The Kobold Avatar
Do not read the word “kobold” and relax. In DCC, the Kobold Avatar runs 12d12 hit dice and sits at AC 17, which puts it well past the ankle-biter tier and into something your party has to respect. Its fiendish greatsword lands for 1d10+5 plus firebrand, and the firebrand rider is the part tables consistently forget until someone is on fire.
The real feature is nightmare of dead generations, usable once per day. It is a tempo weapon, not a damage tick, and it rewards the judge who holds it rather than firing it on round one. Players who dump every resource into the opening exchange will have nothing left when the ability reshapes the fight. That is the encounter’s single hard question: spend now to end it fast, or bank your best options against the turn the Avatar decides to change the terms.
Build the seed around that decision. Clear stakes, one reversal, and enough runway that hoarding versus committing actually matters.
At the table: Hold nightmare of dead generations until the party has clearly committed their strongest spells, then trigger it the round after, when they have the least in reserve.
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