How to Make Epic High-Level Boss Fights in D&D | Part 2

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How to Make Epic Boss Fights Part 1 ▶▶ • How to Make Epic Boss ...
Ever been in a D&D game where the big bad boss turned out to be a lame pushover? Of course. We all have. In this video, I discuss ways dungeon masters can design boss fights to be more fun and engaging for their players: the perfect high-level boss fight!
#dnd #dnd5e #dungeonsanddragons #dungeonmaster #gamemaster

[@theDMLair]

LAIR MAGAZINE | truckloads of EASY-TO-USE DM RESOURCES you can use in your games! www.patreon.com/thedmlair DM LAIR STORE | Get back issues of Lair Magazine, my 5e module Into the Fey, map packs, 5e adventures, and other DM resources! the-dm-lair.myshopify.com/ DISCORD | Join our awesome, welcoming community of game masters who encourage and help each other out: discord.gg/thedmlair

[@Treblaine]

"Bosses are like onions... they have LAIRS!"

[@zane9464]

Treblaine So the DM here is a boss? Cuz he has a lair.

[@jpc4803]

Cakes have layers

[@zane9464]

Phantom Person So do Parfaits

[@zane9464]

Phantom Person So do Parfaits.

[@jpc4803]

@@zane9464 wait no nvm cakes are nothing like ogres ogres are like onions

[@dakotaruppel6707]

This might sound bad, but I convinced my group that I'm a stone cold killer and I will and can kill. But in reality i work my butt of to prevent them from dying.

[@dicorockhimself]

That makes them feel awesome so yeah it should help

[@Arcticmaster1190]

Dakota Ruppel I’m the same way. XD I’m all “Don’t go messing around with people because they might mess you back” but yeah, I’m making a whole bunch of effort to make sure there’s get out clauses/safety valves and points for innovation in case trouble arises.

[@MrCompassionate01]

I have a slightly different tact. I am cold and brutal. Often killing a character almost by accident every week or every couple of weeks for the first month or two of a campaign. As time goes on I slowly hold back more and more until the party almost never even hits 0HP. But they always remember, oh yes, ALWAYS. They know that I have no concept of mercy and there is NO safety net. They know that death is the consequence for apathy and foolishness at my table. Thing is just like any good DM I want them to win, but heroism is victory in the face of adversity. If their victory was predestined then was it even a victory? If they suspect they are not at risk can their battle be considered brave? Are the obstacles they face real and consequential or more of a formality?

[@elderfenris.7537]

Welcome to de club pal

[@theDMLair]

It's all smoke and mirrors. 😁

[@keithgaspard9950]

"You're job is to interrupt the player's rhythm." "If you're doing this, do it for your players and not for yourself." Great stuff! Thanks.

[@4saken404]

Also using the term "surround and pound" to call that out for what it is.

[@robertdaykin1661]

Legendary Resistances - Just Give Them Some. Sound advice that I wish I had figured out before my first boss was thrown out of a 300ft high window in her new frog form...

[@theDMLair]

"Just give them some" I should copyright that phrase. 😁

[@gremlinwc8996]

@Hatepunk In Your Face *YEET*

[@twopoles11]

An easy way to kill someone without legendary resistances is turn them into a rat or something and open a demiplane beneath them

[@clunkclink9484]

Lol

[@arcanavoresmanavault2637]

When that intro brings a tear to the eye.

[@theDMLair]

I mean I've seen games like that at conventions. It's like really dungeon master you're just going to read from the paper in a monotonous voice. Ugh.

[@arcanavoresmanavault2637]

@@theDMLair The subtle piano in the back puts it over the top. In a good way. Icing to the cake.

[@michaelsnyder9047]

I can only imagine how brutal your PC's battle with Lord Paxton is gonna be! You must stream it please!

[@theDMLair]

Yeah I might just need to record that one and put it on my other channel. LOL

[@mirjanastevanovic-radojevi6432]

My dude, you forgot the music, ya need to set the atmosphere. Imagine them fighting this magical wizard using some sorts of magic, being intimidating without the music, its like eating pasta without the sauce, like a sandwichwithout the bread, a pizza with only the crust!

[@theDMLair]

Oh yes! Totally. I always have music going at my games. Totally forgot about that here. Lol

[@processingrequest]

I disagree. I find music distracting during the game and makes it harder to hear what players are saying. This is doubly true with music with lyrics, but even instrumental mixes often pulls in movie soundtracks that get players noticing which movie it's from and dropping LOTR quotes rather than immersing into the game.

[@Probably_my_Alt_Account]

Jon James I’d like to politely disagree with you, simply based on the fact that not all music is from movies. If you could gather up a list of said music than it wouldn’t be that much of a problem. as a Sidenote I don’t use music either, so... I might not be the best person to give advice on the matter.

[@processingrequest]

@@Probably_my_Alt_Account Even if I curated a list of instrumental music that had a battle fantasy feel without movie soundtracks, it would take time to do that I could spend on other things, and would still introduce competing noise to the table. It's just a matter of preference, to be sure, but I don't find the upsides to be worth it, personally.

[@Probably_my_Alt_Account]

Jon James understandable. Your opinions are definitely a good enough reason to opt out, and you (like everyone else) have only a limited amount of time to do what you want. I just had wanted to offer a suggestion, you can follow it as much or as little as you do choose.

