sup fa/tg/uys What do you jibronis think of this boss I'm

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I like him, but I don't think he's tough enough for a 6 person party at level 5. They'll mow him down in 3 turns or less.

>>43457556
Think so? I was worried about making him too beefy...think I should tack on more damage dealing...or just slap more HP on him?

What about the spawning Shadow ability...does that need a buff?

Where can i get a template for these kinds of sheets. Want to write up some stuff soon and it would be nice to make it look nice and official like these

>>43457585
The problem is, if he's fighting them alone, he takes one turn, and they effectively take 6. It helps to think of them as one multi-headed entity.

I imagine them probably being able to each whack him for about 15 damage a piece when their turns come up, so he needs mook allies so they dont just gank him.

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>>43457566

>mithril gems
>wut

>>43457672
Basically this. Or, you could do like 4E did with its Solo monsters and give him the ability to just take two standard actions.

5E makes this even more critical since bounded accuracy means that your players will probably all have a +5 or so hit minimum and his AC will be failing him at least 1 of 3 swings. If each player that hits him deals 20 damage, that means he's got less than 3 rounds. And that's not including the possibility that a level 5 paladin opens him up and takes out about half of his HP in one strike that negates the Undead Fortitude.

It's arguably one of the things I dislike the most about 5E is the fact it's almost impossible without homebrewing back in 4E's solo system to have credible boss monsters that aren't just gigantic sacks of HP. Bounded accuracy is great for keeping skirmishes dangerous, but it means boss battles are just two big floppy steaks slapping one another until one stops moving.

>>43457672
Nah that makes sense....what about kicking up the Vengeful Rebuke to allow him to cast an offensive spell once a turn after getting hit by an opponent...so he can either teleport over to a ranged figher...or kick out a Thunderwave...Then he's got at least 2 turns compared to the 6...and he'll start getting mooks with Soul Wrench...

>>43457672
>>43457836
You could also try giving him multiple slots in the turn order.
(he takes a turn after every 3rd PC turn, etc)

Starting him with mooks would also help.
(a large hoard of low health shadow maybe? or whatever else makes sense)

>>43457838
Good idea. It's most important for you, as the dm wanting to make a memorable encounter, that he gets those mooks out. The sooner they're out, the sooner he doesn't have to take every blow himself.

Consider letting him heal himself somehow - like some sort of magical device or spell active in the area that slowly regenerates people using necrotic energy (And if you like hard mode, hurts the living at the same time).

>>43457672
He could be accompanied by d6 shadows with 3d6 HP from previous encounters.

>>43458074
Another good idea. Even if the shadows go down in a hit for some pcs, its great they're their while he continually makes more.

Could be a really interesting encounter.

OP here...okay, I think with the buff to Vengeful Rebuke >>43457838 and starting him with some shadows at the beginning >>43458074 will work well...

Plus, it'll be a fun reveal when the shadows of the chairs...other npcs...pillars...start creeping out and attacking the shadows. That Strength drain from the shadows is going to be scary to my players. The party is a paladin, barbarian, rogue, ranger, fighter, and a monk...so strength loss is going to start messing with people quickly.

Can you RP an explanation for Shadow mooks constantly spawning throughout the fight, even without the Shadow Wrench?

If you can make the fight harder every turn and put the real threat of the PCs being overwhelmed, you will effectively force the PCs to split their focus from boss.

Think about the Onxyia fight vid on youtube.

What oath should I take for my Glaive using Pally?

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>>43458134
Sure...I probably could...I guess I'm a little bit worried about throwing *too* many shadows at them...I don't think they'll be able to do much against the Strength drain from the Shadows...really, all these guys who have 30ish HP are going to be down to 16 or 18 or whatever their Strength scores are...

>>43457314
>13D8+32
>2D6+4
>3D8+4

I remember a time where this was viewed as unnecessary and childish.
O! The Big Numbers!

>>43458200
I'd say Oath of Vengeance...Vow of Enmity is pretty powerful combined with a glaive...

Where can I find this template?

OP, are you just photoshopping these, or is there a program I can use to make them myself?

