D&D: Five Final Boss Monsters You Might Not Have Seen In The Monster Manual
The pages of the Monster Manual are filled with all manner of terrifying foes – but if you’re looking for a “final boss” don’t miss out on trying one of these.
D&D campaigns can be the stuff of legends if you make it to the end. This has been true since the earliest days of the game. So much so that D&D helped inspire the idea of a final boss battle in video games, as you can see in the 1977 video game, dnd. All of which goes way back in that medium’s infancy.
But now the pages of the Monster Manual are filled with all sorts of foes that make for excellent final bosses. Liches, dragons, demons… or some newer/more underrated final boss monsters like these.
Gulthias Blight
The name Gulthias might be familiar to players of 3rd Edition D&D. In the adventure The Sunless Citadel, players first came face to face with the Gulthias tree, a twisted, corrupted tree that grew out of a stake that was driven through the vampire Gulthias.
Now, in 5.5E, there’s a high-level creature known as the Gulthias Blight. This twisted tree is rotten with evil. It feeds on blood and despoils the land around it – and what makes it a particularly powerful final boss monster is the fact that it can create an army of blights. Twig blights, needle blights, vine blights; they can all be spawned from the 1d6 seeds expelled every time this creature finishes a long rest. With enough time, the blights might drown the living, especially since this tree can keep itself alive on any creature that is brought to it to be drained of blood.
Colossus
Colossi are a new monster in 5.5E. They are massive constructs that are designed to “reflect the nature of a deity, which could be benevolent or wicked.” Essentially, they are big statues full of divine power that can be used for good or evil. And the best part is, most were created so long ago, and have been dormant for so long few people remember their creation.
This makes them terrifying final bosses. Roused to anger, they have it all: magic resistance, legendary resistance, the ability to deal double damage to objects and structures. This plus a rechargeable Divine Beam – a blast of radiant damage that disintegrates those it slays – makes them truly terrifying titans.
Empyrean
Empyreans got a glow-up in the 5.5E ruleset. For one, they can be evil now. And for two, they have seen some pretty significant upgrades in terms of both total hit points and abilities. With dangerous attacks that let them deal both Force damage and automatically stun creatures that they hit (or deal extra damage), an Empyrean can hit like a freight train.
And it backs up its deadly melee and ranged abilities with a suite of Legendary Actions that let it heal itself, deal area damage, and make an extra attack, giving it tools enough to take on even a higher-level party.
Lizardfolk Sovereign
Of course, the truth is, not every campaign gets up to the highest tiers. Sometimes you have a short campaign that ends once you hit level 3. If the D&D starter set is anything to go by, this is expected for many of the games.
Which is where the Lizardfolk Sovereign, another new monster for 5.5E comes into play. At CR 4, a single Lizardfolk Sovereign (plus a loyal retinue of other Lizardfolk) should make for a deadly (but not insurmountable) encounter for a level 3 party. With a bite attack that keeps it fighting a little longer than its peers, and an Earthen Maul that knocks people prone, you have the makings of a dynamic encounter for a low level final boss.
Pirate Admiral
Finally, my absolute favorite, the Pirate Admiral. Yet another new monster added in 5.5E, the Pirate Admiral is exactly what you’d think: someone who leads whole fleets of pirates. And their abilities are just so much fun. They wield pistol and scimitar with surprising panache. A pirate admiral can potentially charm a creature with deadly flourishes, or leave them poisoned.
And at CR 12 and with a crew of trusty pirates, these rapscallions make for a perfect final boss once you hit the upper limit of where most people play (levels 7-10). Especially since they have abilities that let them command their crew to be more effective.
Happy adventuring!