[@Doughy_in_the_Middle]

This is exactly where I am at. For over two years now, we've had a consistent 6-8 players in our group. Encounters are INSANE and boss fights FREQUENTLY can end in one round. I'm only just getting into doing Legendary Resistances / Lair Actions. I've also done the hit point "adjustment" on the fly a number of times as a result. It makes me feel a bit better to know that I'm doing it for the right reason. And no, to anyone who's bound to ask, we can't split the group. We've been gaming for over three years and are invested in this campaign. I NEED to finish it before we move on to the next, but we like our group. Sure, it's a little crazy at level 11 right now with 7-8 players, 1-2 pets, a rogue rolling dice for 10 minutes on his turn, etc....but it's on me the DM just to find a way to make combat fun. Good video man! Loving the series.

[@schemage2210]

Accounting for player abilities, I do this for any fight that is meant to be a challenge. My sorcerer just got fireball, well you better believe that after the sorcerer fires off two fireballs destroying the bandit camp by the lake, something is going to come out of the lake to be the real encounter.

[@theDMLair]

Giddyup! That's what I'm talking about! 😈

[@mhDarkWolf]

The barbarian's deity that is not actually a deity?

[@FLEASPIRIT13]

You can’t twin fireball

[@TheBlackZodiacGhost]

I always roll in the open, never fudge dice or give my players "plot-armor", so my players know that I'm fair and they trust me. The only thing I do on the low is extending HP to make encounters more challenging if they need to be, or prolong a fight that would be over too quick to be satisfying. I never extend more than 50% of max HP though, as a group that does really well on rolls and tactics should get the feeling that those two factors had a great impact on how quickly they take the monster down.

[@haveswordwilltravel]

A time-honored technique.

[@agsilverradio2225]

If I were ever to extend enemy HP, I would do it by having the ennemy chug a health potion, be healed by a minnion, step into an aurra that heals only him, or if it's like a deamond or somthing, perhalps it heals itself by eating an unluckey minion whole.

[@MeM_UK]

Hahaha! I make hidden rolls and smile just to rattle them. But my players know I am on the other side or the debate - I like to create an environment and put players in it. I don't help them much if they are foolish and nor do I tend to match enemies to challenge them. Of course, you can increase the power level a bit if they become famous as then powerful friends will seek their help or powerful foes want them dealt with.

[@thetimebinder]

Yup. Agree 100%

[@evannibbe9375]

Have an ally Druid come in who casts Healing Spirit on the Boss, way easier to fit into the story generally. Also, give the boss Death Saving Throws so that an ally Cleric of Bard can cast Healing Word.

[@theodorebs7512]

Man this really helps! Usually when i create a powerful/deadly bosses my friends and i start to realise just how overpowered those bosses are, afterall you don't want you're player to feel bored, and your boss unchallenging

[@theDMLair]

Yep, and it's easier to make a boss LESS powerful on the fly than MORE powerful IMO. So I'd rather come in hot with a boss and then back off if needed.

[@troyimlach1453]

the last time I ran a Boss fight "as it lies" as you put it. I had to listen to my players complain about how disappointing the boss fight was. The boss went down in 3 rounds. After that I started giving the bosses ether more hit points or ignoring the bosses hit points all together and simply kept the fight going until the players started hurting. My players stopped complaining about how easy the fights were. instead they were throwing out ideas on how to kill the bosses before the boss killed them. we all had a lot more fun with these fights.

[@theDMLair]

Yes exactly. I've had players remark that they were disappointed after boss fights they were too easy as well. Now I try to make my boss fights challenging so my players feel like they have to earn it earn the victory.

[@TalonSilvercloud]

Re: Extending Hit Points If my players have the boss on the ropes, and I can see that some players are getting ready to do something big and flashy, I'll give the boss until the end of the round and see what happens. After several rounds of combat, the boss is down to 50 hit points out of 350. The paladin player remarks "Oh, I forgot to smite evil this guy" but his turn isn't until near the bottom of the initiative, or perhaps it's at the top of the order next round, will let the fight continue long enough for the paladin to smite evil (or activate the group wide smite evil at the start of the round), and then let the round finish. The last attack that hits the boss on that round will likely be the one to finish the boss. If I do this, I will usually inform the party which player actually got the killing blow once the fight is over. Often with a perception check to say "thinking back on the fight, you noticed the villain was barely holding his head up, his stance shifted from tight and disciplined to loose and sloppy, his balance looked like it was off once you saw the Paladin make that charge attack with his Smite Evil. After that his defenses just weren't the same, he was dead on his feet. Like a boxer, punch drunk but still forcing himself to stand against you. But it was just not enough."

[@johnhansen4794]

It is the description that sells it.

[@DevilWearsAdidas]

@@johnhansen4794 yea on paper it sounds dumb, but as explained, I kind of actually like that idea. I was thinking about doing something close to that, but less of "dead already" and more of "hes at 0 hp, but I want this special thing to happen that correlates with the fight being over". Something like player 2/5 kills the boss (0hp), but the boss is still playing because we're only 2/5 people in the turn order and I want something to happen at the bottom of the round, since it was close enough. Maybe the players did more damage than I expected. So at the bottom of the round, a group of knights move in to offer assistance from the boss's minions closing in. Something theatrical. Give them that last "so how do you want to finish him off" for the last attack. there's an endless number of ways to do this in a very dramatical way that offers more than "a boss fight". Its more a conclusion, imo

[@FrontwaysLarry]

2 years later as a reply, but oh well lol I think I'd personally only tell them that someone else landed a killing blow instead of them once in a while. It would surely become obvious that something with the hitpoints/final blow is amiss, unless you like the idea of the players always wanting to check if an enemy is dead yet before attacking, which is also a cool idea. My method for extending hitpoints pretty much applies like this: If I've mismatched the appropriate HP for this enemy, I accept that the party has won; I won't kill them over this, but I'm gonna slap another 200 hitpoints on there and keep the fight going a few rounds more and let them sweat a little and do some really heroic shit.

