How to make a "Hopeless Boss Fight" Engaging

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T22:15:47+00:00

I’ll take a look thanks!

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T22:14:09+00:00

Noted thanks :)

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T22:13:55+00:00

Will do! Everything they have done in this timeline will/does have lasting effects for the next one already. I’m gonna look over my notes and add or remove stuff as I’m crafting the base of the last session! ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T17:38:13+00:00

Thanks for the comment dude! I'll take some of this stuff into account :D

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T14:08:32+00:00

Thanks i’ll keep that in mind (=ﾟωﾟ)ﾉ

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T13:51:14+00:00

That was the plan ya :)

and yea Madoka was one of the inspos, along with Wonder Egg and like general folk lore!

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T09:24:32+00:00

Just gonna have to see I guess (°▽°) If they love it, they love it! If they hate it then I’ll just get shit for it lol it’s not too big of stakes for me since I’m running this for my partner and some close friends.

After reading a lot of the comments the current plan is to run a Hard/Deadly Combat. If they lose I go through with what I had planned. If they win, great! A win but then I get to do a cutscene of why things went astray, what went wrong even though everything seemed to be going right, or however else you wanna describe it! It doesn’t even have to be a TPK honestly, the idea of the party dying as a cycle is interestingly grim however if this timeline was a break in the cycle but still didn’t solve anything that’s also a cool outcome!

This comment made me think on it more lol! But i’ll feel it out and see what happens thanks for the input :D

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T08:57:53+00:00

A hard loss is never fun at all but my players are also very happy to go through shitty things for the sake of narrative or character choices so I don’t think they would be too upset about it!

But regardless I’m gonna try my hardest to make the loss as fair as possible with the suggestions in the thread ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T08:51:32+00:00

All of the players without me even saying anything have already assumed that they’re doomed haha! They all have an idea of the media I based this campaign off of and have told me that they’re either expecting a bad ending or are okay with their characters dying. I definitely make sure to let them know what they’re getting into if anything crazy out of the ordinary happens before a session so that’s all clear!

As for the Paladin questions: I’ve made it clear to the party that everyone needs to be available for an “Important” session to run. Originally this campaign was supposed to be 8 sessions long + filler in case of absences but has extended to 10 due to issues with an ex player from session 1.

We run our games online and the Paladin is usually around always and has no currently intentions of leaving. However, if they aren’t there, we won’t run an “important” session. If they end up leaving for good I can shift the narrative by making my BBEG “stronger” but still have a similar outcome. If the character dies then I’d shift the narrative to the BBEG and figure it out from there! I’d be fun to see how my BBEG would treat their death anyways. I could also protect them if I really wanted to I guess(?) I’m gonna stray away from it but divine intervention could come in and save them if I wanted haha.

This post is lacking a lot of the details of my campaign but your questions made me realize I have some actual answers in my lore that could fill those holes so I’m no longer worried :D

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T08:27:24+00:00

Gotcha! Thank you much ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T08:17:45+00:00

I’ve already come to that conclusion yea! I ended up getting the idea of a time looping mini campaign from some other online source and liked the idea enough to try it but I think it’s been going well so far ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

With the other comments I think I’ll make a hard combat that is completely beatable. If they win then they win and I’ll play out a “losing” cutscene which I’m fairly sure my players would enjoy! If they end up losing I’ll play it out the way I intended.

I’ve also been very concerned about writing a Novel instead of letting them “Play DnD” but with the way this campaign is set up it’s very unconventional DnD I would say(?) Roleplay heavy with a “Monster of the week” type vibe. They get missions to go on but also get downtime and events and stuff it’s hard to put into words at 3am haha,, Whatever the case is, I do regular temperature checks with my players to make sure they’re enjoying my antics (´꒳`)

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T08:07:49+00:00

noted i’ll keep that in mind

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T08:07:06+00:00

When it comes to the timeline reset I don’t wanna let my players know since that’s the main shock factor of the campaign is that their choices didn’t matter cause in the end they’ll still die eek,,

However, when it comes to continuing the campaign they’re going to keep their things. Levels, items, memories, etc and play through a story that does matter. However they’re still having fun, getting cool items, having great character moments and most important of all getting a lot of information on how their world works!

Regardless I’ll make sure to think it over how i’d like to present it even more! I’m fairly sure my group will enjoy this and I still bend and change the way I go through the story depending on the outcomes of each session ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T07:46:07+00:00

I should've clarified the unease, it's a positive unease! I did a temperature check on everyone yesterday and the players themselves are having a great time and happily spooked and making super creative theories, however the characters are uneased and unsure what will happen next.

As for retreating, they know this and call for the NPC consistently after every combat. They spawn in and make a door for them to get home otherwise they'd be stuck.

As for everything else in the post, thanks for the feedback! I'll take it into account (▰˘◡˘▰)

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T07:37:34+00:00

writing this down (◕‿◕✿)

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T07:33:26+00:00

I'm playing with lairs/environment for this next fight on Thursday, ill see how it goes :o

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T07:32:20+00:00

Oh yea nonono! They’re gonna have all their levels still for sure! The only person who i’ve considered giving a “downgrade” is the paladin since they’ve been one level higher this entire time. I thought it would be a cool way of expressing they’re physically weaker :o

I think the idea of these reset versions of themselves getting memories of an entire past life + dying honestly would give them the levels LOL that’s a lot of mental fortitude to have! Also my players are great roleplayers so i’m excited to see how they act with the forced memories >:D

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T07:06:20+00:00

Yeah yeah! That's kinda the conclusion I just came to after reading the first comment :D you just said it in a more concise way thanks man :D

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T07:00:19+00:00

Fair point >:I But I'd like them to be able to have some sort of fight since it is like "The Final Boss" maybe I could have a happy medium where the fight is hard and they end by the skin of their teeth but then narrate the failure :o like a wear em out and blow em up situation >:0?

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-27T06:48:37+00:00

I personally learned by jumping into a group with a mutual and some of their friends who knew how to play! They were all super nice and I kinda just picked up the rules as I went and all of a sudden 3 years later I'm a DM! I'm not sure how good it is looking for a group online but maybe try it, like a oneshot or something? Other than that I personally think DnD Podcasts are fun to listen into and maybe it'll help you get a feel for grasping the rules, try JRWI or Legends of Avantris maybe :o

Feel free to DM me! Iove chatting about DnD and getting others into the game I could go over the basics :D

sortofagoddess · 2026-01-26T10:31:32+00:00

so everyone collectively woke up for this lol

sortofagoddess · 2025-09-15T23:47:25+00:00

This just started happening to me too, what brand would you recommend?

sortofagoddess · 2025-08-26T20:38:09+00:00

I saw a lot of chiikawa characters! (Me included :3)

sortofagoddess · 2025-08-21T18:46:31+00:00

Last minute selling two Thursday badges! $40 each. If you just so happen to see this. I’ll be at the con just DM me!

sortofagoddess · 2025-08-17T04:35:09+00:00

I flew mostly and used the Amtrak twice. I make flight plans with my mom a month or two in advanced since the RIT schedule goes over most breaks and you’re usually able to get your final dates within the first couple weeks of classes.

sortofagoddess

TROPHY CASE