Ideas for bosses? Either BBEG's, their lieutenants, or whoever's at the end of the book.
-Intellect devourer that got into a spelunker's body. The spelunker was a Deep Earth oracle and now the intellect devourer has a cult going that's really just a scheme to bring people into the Darklands to it's pack. Could either be the start of a Darklands adventure or the end of a one-shot.
-Barbarian who has a very strong love/hate relationship with his tribe's witch. Witch has left him, messed around with/manipulated the party, and has same relationship with barbarian. Barbarian tracks party down, learns of their involvement with the witch, rages, roll for initiative. Witch joins the fight after a few rounds and the fight ends when the barbarian gets to 5 hp. The witch heals him, they have a VERY intimate make-out session, then either leave for somewhere more private or join up against the PC's, depending on how the players treated them.
-Conspiracy of tengu information brokers manipulates factions in a city (Absalom?). Boss is a high level rogue with levels in lorekeeper. Fight takes place in run-down manor with lots of dark corners, balconies, rafters, etc. designed to give the advantage to whoever has the high-ground. Boss tengu has lots of reinforcements including a 2 sorcerers and a cleric of Norgorber.
Honestly, a lich is always awesome. It gives you so much freedom as a DM to be creative, as they are hyper intelligent (meaning most stuff the PCs do you can say "I knew that was coming and have planned for it!). Also, they've had a ton of time to amass a cleverly guarded sanctum and some interesting followers/slaves/allies of all kinds.
Just put your own personal stamp on the lich and his/her motivations as well as their domain and resources. Create unique spells/items the PCs have never seen before (an AWESOME reward too if the PCs are going to be played further).
-Hapless bard who just wanted to meet a pretty nobleman's daughter accidentally set off chain of events leading to public execution of an entire guild. Went into hiding during ensuing riots. PC's are lead to believe that nobleman's daughter orchestrated the whole thing (she's innocent) and go off to find her. Bard learns of this, goes to protect the girl, fights to the death for her. Heartbreaking truth: she didn't even know his name.
-Murder mystery in a closed circle (think ship at sea, mansion in the middle of nowhere, etc.) leads to many NPC deaths. One-armed young man claims to be a detective and "helps" PC's solve the mystery. Turns out he's a psychopath who murdered all the victims and has his "missing" arm hidden in his shirt (rogue with ranks in disguise).
-Cavalier who exemplifies the Order of the Cockatrice challenges PC's to a series of contests, (including drinking contest, have fun with that one) concluding with a hunt for an actual cockatrice. Boss is either the cavalier or the cockatrice, depending on who the PC's help and whether cavalier or the cockatrice live.
-Not a complete idea, but I like the idea of taking the PC's from another adventure and making either one or all of them into the boss. Have them be a rival adventuring party or frame the adventure around them. Could be fun just for the look on the player's faces when they face themselves!
-Along the same line of thought as the last one, Grand Evil Wizard summoned a nemesis/mirror copy of Heroic Fighter a long time ago. GEW didn't know that HF had a twin brother who died in childbirth, so remnants of the twin's soul got woven into the Nemesis effectively making him permanent, sentient being. Nemesis killed HF, but remained in the Material Plane afterwards, which isn't how the spell is supposed to work, so the GEW tried to dissect him and the Nemesis ran. Nemesis encounters PC's initially as a foil that later becomes a boss or teams up with them against the GEW. The Nemesis could also be a cool idea for a PC, provided your DM allows it.
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If you want a TPK use a high level PC from another campaign....
High level PC IMO doesn't stack up to CR.... they should at least be NPC created. Otherwise, your going to slaughter your party or your party is going to laugh at how easy he was.
IMO best BBEG are intelligent creatures in the Beastiary.
-Murder mystery in a closed circle (think ship at sea, mansion in the middle of nowhere, etc.) leads to many NPC deaths. One-armed young man claims to be a detective and "helps" PC's solve the mystery. Turns out he's a psychopath who murdered all the victims and has his "missing" arm hidden in his shirt (rogue with ranks in disguise).
Dunno if it's on purpose, but that's an awesome Brotherhood of the Wolf reference. And if you haven't seen it, it's a movie worth watching.
Another idea is to have a slightly de-powered Mirror Version of the party created by some sentient evil artifact be the collective BBEG. Then the party has to deal with the artifact itself, which can go a variety of cool directions.
