One or two fights?

[ThisAdamGuy]

The way I planned for the part of Henry Rider 3 that I'm currently writing to go was, Henry and her friends get sucked into their world's version of DnD and can't escape until they reach the of the GM's campaign. That was originally going to involve them fighting some monsters, then a boss, then another even bigger boss. They would have to figure out how to fight as their game characters while also constantly getting frustrated at the game mechanics (having to take turns, their attacks being determined by dice rolls, etc). Very funny, much laugh now, haha. The first boss is a lick, an undead sorcerer with a really long tongue. The second boss was a giragon, which is...imagine Tiamat, but as a multi-heared giraffe.

Thing is, I'm only on the lick fight, but I feel like the concept is already being wrung pretty dry. All their cool/funny RPG moves have been shown off, all the jokes I can get out of this setup have been told, and there's even an emotional moment where Henry thinks one of her friends has died and then nearly sacrifices herself to save them.

I like this part of the story, and the last thing I want to do is ruin it by letting it overstay its welcome. But I also don't want to waste a concept like the giragon. That's freaking hilarious, and I'll probably never get another chance to use it. So what do you guys think? End the arc with just one fight, or stretch it out into two?

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

Perhaps you could shift gears for the second fight/half of the arc? Perhaps you could incorporate the Giragon into the first fight? Maybe as a mount for the Lick? (They both have long tongues)

What does the Giragon hoard/protect?

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

What does the Giragon hoard/protect?

It kidnapped the princess. Henry went to fight the lick because he had the key to its castle. Why? No reason. The whole adventure is cliche and full of plot holes, and the party is constantly roasting the GM for it.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

It kidnapped the princess. Henry went to fight the lick because he had the key to its castle. Why? No reason. The whole adventure is cliche and full of plot holes, and the party is constantly roasting the GM for it.

Maybe as they are introduced to the Giragon they can roast the GM so hard he rage quits, ending it as he flips the table.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I see two easy options:
1) Go with your gut and drop the second fight (and I would have expected Giragon to be a silly version of the first edition's Demogorgon, later renamed Mandrilligon - so only TWO giraffe heads)
2) Do a search on YouTube for videos by The Dirt League or Dead Gentleman Productions/Zombie Orpheus Entertainment. They've probably done most of the jokes you've thought of at some point, but a little differently, and might suggest a few you haven't thought of or some new twists to throw in.

Another possibility: there's the old gag of the adventurers going "off script" and finding themselves on a blank plane, with the only details these odd blue lines that seem to be exactly ten feet apart, in a grid formation (or hexagonal patterns exactly two meters across if you want to go metric) - there are at least three variations of this one I've run across (1) The GM crumples up the unfinished map and ends the adventure; 2) the party finds a guy in a corner furiously scribbling the next encounter and lets them out of the dungeon in exchange for his life, as he IS the DM; 3) they have to find their way back to the finished part of the map, mocking the DM the whole time).