Dumb Them Down

As a DM, I have done it. You have done it. Published Adventure Modules employ it. And it is awful. By whatever means your party, the one that you DM, has discovered a powerful undead creature residing at the top of a tower. The party has several dangerous encounters before meeting this foe. Perhaps they are heavily damaged. Perhaps their spells are used up. Nevertheless, you know that a Lich awaits them. What do you as the Dungeon Master do?

What I have seen in published content are some of the most pathetic spell lists for a magic-using big bad. What sense is it to give Monster Summoning IV, Continual Light and Dispel Magic as the Lich's main offensive spells? Well, you don't want to kill the party right? Or even when reasonably dangerous spells are available to the monster, you will NERF the list. "Aha! I will slay you all with my most powerful Flame Arrow!"

A Lich is an extreme example. But still, if the party is 1st - 3rd level, then you must not diminish the 10th level MU that they want to kill. Several of the spells a 10th level caster would often seek to have would slay the entire party of low-leveled fools. You need to be fair with that caster. By example, the caster wants to stay alive and is likely smart enough to know that people are going to come kill him or her for the evil that they are doing. The caster is likely to seek dangerous spells to employ. For the love of the game, be fair to your villain.

Think too how boring your game will be if you weaken your monsters. Who would ever like a Star Wars movie where Darth Vader is about to give the killing blow with his Light Saber, only to have the weapon fizzle out at the last second, giving the hero time to save the day. That would suck. And if you as DM are creating content designed to weaken your baddies, your game will suck. And if you do it regularly, your players may get only more and more aggressive, as they implore you for an actual risky fight. And that is only if they don't quit your game, which seems more likely.

This is more of a rant. It does show my frustration with this kind of play. It's better to be smarter with your baddies, so that the fights will be appropriate, instead of throwing an ancient Red Dragon at the party, which has no Breath Weapon, wings or spells.