Reality Warping Wizard Boss

[Mystical-man]

I was thinking about making a boss fight that is different to the normal type of boss fight from the face that this is going to be a fight with a major villain in the story. What tips would you have for making a fight where the opponent is warping the very reality around the players and using the environment as a weapon as I feel this would make him feel very powerful which is important for story reasons. Are there any monsters in RAW that has some things that would help with making this fight interesting and what tips would you have for making a battle like this

[Unoriginal]

I was thinking about making a boss fight that is different to the normal type of boss fight from the face that this is going to be a fight with a major villain in the story. What tips would you have for making a fight where the opponent is warping the very reality around the players and using the environment as a weapon as I feel this would make him feel very powerful which is important for story reasons. Are there any monsters in RAW that has some things that would help with making this fight interesting and what tips would you have for making a battle like this

Lair Actions are your friend here. Many creatures can warp the reality locally.

The Githzerai Anarch might be a good place to start looking.

[Archeoaevis]

I was thinking about making a boss fight that is different to the normal type of boss fight from the face that this is going to be a fight with a major villain in the story. What tips would you have for making a fight where the opponent is warping the very reality around the players and using the environment as a weapon as I feel this would make him feel very powerful which is important for story reasons. Are there any monsters in RAW that has some things that would help with making this fight interesting and what tips would you have for making a battle like this
The Githzerai Anarch, from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, is a good place to start. It fights by throwing stuff around with telekinesis and casting reverse gravity to mess with its enemies' tactics, which sounds similar to what you want your villain to do.

[Asmotherion]

Well one actually: Don't overdo it Be sure the characters are at least level 17. Then:

A) Use Wish Once, for something very specific. Make sure it will have an impact to the fight, as well as showing off his power scale. I suggest Replicating Mirage Arcane through Wish, to completely change the world around him, to make traps and Environmental Effects (Tornados, Lava Rivers) on the landscape; You can rule that the traps deal Psychic Damage or even normal damage... You're the DM, and it's Replicated through Wish after All.

B) The effects should have a Wisdom Save to disbelieve them for half damage, and a further Dex/Str/Con Save for a further half damage, depending on the nature of the effect (Example, Fissures would be Dex, Sheer Cold would be Con wile a block of stone falling on them, could either be Str or Dex).

C) Damage of the effects should not be more than they can handle. Unless you want the fight to be a massacre, I suggest to Average the effects to 4d6. Perhaps have a single target effect up to 10d6 once per round.

Overall, this works pretty much like a combination of lair/legendary actions, except it triggers narativelly with the Wish spell.

[JackPhoenix]

Sounds like time for lair and legendary actions.

[PandaPhobia]

I was thinking about making a boss fight that is different to the normal type of boss fight from the face that this is going to be a fight with a major villain in the story. What tips would you have for making a fight where the opponent is warping the very reality around the players and using the environment as a weapon as I feel this would make him feel very powerful which is important for story reasons. Are there any monsters in RAW that has some things that would help with making this fight interesting and what tips would you have for making a battle like this

just spam mirage arcane as an illusionist litch