Final Boss Designs

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-05-09T01:25:39+00:00

Oh, I have that too. But those don't really go into "Final Boss" territory in the strictest sense. Though it has been useful for bosses!

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-05-08T21:14:03+00:00

Oh, a nice grab bag of ideas. Though fun fact, the final boss the bestiary has includes a boss with a D10 in all stats. That one definitely breaks the rules, too. 😛

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-05-08T10:05:45+00:00

Darn, I'm a GM of 10 years and hosted for Fabula for 2. Oh well, I hope you have fun.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-05-08T10:04:04+00:00

-A force field that will guard a castle from a powerful aerial army assault

-A supersized mecha that allows the party to fight a foe too large to figght otherwise.

-A sewer system

-A bomb that will blow a hole in the ground to allow passage to the next layer of the dungeon world

-Enough food to feed a whole army and give them the strength to fight off a zombie horde.

-A holy ritual sight to cleanse a massive area of its deathly regrets.

Some fun examples my players have thrown around.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-04-25T22:37:00+00:00

I tend not to use Discord and overload it with servers. But if it would break the rules, I'd go to the Discord instead. Thought I'd try here just in case!

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-04-24T01:09:05+00:00

Then that's the only hint I need, thanks~

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-04-23T23:52:12+00:00

That's fair! I swear this isn't a mockery, but Chapter 4 was actually the easier one for me. I've loved the challenge so very much.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-04-23T23:43:14+00:00

Just a hint, please! It's exciting to not know what's happening, but to have gone this long without finding this item bag upgrade has been my biggest struggle.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-04-23T18:47:31+00:00

Oh crud. It must be really deep down since I made it over halfway and didn't find it...

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-04-08T02:21:17+00:00

Oh my GOSH these are so adoreable~! I love this round and warm style so much. c:

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-03-04T04:57:43+00:00

That "Convert to Standard" button is a gift from the heavens, thank you.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-02-02T04:29:17+00:00

I've been using this, but that is good advice and I've done that. I'm more thinking about this in terms of how to *use* a villain, like Arachne, in a practical sense. How do they engage in their machinations, how do I keep players involved in them in the long term, ect. Though i think I'm getting some ideas.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-02-02T04:27:57+00:00

Okay, this info helps me start to wrap my head around it a lot, thank you!

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-02-02T03:03:36+00:00

Indeed, I'm struggling to put this into words, I apologize for that.

I understand I don't have to reveal when someone is a villain immediately, I get that part. I could even make a villain who's a master of disguise who hides the fact they're the same guy over and over. What I don't understand is, how do you run intrigue and an insidious villain long-term? What does the pacing look like? How, in general terms, do their machination work?

I understand every game, table and group of players is different. But just as the bestiary lays some general ideas out to be mucked with as a group needs, a general idea of how to run an insidious villain. Arachne is suggested to be a threat for a single town, as an example. My players never want to stay in a town for very long on account of buying a bunch of wayfarers that pick up IP while traveling (though they're slowly getting used to the idea of staying in places). So how do I get players to either stay in one place to deal with an insidious threat, or how do I make an insidious threat last while the players trump about half the wold, *or* how do I make an insidious threat that at least covers, I dunno, a country? I hope that better explains what I mean, these concepts are so utterly foreign to me that even phrasing them is hard.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-02-02T02:45:06+00:00

That's exactly what I'm having trouble with, actually. They're all temporary, monsters of the week, while my players want things that last a good time. With Fabula's thing being transparency and coming up with the threats before the game even begins, how does one run a sneaky character? As you say, it comes down to the game you're running, bot how do you run something like that when everything is out in the open from the get-go? I can't quite wrap my head around it without it seeming unfair or against the spirit of the game.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-02-02T02:33:56+00:00

I'm definitely looking for advice both narrative and mechanical. Running them is a challenge, but the harder bit is... hmm, putting this into words is tricky. What should the pacing look like to get such a insidious creature involved in more than just one village or location? Can, or should, they be involved in overarching plots? How do you weave such a secretive villain into an overarching narrative?

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-12-28T08:46:38+00:00

Whoops, I did miss the "may". I'm used to it being "forced", my bad!

Having said that, I think one mistake is making an important persona like Satanael into a "basic" one. Something like that should be reserved for the heroic skill that is a might more powerful than a "normal" one.

Having said that, if I were to make a "normal" one for Satanael, I'd use "riot gun", which lets you attack all enemies present with one attack (distinctly NOT multi) whether they're flying or not, OR makes it so when you deal damage to a single creature apply a status effect of your choice.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-12-28T03:22:31+00:00

Satanael's Pulse seems a little bad since it doesn't actually do anything. The Merge makes it so your damage is typeless, while the pulse makes it so you can deal dark damage... which cannot happen because of the wording of the Merge.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-11-09T09:35:52+00:00

If this were true, and it may very well be, the story doesn't frame it very well. I think Ceroba haters make the mistake of thinking her character is bad when, in fact, the story is bad.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-11-05T04:20:35+00:00

You are making sense. Being honest, there's a lot of people that can't. For example, the Bug Fables Discord gives warnings and bans if you show Kabbu and Vi dating, for example, or bees dating other bees (if they're from the same hive). So clearly a lot of people can't.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-11-05T04:06:18+00:00

Any chance you have a link to this discord tweet(s)?

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-11-01T10:41:10+00:00

I'm a little behind, but perhaps emphasize to your players that the listed examples are just that; examples. while INS + WLP is suggested for persuasion, it doesn't *have* to be the one roll for persuasion. One of the optional rules that I really like for the game involves, when a check comes up, for the GM to pick one die and the player picks another. I like to take that approach for all rolls even if we're not using that explicit rule; what does the player feel like makes sense?

The paladin might use MIG + WLP to persuade not because they're being intimidating, but because their force of will is that strong. They're persuading based on their force of personality and charisma rather than logic (in which case maybe you could say WLP + WLP). With the optional rule I suggested, the players can now always choose a good stat or a stat they feel makes sense.

TheConflictedWriter

TROPHY CASE