>>43458254
>13D8+32
>2D6+4
>3D8+4

>I remember a time where this was viewed as unnecessary and childish.
>O! The Big Numbers!

How so? That's pretty standard Hit Points for a CR 6 enemy...and as far as the damage goes, the +4 is from the Strength...and Greatswords deal 2d6 per the PHB.

Reckon Soul Wrench should be lowered to 3d6?

>>43458295
Nah, he's just a troll. Hell, if you compare the numbers with something out of 3.5, they look downright tiny.

>>43458295
3D6 sounds less fancy than 3D8, yeah.
Now the damages make sense in context i guess, but what about this +32? Sounds awfully non-standardized.

And sorry, was my inner grognard talking, in my memories of D&D, a dragon has 100HP, does +10 to hit and something like 2D10 damage at best (worst). But again, at that time, a fighter did D6 or D10, regardless of level. D10+6 was like, the most OP you could get, damage wise (+3 Two Handed Sword, 18 Strenght)

Keep going, I'll be taking my leave.

>>43458264
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9aDVDzUw6WsWS1YUkQ4WktZeHc/view?usp=sharing

>>43458283
It's a mix of photoshop and a template some guy on reddit put together...I only made the first post, the rest are from /r/UnearthedArcana and /r/DNDNext

You'll want to edit the "Template" file with a program like Notebook ++ then you can open it in Google Chrome, it'll create the template...then screenshot that, bring it into Photoshop, and you can play with it in there.

>>43458335
Thank you very much! This will be very useful.

>>43458330
The 13d8+32 is the creature's hit points.

>>43458330
>>43458441
Wait no, now I see what you mean. Where is that extra 8 hp coming from? It should be +26.

In fact: (4.5x13) + (2x13) = 84.5. Rounded down to 85, that should be the creature's health.

You don't include the full 8 points on the first HD (which doesn't even seem to be cited), that' just for player characters.

>>43458468
Oh you know what, you're absolutely right. I changed his Constitution in a previous iteration without changing the HP. Thanks for the catch.

>>43457314
I think the AngryDM has a great method for creating boss fights. I recommend giving it a read.

You might not end up using it, exactly, but if any aspect helps your design process, it'll be worth it.

>>43458506
http://theangrygm.com/return-of-the-son-of-the-dd-boss-fight-now-in-5e/

I meant to link it, damn it.

I thank everyone who posted enemy ideas in this thread greatly. I will probably use most of them in my campaign in the future. Some of them may even end up in my next session if we can get a long one going.

>>43458531
Huh...that Paragon is very interesting...

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>>43458544
OP here...I've been posting all the homebrew monsters in the templates...but seriously, I'm just stealing them from reddit.../r/DNDNext has some great shit.

>>43457314
>>43457585
>>43457838
>>43458129
M8 I have no current ill will against you, but if you keep on using elipses like that I swear to God I'm going to murder your fucking family while you watch
Good luck with the boss fight though

>>43458587
seems like it. I love the rat hermit. I would legit make an NPC based of of that and I know my party would love it. My home group is weird but it makes for some funny stories XD

>>43458658
...sorry

>>43457314
I like him, but I think my party of 4 level 4 PCs could take him on, so maybe give him a bit of a buff. I think the soul wrench mechanic is fine as is but maybe make him start with a few shadows already out or give him some legendary actions. Good luck!

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>>43458663
>XD

>>43458895
Judge all you want but I see an interesting NPC in the rat hermit. as an enemy its sorta subpar but imagine some hermit chillin in the urban slums of a kingdom with a swarm of rats keeping him company. He has some interesting trinkets and some gold on him that his rats bring him. He he uses the gold to buy cheese and other sustenance for him and his rats. I'd like to see an npc like that in my games if only for a short bit.

>>43457566
Seems pretty strong for a CR 9 desu

>>43457836
>homebrewing back in 4E's solo system to have credible boss monsters that aren't just gigantic sacks of HP.

What was 4E's solo boss monster system like? Could it be homebrewed back in?