[@metalmint-1]

I thought of this and instead of making my wizard gnome boss have legendary resistances I made him be secretly a simulacrum and that they would fight him much later

[@theDMLair]

That sounds fun. I can see the players then researching to see if they finally get the real one even after getting him.

[@tuckcav7502]

This came at just the right time! We're preparing to have the Big Bad boss battle in our campaign, and it is the first one I've DMed. This channel has been so helpful for my first DM experience!

[@theDMLair]

Awesome! Happy to help! 😁

[@soulstitches9900]

I feel like Luke would be a scary dm to have as a player. Too many deadly ideas XD

[@theDMLair]

Yes. However I'm on my player's side. I want them to win. I just want them to work for it. 😁

[@Nionivek]

Oddly one thing I once did to prevent a beatdown is design the creature to go into stages, but each stage completely refreshes the boss on its turn. The boss wasn't particularly tough (the entire point was just a sort of "Twist! It turns out it was actually tough" but framed as the boss going into a insane rage that puts it on an entirely new level than what they fought previously with their old tactics not working and some of the bosses old attacks getting new variation)… GOODNESS I love designing monsters. I wish I could just give DM monsters and get to see them use it.

[@theDMLair]

Yes, I've done things like that before. The Angry GM had a series of articles that details the mechanics of that sort of thing.

[@WiIICheck]

Honestly, I agree with everything you recommended. In fact I already implement the "extend hit points" and it makes it more "cinematic" from what I've experienced. Great video as always, Luke!

[@theDMLair]

Thanks! 😁

[@PwekachuPwe]

Hey, I recently started DMing now I can use your tips. Neato!

[@theDMLair]

Cool! Welcome to some of the most fun you'll ever have. 😁 How long were you a player first?

[@PwekachuPwe]

@@theDMLair About a year but we only played about once a month. I plan to run more frequently

[@mhDarkWolf]

If you want to play, run while you can!

[@DetectiveBarricade]

Here's something that could help. If the boss has a recharge ability, like recharge 5-6, let them instantly have the ability recharged once they drop to about 50% health. (assuming it isn't already recharged) In addition to legendary resistances, you could also grant the boss immunity to certain conditions, or advantage on saves against the conditions. Win or lose, the bid bad boss fight ought to be one the players will be talking about for weeks afterward.

[@oramac7237]

Great video!! One of my favorite things for boss fights (especially at high levels) is to use Phases. I know this will probably be wildly debated, but in my experience it has worked extremely well. And I admit I stole the idea from video game boss fights, and some 4th Edition boss mechanics. For example, my group once fought an ancient blue dragon. I took a lot of inspiration from the vanilla Onyxia fight in world of warcraft (none of my players had ever fought her in WoW, so it worked). The entire time the dragon is using lair and legendary actions. Always use these. They help immensely. Phase one: the dragon mostly fights hand to hand, and uses her breath weapon when available. Phase two: begins on the boss's turn after being brought below 2/3 hit points; she takes to the air and uses her breath weapon far more. I modified this Phase to allow her to regain the breath on a roll of 3 or higher on the d6. Also, several blue Guard Drakes (in Volo's Guide) rush in to pester the players. Phase three: begins on the boss's turn after being reduced to 1/3 hit points. She lands and immediately uses her frightful presence feature. This caused loads of opportunity attacks from both the dragon and the Guard Drakes. Fight continues until the dragon and drakes are dead. One character died, and the rest were all low HP by the end, and my players absolutely loved the fight. I've done similar things with tons of BBEG fights, and had great success with it.

[@dricsi07]

Before I watch it this is what I think it needs to have: -Player investment. The boss needs to be something that the players have connections to. Eather someone that they have a history with or someone that was always a looming threat to them. -It must be fast paced event full and at the very least chalanging. It should not be draged out so that the play session slows down to a crawl and it shouldn't eather be just "hit him very hard".

[@theDMLair]

Those are good points and I agree with them.

[@schemage2210]

I never thought of just giving bosses legendary resistances but that makes so much sense. Do you regularly give creature magic resistance too?

[@theDMLair]

I usually don't mess much with non-bosses, but from time to time i do customize them. Not with legendary resistance as that's too much. But magic resistence could make sense from time to time.

[@baltsosser]

That would be a fun table to play at. Mage: I cast...DM: It glows with a beautiful arcane energy. It appears to have no effect on... Everyone else: Uh oh. What have we gotten into?

[@realize2much691]

As a starter DM, this helps so so so much!!!

[@theDMLair]

Awesome! Glad to here that! 😁

[@GreenflameExplains]

One other thing to keep in mind is that there are ways to tilt the action economy in your boss's favour. Such as, you're a massive dragon, you're something like thirty times the size of these puny adventurers, don't let the fighter carry on hitting you over and over, just step on him! And keep him there! Now the players have to consider getting their friend out from under the huge dragon foot instead of just auto-pilot-ly hurling more attacks.

[@theDMLair]

Now there's an awesome idea! 😈

[@thehuricane0]

12:42 Skeletal angels with wings, slightly stronger than skeletons and they can also swoop down and fight on the ground while also chasing the players in the air.

[@mykediemart]

Great video Luke. The advice is solid and you explain how and why to implement it. The minion rule is one of the best tools for stepping up an encounter. The patching some hp on or even keeping a legendary ability at the ready can turn a bland encounter to an epic. I run games for experienced vets, optimal builders, newbies, and so forth so adjusting things is important. I also liked the editing.

