I’m the last guy who’s looking to make D&D more like a video game, but every once in awhile, it can be fun to throw in something nostalgic.
Here’s a table for creating ridiculous boss battles, inspired partly by the Zelda series of video games. Have the party battle your big bad, be he wizard, lich or whatnot. When the final blow is struck, everything goes quiet. The foe laughs, dispenses some cryptic last words and then transforms into something else.
Decide on a new HP level, AC and attack level. Then roll 1d12 three times to get a form, an attack and a weakness. The weakness is either apparent because of the monster’s aura or after some experimentation. There should be some vulnerable moment after the monster attacks where the party can really exploit the weakness.
Rinse and repeat as long as it’s still fun! Please keep it as ridiculous as possible.
Roll 1d12 | Form | Special Attack | Weakness |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Spider or Insect | Fireballs (or, Iceballs, Lightning Balls, etc.) | Blunt Missile Weapons |
2 | Farm Animal | Sonic Shriek (50% chance to paralyze) | Arrows |
3 | Gigeresque Monster | Pounce or Charge | Elemental based attack (1d4, earth, air, fire, water). Has Aura of the opposite element of its weakness. |
4 | Demon Form | Tentacles | Blunt Melee Weapons |
5 | Bat | Death Rays | Sound-based Attacks |
6 | Giant Elemental (Roll 1d4 - earth, air, fire, water) then roll again for shape of elemental. | Breath Weapon | Illusions |
7 | Snake | Floor Smash Send Seismic Waves | Soft Spot on Body |
8 | Flower with Giant Eye | Quills | Environmental Effect (Sunlight, Water, Lava, Vegetation) |
9 | Giant Cat | Energy Drain | Blind |
10 | Ghostly Version of Previous Form | Bite | Enraged After Hit, -2 on All Attacks |
11 | Larger Version of Previous Form, but cracking part from massive power contained within | Lightning | Any Explosive or AOE Damage |
12 | Dragon (Breath Weapon + 1 other special attack) | Projectile Weapons | Called Shot Damage |
[update: changed a few words. I need to stop writing posts so late.]
Nice, never thought to compile something like this before! I’m downloading and adding this to my long list of resources!