I have a question...
I am running an adventure for a group of 4, 13th lvl pcs (fighter, mage, cleric, thief). I am having a hard time coming up with challenging monsters. The problem is that I have never ran games for characters higher than level 10. The past couple of times we've gotten together the fights have been, either, so uneven that the pcs have killed the creatures off before the fight has even begun, or the monster is too strong and they all nearly die.
I like the idea of them facing multiple opponents, but I can't have 7 lvl whatever goblins running around. It starts to get a little boring after a while.
Any suggestion would be great. I have the Pathfinder Bestiary and the DnD monster manuals.
Thanks in advance.
p.s. If you suggest anything, please tell me where to find it and the CR for it. Thanks.
You can always give monsters some character levels or slapping them with some templates.
You can always give monsters some character levels or slapping them with some templates.
I thought about that, but I wanted some variety. The characters will be in the desert and I know at some point they will be running into a blue dragon, but that is a couple games away. Just trying to find some filler that matches and will give them a good time/challenge.
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Why not take what should seem like an easy fight (i.e. a bunch of Orc bandits) and spice it up with traps and some character levels. A group of 7 or 8 5th level Orc barbarians, wizards and rogues with teamwork feats, raging, a couple of minor magic items (wand of magic missiles targeting the wizards), and sneak attacking, at a trapped choke point should be challenging enough to give them pause, but not overpowering. Not only that, but the orcs should be smart enough to break off their attacks when they're close to defeat (causing a rock slide to cover their escape perhaps?) and could continue to harass the PCS for some time.
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I don't know how detailed your encounters typically are, but sometimes all it takes is a few environmental factors to turn an otherwise blasé encounter into a challenging and memorable one. Deserts provide a lot of effects that can affect a battle.
Sandstorms can play hell with vision and spellcasting incurring penalties to Perception, ranged combat, flying and concentration. Depending on the type of desert, the party might even have to deal with a sudden flash flood or thunderstorm.
Quicksand isn't only found in swamps. A fight with flying or burrowing creatures in a patch of dry quicksand could even the odds for your monsters.
Don't forget to incur movement penalties if the adventurers are moving through soft sand.
Heat might not be a big deal at 13th level since potions of Endure Elements are cheap and last a long time, but don't be afraid to stick it to a group who goes into a desert unprepared. Aside from the non-lethal heat damage, things like a simple sunburn and being dazzled by the sun are going to hurt attack rolls. On the reverse, deserts can get very cold at night.
Set up a fight near some spiny cacti. The needles probably won't bother anybody with sufficient protection, but a creature could bull rush a lightly armored character into some thorns for a few points of damage and, possibly, a penalty on concentration checks.
The main thing to remember is that intelligent monsters that live in the desert know the desert and should be able to come up with tactics that take advantage of their home turf.
If you don't have a copy, try finding the 3.5 Sandstorm book. It's all about adventuring in desert environments. Barring that, the core rulebook's got a desert section on pg.430.
Your party's APL is 13, right? Gnolls are decent humanoid enemies in deserts. They are normally CR 1 so creating a group with class levels and access to "pets" to harry your PCs as they cross the desert could be warranted.
A group of 6 gnoll level 9 whatevers (CR 9 each) is EL 14.
A group of 4 gnoll level 10 whatevers (CR 10 each) is also EL 14.
Be sure to have some gnoll rangers with favored enemy: human.
Also be sure to have some gnoll desert druids who summon elementals to harass the interloping PCs. You could possibly have a gnoll summoner with a neat eidolon or a gnoll cavalier atop a cool desert mount.
Looking at monsters in the desert I see giant scorpion. The base version is only CR 3 but they list suggestions for tougher versions. I see the giant emperor scorpion is CR 11 (and gargantuan, always visually cool to erupt out of the sand). Two of them is EL 13. Make them advanced and it is EL 14.
A phoenix would be a truly neat encounter (CR 15).
Two advanced, giant behirs would be EL 12.
You could add caster levels to a sphinx to create a unique encounter.
Mummy with class levels (I've seen a mummy monk stat block before that sounded interesting) leading a group of risen dead across the desert could be an ongoing challenge.
An advanced purple worm would be EL 13.
Lots of choices. Just think about what would be fun and makes sense for what's going on. Good luck!