D&D: Call of Netherdeep’s Final Encounter Is A Memorable Boss Fight Done Right
Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep is an action-packed adventure. One of the standout setpieces is the final encounter. Spoilers ahoy.
Critical Role is packed with memorable final encounters, including a tense showdown with Vecna and the transformed body of a dead friend. Matt Mercer has a love for fighting gods and godlike beings with epic powers. We all do. And a good boss fight should feel like an evolution of the rules. It should feel new and exciting but not like some big gotcha either.
Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep’s final encounter is a great example of what you can do with a good boss fight. Why? Well we’re going to look at this as spoiler free as we can, but we’re going to be talking about the climactic boss. So you’d best prepare yourself for spoilers.
We’ll stay away from specifics as much as possible. But let’s start with the first big thing, which is that the players know who the boss is.
Familiar Face, Sad Story
At the end of Call of the Netherdeep, players will find themselves facing down an enemy they’ve come to know over the course of the adventure. By the time you reach the final encounter, players will have received visions that delve into the history of the boss. But it’s more than just learning about who the boss is or was. They’ll have had a chance to get to know the boss through different messages and communications.
The end result is that, by the time you get to the final conflict, the players know who they’re facing down and why. They may not know what they have to do. They may even have come to empathize with who they find themselves squaring off against, which makes for an interesting story. The adventure of Call of the Netherdeep is pretty heavy with the exposition in this regard–but it does so with a purpose. You get to see NPCs who react with both fear and awe, and get multiple perspectives on what has happened. It can make for a truly dramatic confrontation at the end.
Of course, the other big secret is that you can fight with your feelings.
The Power of Friendship
Another big thing about the boss is that Mercer and co. seem to be experimenting with alternate solutions to just fighting straight up in combat. If you watched the end of Campaign 2, in the final confrontation with the Nonagon, you might have noticed players trying to reach out to their fallen friend, Mollymauk, whose body was a vessel for an arcane abomination.
While that’s not exactly the case here, Call of the Netherdeep presents players with a chance to use their skills in the final encounter. They may be just as powerful as an attack–if not more so. In fact, some checks are required if you want to unlock the “best ending.” But it’ll be tricky to do so, because to get there you have to fight three different bosses.
Boss Battle Trio
The secret to running great bosses in Dungeons & Dragons is to have them actually be more than one monster. And in Call of the Netherdeep, the boss fight borrows mechanics from the recent Mythic Monsters out of Mythic Odysseys of Theros. Only it has an execution that I really like. Instead of just fighting the same monster stat block twice (which is kind of how Mythic Monsters work), the boss actually changes radically in each “phase.” Reduce the final boss’ hit points to 0 and, surprise, they’re not actually dead, just changed into a different form.
And each form is different from the last. You fight three distinct stat blocks each with their own powers and themes and combat styles. The first is pretty brutal and all about grappling. The second is full of magical attacks. The third is surprisingly mean with its abilities. But they all feel different. And they all have different legendary actions. Taken at face value, they all have about 150 hit points each, so they’re not an impossible conflict, but facing down three different forms is sure to be a challenge for anyone.
But that’s the meat and potatoes of the fight. What makes it stand out above other climactic battles is what happens afterwards.
Final Fallout
When all is said and done, win or lose, the players get to see the consequences of their actions. And they’re not always for the best either. It is entirely possible to defeat the final encounter and still feel like you’ve somehow lost. Or missed something. And that’s great here. The different possibilities and the reactions the NPCs have afterwards really help to cement the players’ impact on the game. The world feels different because of what the characters in your party have done.
It makes the boss fight memorable. It’s one of the best parts about Call of the Netherdeep.
Want to see more? Check out ‘Call of the Netherdeep’ up close and personal!