[@theDMLair]

Thanks! 😁

[@ShioriWhitefeather]

Knacromancer. :P love this series, ty

[@theDMLair]

Happy to help! :-)

[@cburr1000]

my party doesnt typically do these stun or fear the enemies moves. They typically do 220 damage a round. they say the best crowd control is if you just kill them

[@baltsosser]

Three things are required to execute a successful military operation. Shoot, Move, Communicate. As a DM if you force the PC's to do ALL three, their challenge is greater than just walking into a regular flavor boss fight. Hard to communicate if Blind, or Deaf. Hard to move with things in play like Hold Person. elemental conditions as simple as strong gusts could render arrows or bolts useless. Setting good conditions to make working together as a coordinated team much more difficult makes for a very entertaining day. you wove a good scenario with the gem being broken to summon an elemental while one of the big guys falls back to pelt the adventurers with stones. Nice. Nothing like shield walls of underlings to chew through wearing you out before you can get into the final fight.

[@ajgodinez]

I was combing through a lot of different youtube videos about how to make combat interesting, and have cobbled together and tried a few of the suggestions, but what you just discussed here good sir is basically the summary and then some of what I think has really helped me craft better boss battles for my players!

[@jjschow]

I am going to name my next boss "chief-chin"

[@trevorp8124]

Personal fave I used last campaign; The BBEG's motivation for all his evil shit is to thwart a bigger badder evil-er guy that may or may not be on the horizon, and said entity shows at the tail end of the final encounter. The half-dead campaign boss just fishes the beleaguered party off the floor like "Get your asses up" and they fight the new threat together.

[@TriMarkC]

That’s a good idea! Players and their PCs wouldn’t entirely know how to treat the 1st bad guy - trust him or not? My current 2+ year campaign’s big finale is tonight. I’m toying w idea that BBEG’s Lieutenant is waiting to take over the evil plan when the BBEG dies, even double-crossing or backstabbing him to get away. The players have some empathy for my BBEG but hate his lieutenant, so I’d make sure players could get the lieutenant in the end.

[@arcanavoresmanavault2637]

That vitriolic sphere of DM distrust. ROFLOL

[@MonkeyJedi99]

If I was running the ice giant boss, the cave would be an ice cave, and the boss reaching end-of-hit-points would execute its last attack at the key support column for the cave. Treat the cave-in as an attack against everything on the map (PC and NPC alike) at the giant's melee bonus, with say double damage and a chance to trap those it hits. Reflex (? I don't play this system) save to not get pinned under ice.

[@theDMLair]

Yes! Great idea! 😈

[@beastrelmhd5312]

I found that humanoid bosses work really well when you apply normal character logic to them, sometimes I like to blend classes together into an NPC to make some combinations. My most recent boss battle was against the Terrible Bandit King Clause, a Wizard/Bard multiclass who had the Portent ability from the Divination wizard school archetype. I made for an interesting time describing how he looked through infinite universes to find a specific set of changes that would cause the PC bard to fail her spell, my players said they enjoyed it. And you don't even have to worry about health, you can just boost their health a bit and give them some magical items to make up for other things! My players enjoyed it immensely, I am told, sometimes a bit of flavoring can go a long way in how the players perceive the NPC/Monsters actions.

[@ratman505]

The amount of resistances should be increased or decreased by number of PCs as well Countering some abilities should not be controversial if the big bad is intelligent and knows the enemy (the players in this case)

[@theDMLair]

Agreed. Adjust based on party.

[@erc1971erc1971]

Extending Hit Points. This makes me smile. I recall a fight from my current campaign where the PC's were fighting a weakened god - meant to be an epic fight, but the evil god kept rolling 3's and 4's on all his rolls. After several rounds, all his minions were dead and he technically should have been as well. By the time the fight ended, I think the boss had 3 times is original hit points and I had to fudge the crap out of all the low rolls I kept rolling through the entire encounter. My character's ended up loving the fight and were emailing/texting about how awesome it was for days.

[@96Logan]

As far as extending hit points in combat, it really depends on the DM whom is running the game. One DM I play with is an English professor. He is very skilled at story crafting and have a very narrative focused game. I give him full trust in creating a shared experience for all of us at the table. Another DM I've played with has a background of war gaming. He follows the rules to a T and is more of the classic "adversarial DM." I wouldn't trust him with changing anything about a monster, even though he wouldn't change anything about a monster.

[@evannibbe9375]

Yeah, it always makes more sense to give a boss allies with full hp or a scroll of Teleport than extend their hp.

[@AfroX-StayLegendary]

Your point about editing the boss during the fight being fair really helped, thank you.

[@joshuasolt8416]

I have been designing a boss battle for a future campaign that forces all members to change their routines. Roll a D4, on a D1 all magic is null and cannot be used until the Boss's next turn and rolls the D4 again. D2 causes all healing to cause that much damage instead until the next roll. D3 causes a magical increase in the earths magnetic field and causes all metal objects to become extremely heavy, this causes all attacks to have disadvantage. and D4 raises everyones awareness tenfold causing sneaking to be impossible. If you have other ideas let me know! I'd love to grow this into a D8 or D10!

[@lynmcateer9536]

Wait about number 2 are you pcs able to cast 9th level spells

[@Joshuazx]

Have a fake-out boss who explodes when the players kill it. Then the real boss walks into the room slinging spells at the party's MVP.

[@CohenWiggins85]

I’ve been prepping a oneshot for my birthday and I’ve been watching so many of your videos to prepare, you’re a lifesaver with your great advice!

[@dford4014]

Rule of Cool goes both ways!

[@dford4014]

TY for the homage to Max Headroom!

[@dylancox631]

I agree with everything here. Matt Colville said it best: game design does not stop because you rolled initiative. Adjust on the fly to make your boss tougher or easier based on the needs of the encounter.

[@ArchBuck1]

Thank you for these videos, I'm just getting close to wrapping up my first D&D campaign (as a dm with no game experience) and it's been and amazing game for me and the players. As I'm planning my last battles, this video is a perfect example of how much help you have been in making it a success. Thanks and keep them coming!

[@TriMarkC]

Give your BBEG access to healing - via tattoos (+50, +100 are what I use), blood link (each NPC or minion killed gives BBEG 5-10 temp HP), soul link (victim NPC soul in a gem, & BBEG can feed off it as temp HP), or a vampiric weapon or aura (so anyone hurt by or even near BBEG feeds him). The soul gem idea is fun when you let PCs see early on that they’re not hurting BBEG, then reveal BBEG throw away a drained soul gem, & pull out another - “You’ve killed ; so sad.”This works best if players know BBEG has a way to steal life or spirit from others, but not sure how. Now PCs are even more motivated to kill BBEG yet somehow keep him from using any more soul gems.

[@Tytotius]

Something that I have seen and heard and done myself as a DM is instead of giving a boss more hit points or even worrying about hit points entirely is plan out beforehand how long the boss lives, whether that be till a certain character dies or after a certain number of rounds. This is so that I can make a better narrative for my players or make it more memorable and fun.

[@theDMLair]

Yeah that makes sense. I feel that's very similar to what I do when I extend hit points. Because when I extend hit points I'm really just looking for there to be an interesting narrative and make things fun for my players. So I can totally see you no deciding certain events that would happen in a fight to create a certain narrative you know a special things that happened before the boss actually goes down. It's just a different way of cultivating the game experience I think.

[@glitchwolf1384]

I am all for modifying monsters all over the place. If the party is going to take down a villain in less than 5 turns, there's something wrong, you need to extend the hitpoints, but if you do extend hitpoints, don't let that cause a player to die. Also, when it comes to customizing bosses for groups: Absolutely! Do it with almost all of them! If the party relies really heavily on fire damage, you can make a boss resistant to it. But, most importantly, and the part that's been the most fun for my players: Every boss has something that will make a player feel awesome if/when they find it. A party without many ways to deal Acid damage, for instance, I might put up against a boss with weaknesses to acid, to encourage fun tactics and make the player who uses it feel cool. If the monk is playing a blind character I might have a boss use a burst of light to try and blind the party, making everyone except the monk roll saves against blindness, and having the monk hold the boss off for the next turn or so while the party recovers. It's the little things that make players think 'ah geez that was a tough fight, luckily Deen saved us' or 'Wow we nearly lost there, pretty lucky I found out about the boss's weakness to ice damage, right?' that makes the players feel so amazing.

[@pancerota]

great advice! particularly the one about extending Boss hit points. I don't even worry about its HP on the stat block..I just gauge the tension and the flow of combat and put him down when it feels about right. never failed me so far..great video, cheers!

[@HowtoRPG]

DM Trust is important. I liked the video topic.

[@Alexs229]

I've been making a Halloween one-shot campaign that I plan to run in October for (hopefully) a couple groups of people. At this point, I literally just need to make the BBEG's lair/boss fight. I was already planning on a necromancer + a Flesh Golem. The floating platform, minion summons and legendary actions ideas really got the ideas flowing! Tons of Crawling Hands! Hurling the platforms at clusters of players! Using a soul absorption effect that'll kill off the minions but give the boss temp HP if the players focus her too much, too soon.

[@theDMLair]

Electrify the floor so the flesh golem is constantly getting healed. 😈

[@shannonirion5234]

Thanks for these videos! I'm not completely new to DMing (~20 or so sessions), but a lot of the battles I've given my party have been a bit lackluster. I appreciate your tips!

[@treeofnoodles1498]

used these 2 videos for dm-ing/creating my first boss battle! really excited for it :)!

[@lapsiluco]

This one time the dm had a boss make a double, but the warlock just banished it

[@theDMLair]

Yes that is the danger of banishment. The solution of course is to make two doubles!

[@talongreenlee7704]

My favorite low level boss I’ve made was a skeleton with a few levels of fighter in chainmail and two handing a longsword. I really like this gimmick of having a boss monster being an enhanced version of a lower CR creature. When using this method, you’ve really got to add somewhere between 50-100 hit points on the creature. Otherwise they can easily be one-shot.

[@LebonMJ]

Nice vids for sure, i wish Dnd and rpg were more popular in france, but still i am trying my best to share the passion on youtube inspired by guys like you

[@iamthesky1878]

I had taken the initiative to make an exp table that goes up to lvl 40. This has helped me make so many character sheets for bosses that just become very limited when my players get high level.

[@marcodesimone8155]

man! more i see your videos, more i think we think exactly the same about dm-ing! i'm agree with all your stuff and you gave me a lot of good advices and your videos are good and hilarious. Changing things while the game is running is perfectly normal for me: i know what i want to make feel and i know what my players like in the game, so if i have to change something, i do it!

[@KevinVideo]

My last DM was definitely someone who gave all monsters max hp and then doubled it, for his own sake. On top of that, all of the monsters in his world basically had discord where they all converged and told everyone other monster on it about the PCs and what their abilities were. When it came time for boss fights, they were more than prepared for all of us, every time.

