What do you feel are the most difficult creatures to face in Pathfinder,
from the Bestiary or supplements and modules? I only have the Bestiary
and some experience from 3.5Are monsters strong enough to compete well against significant power boosts for all of the classes?
Just from the bestiary, my non-Dragon pick at say, 13th level would be
the Ice Devil. Not a lot of HP but the defenses are pretty sick...15/14/12, 32 AC, Immunities to Poison, Fire, Cold, and 10 Acid Resistance,
24 SR which is decent, and the Regeneration 5 Good and DR 10/Good is sweet, too.It has plenty of great combat control spells and abilities and deals on average 20 damage a hit plus a Slow effect for 4 rounds. They were very tough in 3.5 and as a boss monster 2 or 3 CR ahead of a party it looks like a total bastard.
Shadows are ruthless at low levels.
Trolls are very deadly if the PC's won't metagame and either have low knowledge skills or blow an important roll or two.
The monster than just won't die is just.. rough. Hydra are also tough given their reach and sheer number of attacks per round and how hard it is to actually -hurt- the dang things.
-S
Trolls are very deadly if the PC's won't metagame and either have low knowledge skills or blow an important roll or two.
Unknowable damage resistance (DR) and immunity to specific type is a killer, especially at low levels. Flying yeth hounds with the fear effect in their howl made my adventuring party scream and run like little girls, my character included. That was a near-TPK. Now imagine those yeth hounds with dog collars of Resist Energy (Fire) and Brooches of Shielding from Magic Missile, and you have something most 3rd level parties can't beat.
Most, if not all, GMs ignore the "spells per day" of a monster as well as its spell resistance (SR). Nothing shoots down a cocky sorcerer like finding out he has to roll a 26 or higher even if he connects with a spell. Giving the monster Dodge and Evasion is just evil on saving vs. damage.
The worst is a monster who the evil cleric or wizard decided to buff for the day, and those buffs last all day. Like Extended Resist Energy (Fire) on a troll that lasts two hours or more.
Most, if not all, GMs ignore the "spells per day" of a monster as well as its spell resistance (SR).
I don't find this to be true. Most of the DM I have known play by the book.
The worst is a monster who the evil cleric or wizard decided to buff for the day, and those buffs last all day. Like Extended Resist Energy (Fire) on a troll that lasts two hours or more.
I wish I had thought of this myself, but I would also put a spell on the monster so it could not be turned against me. Keeping Mr.Quasi-Invinicible on your side is a good idea.
Against a low level party (lvl 1 or 2) the imps and quasits are pretty nasty.
Good AC, invisibility, resistances, DR and fast healing are a tough defense, they can change shape and poison. Suggestion and fear are devious things as well.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Monsters that the GM has tweaked a little - yellow shadows that drain Int, crystalline umber hulks with DR 10/bludgeoning & sonic vulnerability, that explode on death in a cloud of wounding shards ...
Make the knowledge checks mean more than having read the Bestiary or Monster Manuals :-)
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Giant Tick - It's a low-level monster for a low level encounter, but it'll deal normal damage + con damage. (A single critical hit can kill a 1st level PC outright).
Hardest I've ever faced is F***ing Pugwampis. Mostly because I have to keep rolling twice for everything, and they tend to hang out in rooms full of broken glass/cactuses/broken dreams of glory.
Puggwampi Druids :-)
Pugwampis are nuclear! Really. They're he big a-bombs in the cold war I wage against my players. One mention of pugwampis maybe making the comeback when certain thinks don't stop and I have the most well-behaved group in the world }>
They still shudder when they think of Howl of the Carrion King! :D
Humans
You never know what class they might be, level they might be, magic item they might have, skills they have, or alignment they currently have.
After all, one Merchant might be a 2nd level Expert. Another Merchant might be a Retired 15 th level fighter, 3rd level cleric, and 2nd level expert, who is just spending his latter years settled down in a village, living on his pension fund he gather while adventuring, and working as a Merchant to keep active.
By the way, Which one of these Merchants would you try to Intimidate :-)