[DF] Big Solitary Boss Monsters - design theory - Page 4

kdtipa · 01-16-2012, 01:26 PM

I'm planning a campaign right now, and most of the fight situations my players will deal with would be against packs of genetically altered animals, or perhaps guards in facilities that they don't want to get in trouble for killing. I don't think I had considered the possibility of a boss fight really. The big climactic moments I have in mind are story elements that I'm hoping shock my players. So I guess I'm saying I'm trying to take the focus off combat.

However, there will of course be combat, and this thread is a really interesting and useful conversation about what makes the fights fun in GURPS.

One quick thing to add: I've heard mention of planning quite a bit in this thread, and one person (at least) mentioned how the fights that surprise the players and leave them in a situation where they have to improvise often have more effect than the fights the players plan for. In my experience both as a GM and as a player, what usually happens is that the players plan for half an hour or more, then just end up charging in anyway. Seems to me like those planned fights that you might want to plan a boss fight for are just not that common and not as fun in the long run.

Something else I just thought of and have used in the past. I'll define my NPCs as well as possible, but I'll put in some optional stuff. This could be applied to the fight's context/environment, or even that helpers that "boss" has, but the basic idea is to start with something that you think the PCs can handle, and if it's proving too easy... use one or more of the optional things you planned out. They don't need to know you weren't planning that from the beginning. This method is something I started using after the first couple times I had a big fight planned and the PCs either didn't come close or they won without effort. I guess I'm saying that in the past I haven't been great at balance, and this was my way to cheat and balance it out dynamically. Anyway, if balance is something that proves to be a problem, this method might help.

01-16-2012, 01:26 PM	#31
kdtipa Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Southern New Hampshire	Re: [DF] Big Solitary Boss Monsters - design theory I'm planning a campaign right now, and most of the fight situations my players will deal with would be against packs of genetically altered animals, or perhaps guards in facilities that they don't want to get in trouble for killing. I don't think I had considered the possibility of a boss fight really. The big climactic moments I have in mind are story elements that I'm hoping shock my players. So I guess I'm saying I'm trying to take the focus off combat. However, there will of course be combat, and this thread is a really interesting and useful conversation about what makes the fights fun in GURPS. One quick thing to add: I've heard mention of planning quite a bit in this thread, and one person (at least) mentioned how the fights that surprise the players and leave them in a situation where they have to improvise often have more effect than the fights the players plan for. In my experience both as a GM and as a player, what usually happens is that the players plan for half an hour or more, then just end up charging in anyway. Seems to me like those planned fights that you might want to plan a boss fight for are just not that common and not as fun in the long run. Something else I just thought of and have used in the past. I'll define my NPCs as well as possible, but I'll put in some optional stuff. This could be applied to the fight's context/environment, or even that helpers that "boss" has, but the basic idea is to start with something that you think the PCs can handle, and if it's proving too easy... use one or more of the optional things you planned out. They don't need to know you weren't planning that from the beginning. This method is something I started using after the first couple times I had a big fight planned and the PCs either didn't come close or they won without effort. I guess I'm saying that in the past I haven't been great at balance, and this was my way to cheat and balance it out dynamically. Anyway, if balance is something that proves to be a problem, this method might help.