[@szayelapporograntz3276]

I really like this video. I had a group of 6 level 1 players (Fighter, Barbarian, Rogue, Ranger, Druid, and Warlock) fight off against two "Blood" Water Weirds that were buffed with Multiattack (they could attack twice) and a Dragonborn's Breath Weapon. About 3 rounds in, I decided to "activate" the Multiattack once the creatures reached 50% HP, but only for one creature; the other lost the ability altogether, as that PC group was struggling more. After some continued struggle, the Druid (reduced to 1 HP) decided to run away, which triggered the monster's attack of opportunity, which I allowed a Dex save for. The Druid successfully escaped, resulting in the monster crashing into the rune-covered wall, promptly losing 15 HP and becoming Stunned for 1 turn. I won't go farther in depth (unless you want me to), but I took a lot of liberties in a focus on making the monsters more lifelike - and I only fudged one roll! As a result, the players won, half the party was either unconscious or dangerously low on HP, and everybody absolutely LOVED it.

[@cameronpearce5943]

I had a black dragon that the party was hunting. It was also a wizard. When the party found it's lair and fought too it's inner sanctum it had made itself invisible with a magic ring and hit on the ceiling. Then, it blasts the party with it's breath, drops down, and like a god damn Dark Souls boss casts Shadow Blade and comes at the party with a Greatsword made from necrosis incarnate. It also uses a few of the other magic items in it's hoard, like a potion of speed, and at the very end to unleash a Marid and a Vrock from Iron Flasks. it was grueling, but the party managed to take them down at the end, and in game it had been about an hour so the Marid slew the Vrock and the party made nice with them, and helped them get back to the Plane of Water

[@theDMLair]

Epic! I love that the dragon used his own magic items against them.

[@cameronpearce5943]

@@theDMLair Thanks :D I got the idea from Ludwig from Dark Souls, a terrifying centaur demon who pulls out a lightsaber greatsword during his second phase. It's horrifying.

[@jonjay6808]

All hail Chieftain Chief-Chin! :OP Seriously, awesome channel, awesome videos. Well done, and keep 'em coming!

[@celestialparrot1]

Thanks for the video! I've been working on creating my own campaign and setting the last few months, so your content has been a huge help. I'm planning on trying to get some friends to run through some of your one shots as well, so I can get some practice at DMing. Keep up the good work!

[@theDMLair]

Thanks! You're very welcome. Usually snacks and beverages work wonders as bribes to get friends to play. 😁

[@bezretmet]

so basically you are saying to turn the ice giant into a remohraz... gotcha xD

[@theDMLair]

Hey, a DM's gotta do what a DM's gotta do... 😁

[@tyleremery7088]

That would be a pretty freaking cool boss battle, tbh.

[@IalporVpaahi]

I'd poke at it

[@tannerray5014]

I’m glad I’m not the only that adjusts boss hitpoints on the fly. My players are masters of doing ridiculous amounts of damage, so I’ve had to do that a couple times to make sure it felt like a boss fight. On the note of countering player abilities, my players are currently being watched by the future BBEG. I’m hoping this makes it feel like the boss has a reason to be able to counter some of their abilities.

[@MrDmitriRavenoff]

My party is massively overpowered (my own fault) so I even adjust HP on basic monsters. Max HP seems to be appropriate to my encounters on many occasions.

[@theDMLair]

Most dungeon Master's that I talked to adjust hit points on the Fly. Very few people have a problem with it and I suspect is probably players who don't like the idea.

[@alvarodifini5017]

For low level bosses you might want to give them a "parry and counter" reaction instead of a legendary action. This gives the boss the chance to cause an extra attack they might otherwise not have used (and it also provides the players the "a-há! the boss can't cause opportunity attacks!" moment, not realizing the boss already did a proactive opportunity attack of sorts), while also adding some AC until their next turn.

[@kendrickrochelanzot2053]

The music choice in the intro is so beautiful

[@theDMLair]

Thanks! I spend far too much time trying to choose just the right tracks to set atmosphere. 😁

[@adamdeclue3843]

the DM Lair what is the specific name for that song in the intro

[@TheMadQueen96]

My players are going to fight a Cloud Giant Smiling One who has become a Lich and I love your portals idea. I'm also going to use the ice armour but make it lightning or thunder damage instead. Skeletons encased in ice as minions, perhaps?

[@isaacbrockwell9634]

I find myself being very excited for the atmosphere and storytelling of my games, but kind of dreading the actual combat. I made the mistake of giving my first ever group some OP weapons because I knew they would like it, and I'm kind of terrible at being able to tell if they enjoy the amount of danger they are in so I often pull my punches. Your videos have helped me enjoy that side of the game so much and i always get a new spark of creativity every time I see one. So thanks man 👍

[@trwechsler4737]

Comment for the algorithm! Great stuff as always

[@MatthewThornton76]

The best boss fight I ever DM’d was a party of 7 at level 5. I threw at them a Beholder. But that Beholder was a old Beholder that had several missing eye stalks. I removed the really dangerous ones. IE: Disintegration Ray. The Beholder had a bunch of magic portals to move around the Dungeon like a Mario pipe. The fight was very challenging and fun.

[@gabe6106]

I’m probably gonna do something were I would study how the plays did stuff and separate them into there own little areas as a pre boss fight we’re they would have to fight a part of the the huge beast/have them fight a mini boss then once defeating it they’d go against the BBED or something

[@thendarkendwolf8796]

An idea for an very level encounter is, have the party run up against a Duke of Hell and then make one character become possessed by 13 very powerful pit fiends.

[@oniminikui]

I was running the Forge of Fury campaign for my players and I really liked how they wanted the black dragon to be ran (stay in the lake and breath on the players - I almost had a tpk that first round).

[@pondrthis1]

Lair actions, legendary actions, legendary resistance, difficult + 3D terrain, waves of minions, but perhaps most importantly, a keen survival instinct. A good boss doesn't pull its punches. It'll double-tap downed enemies once it sees them as remotely threatening. When it's down to 1/3 or so of its hit points, it'll probably look to escaping or hiding for a while. It might even damage its lair to do so. Nothing quite like waiting for all the 1 minute concentration buffs to lapse, then climbing back out of the depths/flying back down/breaking invisibility/returning with another dimension door when the players are looking through loot. Even better if you can open with a Refresh ability that refreshed in the meantime. Regenerating enemies love that time, too.

