Epic Boss Encounters: How to make your Big Bad Stand out.

It’s been 14 months. You’ve lost a player and picked up two more. You accidentally spent 9 months DMing a story line about Horace ‘Hogwild’ Horchata - a man your Ranger asked for directions once. The session has been rescheduled 6 times, but it’s finally arrived. The players somehow got back on track and the final showdown with the big bad boss you’ve been hyping up all campaign is here.

Then, it just sort of…fizzles.

Maybe your players skate passed the encounter with barely a problem, or they are blown away in 3 turns by an over-tuned fireball. Perhaps you get stuck in a long, repetitive slog of a battle, or it just doesn’t go the way you thought it would. Tabletop games can be hard to predict, but here are some tips for keeping those key encounters consistently fun, engaging and memorable.

1. GIVE YOUR BOSSES MULTIPLE STAGES:

   This isn’t a new idea, but it’s mostly seen in video games. Giving your boss a second, third or if you dare…a fourth form is a great way to pace out your fight, without being at the mercy of the dice. Gating off your boss’ hitpoints also avoids the anti-climax of a one-hit-quit-crit-smite. Your players can start off making easy work of their would-be villain. Then the surprise settles in when they realise it’s only just beginning.

2. MIX IN SOME MINIONS:
   If you thought that this next section was going to be about Gru in any way at all, please exit quietly, you are permanently banned from Tabletop Games. Everyone else will get the tip that even if you give your Big Bads a TON of HP and unlimited Spells, they still have to pay the piper. The Action Economy. Lone bosses aren’t just left as the one and only target for every single laser blast and big sword swing for the entire fight. It also means they can only pull off so many tricks. Having some extra grunts, just to keep the pressure on will completely change a fight. Not to mention if someone needs to pull a lever, snatch up a magic item or tackle some meddling wizard to the ground, your poor boss isn’t left with their hands quite so full.
   

3. KNOW YOUR STAR:
   No, I haven’t accidentally mixed in a paragraph from the overly-comprehensive sex-education book i’m writing. You need to know all the ins and outs of your boss. It’s so easy to get cocky when you’ve run a thousand encounters with your stock standard monsters. Bosses are a different story though. They have legendary actions, lair actions, resistances and a few more tricks up their sleeve than your basic arrow fodder. TPKing your players isn’t something you should do in the heat of the moment, it’s done best as a premediated crime. Read and re-read your Boss’ abilities. Know when they’re most useful and run some simulations in your head (we aren’t crazy, don’t let them tell you otherwise) on when they might use them. It’s been a few too many times personally, i’ve been looking over the smouldering remains of my precious villain; when I realised they didn’t have to get permanently hold-person’d in the second round of combat.

4. STAY UNSTUCK:
   Your players don’t respect you. I’m sorry, it’s hard to hear this, but it’s true. They think you’re a dweeb. When your boss comes out they are usually going to go right for the throat. They’re going to try and lock them down, get in to position and unleash their arsenal on your poor bad guy. Great Bosses are less predictable than that. Give your boss plenty of room to move and ways to escape. A shifty teleport is a Gods-Send when the table’s sorcerer turns half the battlefield in to quicksand. Don’t let them get bogged down. If they’re big, like a dragon, they need room to fly and run. If they’re small and nimble, like a lich or spellcaster, they will also need room to fly, if you’re doing your job right. As well as cover and obstacles to hide behind. Keep them moving and change who they’re attacking regularly. It’ll make the fight more meaningful for everyone involved!
   

   ACT DAMN YOU - ACT!
   Now I know not everyone is a natural thespian. Some people DM with the charisma and talent of D&D enthusiast Vin Diesel. Others, are good at acting, and can really bring characters alive. Even if you’re not a confident role-player, make sure to keep the stew full of flavour. Your villain shouldn’t just fight your party, they should torment them. A wicked sorcerer should take a moment to insult someone every turn. A sadistic warlord should goad and threaten the players standing near the back for their weakness. A great, frenzied beast should occasionally ignore the players and knock down an orphanage, just to keep the party motivated to stop them. Think about why your villain is the villain. Why do the party hate them? Why do they want to fight them? Keeping this in mind every turn will refresh motivations and give a boss a lasting impression.
   
   Well friends, I hope, much like a police psychologist reading a manifesto someone found jammed in one of the nozzles at a frozen yoghurt shop, you were able to gleam some Wisdom from the scrawlings of a madman. Next time you sit down to that hyped-up encounter for the ages, you’ll be ready. Ready to make your players rue the day they called your Aaranthorn son of Argoncorn character “derivative”. To all the DM’s - happy hunting and to any perma-players who came here looking for an inside scoop…good luck.