Papa Nobsplat

Patriarch of the Nobsplat Ogre Clan

5 Minute Prep

Meet the Villain: Papa Nobsplat

Concept: Ogre patriarch of the Nobsplat clan, who united

We use the term "united" loosely.

the Nobsplat clan with brute strength and dark magic to once again conquer the region.
Passion: subjugating people who are smaller than him, and killing people who are bigger than him.
Methodology: Enthusiastically participates in an unfair fight, and will go out of his way to make a fight unfair (usually by surrounding himself with other ogres).
Voice: Deep, gravelly, and a little stupid. Even Papa Nobsplat, smarter than most ogres, is not particularly bright.
Favorite One-Liners:

• "*laughs* You climb all the way up here and that's all you can do?"
• "Get outa my castle!"
• "I'm gonna make you inta pudding and feed ya to my boys."

The Fight

Papa Nobsplat is in the middle of conducting a dark ritual when the players arrive.

Goal

To slay the region's guardian spirit with a dark ritual.

The ritual is set up on top of a high tower. In the center of the arena made by the top of the tower is an anvil altar to Tiln, to which a semi-conscious old man is chained. This man is the spiritual guardian of the region. By killing him with this ritual, he will corrupt the region.
To complete the ritual, Papa Nobsplat must march a counter-clockwise circle around the altar, stepping in time to his ogre honor guard's chanting. This marching and chanting is building up a whirlpool-like current of energy, which the magically sensitive characters can feel building with each of Papa Nobsplat's steps.
Upon completing one full circle (or two if you want the fight to last longer), he will spend his action that turn to raise his hammer and gather the entire dark magical vortex into a strike onto the man and the anvil.
If the ritual progresses this far, then it can be very, very exciting to give the players each a chance to react before the ritual completes, potentially disrupting the ritual.

Thereby consolidating his hold on the region.

Strategy

Using his Honor Guard

The Honor Guard is spread out in a circle around Papa Nobsplat's marching path, chanting and tapping their weapons against the ground in time with his footsteps. This chanting takes focus, and they do not notice anything but Papa Nobsplat while they chant. If they are attacked, then they must make a Concentration check (they get a -1) in order to stay focused on chanting. If they fail, they stop chanting and fight back.
If they succeed, however, they continue chanting, but also try to hinder what the PCs are doing. Any check made within 5ft of a hindering ogre is made at disadvantage as they poke and prod at you.
Papa Nobsplat brought 8 ogres with him because he is vain and wanted to feel important. Only one is necessary to continue the chanting. The Honor Guard, however, does not know this. They think that they are each very important.
8 Halberdiers: 60 HP; 17 AC (mediocre quality plate armor).
Halberd: +4 to hit, reach 10ft, one target, 14 (2d10 + 4) Slashing damage.

to hamper the PCs, Papa Nobsplat continues the ritual at all costs, but will also take any opportunity he can to knock someone off the top of the tower.

Tactics

Papa Nobsplat's

HP: 150 (or at least enough to last 2 rounds)
AC: 18 (natural)
Speed: 20

first priority is finishing the ritual, so he will always use his movement to continue his march

Because his marching is an important part of the ritual, Papa Nobsplat must step precisely on each of his turns. If anything is preventing him from marching, removing that obstacle becomes his first priority.
Whenever Papa Nobsplat does not march on his turn, the ritual loses power. When exactly the ritual loses enough power to start malfunctioning is up to you.
If someone is in his way, he will attempt to overrun them (an opposed Str (Athletics) check to which Papa Nobsplat gets a +8, and advantage if the victim is smaller than him). If he succeeds, they are knocked prone and take 3d6 damage from getting trampled. They could also use Dex (Acrobatics) in order to dodge out of the way.

. Whenever he can, though, he will use his chain hammer

Chain Hammer Swing (recharges on 6): +8 to hit, all creatures within a 15ft. cone, Hit: 21 (3d12 + 6 Bludgeoning) and Heavy Hitter.
Chain Hammer Throw: +8 to hit, 20ft line. Hit: 18(3d8 + 6 Bludgeoning) and Heavy Hitter. Cannot use hammer again until using Chain Hammer Yank.
Chain Hammer Yank: Every creature adjacent to the hammer or the chain must make a DC 16 Dexterity Saving Throw as Papa Nobsplat retrieves his hammer. If they fail, the wide head of the hammer slams into them, dealing 18 (3d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage and pulling them 10ft toward Papa Nobsplat. If this would cause them to collide with Papa Nobsplat, then he punches them with his other hand, and they take an additional 18 (3d8 + 6) and fall prone.
Heavy Hitter: Papa Nobsplat is Huge, and he knows how to use his size to his advantage. Whenever he deals damage with one of his attacks, the target must make a DC 18 Strength Saving Throw. If they fail, they are knocked backward 20ft and fall prone. If they succeed, they are instead knocked back 10ft and do not fall prone.
When knocked backward in this way, the victim passes over any obstacle that is 10ft tall or less, potentially carrying them off the edge of the tower.

any who tries to stop the ritual, especially when his attack might knock them off the edge of the tower.

