Can we have a little more information? I don't really know what you want beyond "there is a boss fight of some kind and you want some sort of advice about it".
Different? What do you want to make different? How would you characterize the normal bosses you use?
To just get things going while we wait for details, I will throw out a generic 'safe' answer- necromancer. Spellcaster that plays by the golden rule of encounter design- "don't use just one enemy". Necromancers let you have minions to soak up attention, yet lets you maintain their agency as a boss (since the undead are just his tools. It isn't like an orc leader with orcs, where you just think of the leader as 'just another orc- slightly more hp')
You can create your battlefield and throw out nasty minions. You can probably get him to permit leadership as you are a boss character.
He is basically an NPC though. Does he need leadership? I thought that was mostly a feat to give players a bit of GM power to grab NPCs, while the GM can have NPCs join together 'just cause' without needing a mechanic besides CR.
But yes- summoning, undead, that kind of deal. Final bosses tend to be about drama and having attention focused on them story wise via their personal agency.
You can go without that, but you usually need some large disparity between the boss and the minions (dragon with kobolds as cannon fodder, for example). You need to make it abundantly appearant that the boss have a very different role from the minions, and you need to make it clear that it is the largest threat.
Now social focused campaigns might have manipulators and such... but I would more regard the final boss 'fight' would be the toughest bodyguard/servant/whatever that the social manipulator has to throw at you as a last line of defense. Knocking out the manipulator's teeth is more of a victory lap.
Now social focused campaigns might have manipulators and such... but I would more regard the final boss 'fight' would be the toughest bodyguard/servant/whatever that the social manipulator has to throw at you as a last line of defense. Knocking out the manipulator's teeth is more of a victory lap.It's the difference between beating Darth Vader and beating Palpatine. Although it's not a social campaign, Palpatine is a manipulator first and a combatant second. Darth Vader is the muscle, and he's the guy Luke fights. Luke actually doesn't get around to killing Palpatine.
To make a frightening boss, make sure they're a caster or have some other way of altering the battlefield in caster-like ways (such as having a room full of traps).
A melee opponent with a strong special ability (like shadows with their incorporeal nature, lethal str damage, and spawning), or maybe something environmental (darkness can be an example, assuming the party can't just brush past it with darkvision or something) can work as well.
Just tossing out damage isn't that exciting- at least for a final boss. Having things like blinding criticals, ability score damage, ways to seal movement and pressure casters. There are plenty of abilities that could be on a fighter, for example, which could work well in giving the needed quality that distinguishes it from just another mook.
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If the boss has minions, why do they follow him/her/it? Your build should reflect this more than anything.
If the boss doesn't have any minions, then the lack of minions should be reflected in your build.
For examples:
a boss that is very charismatic might be rather lacking in a fight, but have diehard minions that just love their boss. They could also rule via enchantment.
A boss that wield an iron fist might just be stronger and more deadly than the others, with a minor focus in intimidate.
A boss without minions could be a paranoid rogue that just has trapped their domain so excessively that they are functionly the Boss, despite not being a very impressive character.
A boss without minions could also be using the area as a lair, and leave from time to time to gather food. A dragon or bear would be a good boss like this.