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OP back here...here's an updated version of Sir Redar's statblock....now he has a second phase where after he's dealt 50% damage, he switches from a 2h to a sword and 1h.

He also no longer has to wait for Soul Wrench to recharge, instead getting a chance to summon another shadow or even two shadows a turn with his Soul Blade.

>>43462555
Yeah, this works nicely. I'd still suggest giving him two Actions a turn, however. And you mean shield and 1h. Otherwise, the HP issue is still going to have him drop like a fly.

>>43462156
Roughly akin to the above link that talks about making boss monsters or 5e. There were different versions of it throughout the run of 4E, but the key ingredients were
>Two standard actions a turn. Helps the boss keep up with the action economy and not just be this passive thing that the party wailed on. And in terms of being passive, that leads on to...
>Off-Turn actions. Interrupts and Reactions that actually led to some dynamic play. Makes the fight a fuckton more engaging when you're worrying about stepping forward for a strike when you know that his flaming aura will flare up and end up burning everyone around him, so instead you do Y instead of X.
>Phases. The joy of the bloodied descriptor. Just every Solo had some interaction when it was Bloodied, which is 4E speak for reaching half of your HP. Maybe it automatically Recharges all of its abilities, maybe it goes into a blind rage and lowers its defenses while boosting its damage through the roof, or maybe it's now spraying acidic blood everywhere.

People may whine about muh vidya gaem and muh WoW edition, but when it comes down to it, I would much rather fight against a 4E solo boss with the math fixed than a 3.5 or 5E 'boss'.

>>43457314
AC isn't high enough. He'll get torn-up.

>>43462682
Welcome to 5E. Even Orcus, the Demon God of Death has 17 AC, or 20 when buffed.

>>43462707
Really? Then disregard my faggotry. Still getting used to 5E, I guess.

>>43462734
No worries. Bounded Accuracy is a bitch.
>Welcome to 5E where even a level 10 fighter in full plate can get gangbanged by a dozen goblins.

>>43462707
Doesn't a guy with plate and a shield have like 19?

>>43462555
Don't know how you feel about it, but especially with the new Soul Blade, how would you feel about making Soul Wrench a short-ranged touch attack? The name along really made me think of him just reaching out and grasping at a victim's soul before crushing it. Likewise, it gives him a way to actually threaten a ranged target that isn't attacking him. That cleric that's healing the party? SOUL WRENCH, and now there's a little shadow flopping around beside it.

>>43457314
>Sould wrench
>Summons shadow
Scary

>>43462828
20, actually.

>>43457654
Needs better stats, how about 20 on everything and 4 extra attacks also flyby? Reduce it's CR to 4

>>43462707
They pretty much insta hit though, doesn't devil lords have like 16+ to hit? Is kinda hard for players go beyond 20 AC

>>43462917
Well that's kinda silly.

And then he was a Fighter with defensive style and a MC into cleric for shield of faith.

Although I guess 20 INT 20DEX bladesinger with Mage Armor and always casting shield has it beat.

>>43463042
23 while bladesinging, 28 with shield. Though that usually means a 16th level character with 13 Con (standard array of course).

>>43457590
lern 2 adobi ilustratur

>>43463066
Realistically speaking your best AC should be around 20-25.
And by realistically I mean no high as fuck level because, really, games usually end before that, no magic armors/items, no wacky combos where your friends cast spells on you and stack them instead of doing shit for themselves, etc.

>>43462771
34 is the highest I've managed to get AC (as a player) when it comes to theorycrafting, and that requires three buffs from seperate casters. Uses +3 Full Plate, a +3 Shield, Bracers of Defence, the Defensive fighting style, and the spells Haste, Shield of Faith and Warding Bond. Would make a brilliant boss fight, with three different crystals (die to one hit from a player, cannot take damage otherwise) granting the buffs, but otherwise just numbers.

>>43462996
If I understand the design for bounded accuracy, you get hit a lot at high levels, but you have plenty of hp to soak.

>>43463134
>Bracers of Defence
>While having armor and shield
Wut?