[@micahleis5424]

I know this video is a couple of years old, but watching it in December 2021 (while being the DM for a campaign over the past several months) I appreciate your insight. I hope to be able to incorporate your advice into my group's next session (a mini-boss) and sessions thereafter.

[@theDMLair]

Awesome! I'm happy to hear that you're finding the information useful.

[@Magictrickslol]

I started implementing a "Rage" mechanic for all bosses. Once they get to below half hp, they get to use one legendary action that allows them to take one action after each players turn for one round. This helps change the pace of the fight and can force some split second decisions. It simulates the bad guy getting the upper hand for a moment or their adrenaline kicking in. Idk give it a shot.

[@Gwyndoll]

You thought he was dead, but he's back for round two! Knackromancer Two, baybeeee!

[@Demiand_]

All these extra elements are very good ideas, I liked the idea of the floating platforms. I give extra HP to some monsters when a fight would be boring or extremely fast. But, I would add a second fase without telling the PCs; They will love it. Challenge Rating is always deadly+ to make things challenging if you used what the book suggests sometimes it will result in a simple easy fight with no fun.

[@theDMLair]

Yes I agree. I've had lots of combats that were supposed to be deadly turn out to be super easy. I've come not to trust the numbers very much.

[@Reapor234]

I know I'm late to the party, but something I do with some boss monsters is add Health Gates to them. For those that don't know what a Health Gate is, its where the creature stops taking damage after a certain threshold and becomes immune to damage until some condition is met. A quick example: >Angel of Death has 240 hitpoints. >After she takes 60 points of damage, she immediately slams into the ground (If airborne) and covers herself with her wings (Any damage that exceeded the 60 HP threshold is usually negated, though its something I adjudicate on the fly. 2 points is fine, but 30 points puts her too close to the next threshold and I'm trying to make this climatic.). >During this time, she's invulnerable to damage and at the end of Initiative count 1 on the next round she flaps her wings and sends sharp feathers out 30ft from her. All creatures in the area must make a Dex save or take damage. The important thing here is to always try to find a way to let your player's know whats going to happen organically. In this case, the angel might shout something like "Let my feathers cut through your arrogance!" or an NPC suggests taking cover because they don't know whats going to happen. This way it gives the party a chance to figure out whats going to happen and can try and react accordingly. >Once the trigger goes off, she sends feathers out around her to try and injure the party. >Once she takes another 60 points of damage, a similar thing happens. This time, however, instead of slamming into the ground and repeating the same move again she soars into the sky and begins to glow with power. Rifts begin to appear in the air/space above the party, one for each party member. The rift seems to always follow where they go, but cannot move from their spot. This is to keep to the theme of "Whenever she goes into this state, we need to find cover or else we're going to hurt." It helps the players realize a pattern is being set, and can react accordingly. I think you get the point here. Which leads me to my next idea on how to make boss monsters feel unique: Give them a specific way to fully kill/defeat them that isn't just "I hit it with a sword/arrow/axe/spell/etc." Put an object, or objects, onto the map that must be dealt with in some way in order to damage the boss. Maybe its a weird, massive, magical sentient tree that is hurling magical fire at the party. The party very well will find it difficult to realistically chop down a huge tree in order to win the fight. However, you throw in some roots that wrap around special crystals and suddenly the party has to find the crystals and dispatch them. In this scenario, destroying the crystals releases the fiery spirit within the tree which the party can then dispatch of normally. This scenario, at a bare minimum, will last 5 rounds of combat. Most fights are over in 2-3, so you've effectively doubled the time (To provide the illusion/reality of it being a powerful creature) and made it unique to your game.

[@jariusreece1931]

DM Lair: *talks with monotone for dragon* Me: *brutally destroys own voice. Can't speak next session* Yeah um...I think I lost on the long run there

[@theDMLair]

Just gotta practice more. 😂

[@erc1971erc1971]

While I am so horrible at accents that I don't use them at all, I am amazing when it comes to things with deep, gruff voices such as dragons, demons, etc. Perhaps it is due to all the singing...err yelling...along I do to all the thrash metal I listen to :P

[@xpanimations2872]

:) genius videos!

[@mattman3716]

I made a series of boss fights for my players in one of my games and the way I did the boss's HP was setting a Damage threshold. Example, Knowing my parties level and knowing about how much damage they can dish out each, I set up a X number of damages that if the party can reach it, it will trigger the next phase of the boss fight. This again like you said can be changed on the fly, so if it is taking to long for them the reach that X number then I lower it as needed. Another way around this was making it last no longer than 2-3 rounds. So if they DO hit that X number in the first round then i will extend it to the next round to prolong the fight. This is a way that I thought could keep the big bad boss fight awesome and climatic but still make it easy on the DM without having to put so much effort and time into creating the encounter just for the fight to fall short of the DM's and players expectations.

[@evannibbe9375]

I would advise over-balancing the fight and adding a bunch of powerful allies like Dusk Hags brought forth by a Conjure Fey Spell and maintained by a Planar Binding spell such that (I know it is often called bad practice on this channel) the players can be forced to make wisdom saving throws vs Hypnotic Pattern and thus the big bad can potentially capture the players at these extremely high levels.

[@mrlumpy524]

NACROMANCER Great video

[@joesgotmore]

I like to give boss characters a means of escape along with some thing that is on a timer. IE a portal about to open up. Basically force the characters to chose which is more important. Stop the bad guy from getting away or stopping the evil plan from causing more trouble for the party.