Quirks

Terrain

• The Tower
  The exact height of the tower is up to you, but having a tower tall enough that falling is nearly certain death adds an element of intensity to this fight that can be very rewarding.
  At the same time, keeping the tower shorter, or adding other walls or roofs to fall down onto can add interesting options as the players attempt to find a way back up to the top before the ritual completes.
• Crenelations
  Particularly if the tower is part of a castle or other fortification, crenelations around the edge of the tower can add thematic atmosphere to the arena. They also give a PC that plummets over the edge of the tower a potential handhold to dangle from.
• Weather
  Adding inclement weather to the scene can add all sorts of dangers and drama to the fight. Whether rain is making the stone floors slick, or lightning is striking periodically at random points due to the arcane power build up, or there are strong winds due to the tower's high altitude.

More Minutes Prep

The Setting

Papa Nobsplat's ritual is taking place at the top of the tallest tower within a fortress that he has conquered and turned into his base of operations. We call it Fort Nobsplat. Depending on how large of an encounter you want Papa Nobsplat to be, Fort Nobsplat could be a lone watchtower,

A lone watchtower is great if you want a significant but not particularly long-running ogre arc. Simply add a few ogre minions in nearby villages collecting "taxes" for some easy foreshadowing, and let the players begin hearing the ritual as they approach. Put a couple of ogre guards at the bottom (who are probably sleeping on the job) and you have an encounter that can last a couple of sessions.

an entire fortress,

Fort Nobsplat as a fort, castle, or even a citadel quickly turns Papa Nobsplat and his ogre clan into an entire arc, or even campaign. In this case, the Nobsplats probably have families collecting "taxes" in many towns in the region and have likely ousted the rightful rulers.

or even a small plateau

This option is great for when you want the Nobsplats to take up one session or less, and is great for one shots. In this setting, Nobsplat has not conquered any towns. Instead, he is trying to perform the ritual to bolster his forces so he can start conquering.
To set up for this, all you need is for Papa Nobsplat to have captured a local priest to use in the ritual.

in the wilderness.
Here is a sample introduction to a town that is currently under ogre rule.

As you approach the small town, you feel a nervous tension in the air. Townsfolk move about their daily tasks quietly, talking only in whispers. There are no carts or beasts of burden anywhere to be seen, and many of the people are carrying large loads of goods on their backs. They watch you nervously as you pass, careful to give you a wide berth.

The townsfolk are being quiet to avoid waking the ogres, who are currently sleeping in whatever building they decided to call home. Because the town is quite small, it does not have the military strength to fight the ogres off, and they are keeping their distance from the PCs because, more than likely, the PCs are quite noisy with clinking armor, weapons, gold, and potentially mounts as well.

Hooks

If they arrive during the daytime and make any significant noise:

The townsfolk scatter as you hear some shouting a few houses down, followed by large, heavy footsteps. Three massive ogres come out of a nearby mill, stomping angrily as they walk. They are shouting in giant. (If someone understands giant, they realize that the ogres seem to be shouting angrily at whoever just woke them up.)

If your players are more altruistic, then the ogres should start angrily beating townsfolk. If they are not so altruistic, then have the ogres realize that the PCs are the source of the noise and come barreling toward them.
As the final ogre breathes his last (or is otherwise rendered unable to keep fighting) he says

*maniacal laughter* Papa Nobsplat's gonna get you. You fink it's over, but it ain't.

Upon saying this, he either dies, or tries one last time to attack or escape.
If the players capture the ogre(s) then that is fine. Papa Nobsplat does not tell them much, just that they should collect "taxes" from the settlement and where to bring those "taxes" once they are collected. They should also talk a lot about how Papa Nobsplat is going to kill the PCs and squish them, and all that ogre stuff.

Set the Scene

When the players arrive near Fort Nobsplat, they see the following.

From on top of the tower you hear a chorus of deep voices chanting rhythmically in time with the sound of bashing metal. Those of you with a more arcane bent can feel some kind of dark, magical current swirling about the top of the tower. Even as you approach, you can feel the current building, hear the chanting getting louder.

