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There comes a time when everyDungeons & Dragonsparty has to face off against a boss. Call it their ‘big bad,’ or their ‘endgame,’ but designing a memorable adversary for your party to contend with is essential to any adventure. But, if you’re customizing your boss for the end of an arc or even for the end of a campaign, there’s a lot to consider.
What kinds of stats do you need to create for a boss? How do you make sure this enemy is balanced and well-suited to take on your party? This guide has you covered. Here’s everything you need to know to create boss stat blocks.
What Kind Of Creature Is Your Boss?
Before diving headfirst into stats, you should firstconsider what kind of creatureyou’re throwing in your party’s way. This willimpact the entirety of their stat block, and what kind ofspecial abilitiesyou might want to give them.
While there are a lot of different types of creatures in Dungeons & Dragons, we can break these down intotwo basic groups.
Examples
Humanoid
Humanoid bosses may be powerful spellcasters or other fighters. While they may have supernatural abilities or other features, they largely mirror our player characters and their abilities should mostly resemble class features or other abilities that players can have as well.
Monster
Monsters can range from classic creatures like zombies to specific demonsfrom the Nine Hells. These creatures may have fantastical abilities that party members cannot hope to achieve, and their appearances are far from human.
Once you’ve determined what kind of creature your boss is,jot down some basic characteristicsfor them. Use these questions as jumping-off points.
How To Tailor Your Boss To Your Party
Now that you’ve got a basic idea of what your boss is like, there’sone more stepto considerbefore building the stat block. You want to make sure youtailor this boss to the abilities of your party.Consider the following and take note of your answers.
Example
Size
The overall size of your party will help determine things like action economy in combat. Take note of how many members there are in your adventuring party for balancing purposes later.
Example -Your adventuring party has eight members.
Result -Your boss takes eight attacks before it’s allowed a single action, making them vastly outnumbered.
Resistances
If your party has key damage resistances or vulnerabilities, you’ll want to make sure your boss doesn’t rely on this type of damage to make an impact.
Example -One party member has armor that makes them invulnerable to necrotic damage.
Result -Your boss is an Undead mage, meaning most of their spells are necrotic, and they cannot harm this one party member.
Spells And Abilities
If your party has access to potentially combat-endingspells like Polymorphor Charm Person, you’ll want to make sure you have a failsafe in place.
Example -A member of the party can cast True Polymorph.
Result -Your boss fails their Wisdom saving throw and the combat encounter is ended early.
Total Hit Points
Determining the party’s total Hit Points will help determine how much damage you want your boss to be able to do in a round of combat.
Example -Your party has a grand total of 500 hit points.
Result -Your boss, on average, can only deal about 20 points of damage per round, meaning they don’t make any sort of dent during the combat encounter.
Once you’ve considered the above, you’ll want tokeep this list handy as you build your stat block.It’s important tomake sure the party doesn’t feel like their abilities won’t workagainst this boss, it’s also essential tomake sure they don’t have any abilities that might end the fighttoo quickly.
How To Build Your Stat Block
Basic Boss Stats
Now, it’s time tostart building your stat block. First, let’sstart with these basic elements.
Details
Armor Class
If the boss is a humanoid, consider what kind of armor they might wear and base their Armor Class on that. Monsters may have tougher hides or natural armor.
Hit Points
Depending on party size, you’ll want to make sure their hit points scale appropriately. If one party member could theoretically take the boss out in one or two turns, add more Hit Points.
Skills And Stats
You’ll want to give the boss Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores and modifiers. Make sure they have some strengths and weaknesses based on the type of creature they are. A wizard might not be all that strong, but should have high intelligence.
Speed
For most humanoids, this should be 30 feet. For other monsters, scale their speed up by 30 feet incrementally based on things like size, flight ability, or number of legs.
Most humanoids will be small or medium in size. Other monsters can scale up as high as gargantuan. Refer to similar monsters in the Monster Manual to compare for the size of your boss.
Creature Type
Creature types like ‘Undead’ or ‘Fiend’ might play into how your party can interact with this creature. Reference similar creature types in the Monster Manual and compare abilities and flavor to determine creature type.
Next, you’ll want toconsider some secondary attributesyour boss might have. These can include thingslike the following.
Even thoughit’s a good idea to tailorthings likeSaving Throws or Resistancesto your party,make sure it still makes narrative sense. For example, an Undead creature should not be resistant to radiant damage
Balance Your Boss Stat Block
Once you have somebasic stats jotted down, it’s time tocheck that they’re balanced. The main things you’ll want to balance are things likeArmor Class, Hit Points, and Saving Throws. Consider the table below and questions when balancing these attributes.
Look at your party’s spellcasting and attack modifiers. Set your boss’s Armor Class based on the party’s average roll plus their modifiers, and depending on how hard you want the boss to be to hit with an attack.
Example -The party’s average modifier is a +8 to hit.
Solution -Therefore, set the boss’s Armor Class at around 18 or 19, meaning the party will hit on a relatively average roll.
Consider the top-level spells and attacks your party has access to and the party’s overall size. If party members can do 30-40 points of damage in a single turn, you’ll want to scale Hit Points based on damage.
Example -A party member just learned Blight, which can cause 8d8 damage on a failed save.
Solution -8d8 averages to about 30 points of damage. Make your boss’s HP at least 90+ so that they could take damage from this spell multiple times before dying.
Saving Throws
Take a look at your party’s abilities that require saving throws. If there are any pesky abilities that could be potentially combat-ending, give your boss proficiency in those saving throws.
Example- A party member can cast Feeble Mind, which can end the encounter too quickly.
Solution -Give your boss proficiency in Intelligence saving throws to avoid succumbing to this spell.
How To Create Special Abilities For Your Boss
Create Boss Features
Now that you have your basic stat block figured out, it’s time toconsider special and unique abilitiesfor your boss! These can besingular features and traits that you design, or you canborrow them from other stat blocks. Here are some basic ones to consider.
When usingLegendary Resistances and Actions, make surethis rule set is run above the table.Don’t conceal these rulesfrom players, orthey may feel like you’re cheatingthem from their success. Explain what these are and how they work in combat if necessary.
Create Boss Actions
Once you have their special abilities mapped out, create a stat block thatdetails their basic action economy. These arethings like attacks(outside of spell casting),unarmed strikes, orany featuresthey can employ that are unique to their creature type. Here aresome examples.
Create Lair Actions
Lastly, if your party is fighting this boss in their lair,consider creating lair actionsfor them. These areenvironmental effectsthat happenon initiative count 20, or upon the use of an action by the boss themselves. Here aresome examplesof lair actions.
Sample Stat Block
With all this in mind, let’s take a look at a sample stat block. For this boss archetype, here areour notes answering the above questionsregardingcreature typeandparty abilities.
Now, let’s take a look at thesample stat block. As thearchmage is meant to be extremely powerful,we’ve made himsomewhat difficult to hit, and helped balance out his action economy with some special features. If you follow along with this example, you’ll be creating fantastic boss stat blocks in no time!
20
120 (20d6 +40)