[@theDMLair]

Yeah! Choices like that always make things more interesting.

[@tenaciousbiscuit9927]

In terms of adjusting health, I have on several occasions gone both ways, raised the HP on the fly because I know my players wanna savour the moment, other times I've weakened them because I don't want to trigger a particular thematic event - warlock made a bloodpact with a dimension hopper, long story, but it wasn't time to reveal that yet

[@razordu30]

Look; a real BBEG's henches and minions would clearly send intel back to the BBEG as to what the heroes' capabilities are. Canonically it makes total sense for a BBEG to have counters or specifically designed attacks.

[@PizzaMineKing]

Glyph of warning is good to upgrade bosses with resistances and abilitys - cast it as "only activate if I [the boss] touch it", swipe over a table full of them -> 10 buff spells without concentration in 1 action prepared

[@bluedash14]

For my campaign I run I don’t usually run any fights that don’t really need to be fought so I always have an extra lair action for any battle that they fight. Well mire event action. Something weird that can turn the tide of battle for or against the party. And example is in the first part of the campaign where they were fighting a large wave of crows along with a bunch of other low-level heroes in a completely separate fight someone threw a boulder and it landed on one of the crows that the party was fighting those killing an enemy for them. Another example would be at one point the party was fighting a mini boss in a forest and the forest spirit raised fog up to make seeing difficult for both the party and the enemies

[@X23Natalie]

Im all for taking player abilities into account in big boss fights. Your mid-late game PC's are growing in fame or are even borderline demigods. And any well set campaign will have them contending with captains and lieutenants of the BBEG. As such there will be a plethora of information flowing in through the BBEG information network through word of mouth, divination, and straight up bragging to spys at the players next tavern visit.

[@theDMLair]

Yes, exactly!

[@margurkatyberius]

"I'm gonna tickle it" "Okay, roll a dex saving throw" "I was just kidding" "I know, roll buddy"

[@kindacruise]

I love your videos, even though I cant organize for the life of me

[@theDMLair]

Thanks! You can't organize what? A group?

[@kindacruise]

@@theDMLair I can never get schedules organized, the bane of all dnd players

[@HenriqueLSilva]

I started DMing just the other day, and the first combat ever was the level 3 barbarian, who'd charged alone into the woods, vs a cr3 monster, which he would have to survive against until the rest of the party arrived in around 2 rounds. Luckily for him though the creature was busy dragging the child it had kidnapped and didn't immediately notice him, allowing for a stealthy javelin throw. He didn't even need to rage and the thing was dying by the time the other 2 arrived, I basically had to double its HP just so that the others could get a round in. With that said my first monster fight ever as a DM was short, but the players got to kill it in one epic combo (all had their turn before the mosnter, so I basically narrated them ganging up on the thing in a more cinematic way and everyone seemed happy afterwards, since they killed the thing together), which wouldn't have happened if I just let the barbarian murder it on his own. Moral of the story: CR is a lie and Runesmith was right about barbarians and creepy encounters.

[@twistednwarped314]

Have them "resurrect" through a mechanic that can be stopped and each time they resurrect their abilities slightly change. This makes the encounter challenging in terms of both combat and puzzle solving and keeps each new round from being the same as the last.

[@imoweenlodestone5447]

Dude I have done this before with a new monster I created. Specifically the monster boss used the environment against the pcs..the fight lasted 7 rounds, but he got away...it was exciting climatic...they shocked the shit out of me..I gave them 1000xp for their attitude

[@dorianrobinette9712]

I've never had a chance to play dnd my self but I do love to set up little roleplaying adventures for some friends of mine I talk to over an in game chat of the game we play. they aren't really meant to be super well balanced but just fun adventures that normally last a few hours at most in total. the last adventure I did I played a dwarf (I played a character and was the equivalent of a dm) and my friend played a half orc. the final boss was a red Dragon who was threatening a nearby town. my character owned a business as a professional monster slayer and had been hired to kill the Dragon. in the adventure the half orc and my dwarf met and the dwarf temporarily hired the half orc to assist him. now the idea behind my character is that for him planning is more than half the battle. when hunting down a dangerous monster he plans ahead and finds away to kill the beast before he ever even meets it. so by the time our two characters met all that was left was to put the plan into action. they took a cart of treasure to the dragons lair as tribute and pretended to be servants of the Dragon. they told him the town was plotting to have him killed which of course wasn't exactly a lie. this caused the Dragon to fly into a rage and to go attack the town. fast forwarding a little to the actual battle this is where the main part of the plan came into play. before hand the dwarf had the town mayor evacuate all of the citizens so they'd be safe. he also had them set up balistas and cannons to meet the foul beast. when the Dragon flew in he set the town ablaze and landed on the highest building. it was after this with fire everywhere that the order was given and town guards fired the balistas which shredded the dragons wings apart taking away his power to fly. then guards fired cannon balls pummeling the dragons gut knocking him off the building into the street below causing the top of the building to collapse! the Dragon now obviously pissed began rampaging! it's also where the real fight began. at this point skipping over the little details our characters battled the Dragon. then at a certain stage of the fight my dwarf told the half orc to hold his own and ran around a corner to do something. I set this up to give my friend time to shine basically being the main hero against the monster. after a few rounds my dwarf jumped from the top of the building and landed a blow severing the dragons spinal cord killing it. anyway that's my little story. I know it's not super relevant but it's here for anyone who enjoyed it. have a good day all who read this! :)

[@StarrL0rd89]

I REALLY LIKE YOUR HAT IN THIS VIDEO