Meta: Boss Fights

So I completely forgot to update on Friday. That is totally my bad, and I apologize. So instead of making a boss fight for The Black Forest, I instead decided to just write up my thoughts on making boss fights and how they should be done. I like this approach better, because it allows me to break down and think about how to make a boss fight quickly while accomplishing what I want.


Boss fights are supposed to be interesting. They're the final exam for an adventure, and should encapsulate everything leading up to that point. The fight should be interesting, memorable, and dangerous. I'm a huge fan of using terrain and unique powers to make the fights interesting. The biggest thing to remember is that the purpose of a boss fight is to make the players feel like heroes, and that can't happen if they don't do something genuinely heroic. So the elements I always try to include:

• Terrain
• Difficult terrain limits mobility of PCs
• Different terrain types can hide specific monsters. Pools of water concealing aquatic ambushers, for instance.
• Natural fortifications to provide an advantage for the boss and its minions. 
• Boundaries
• Is there just a wall containing the PCs and the boss?
• Different areas may have different boundaries. Gouts of flame, shield golems, etc.
• Mostly for indoor fights with an arena of some sort, but outside areas may still have some sort of boundary to contain the fight.
• Traps
• Most bosses may anticipate a fight, and will prepare accordingly
• Pots of boiling oil, fire traps, nets with tripwire, anything.
• Collapsible terrain for makeshift fortifications\

These change dramatically based on what the fight is supposed to be. Most adventures I plan scale up towards the end boss. Different monster types and traps will be present at different points, and all should be present at the boss fight. Monsters as bodyguards, traps there as elements in the battlefield, and all of the thematic elements of the adventure. 

The boss itself can have completely different mechanics. A bandit leader might be focused on slashing away with swords while his lackeys fire with crossbows. A mind flayer would use magical artillery to blast the party while his brainwashed minions swarm over them. An evil druid might command plants to entangle the party and shapeshift into different forms to cover different tactical situations. But there are still some themes that most fights should fall under.

• Straight Confrontation
• The PCs kick down the door and charge.
• Based entirely on combat.
• Usually in an enclosed arena, and all mechanics are just for combat purposes
• Countdown
• The boss is protecting a time-sensitive event.
• e.g. a portal to a demonic plane that needs time to open.
• Most mechanics are focused on delaying the PCs instead of outright killing them.
• Chase
• The boss wants to escape the PCs, or for someone important to escape the PCs
• This is similar to the Countdown in that the focus is on delaying the PCs
• More about misdirection and decoys

There is a difference between magical and mundane boss fights. To cite earlier examples, a bandit camp would have a mundane boss fight and the mind flayer would be a magical boss fight. While the magical ones may have more immediately interesting effects, mundane fights are more open to actual tactics. Magical boss fights tend to involve a singular master and their minions, while the mundane bosses are usually large and capable of combat themselves. Their minions would be more competent than just dominated creatures or magical constructs that blindly follow orders.
The main point that I want to make about a mundane boss fight is that the boss should be more than just a monster with more hit points and does more damage. They should be noticeably different in combat. If the bandit leader has a spiked chain while all the other ones have crossbows and daggers, the party will have to watch out for the new type of fight. They should have different powers to the ordinary mooks, beyond just being "better." 

I'll add more about changing the dynamic of the fight another day. But I'll give a few examples of ways to spice things up beyond my other guidelines for boss fights: 

• Aerial fight on the backs of giant eagles.
• Mine carts racing down to the depths of a mountain.
• Atop a rickety wooden bridge hanging above an active volcano.
• A torrential downpour limiting visibility and making the terrain unstable.

…and more to come!