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This is my adaptation of the Tartuk encounter based on the needs of my gaming table. Obviously, your mileage may vary, but I'm posting this to offer the community a new idea.
This encounter builds on the assumption that the PCs struck a deal with Chief Sootscales to recover the statue so he could smash it and then slay Tartuk to retake control of his clan. I am also assuming that your six player party has higher than average stats or is otherwise better equipped for the challenges of Kingmaker.
If you're in my Sunday kingmaker campaign (looking at you Paladin of Erastil, Cleric of Abadar, Half-Orc Warrior-Shaman, Druid with Wolf, Dwarf Slayer and our new Sorceress) STOP READING NOW!
So my six person party (as described above) is pretty cohesive and their stats are above average (I let them roll and they got lucky). They have not encountered much resistance so far and are now level 2. They just recovered the statue of Old Sharptooth from the mites and are preparing to return to the Sootscale's mine.
When they arrive, they actually find the Chief and most of the other Kobolds standing outside the mine, chattering nervously amongst themselves. The Chief approaches them immediately and asks for the statue. If they hand it over, he immediately smashes it and the amassed kobolds become silent. He delivers a speech in Draconic and orders his men to march on the Old Sycamore tree, hoping to take advantage of the disorder sowed by the PCs. They cheer and begin running off.
He then addresses the PCs and tell them that he wants to strike down Tartuk immediately. Right before the PCs arrived, a humpbacked human man wearing ragged, soiled clothes and a wolf demanded entrance to the mine to speak with Tartuk. Almost immediately, Tartuk and the man started arguing about obligations and tribute. Hearing the violence in their words, the Chief ordered his tribe outside, that they might avoid collateral damage in the event of a fight.
Now that the PC's have arrived, Sootscales believes that it is a perfect time to strike Tartuk since he is occupied right now.
The humpbacked man is actually a werecrocodile named Drumvrag. Several weeks ago, Drumvrag was forced from his swamp by a powerful new presence and he set up a new home in a cavern on the river's bank. He immediately set about establishing control over his new domain and found the Sootscales in the process. He demanded tribute and Tartuk put on a show of prostrating to him in order to placate the arrogant lycanthrope. He now returns to collect his tribute in the form of captured humanoid slaves, which Tartuk has not yet been able to procure. The two started arguing when Tartuk could not keep the charade of inferiority.
When the Chief broke the statue, it triggers an alarm in Tartuk's chambers. On that, Tartuk convinces Drumvrag that there is a mutual threat nearby. The two agree to return to the argument after dealing with it. Tartuk (a summoner in my scenario) casts ventriloquism, spider climb, shield and climbs up the ceiling of the mine. He positions himself outside of his chambers and begins the 10 round ritual to call his eidolon (Old Sharptooth). Due to ventriloquism, his ritual intonations sound like they are bellowing from deep beneath the earth. PCs can disbelieve with a DC 13 will save, but this merely allows them to recognize that the effect is an illusion and does not pin-point the source of the sound.
Drumvrag transforms into his hybrid form, drinks his potion of Bull's Strength and draws his masterwork silver heavy flail (taken from a would-be werodile slayer). This rips his clothes, but he doesn't mind, since they are stolen from his humanoid victims and thoroughly bog-soaked anyways. He commands Tartuk's honor guard to assist him and sends his wolf through the cave to attack any intruders. The guards have been brainwashed into obeying Tartuk and are cowed by the werodile.
The PC's have two routes of attack, either the front entrance or the hidden escape route, which Tartuk tells them about. He advocates for splitting the party to prevent Tartuk from escaping. If they try the front entrance, they have to bypass the pit traps and they will encounter the wolf on their way to Tartuk's chambers. The hidden exit path is about 300 ft from the entrance and about 200 ft long; for most of this time, the PC's can run this distance.
It will take about 15 rounds for Tartuk to summon Old Sharptooth to the battle. In that time, the PCs will have to contend with Drumvrag. Assume that from the time that the statue is smashed to the Chief requesting the PC's help, that the Summoner and the Werodile make their own agreement and complete their preparations. This leaves the countdown at round 10. Enter initiative at this point, but allow the PCs to cast whatever spells or drink any potions without beginning the countdown clock (let them talk while you draw or reveal the map). Entering initiative reinforces the urgency of the situation. Once they move to enter the mine, mark that as round one. At the beginning of round 11, Old Sharptooth is summoned and joins the combat.
Here are the stat blocks and tactic for each combatant. The wolf is not stated out, but is simply a CR1 creature from Bestiary 1.
Tartuk the Summoner (CR 5)
XP 1,600
Male kobold Summoner 6
CE Small humanoid (reptilian)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +1
Defense
AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 16 (10 base + 4 armor +4 dex+1 size+1 NA)
hp 42 (6d8+12)
Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +5
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +6 1d4+1 (mwk cold iron sickle), +6 1d3+1 (mithral dagger)
Spells Known (CL 5th; concentration +8)
2nd (4/day)— Invisibility, Spider Climb
1st (5/day)— Rejuvanate Eidolon (1d10+6), Shield, Ventriloquism, Long Arms
0 (at will)— Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Mage hand, Message, Open/Close, Read Magic
Morale: Tartuk fights, until things seem grim, but tries to escape.
Statistics
Str 12, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 14
Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD +17
Feats: Spell Focus Conj., Augment Summoning, Toughness, Skill Focus (UMD)
Skills: UMD +17 (6 ranks, +3 class skill, +2 Cha, +1 trait, +3 Feat, +2 cracked magenta prism)
Languages Common, Draconic, Gnome, Undercommon
SQ Summon Monster III (5x/day)
Combat Gear wand of magic missile (CL 3rd, 28 charges);
Other Gear Chainshirt, mw cold iron sickle, mithral dagger, cloak of resistance +1, cracked magenta prism (+2 to any skill, change once per day—UMD selected)
Tactics: The PCs arrived right as a Werodile named Drumvrag came to the Sootscales to discuss business with Tartuk. The two began arguing loudly and Chief Sootscales ordered the kobolds out for fear of colateral damage. When Sootscales breaks the statue it triggers an alarm in Tartuk's lair. The Summoner and the Werodile agree to drop their arguments when Tartuk mentions the mutual threat that he believes awaits them. He immediately casts ventriloquism, spider climb, shield, and invisibility on himself. He ascends the walls of the cave and positions himself on the ceiling while he begins the ritual to summon his eidolon Old Sharp Tooth. The preparations take 15 rounds in total and the PCs hear the sounds of Tartuk's ritual rebounding throughout the cave (the result of ventriloquism). He has a +40 to his stealth check because he is stationary on the ceiling of the cave.
After his eidolon is summoned, he casts long arms on himself to be able to touch Old Sharp Tooth with Rejuvenate spells. Otherwise, prepares an action to use his wand of magic missle to disrupt spellcasters and healers. If his invisibility drops, he recasts it. He never willingly leaves the ceiling for fear of the werodile and the PCs. He fights to the death unless there is clear evidence that he is overwhelmed and there is a ready egress available.
Eilodon (Old Sharp Tooth)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +1
Defense
AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 18 (10 base,+2 dex, + 8 NA)
hp 42 (5d10+10)
Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +4
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee 3 Claws +10 1d6+4 (5 ft reach), 1 claw +10 1d6+4 (10 ft reach) OR Power Attack 4 Claws +8 1d6+8 (1 claw 10 ft reach)
Statistics
Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +4; CMB +8; CMD +20
Feats WF Claws, Power Attack, combat reflexes (3 AoO per round)
Skills
Languages: Same as Summoner
Tactics: Old Sharp Tooth is unerringly loyal to Tartuk and fights until he is dismissed. He uses his single long claw to threaten more spaces for attack of opportunity (he has 3 per round). At least early on, Tartuk commands Sharp Tooth to use power attack exclusively and distribute claw attacks to as many PCs as possible. Whenever possible, Old Sharp Tooth maneuvers to flank and take advantage of as many AoO's as possible.
Drumvrag (Werecrocodile Fighter 4), HD: 4d10+12 (38 HP)
CR 4, XP 1,200
Init +5
Perception +x, low-light vision, scent
Speed 30ft, Swim 20ft, sprint
Saves: Fort: +5, Ref +2, Will +2
AC 18 (+1 dex, +6 natural armor, +1 armor), Touch 11, FF 17
Defenses: DR 10/silver
CMB: +9 (+12 sunder, +13 grapple), CMD: 20 (24 versus disarm and trip—favored class bonus)
Manufactured attacks: mwk silver heavy flail +10 (+12) 1d10+6 (+9), Power attack +8 (+10) 1d10+10 (+13) (19-20/x2)
Natural Attacks: bite +4 (+6) 1d8+5 (+7) plus grab and lycanthropy DC 15 Fort negates), tail slap +4 (+6) 1d12+2 (+3)
Special attack: death roll 1d8+5 (+7) and trip to grappled foe
Feats: improved initiative, power attack, combat reflexes, improved sunder, weapon focus (heavy flail)
Stats: Str 20 (24), Dex 13, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 6
Gear: mwk silver heavy fail, bracers of armor +1, 2 potions of bull's strength
Tactics: Drumvrag is arrogant and does not believe that the PCs pose a threat—at least initially. He walks through threatened spaces with impunity and has no fear of provoking AoO's. If he sees that a PC has a silvered or mithral weapon, they become his immediate focus and he attacks them with his bite to initiate a grapple and death roll them. Otherwise, he uses his silver heavy flail (a prize taken from a would-be werodile slayer) to play with the PCs by sundering their weapons and then attempting to bite and tail slap. He takes special pleasure in sundering ranged weapons and holy symbols. He cows the kobold fighters into flanking with him and making attacks of opportunity against tripped PCs with their halberds.
Unless the PCs are prepared with silver weapons, it is likely that they will have difficulty against Drumvrag. If they are overwhelmed, allow the werodile to fight more arrogantly by attempting to disarm/trip them or by choosing to drop his flail on a failed trip attempt. If a PC ever gains control of his silvered weapon, he roars and focuses exclusively on that PC. He fights to the death as he is too proud to admit defeat.
Kobold Fighter 3, HD 3d10+3 (24 HP)
CR 2, 600 XP
Init: +4 (+2 dex, +2 trait), Speed 30 ft
AC: 19 (+2 dex, +5 scale mail, +1 dodge, +1 natural armor)
Fort: +4, Ref: +5, Will: +0
BAB: +3, CMB: +3, CMD: 15
Melee: +6 mwk halberd (1d8+1, x3) 10 ft reach
Feats: weapon focus (halberd), combat reflexes (3/rd), dodge, lightening reflexes
Tactics: Tartuk's honor guard have been thoroughly brainwashed and they fight to the death while the Summoner is still alive. They always attempt to set up flanks with Drumvrag or Old Sharp Tooth whenever possible.
Total XP
Chief Sootscales (Rogue 4) 800 XP
Pit Traps 600 XP
Wolf 400 XP
Tartuk 1,600 XP
Drumvrag 1,200 XP
Kobold Fighters 1,200 XP
Total: 5,800 XP (967 XP per PC)
The total XP is higher than the base scenario awards the PCs, but I accommodate this in my game by reducing the number of random encounters.
Treasure: This has been increased by 150% to account for the increased party size.
On Tartuk: Wand of Magic Missile (28-x charges, CL 3rd, evocation, DC 18 identify), small mwk cold iron sickle (486 GP), medium mwk mithral dagger (502 GP), cloak of resistance +1 (CL 5th, faint abjuration, DC 20 identify), cracked magenta prism (CL 12th, moderate transmutation, DC 27 identify), journal with scroll of fly (CL 5th, transmutation)
On Drumvrag: mwk silver heavy flail (495 GP), potion of Bull's strength (CL 3rd, faint transmutation, 300 GP, has Bokken's mark), bracers of armor +1 (CL 7th, moderate conjuration, DC 22 identify)
Horde: pile of coins weighing 192 lbs (7420 CP, 2132 SP, 302 GP), mwk light metal shield (159 GP), 7 +1 flaming bolts (CL 10th, moderate evocation, 166 GP each, DC 25 identify), boots of elvenkind (faint transmutation, CL 5th, 2,500 GP, DC 20 identify)
Leather bag: handfuls of coins (321 SP, 249 GP, 13 PP), Stevlana's wedding ring, pearl of power 1st level (faint transmutation, CL 1st, 100o GP, DC 16 identify)
Kobold fighters: small mwk halberds, small scale mail, small daggers