I made custom monsters. Are they balanced for a boss fight? [PEACH]


Advice

Silver Crusade

If you are a member of the Sky Lantern Players, do not read.

Hello,

Created a monster using the quick build rules. I am not concerned with weather or not it follows the rules too closely (though feel free to point stuff out so I can build better next time) I really just want to make sure I didn’t wildly misjudge the difficulty of the fight. I tend to make a bunch of fight to easy then over compensate and almost kill every one. It sucks when the boss is easy but the random encounter is too much to handle.

This is intended to be a boss fight. If I do it right it will be a reoccurring boss fight. Ideally the players would encounter it find out it is too much to handle then come back with a plan.

Party:
Level 8: Minotaur/Monk (effectively)
Level 8: Cleric
Level 8: Sorcerer
Level 8: Inquisitor
Level 8: Bloodrager
Level 8: Ninja
Level 6: Winter Wolf/Ranger (effectively)
We almost always have 2 players missing per game. Usually the Ninja.

Plague Dancer:

As planned, the characters will have to track down the “Plague Dancer.” A1 min till midnight a glowing magic circle will start to draw itself on a rooftop. Once complete the PW will show up with two of its minions somewhere within 60ft of the circle. Then combat.

Plague Dancer CR10
CE Medium Outsider (chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar)

Init +7, Senses Darkvision 60ft, Perception +0

Defense
AC 26, Touch 15, Flat Footed, 19 (breakdown)
HP 180 (13D10+50)
Fort 13, Ref 13, Will 11,
DR 10/Good, Immune Poison, Resist 10 (acid, cold, and fire)

Offense
Speed 30ft
Melee 2 Claw (+17), 1 Tail (+17)
Special Attacks (DC17)
Diseased Claw: A Plague Dancer’s attacks to not deal damage in the traditional sense. Instead the first time they are hit they must save vs the signature disease of the Disease Dancer. Each Dancer has a unique disease but they fall into two major types. Mind and Body. On a failed save they are immediately infected with no onset time. Symptoms and penalties immediately apply. Each additional time a creature is hit forces a new save as though the full frequency time has elapsed. A Character may not be cured from the disease as long as the Plague Dancer is still alive. Successful save only delay progression of the disease.
Once an ability score effected by the Plague Dancer’s signature disease is reduced to 0, the creature immediately raises as a Plague Wraith. A creature cannot be restored to life until the Plague Dancer is destroyed.

Dimensional Buoy: Under normal circumstances a Plague Dancer may only exist on the Material Plane for one minute at midnight. For the minute preceding its appearance an arcane symbol unique to the Plague Dancer is slowly etched on a service within 60feet of where the Plague Dancer will appear. This symbol can be duplicated and used to summon a specific Plague Dancer when incorporated into spells like Planar Ally. This does not remove the 1 minute limitation but does allow a Plague dancer to appear at different times in the day. Also if the symbol is recreated in the blood of an individual infected with a magical disease the Plague Dancer is likely to make the area marked its next hunting grounds.

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th)
1/day— haste

Statistics
Str 10, Dex 25, Con 20, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Atk 10, CMB__, CMD 29
Feats, Combat Reflexes, Whirlwind Attack,
Skills Acrobatics +18, Escape Artist +18, Stealth+14, Climb +14 (Add one Master Skill)
Language Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic; telepathy 100 ft.

Special Abilities
Signature Disease (Mind)
Onset 1 day, frequency 1/day, effect 1d4 point of Wisdom damage.
Cure- While Plague Dancer is alive, 2 consecutive saves once killed

Signature Disease (Body)
Onset 1 day, frequency 1/day, effect 1d4 point of Dexterity damage.
Cure- While Plague Dancer is alive, 2 consecutive saves once killed

Plague Wraith
Festrog, with Pestilence kingkiller template (CR4)

Plague Wraith:

My plan is to use the “Plague Wraiths” to scale. They should be CR 4 but I am a little worried they are OP. They have a lot of abilities which I can handle with a handy dandy spread sheet when it comes battle time. So I am not worried. The character are a branch of the government so most of these abilities will affect them.

