About appropriate monster & recommended spell

[yuki_sc]

Hi there.
I'm Japanese pathfinder gamemaster.

Yesterday, My party(4 people, all 3lv) except cleric was dead. They said that 4 monsters (all CL6) are too strong and you(I) should consider this.
After that, A cleric surrendered that game was over.

Next, I altered some monsters and started our new campaign (all member are same and 3lv).
My wizard asked me to what spell is useful for this game. (His game experience is only 6 month).
I could not answer this question because my knowledge was too poor.

1) What spell is useful for 3lv wizard?
2) Considering 3lv, 4 people (fighter,cleric,wizard,rogue), what monster is appropriate?

3) They demanded that my campaign should decrease some monsters (total 6 battle, 7hour). What should I do this demand?

thanks a lot!

[Orfamay Quest]

They're right, those monsters are too hard.

In general, for a party of 4 3rd level characters, a CR 3 encounter is "average" and level-appropriate. A CR 5 encounter would be "hard," and a CR 6 encounter would be "epic" and one would expect a lot of deaths. Four CR 6 creatures would be the equivalent of a CR 10 encounter, and it would probably be a total massacre.

So in answer to your third question, you should indeed decrease the monsters. Two CR 1 monsters (e.g. gnolls or wolves) would be appropriate, as would a single CR 3 monster. Alternatively, two CR 2 monsters would make a CR 4 encounter, which would be challenging but not unreasonable.

You can also get a lot of mileage out of groups of smaller monsters -- for example, a common orc warrior (i.e. no PC class levels) is technically CR 1/3, so a band of 6 or so orcs could be a fun encounter. Remember that not every encounter needs to be more powerful than the group -- and the fighter will feel like a king if he's able to sit there killing an orc every time he rolls a die.

Any single monster of CR 3 or below is appropriate for a third level group, or any pair of monsters of CR 1. More generally, a group of Xth level characters is appropriately challenged by a CR X monster or a pair of CR (X-2) monsters.

As to the spells, a third level wizard will not have a lot of spells available per day. There are numerous guides to wizard spells on the net,... but I'd recommend he look very carefully at the available cantrips and figure out a set that he will find useful, because he can cast them over and over again. (Acid splash is good for that.) Both sleep and color spray are very good, powerful, spells for taking out groups of low-level enemies. He should also pay attention to defensive spells and utility spells -- mage armor can help keep him alive, and spider climb can help get past otherwise impassible barriers, for example.

Some of my favorite low-level spells include grease, silent image, and web.