-PC's find a puzzle box and figure how to solve it (could do an Int check, give them a Rubik's cube, whatever). Once completed, they are transported to a demiplane that resembles the inside of the puzzle box. Lots of traps, constructs, not too many monsters, but the BBEG is a sphinx who got trapped inside due to curiosity and has now gone crazy. Hunts/plays with the PC's for awhile, like a cat and mouse.
-Brain in a jar. No further description required.
-Twin acrobatic rogue/bards who work in a traveling circus. Twist is they are cannibals, using lions and their nomadic job to cover their tracks. High-wire fight ensues once the PC's cotton on.
-PC's accidentally kill or are framed for killing a favored priestess of Calistria. BEES. BEES EVERYWHERE. Probably best used for a TPK.
-Tree is used in very nasty lynching for hanging whatever race/group the PC's like best. Tree is actually a young treant who becomes scarred by the event and grows obsessed with death. Gets a few levels as a Bone Oracle, starts wreaking havoc on travelers in forest and eventually the nearby town.
-Murder mystery in a closed circle (think ship at sea, mansion in the middle of nowhere, etc.) leads to many NPC deaths. One-armed young man claims to be a detective and "helps" PC's solve the mystery. Turns out he's a psychopath who murdered all the victims and has his "missing" arm hidden in his shirt (rogue with ranks in disguise).Dunno if it's on purpose, but that's an awesome Brotherhood of the Wolf reference. And if you haven't seen it, it's a movie worth watching.
Another idea is to have a slightly de-powered Mirror Version of the party created by some sentient evil artifact be the collective BBEG. Then the party has to deal with the artifact itself, which can go a variety of cool directions.
Haven't actually seen that movie. Just goes to show that 99% of all your good ideas were already thought up by someone else. The Mirror PC's works great too. A way you could pull it off is to have a room with a very smooth, reflective black floor be the artifact that brings in the Mirror PC's. The room is otherwise empty and nothing happens until someone looks at their reflection and it reaches out to choke them.
-Goofy idea, but here it goes: a xorn has gotten lose in a city and is eating everything. The local church of Abadar hires the PC's to hunt it down, leading to a confrontation in the temple's vaults.
-An axiomite that was charged with exploring the concept of murder performed the first killing in Utopia. It has since been imprisoned, but managed through the use of handwavium to escape to the mortal world and continue its work. This guy would be an epic level villain who could give the leaders of the Red Mantis a run for their money. Actually, a game involving this guy would probably involve the Mantis. Inspired by "Murder Mysteries" by Neil Gaiman.
-A banshee after revenge for the death of her entire clan. Twist is the killings took place centuries ago (she has no idea) and the PC's are descendants of the killers. Fight occurs on cliffs over Lake Encarthan (or wherever). If a PC falls off, they will land on a hidden ledge that leads to a cave. Inside is the corpse of an elven woman and her three children. They couldn't get out because of the climb check and the villagers and eventually froze to death (it was winter).
-Animated objects that are statues of angels. The angels move crazy fast when no one's looking and freeze when viewed. Fond of sneak attacks, they can hit with a slam in the time it takes to blink. Totally ripped off the Weeping Angels from Dr. Who, but its a good idea that needs to be implemented.
How about a visit to the BBEG page of TVTropes?
Time for the cheese!
Looking over an old thread from some old website from years back, I saw an idea regarding the consequences of consuming the blood of the Tarrasque, which I'll tweak a little. By doing so, one attains incredible strength and constitution as well as regenerative capabilities, but at a cost - the blood corrupts the drinker, tainting them with the destructive will of none other than Rovagug. The drinker mutates, becoming one of the god's Spawn, seeking to nothing other than cause total destruction.
I suppose an ideal BBEG could disperse this blood among his followers or prisoners, letting them loose to spread his ideals. I imagine a cleric of Rovagug would be appropriate. The Tarrasque itself does not necessarily have to be involved. Wouldn't want to restrict this to a high CR campaign.