Plague Wraith CR 4

CE Medium outsider (chaotic, evil, native)
Init +10; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +6

DEFENSE

AC 19, touch 16, flat-footed 13 (+1 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 9 (2d8)
Fort +5, Ref +11, Will +10
DR 5/Cold Iron, Immune undead traits
Vulnerability Cold Iron (1.5x Damage)
Overloading (absorbs 8 levels of spells, then stunned 1 rnd)

OFFENSE

Speed 60 ft.; four-footed run; Fly 90ft (Average)
Melee bite +9 (1d6+8 plus feed), 2 claws +10 (1d4+8)
Special Attacks charging trip, diseased pustules, feed
Special Abilities: Absorb Magic (Su), Accursed Wounding (Su), Consume Magic (Su), Execute Official (Su), Expend Magic (Su), Virulent Contagions (Su)

STATISTICS

Str 27, Dex 23, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 11
Base Atk +1; CMB +9; CMD 20 (24 vs. trip)
Feats Weapon Focus (claw), Improved Initiative, Run
Skills Climb +13, Perception +6, Stealth +11, Fly +7, Survival +3,
Languages Common

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Charging Trip (Ex)

A festrog that hits with its bite after making a charge attack on all fours can attempt to trip its opponent (+4 bonus). This trip does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Diseased Pustules (Ex)

When a festrog takes damage from a piercing or slashing weapon, some of its boils rupture, squirting the attacker with puslike fluids. The noxious secretions carry a potent contact disease that causes those infected to break out into painful necrotic boils.

Necrotic Boils: Disease—contact; save Fort DC 11; onset 1 day; frequency 1/day; effect 1d4 Con; cure 1 save.

Feed (Su)
Every time a festrog makes a successful bite attack, it feeds on its opponent’s flesh and gains 5 temporary hit points. The festrog cannot have more than 5 temporary hit points gained by this ability at one time.

Four-Footed Run (Ex)
A festrog can run on all fours at speed of 50 feet if it doesn’t hold or carry anything in its hands. When running on all fours, it is treated as if it had the Run feat.

Absorb Magic (Su)
A kingkiller’s wings can absorb and defend against psionic, supernatural, spell, and spell-like abilities. If it makes a successful saving throw against an attack the spell has no effect and the creature absorbs a number of spell levels equal to the spells level (psionic and supernatural effects have a spell equivalent to its source’s HD divided by 2.). It cannot react to attacks that do not offer saving throws. If it fails its save and the effect has a duration, each round on its turn, the kingkiller may attempt a new saving throw to end the reduce the duration by half, upon a second successful saving throw it negates the effect, and absorbs it. Making these secondary saves are full-round actions that do not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Accursed Wounding (Su)
Damage dealt by a kingkiller creature cannot be healed normally, (including regeneration and fast healing) unless a creature makes a successful Will Save (DC 10 + 1/2 the kingkiller’s HD + its Con Modifier). Magical healing will not heal damage dealt by a kingkiller creature unless someone infected by a disease casts a remove curse or similar spell. A Heal check (DC19) can be made to determine this requirement. This is a necromantic-curse effect.

Consume Magic (Su)
A kingkiller can as a standard action use its wings to make a combat maneuver check against a target›s worn, held, or carried magic items or a magical barrier (such as a wall of force, but not a circle of protection against evil/law) in an attempt to consume the item’s magic. If successful the opponent or item (spells are treated as items) it gets a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the kingkiller’s HD + its Con Modifier) or the kingkiller drains the item’s magic gaining a number of spell levels equal to its charges (potions hold a single charge, permanent items are considered to contain 50 charges), rendering it non-magical.

Artifacts are immune to this effect. A make whole spell with a successful caster level check (DC 15) will restore a permanent item’s magical properties if the spell is used within 48 hours of the item being drained.

Execute Official (Su)
As a swift action a kingkiller may draw forth the life force of any helpless creatures that serves in the local kingdom’s government within 10 ft. per HD the kingkiller possess, using it to empower itself and the helpless official dies. A an opponent must make a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the kingkiller’s HD + its Con Modifier) or the subject dies and the Kingkiller gains 1d8 temporary hit points plus it absorbs 4 spell levels. Additionally, its effective caster level goes up by +1, improving spell effects dependent on caster level. This is a death effect.