As they climb to the top of the tower, continue to describe how the current is building, speeding up, getting thicker. By the time they reach the top, Papa Nobsplat will need to march only one (or two) more circles around the anvil to complete the ritual.

Turn It Up To 11

Note: Season to Taste

Only you know your players' strengths in a given situation. When initiating this encounter turned up to 11, feel free to include only a few of the below abilities, edit the abilities or their DCs, or even add more abilities to fit the encounter to your players' characters' abilities. These are here for inspiration, not as hard and fast rules. In other words: Season to Taste.

Legendary Papa Nobsplat is a terrifying beast. A truly enormous ogre of incredible strength and surprising guile. Adventurers beware, this ogre boss is not to be trifled with.

3 Legendary Actions

Chain Hammer Yank (1 action): Papa Nobsplat violently retrieves his Chain Hammer after throwing it. Acts just like Chain Hammer Yank above.
Back Off (2 actions): Papa Nobsplat flails at adjacent enemies in an attempt to knock them down. All adjacent creatures must make a DC 15 Strength Saving Throw or be knocked back 5ft and fall prone.

3 Legendary Resistance

Iron Hide: If Papa Nobsplat would take damage, he can use one Legendary Resistance to instead take no damage. This does not work against Psychic damage.
In addition, Papa Nobsplat has resistance to non-magical Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage.

Legendary Reaction

Terrifying Visage: When he is the subject of a melee attack, Papa Nobsplat may use his reaction to glare intensely at his attacker, who must make a DC 15 Wisdom Saving Throw. If they fail, they automatically miss and become Frightened of Papa Nobsplat until they successfully hit him with a melee attack.

Lair Actions

A master of his lair, this version of Papa Nobsplat is more than legendary. He is so powerful that his lair conforms to his dark whims, slaying intruders on his behalf.
Dark Magic Currents: Every creature not participating in the ritual must make a DC 17 Strength Saving Throw or be dragged 10ft in the direction of Papa Nobsplat's marching. In addition, any ongoing magical effects are washed away by the current and dispelled. Until the next time a lair action is used, ranged attacks have disadvantage unless they are parallel to the flow of the magical current. This can be used on consecutive turns.
Ambient Necromantic Energy: The necromantic energy of the ritual reanimates one corpse into the appropriate type of zombie, which then rises to attack any creatures not participating in the ritual. (If you are feeling particularly adventurous, give this zombie a Wraith's "Life Drain" or Mummy's "Mummy Rot" to go along with its attacks).

Regional Effects

This is Papa Nobsplat at his most deadly. With these abilities he and his Nobsplat clan have spread throughout the realm, terrorizing small towns, burning them down when they can no longer pay taxes. He is a true scourge upon the land, which oozes with his sinister nature.
Always Hungry: The ogres' insatiable hunger has rendered wildlife nearly extinct. Anything larger than a fox has been caught and eaten. Even these have long since vacated the area, sensing the Nobsplat's unnatural, predatory nature.
"Tax" Collectors: Every town in the region is ruled by a family of Nobsplat ogres. They take "taxes" from the residents. Some of these "taxes" are directly requested by Papa Nobsplat, and are brought to Fort Nobsplat. These are usually people who he uses as sacrifices in his dark rituals. Other taxes are whatever the ruling ogres fancy. Usually starting with food, then shiny things, then people. When the town can no longer pay, the ogres burn it to the ground and move on to the next one.
Slothful Tyranny: man-made structures throughout the region are rundown due to lack of maintenance. Roads are rutty, cobblestones are sunken and full of potholes, and fences are breaking and eroded. Even nature itself is feeling the Nobsplat's tyranny. Woodlands are overgrown with thorny bushes and vines.

More Resources

Pairs Well With

Conquered Town

Abandoned Windmill by Tabletopaudio.com

The Fight

Battle Playlist by Tabletopaudio.com

Variations

Not Ogres

Barbarian Tribe: similar theme can be accomplished with most "barbarian" tribes.
Oni Papa Nobsplat: making Papa Nobsplat an Oni (or "Ogre Mage") can be a fun way to surprise new players, and can also lend explanation to why he has been such a successful leader. It also makes him even scarier in combat.
Captive Kami: if you are using Oni Papa Nobsplat, then it can also make sense to have the region's guardian spirit be a Kami, the natural opponents and opposites of the Oni.

Loot by Encounter Significance

Diversion: the ogres' weapons and armor, and 3480 silver pieces.
Trip: Gormash's Lucky Femur (stands on end when humans are nearby), Crunchin's Gold Tooth (worth 1gp if melted down).