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So I'm fleshing out Chapter 2 of book 1, and I decided I want the climax to be a fight against the Son of the Sandpoint Devil. Now I have two choices.
The idea is that the Devil attacks the Caravan and once reduced to half hit points flies off to lick its wounds. Shalelu wants to hunt it down once and for all, to put her mind at ease that Sandpoint will be safe for a time:
Here's my options
1) The Son of the Sandpoint Devil is a Sandpoint Devil with the Young Template applied (along with some other adjustments) to bring him down to CR 7. With both the party and the key NPCs (Ameiko, Koya, Sandru and Shalelu) together fight the creature. With 9 characters I'm looking at an APL 4.25 party which against CR 7 puts it at the high end of its range. Furthermore the Devil will be at half hp. Should I give the Sandpoint Devil an extra half-action per round in order to balance the action economy slightly, or is it already a bit too dangerous for the party?
Son of Sandpoint Devil
This mangy pony-like beast walks perversely upright. Wings, a dragon’s tail, and a fanged mouth complete its vile appearance.
SON OF SANDPOINT DEVIL CR 7
(Young Sandpoint Devil)
XP 3,200
NE Medium outsider (native)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +16
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 14, flat-footed 19 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +9 natural)
hp 68 (9d10+18)
Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +10
DR 5/cold iron; Immune fire, fear effects; SR 14
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (poor)
Melee bite +13 (1d10+2/19–20), 2 hooves +13 (1d6+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks bay, hellfire breath, kick, trample (2d4+3, DC 19)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +11)
At will—fog cloud, gust of wind, pyrotechnics (DC 13)
3/day—dimension door (DC 15)
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 17, Cha 16
Base Atk +9; CMB +13; CMD 27 (31 vs. trip)
Feats Dodge, Hover, Mobility, Spring Attack, Vital Strike
Skills Fly +9, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (geography) +2, Perception +15,Stealth +11, Survival +15
Languages Abyssal, Varisian
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Bay (Su)
When the Sandpoint Devil screams as a standard action, all creatures within a 300-foot-radius spread must succeed on a DC 17 Will save or become frightened for 2d4 rounds, or shaken for 1 round on a successful save. This is a sonic, mind-affecting fear effect. Whether or not the save is successful, creatures within the effect are immune to the Sandpoint Devil’s bay for 24 hours thereafter. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Hellfire Breath (Su)
Once every 1d4 rounds, the Sandpoint devil can unleash a blast of infernal flame from its mouth as a standard action. This hellfire fills a 30-foot cone and causes 7d6 points of fire damage (Reflex DC 17 half). Anyone who takes damage from this breath weapon must also make a DC 17 Will save to avoid becoming cursed by the infernal flames—those who become cursed take a –4 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks for a number of days equal to the damage taken—during this time, the victim’s skin appears to be horribly burned in places regardless of any healing applied. This curse effect functions at caster level 9th. The save DC for both saves is Constitution-based.
Kick (Ex)
The Sandpoint Devil’s hoof attacks are primary attacks that deal bludgeoning and slashing damage.
Caravan Battle Statistics:
CR 7 AC 17 hp 69, Attack: +8 Damage:4d6+4 Note: The statistics are treated as CR 3 lower to account for there only being one caravan attack a turn. The caravan's damage also increases by 1d6 every level.
The idea is that the players who each took a trait to link them to an NPC can control them for a combat, to make the NPCs feel more useful and part of the group as they take on a mighty beast together. My worry is that this could be the deadlier option.
2) Alternatively, a safer option is to use the Red Mountain Devil from Serpent's Skull #1 (altered slightly). This is a CR 5 monster, so a challenge for the APL 2 party (APL 3 if they bring along Shalelu). While still dangerous far less punishing.
The Son of the Sandpoint Devil CR 5
XP 1,600
Giant winged chupacabra (Pathfinder Adventure Path #19 78)
CE Medium magical beast
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision;
Perception +7
Defense
AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 natural)
hp 51 (6d10+18)
Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +4
Offense
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (average)
Melee bite +9 (1d6+3), 2 hooves +9 (1d4+3)
Special Attacks chupar, pounce
Statistics
Str 17, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 3, Wis 15, Cha 16
Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 22
Feats Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative
Skills Acrobatics +10, Fly +7, Perception +7, Stealth +10
Languages Abyssal, Varisian
Special Abilities
Bay(Su): When the Sandpoint Devil screams as a standard action, all creatures within a 300-foot-radius spread must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or become frightened for 2d4 rounds, or shaken for 1 round on a successful save. This is a sonic, mind-affecting fear effect. Whether or not the save is successful, creatures within the effect are immune to the Sandpoint Devil’s bay for 24 hours thereafter. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Breath Weapon: Once every 1d4 rounds as a standard action the Sandpoint Devil can unleash a 20 ft. cone of flame, dealing 5d4 damage, Reflex DC 15 for half. In addition a character must make a Will Save (DC 15) or take a -2 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws and skill checks for a number of days equal to the damage taken. This is a curse effect that functions at Caster Level 6th.
Son of Sandpoint Devil II (Caravan Statistics)
AC 15, hp 25, Attack:+6, Damage: 3d6+3
In any case I'm honestly not sure which way to go. What do you folks think?
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I think I would go with nr 2. If you look at the damage you are dealing with the SoSD you need to choose between 18 and 13 avg dmg per round (if my math is correct!) and with a +8 to +6. To hit a character. Brutal for a lvl 2 character. While not a certainty that you will hit a PC I would go out of a scenario where you will hit one of them at least.
Of course if you want such a brutal fight with spikes of dmg on the party go for nr 1. I also don't know what kind of fight your players would like
Can you give it any minions, allies, summonings, etc? Otherwise it has a high chance of getting swarmed and killed very fast indeed by that number of opponents.
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With 9 PCs, they only have to do 6 points of damage each to win. Most PCs can do that in a round by level 1, let alone APL 4.25.
Full-attacking, it might bring down one level 2 PC in a round, but not kill them; Koya can heal the character to keep them from dying, or channel energy to cancel out the effects of its breath weapon.
Unless these PCs are very weak in battle, it looks underpowered to me. Especially compared to the CR 6 monster which the PCs (without four NPC allies) can meet almost immediately in the next chapter, depending on what path they take to explore.