Scrap minions, do hazards. So, Runelords is responding to @DanTalksGames who I almost always agree with, and to this point, still do. However, the people Dan is fed up with are on to something.
Welcome to today's thread: Hazard a Guess #Pathfinder2e
The average player, informed by video games and movies expects the bosses to carry narrative weight. What they fail to understand, and oh my god, does most of Dungeon RPG laymen fail to understand is that what the game balances and what narrative weight suggests aren't congruent
In fact, what PF2e players forget is that the boss they are expecting to fight and struggle again is only four levels ahead of them in extreme situations and sometimes, yeah, it works, but only if the GM is a very tactical thinker and there's not too many wildly unlucky rolls.
The average player will, and I know I did once when my best friend added minions to a boss fight many, many moons ago feel that it is pretty damn cheap to pad the fight with minions (even though one of my favorite movies ever actually does that - The Mummy)
However, you know what won't come across as cheapening a fight? Hazards. One of my favorite fight scenes of all time puts hazards front and center: The duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. Sure the choreography isn't *perfect* in many cases its silly, but it is
cool. It was cool when it came out when I was 15 and despite it being slightly silly, the hazards stand out because they make a point: No rational person would have a sword fight above a lake of lava, dodging falling magma, and risking certain incineration.
The narrative says however, they don't (especially Anakin) care. If you watch the fight closely, and ask "what are the writers and choreographers trying to tell us" the answer you see is this brotherly bond collapsing and being thrown into hell.
In the fight we see Obi-Wan take the first step out into the "danger zone" as a tactic to escape the ferocity of Anakin's assault. By limiting Anakin's movement to a balance beam, Obi-Wan is able to rely on patience and timing rather than get his ass whooped by Baby Vader.
The fight escalates into dodging lava spouts and then the whole bridge collapses and the duel still continues. The hazards don't cheapen the fight, they play a role in emphasizing the risk in an already tense situation.
Mechanically, lather your boss fights with believable and appropriate hazards. If you are fighting a white dragon (while white dragons still exist), let dangerous icicles, freezing water, thin ice, slick slopes add to your fight. Or, dare I say supernatural hazards!
Maybe the dragon has just finished a ritual to start an ice age, and there's only a few minutes until the spell takes effect, there may be pulses cold energy, sudden cold snaps that hamper movement, ANYTHING.
Boss fight w/ minion is fine, boss fight w/ hazard is epic.
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