave high-level spells as recharge abilities (note: the recharge was rolled after each complete turn order).
The second phase utilized the chassis of beholders. In addition, lair actions began to occur on initiative count 30. Here, I used the LED columns you can see in picture 6. Every turn, I would switch on different columns, and after one complete turn order, the effect would trigger. This gave the players the opportunity to move out of the way. I omitted the “nothing” effects with the lair actions in the actual fight because the players quickly realized that the glowing columns were dangerous. Additionally, six Entropic Ghosts spawned across from the boss and would reach him in about three turns, which would mean a lot of healing for the boss. I moved one of them every time the second phase took an action.
The third phase was a mashup of spellcaster (without spells) and dragon abilities. The lair action with the columns continued, but an additonal damage ticker also activated. On initiative count 30, every player needed to pass a saving throw or take damage. In this phase, the boss controlled statues on the battlefield. Each statue had the ability of either a cantrip or a low-level spell. When half of the statues were destroyed, the boss began trying to control players.
In the end, three players almost died, and one did, but they defeated the boss. The entire encounter took around 10 hours, essentially a whole day. It was a blast.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
submitted by /u/PyreCracker
[link] [comments]