>>43463137
At the same level that someone should actually be fighting Orcus, they'll also pretty much insta-hit as well. Your level 20 PC's should have +16 to hit between magic items and weapons. And gimmicky Bladesingers can soar nearly to 30. Because as always, Wizards can out-martial martials.

>>43463137
And yeah, it's honestly the thing I hate the most about 5E because it makes for some of the dullest fights when you get to high levels. With 4E at least stuff was engaging and had some real and fake diversity. With 5E, it's just the Monster With 500 HP and the Party With 500 HP. Everyone hits 3/4 of the time, who falls down first.

>>43463162
Oh shit, that's a thing I forgot. 33, then, Ring of Protection taking the Bracers of Defence slot.

The fuck? Is there a monster maker somewhere for things like this? Where can I get my hands on it?!

>>43463274
Read. The. Fucking. Thread.

>>43457672
>15 damage a turn per character
>at level 5
You've clearly never heard of paladins, my friend.

>>43462555
>>43462673
>Otherwise, the HP issue is still going to have him drop like a fly.
Not the same person, but how I'd fix the HP issue is to make his Undead Fortitude ability simply have a DC of the damage dealt to him, forcing the players to deal enough damage/get lucky enough for him to fail the check and die for good.

That or just have the paladin smite the shit out of him like everything else.


Paladins are broken in 5e

>>43458335
Opening that template in notepad++ looks like it requires waaaaaaay too much work for just simply replacing a few lines of text.

>>43457314
Why the hell is he CR 6?

>>43463531
You know...that's such a simple solution...I think I love it. And as he's sitting there, having to pass all these saves...maybe he could slip into some kind of frenzied phase 3. He does have a +7 to his Con save...so they'll have to hit him pretty hard to finish him off...or yeah...using Radiant damage. But I don't want to punish players being smart either.

>>43463531
>Paladins are broken
Pretty sure battlemaster action surging outdamages them

>>43464041
And EB Sorclock outdamages even them.

>>43463593
Bulbasaur!

>>43464214
Kek, no
8d10+40+8d6 = 112
This is the highest damage a sorlock can deal

Now, a fighter simply attacking
8d6+20+40 = 88 just with GWM without crits and without spending resourcess and without extra attack from bonus action.

Add 6d12 from Superiority dice and Action surge and you have something like
16d6+40+80+6d12 = 215

You also have to understand that there're way more magic weapons than magic items that improve EB

Sorcelock is ok for sustained damage, but when burst damage leads the game (because encounters don't last much) Battlemaster is your dude.

>inb4 "B-but you have -5 to attack!"
Use your first superiority die to trip the enemy, boom, all your attacks have advantage. I also didn't count Great Weapon style (rerolling 1s and 2s once) which also increases the damage, if I'm not mistaken a fighter should be dealing 95 damage 24/7

>>43464214
Not really, people love to say EB sorlock are OP, but they really aren't, they're just better than sorcerer or warlock, but they don't outdamage the best martials at single target damage.

>>43463631
I dunno, I didn't write it...but that's what I used. Just scroll down to line 330 or so, that's where the text you need to change is.

>>43458587
>azure mind sculptor
>red everything

Fucking triggered

>>43464531
They do, as long as we are looking at at least 4 turns.

>>43464760
in what I'm seeing, the entirety of line 330 is
"})(window, document);"

>>43465123
this would be great for manscorpion Tark in Dark Souls II

Tark was a bro

>>43465123
Question, pretty new to the system, when it makes you a claw attack, do you get automatically grappled with no athletics roll vs your athletics/acrobatics?

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>>43457521
>cruelty to the common apostrophe
An apostrophe indicates that you are slapping multiple words together and taking some letters out. "It's" is a contraction of "it is".
On that note, why the fuck are you using apostrophes in simple pluralization, you horrid little illiterate spawn?

>>43465291
"Escape DC 14" means the Difficulty Class for rolling to escape is 14, so you have to roll a 14 or higher on a d20 to escape, including bonuses, of course. So if your dexterity is 18, you'd get a +4 to escape, so you'd roll a d20+4 to escape.

