Question for all the DND nerds and DMs alike Let's say you have a party of 5, level 3 characters that go as follows Paladin Warlock Barbarian Druid Artificer And you want them to have a nice 1v5 boss fight that won't kill them but will definitely be threatening. What would you give them?? - ThreadSky

tsyan.bsky.social • 36 days ago

Question for all the DND nerds and DMs alike

Let's say you have a party of 5, level 3 characters that go as follows

Paladin
Warlock
Barbarian
Druid
Artificer

And you want them to have a nice 1v5 boss fight that won't kill them but will definitely be threatening. What would you give them??

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iamthebridgeman.bsky.social•36 days ago

Without context it's hard to say but if it's a 1v5 I'd suggest at least giving your boss legendary actions and maybe one legendary resistance so they don't steamroll it, your players will have advantage because the action economy will be in their favour, also you can tweak your boss HP on the fly

tsyan.bsky.social•36 days ago

I was also considering making it harder than normal but having a way the party could take away some power from the boss OR call in back up if need be.

My only concern is them not thinking outside the box and just attacking each turn

iamthebridgeman.bsky.social•36 days ago

Try lair actions if they are in the bosses lair

tsyan.bsky.social•36 days ago

Ooo I forgot about those! They would be in his lair too. Thank you!

jotunredwulf.bsky.social•36 days ago

Most are just getting to experience their subclass (assuming 5e D&D) and they're gonna want to test them. Their Saves are still pretty average, same with their To Hit bonus.

Honestly, use an Umber Hulk. They have an ability that forces a save on creatures nearby, they have decent hit points,

jotunredwulf.bsky.social•36 days ago

has a nonstandard movement (burrowing), as well as three attacks and decent AC.

tsyan.bsky.social•36 days ago

I've never actually used one of these either! I like it a lot though. Thank you

zanchose.bsky.social•36 days ago

Personally, going by the DMG I'd give a CR 2-3 thing, give it like 180-200 health and set the monster at 1800 exp for it. I wouldn't go any higher on the CR because of attacks being able to 1 shot. A good one would be a Knight and just give him 180hp and maybe one healing pot and 1800 exp.

tsyan.bsky.social•36 days ago

Currently the thing I have for my campaign has around 120 and starts unarmed but if he is feeling threatened he will back off and grab a strong weapon which can be taken away.

So it gives them a sense of danger when the new weapon comes into play and they can retreat or try to think tactically

gentleoathsworn.bsky.social•36 days ago

Do you have any further details on what class subtypes each are?

The Paladin's Oath, what Warlock patron, etc are also important and would likely need to be considered for a difficult boss fight.

tsyan.bsky.social•36 days ago

Sorry I do.

Circle of the Shepherd Druid
Artillerist Artificer
Berserker Barbarian
Oath of Ancients Paladin
Pact of the Fiend Patron

gentleoathsworn.bsky.social•36 days ago

So a tough-but-fair boss fight would likely involve someone using an Anti-Magic Shell to protect from constant Eldritch Blast spam from the Fiendlock, as a start.

I don't quite know where to begin, but someone with high CON would endure two powerful melees and an Artificer who can make catapults.

dredgenhowl.bsky.social•36 days ago

I really think just about any CR 5 creature does the trick here. CR isn’t quite as accurate as it proposes to be and aiming a little higher than your player’s level in my experience goes a long way.

You probably also want to give it a legendary action or resistance to help even the action economy.

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