Avatar of Moloch (lower level fight against the Archdevil)

[Krackne]

If I remember correctly back in 3.5/3.0 days the various demon lords/rulers of Hell had weakened "avatar" versions of themselves for the CR 10-16 range. That way PC's could take on Demogorgon without necessarily hitting 20+ and plunging into the Abyss.

So my question is how can I give the avatar treatment to Moloch? The best I've got so far is slapping on the young template, scaling down his spell-likes, and cutting his HD in half.

Anyone else have any experience with this? Alternatively is there a book where he got this treatment and I completely glossed over it?

[JDLPF]

There are very few templates that reduce a monster's CR, typically because much of the challenge is 'baked in' to the special abilities.

As an alternative, consider using the Simple Monster Creation rules for the creature. Build a lesser moloch at the CR you need based on the ruleset, and you're able to be reasonably sure it's balanced against a typical party.

At the end of the day, building an encounter is as much an art as a science. It's up to you to decide how it will run, whether it be adding debuffs in advance to a creature, giving the players a special buff in advance, or changing the creature's strategy in battle. Something as simple as applying a reverse version of the Advanced Creature simple template, for example, can lower the CR by 1.