>>43465349
But do you get to escape the moment he attacks you or you have to spend an action in your turn?

>>43465107
I'm not at my home computer right now, but if you do a Control + F for "Animated Armor" in the Template file, it'll bring you to the section where you need to start changing entries. All that beginning stuff is just establishing the font/layout

>>43465349
On top of that, if you have proficiency in Acrobatics, you'd add your proficiency bonus to the roll as well, which, in 5e, is a flat bonus depending on your character level. So, let's say you're a level 7 ranger with a dexterity of 18, and proficiency in Acrobatics. As a level 7 character, your proficiency bonus would be a +3. Because you're proficient in Acrobatics, you'd add that to the roll, also adding +4 from your dexterity, for a total of +7.

>>43465390
>But do you get to escape the moment he attacks you or you have to spend an action in your turn?

You'd have to spend an action your turn to escape from the grapple.

>>43465442
So you're immediately grappled with no chance of avoiding it when you get hit with a claw attack, ok, thanks. But grappling only reduces your speed to 0 so I guess is not that strong

>>43465467
Well, certain classes have the Dodge action, and certain other things grant it in rare instances.

>>43458000
>Harbinger of Chaos
That ability is the coolest thing I've seen.

>>43458658
>>43464025
>>43462555
>>43464760


The punctuation abuse is real. Every time I see one misused I'm just reminded of this douchy guy I met who, for his DMing credentials, said "As far as DMing, well... I think Cthulhu is all I have to say." You're that cringy right now.

>>43465885
Well, talking like this... It's not so bad. As long as you don't overuse it, forget a space...use a fucking billion of them........ Or use it as the most passive aggressive punctuation ever, like a douche...

>>43464794
in case you didn't know, she's the PF iconic sorceress Seoni

>>43457314
hey

putting in the deviantart you stole that picture from makes it ok

ok

>>43466118
>putting in the deviantart you stole that picture from makes it ok


Meh, I'm not selling the stats or claiming I make the picture. Not sure what you'd rather have me do. I mean, I could try to draw one myself, but he'd look a lot more stick-person-y.

>>43465885
Again...sorry for triggering your ... guys' .... autism...

>>43458954
Rats shouldn't eat dairy products

>>43465349
What he asked is if it had a "save to grapple".

>>43465291
To answer it, no, you don't. Next turn you have to spend your action to get out through either acrobatics or athletics, or a raw resisted test of either Str or Dex vs his Str or Dex, whatever is higher or more appropriate.

>>43465885
>not praying to your Weapon of Choice, Christopher Walken.
You... have a lot... to learn in this.
Wild jungle

>>43466118
If he is not selling the image for profit or claiming it is his it falls under fair use. And it is also common courtesy to provide the credit to the original artist.

>>43465621

Dodge action just imposes disadvantage on attacks made against you until your next turn....

Most monsters that make a grapple as part of an attack like giant frogs and stuff you are assumed to have been bitten or grasped as part of the attack.

Monsters have rule mechanic abilities which aren't always something players have access to and run differently. They also are there to make them scary as well as cut down on dice rolling in certain instances like opposed grapple after making every claw or bite attack.

>>43466118
We must be getting raided today.

>>43457314
I'd honestly say give him a few goons to back him up, so he isn't mobbed immediately and wrecked in about 2-3 turns.
I'd maybe throw in a pair of wights or similar undead, that way he'd still be just under a hard encounter for 6 level 5's.

So I've noticed most monster attacks seem to just do a flat amount of damage assumed, even when you can roll.

Am I supposed to just have them do the flat damage, or can I do the rolling?

>>43466576
I always assumed it was an option there for you want to speed up the game.
If there's a lot of combatants, it'd make sense to just take the average every time rather than roll for each individual one.

>>43457585
m8, i threw a stronger enemy than that at a group of 6 lvl 4s (creature was probably cr 9 and had legendary actions) and he got fucking destroyed.

give him a few low damage, somewhat tanky mooks.

How many goblins can I realistically throw at a group without them being destroyed?

And how fast?

I've got a dungeon set up and so far it's 3, followed by 3, followed by 2 and a Goblin Boss.

