Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, we keep needing to hit the reset button to get another chance to conquer D&D.

Not every fantasy adventure story ends with a big fight, but many of them do. During major conflicts, it’s typical for fantasy heroes to face a singular embodiment of their antagonists: a dragon, demon lord, lich, or a conceptual representation (thanks JRPGs). We’re going to talk about what makes a boss battle interesting and challenging and explore ways to use the concept in your games.

*The Lost City*, a 1982 Dungeons & Dragons adventure, introduced the entity known as Zargon. Zargon’s description harkens back to pulp mythos stories from the 30s, and an ancient, unique monster living under a lost society is almost like something Robert E. Howard would have put in a Conan story. The adventure names Zargon the story’s “villain,” blaming him for destroying the titular lost city and providing his stats, but it doesn’t directly lead to him. Instead, it advises using information about Zargon to craft a higher-level adventure where player characters are ready to fight him. The 2014 Player’s Handbook offers Zargon as an example of a Great Old One Warlock patron, if you wish to channel your inner Zargon without going to the lost city of Cynidicea. That’s Sin i DEE see ah.