Expend Magic (Su)
Kingkiller creatures may expend absorbed spell levels to utilize the following powers:

Detect Magic (Su)
Kingkiller creatures continuously detect all magic (as the detect magic spell) within 6 miles radius per HD it possess and expends one stored magic level each day.

Fast Healing (Su)
A Kingkiller creature may expend one stored magic level to gain fast healing 3 for 1 round. They may expend additional spell levels to increase the amount of fast healing the gain by 3 for every spell level they expend to a maximum amount equal to their Constitution Score. Hence, a kingkiller creature with a Constitution Score of 20 could expend 7 spell levels and heal 20 hit points in one round. Use of this ability is not considered an action as it is an automatic reflex.

Listen In (Su)
Kingkiller creatures automatically hear any form of psionic or magical communication within a 1 mile per HD of the kingkiller creature possess. (including but not limited to dominate person, dominate monster, helm of telepathy, sending, telepathic bond, telepathy, whispering wind, etc.).

Virulent Contagions (Su)
Any creature that comes within 10′ of a creature affected by a scourge of pestilence illness or pestilence ability must make a Fortitude Saving throw or suffer its effects within 2d12 hours.

Illness (Su)
A scourge of pestilence continuously causes all creatures within 10 ft. per HD the kingkiller possess to succeed on a Fort Save (DC 10 +1/2 the kingkiller creature’s HD + its Con Modifier) or be sickened. The sickened effect is permanent until negated by a spell or effect that removes disease. This ability drains one stored magic level per hour.

Pestilence (Su)
After any successful melee or ranged attack (including touch attacks), the scourge of pestilence may expend stored magic levels to force the target to make a successful Fort save (DC 10 +1/2 the kingkiller creature’s HD + its Con Modifier) or suffer Constitution damage plus an additional effect. 24 hours later a creature that failed its save must make a Successful Fort saving throw (Same DC) or suffer 3d6 Constitution damage. The number of spell levels, the amount of wisdom damage, and the additional effect is dependent upon the kingkiller’s CR.

CR Spell Levels Wisdom Damage Effect
3-9 2 2 Exhausted

The effects are permanent unless negated by a spell or effect that removes disease. While afflicted a creature cannot be afflicted a second time.


I'm not sure these guys are as strong as you seem to believe.

Contains monster details:
Check the DCs against your PC saves. Those are some bad effects, but if the PC saves 80% of the time it's not so big a threat. Your wraiths, especially are in this category. The BB has a lot of hit points, but I'm not seeing a lot of other defense besides the DR. You say you want it to be recurring. What will you do if the party is winning the first fight? Shouldn't it have a way to escape? At only 9hp, the wraiths should be going down on the first hit even with DR5. Being able to fly makes them a bit more scary to the PC back line casters but doesn't protect the Big Bad.

You should have the PC's basic stats even if you don't have copies of the character sheets. I'd recommend you simulate the fight once or twice and see how it works out before you try it with the players.


The diseases are pretty weak. Having the big bad do only 1d4 damage with an attack that allows a save us pretty bad. If it survives for the full minute it will make 30 attacks. If half hit and the target makes half his saves you will deal 7d4 damage, which is only ~17 ability damage. And this is the best case scenario.

Also the defenses look poor for a solo monster. I think you should give the dancer flight or a short range teleport.

Also, the diseases theme seems pretty important so you want to be able to at least get multiple pcs to roll saves. Give it a disease breath weapon or a gaze attack.


All of the above advice, but also add reactions. Touching this thing should be as bad as it touching you, keep the save DC around 30-50% for your average front liner and have them roll a save whenever they hit it. Now they're exposed more often if they use melee. Give it some anti-range abilities such as 1/turn teleport behind a ranged attacker and take an attack of opportunity. This messes up battlefield positioning and forces melee units to charge in - if you also give it reach, that's another attack of opportunity if it's had it's turn since then (which it used wailing on the ranged guy). You can make this thing really annoying if you look at some alternative mechanics.

Good luck, let us know how it plays out.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Advice / I made custom monsters. Are they balanced for a boss fight? [PEACH] All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Advice
Druid Gear