>>43466765
Aw shit I posted too quick

They're 2-3 level 3s.

>>43466765
Too little I think. Level 3 has a huge boost in power from level 2, so unless it's just a challenging-to-trivial encounter I would go with 5 goblins then 5 goblins then 1-to-2 elites plus the Boss.

And if the casters still had slots left I would throw some more Goblin Mooks, about 3 to 10.

That is, only if you are treating goblins like mindless mooks... If you go Tuker's Kobolds then they are WAY unprepared, man!

>>43466765
really depends on the environment youre fighting in. if its just a straight up melee they can probably cut through like 5-10 regular goblins, a couple less if you throw in a boss.
however if theyre trying to get into the goblin hideout and the goblins are across a little chasm with the bridge cut, hiding behind walls with bows, obviously a lot less.

>>43466964
shiiet i posted too quick, too. i meant 5-10 at once

>>43466956
>>43466964
Woah, okay, so I can have just the goblins rush them rather than hanging out in back. Sweet. That implies the DMG's threat management guess is pretty inaccurate though, is that true?

>>43467028
to a degree, yeah. the CR system in 5e is pretty shit to be honest. I don't think having the goblins rush your players is a good idea though; they're just gonna get cut down. I think you should set it up so that a fewer number of goblins provide a greater challenge, as i described before. this makes the encounter more interesting for one, but also allows you to set up waves better.
for example, following from the one i put out before, the players cross the chasm having killed 3 of the 4 goblins on the other side. the final one sees that they're overcoming the environment so he retreats. the players follow into the next room where that last goblin has gethered some friends for an ambush. at this point, it'll flow into the melee you're looking for, but in a much more interesting manner.

>>43467028
Again, depends on the situation and what level of trickery you are using. Are the goblins all rushing to their doom like fucking lemmings or are they strategically sending shielded guys while firing from strategic positions?

Things like that drastically change a CR of an encounter, that plus traps and such.

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For D&D 5e. He's supposed to be a CR 5 mini-boss Orc who's been possessed by a Shadow Demon. Fight is broken into two phases against a party of 6 level 4 players.

Any advice or things that should be changed?

>>43462771
>a level 10 fighter in full plate can get gangbanged by a dozen goblins.
Sure, if he was fucking braindead and paralyzed he would.

It's not a fucking anime so of course you can't just dance in place like a madman while a dozen fuckers try to shiv you and expect to get through it by virtue of your PAAFECTOOO DEFEENSSUUUU.

"Ohh nooo I will lose HP if I stand still and let lots of little fuckers with knives stab me in the thighs! Woe is me, my throat is full of cum"

It just takes a few good swipes to kill them, and when you're halfway trough their damage is probably about half already. Dead goblins don't deal damage.

>>43468325

>HP : 45/66
What does this mean? Does his first phase has 45 HP and his second has 66 HP? If so then it's probably alright. Gives him a lot of HP to survive and compete with the party's action economy. If it's one or the other then he's going to get destroyed. At 45 HP he'll be lucky to last past his second round and at 66 he's not going to fair much better.

His AC is abysmally low. Even with those resistances he's probably still going to go down fairly fast. I'd say give him a 15.

>Bright light temporarily disables any Damage Resistance/Immunities and Condition Immunities.

This is a cool mechanic but you should note exactly how long it lasts. Two rounds seems fair.

Besides those things I feel like his phase 2 is very weak overall. Unless he can somehow gain advantage consistently, his damage is going to basically be halved since he only has 1 initiative turn and if he does consistently gain advantage, his damage is going to be roughly the same. If you're going to give him one initiative turn, give him something to help his durability or to make his damage shoot through the roof.

Other than that I like the ideas here. Besides the phases, I feel like he is a bit one dimensional as a boss since all he'll be doing is spamming halberd. Maybe give him a spell like ability?

>>43457549

I want to play an infantryman.

>>43460837

This is D&D: those guards can probably be disabled by the caster opening up a small ravine and subsequently closing it at will. A bit of a shame, really, but such is the life of a martial.