I am trying to come up with a Baddie for my campaign that is kinda a side quest. Here is the gist of what has happened-
My players entered a the town in Episode 4 of HOTDQ (which is getting kinda boring) and met the Paladin. Here is where I inserted the side quest-The Pally is just wrecked, having taken on the Baddie on his own. The players get a vision of a undulating mass of darkness(zombie horde) in front of a throne of bone. Upon the throne appears to be a frail hooded figure (spelled to look this way-think Mumm-Ra). Now the party has decided that the evil must be stopped. I need help fleshing out a level 17 Fighter/Necromancer. No I don't expect them to win, though they might...I expect them to fight and run when he shows his true self-maybe come back later and try again.
Thanks for any input.
Sounds like a nice, gnarly set-up.
One thing I would advise is planning a strategy for if they don’t run. In my experience, players are really bad at knowing when they’re outclassed, and many would rather die fighting than turn tail and run. Some are just convinced that they're untouchable. So, how do you break off the combat if the PCs won’t?
Ralif_Redhammer wrote:
Anybody got any ideas?
For sure check out the monster manual entries for Mummy Lord and Lich. Both of which will return from death if the PC's happen to kill them. As-is, I think the monsters are a little on the weak side, but they have some really cool abilities you can pull from. If you do use a Lich, be sure to wrap him up in tons of bandages anyway. Put a hidden canopic jar with Nystul's Magical Aura cast on it nearby too. 
If going for a fighter/necromancer, I'd probably go 5th level Fighter/Eldritch Knight, 12th level Necromancer. This gives you a 2nd attack, a few Ability score increases, and you're treated like a level 13 caster (level 7 spells).
If you're going more caster, drop down to a 2nd or 3rd level fighter to still snag the action surge, and you get to be treated like a 15th level caster (level 8 spells)
But regardless, I've had trouble with solo "Boss Fights". Bring lots of minions, and even a few lieutenants. I haven't seen any high level combats run, but I suspect the amount of firepower being wielded makes single boss mobs a damage magnet.
- Eck
Eck wrote:
Also worth noting that if you are designing the big-bad from scratch you dont have to build him using class levels like a PC. I'd suggest basing it off an existing monster and just giving it the powers (fighter abilities, spellcasting, etc) that you want. This saves a lot of time rather than building using class levels and also lets you give the exact abilities you want rather than being restricted by classes. In my view classes are only really for the players, and just a guide for NPCs.
Good ideas for dealing with players who wont retreat by the way, it's pretty common for players to assume enemies they come up against are beatable at their level since it's commonly the case in DnD so good to have an out for if they can't win.
Weezel wrote: