So my players discovered the pyrohydra in Curse of the Lady's Light, but they were worried it would destroy them and entered through the troglodyte cave. Now they are working their way to the end of the book, but all they can talk about is that hydra! After every session they discuss going back to fight it, how they might approach, and what they might do if it's too strong. Their anticipation of the pyrohydra fight is even higher than the fight with the BBEG.
Fellow GM's, do you have any suggestions on how to make this fight more challenging? It's a group of four level 7 characters that seem to have little difficulty with a CR9 encounter if it's not built/ran properly. I considered making him a Warden or Grave Pyrohydra, but I would like to do something more creative if possible. They are really looking forward to it.
Any ideas?
Maybe try Adding something like 5th editions laid actions? Make the cavern it's in a volcano pocket that periodically explodes with lava or something
What did you end up doing, Groz?