Here's an encounter that is both troubling and difficult:
The setup: people have been kidnapped from town and off the nearby roads, the PC's are sent to investigate. They find out that they people are being kidnapped for some bizarre ritual (you choice) and the location where they are being help. populate the dungeon as you see fit. the BBEG is the meat of this
THE BBEG
an LE Hungry Ghost Monk who is at least 7th level or higher, in a room which is filled with prisoners shackled to the wall. The monk will even bargain with the PC's offering them SOME of the villagers if they leave, but he gets to keep the rest for whatever cruel intention you give him (in my scenario he's using them as sacrifices to attain the half fiend template). When the PC's engage him in combat, he sticks close to the walls, and will dump his last attack or two of his flurry of blows into the helpless chained prisoners, healing him as they die so he can continue to punish the party, then five foot step into range of more prisoners. The longer the PC's fight with the monk the more villagers he kills while still smashing on the melee in the group. If the party doesn't have great damage and high bonuses to hit (the monk should have a pretty good AC, he is a monk after all) then the party may very well end up losing more villagers than if they had simply taken the ones offered to them and left.
I prefer a BBNGs honestly.
--The nearby evil kingdom has been overthrown. The Evil regime rooted out tooth and nail by the Warlord. The peasants are singing and dancing in the streets. The Good kingdom, which had been at war with the evil kingdom for centuries off and on is happy. They send their ambassadors to the new Warlord.
Their heads are sent back on pikes. The Warlord was a former border peasant, and watched both the good and evil armies fight and destroy the commoners, smashing houses, burning fields, raping and pillaging (even good armies have bad eggs). It his intention to ensure there is never war again by destroying both decadent kingdoms and making it one big neutral country.
The PCs are working for the good kingdom as spies. They infiltrate the new 'Evil' kingdom, and find... well treated commoners, fair judges, a ban on persecurtion of good clerics. The commoners love their new warlord and will fight to the death for him. The new country is LN, the neighboring kingdom CG. How will the PCs deal with not a bad guy, but honorable non-evil guys?
I prefer a BBNGs honestly.
--The nearby evil kingdom has been overthrown. The Evil regime rooted out tooth and nail by the Warlord. The peasants are singing and dancing in the streets. The Good kingdom, which had been at war with the evil kingdom for centuries off and on is happy. They send their ambassadors to the new Warlord.
Their heads are sent back on pikes. The Warlord was a former border peasant, and watched both the good and evil armies fight and destroy the commoners, smashing houses, burning fields, raping and pillaging (even good armies have bad eggs). It his intention to ensure there is never war again by destroying both decadent kingdoms and making it one big neutral country.
The PCs are working for the good kingdom as spies. They infiltrate the new 'Evil' kingdom, and find... well treated commoners, fair judges, a ban on persecurtion of good clerics. The commoners love their new warlord and will fight to the death for him. The new country is LN, the neighboring kingdom CG. How will the PCs deal with not a bad guy, but honorable non-evil guys?
That's awesome. +100
Summoner surfing atop a huge water elemental.
What?
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These are all scenarios I ran as single-session adventures with, what I think, are pretty neat "bad" guys.
1. A GM might have to tone this down depending on the comfort level of his group.
A gray render "adopts" an orphaned child and then kills a gang of bullys who threaten the kid. The orphan, who turns out to be a real Michael Myers type, takes advantage of his new protector's zeal and orchestrates a series of murders and attacks that lead the party to investigate on behalf of the village.
2. This worked well with a low-level party:
A pack of ravenous wolves descends on a small village in the middle of the worst blizzard in recent history with the party trapped within the village walls. The pack is led by a powerful alpha male (insert advanced wolf, dire wolf, awakened dire wolf, etc. depending on party ability,) but the real threat comes from the village chieftain who, for one reason or another, has taken a severe disliking to the party and tries to use his position to force the party out into the army of wolves outside the gate (when I ran this scenario, the chieftain hated the party because his tramp wife, who tried to bed one of the PCs, lied about being violated by the party so, technically, the wife was the BBEG.)
3. Inspired by The Relic:
A mysterious foreigner attending a fundraiser at a natural history museum reconstitutes a petrified bulette, which proceeds to eat every living thing it can find. The foreigner turns out to be a primitive mystic who is angry that his homeland's treasures are being stolen and put on display in the museum. When he recognized what the museum mistakenly labeled as an ancient statue of a terrible god-monster, he plotted to avenge his culture by setting the thing free from its millenia-long petrification. The fun thing about this scenario is that the party members were all guests at the fundraiser and didn't have immediate access to their gear since they were expected to wear respectable clothes and carry no weapons. Some of the party members scooped up museum displays to use as weapons and discovered a few of them were enchanted.