Hey Doug, lets see what we can come up with. First off:
1: Weaknesses: Fort saves seem like they are king against your party, the Bard, Wizard, and Summoner all will suffer quite heavily against them. Clerics have poor reflex saves, so thats another aspect you can target if you wanna lock them down. The Monk will be tricky, but I'll get to him in a moment. Hunt down some 4th and 5th level spells that target those saves and go to town.
As you said, the Wizard is a good grapple target as they have 1/2 BAB. However, other combat maneuvers can help. Swiping their component pouch will probably prevent them from doing most anything during combat as most of their spells have material components. Starting the fight (or even pre-empting it) with an invisible pickpocket who swipes the pouch would work. Otherwise, a Pilfering Hand spell will work wonders.
If we want to continue to pickpocket setting up the party, they could initiate the fight by slipping a rock with the Silence spell cast upon it into the Bard's pocket. An extended silence spell along with the rock being kept in the pickpocket's extra-dimensional storage would allow the thief to slip close without alerting the party.
The Monk running isn't an issue, since if he runs away then the party is doomed. If you really wanna target him the 9th level caster could be trained in UMD and try to zap him with a Scroll of Force Cage. Otherwise triggering the fight in a small area could allow you to have something block off the exit. A cavern or building can have its exit closed off with a Wall spell.
Trip the cleric, a trip specialist can keep him flat and stab him whenever he tries to get up or cast a spell. Clerics lack the arcane defenses against this sort of tactic.
2: Gimmicks: Fogcutting Lenses on the whole enemy party followed by a fog cloud. Having concealment or total concealment verses the party is huge, especially when the enemy party can freely maneuver about the cloud without any trouble.
Traps. Even the most basic traps can screw with a fight, the enemy party can lay out the ground work with simple things like a silent image over a hand dug pit. The party lacks a rogue, so a trap-smith could really screw with them especially if they can't see the traps through the fog. Even just filling the area with bear-traps would work.
Undead are another option that can be used in addition to summoned help, especially since the Undead could be disguised as the enemy party members. Sure, they'll have a hard time hitting in the fog but the party will never be sure who they just cut down.
3: Capture: Remember that any amount of non-lethal damage dealt to a character causes them to fall unconscious before they begin to bleed out (as long as you don't hit them too hard). A quick merciful fireball can allow you to capture the whole party. Of course, the cleric is a bit of an issue there since they can Channel Energy to heal up everyone. Thus we need some other ideas.
One of which is the Shackle spell, its a touch spell with a relfex save that auto-locks a pair of shackles or fetters on a target. Since the cleric has a poor reflex save, hitting them with this first will trap both of their hands and prevent them from channeling energy. You can also do this to pin down the Wizard with a Shackle spell enhanced with the Reach meta-magic. No hands on the Wizard means they are boned.
4: Location: As I said earlier, location is key. Its what will determine the encoutner's true difficulty. In the middle of the open will allow the PCs to take advantage of their full mobility and spells. Meanwhile, a cramped cavern, sewer, or building will force them into a worse position. The Wizard will not be able to fly, the monk can be prevented from fleeing, AoE spells will be too dangerous to cast without harming allies, and if you can find a location with pillars (or cover created from Stone Shaping rocks) then you can stop the Summoner from pouncing because they will not have a charge lane.
5: Escape: If the enemy party is this well prepared, have them be even better prepared in that they have an escape plan if things do go wrong. Pass out potions of Gaseous form, invisibility, and expeditious retreat. Keep a wall of stone in reserve to be cast to divide the room, then use Gaseous form to slip through the gap between the wall of stone and the ceiling.
Terrain, terrain, terrain.
You build the scenario to limit the PCs actions; limited flight, limited space for running, rough terrain, rivals on higher ground, etc.
Then, you mess with terrain. Walls, baby, walls. Darkness area here, cloudkill over there, etc.Make it a real playground of differing obstacles.
Channel energy is a burst, so it can be blocked by a solid wall, too.
What is the PC's lair? Because they could open up with some spells to destroy it or force them outside if its a non-magical structure. Dropping a cloud kill into their lair would force them out pretty quickly, so would dropping it on their head with Shatter or Sonic damage. Energy Siege Shot seems pretty solid for battering down a house.
Anyway, I was gonna suggest some spells.
Reflex:
Pit Spells: From Spiked Pit all the way to Acid Pit, the cleric needs Line of Sight and line of effect to target allies. The only thing they can do from a hole in the ground is cast spells straight up and try to clamber up the walls. Cover the pit with Stone Shape and you've ruined him for the entire fight.
Entangle Spells: From Entangle on up, these spells are brutal, force caster level checks to cast spells, and sickening Entanglement is a favorite of mine for completely ruining someone's day.
Spike Growth: Magical caltrops to impede movement
Spike Stones: More magical caltrops to impede movement
Obsidion Flow: Even MORE magical caltrops and entangles folks, double whammy for your monk and cleric
Etheric Shards: The KING of magical caltrops, these will ruin your monk's day whenever he fails a reflex save.
Fortitude:
Cloud Kill: Speaking of Cloud Kill, with foggcutters lenses your enemy party can see through this and watch as the Wizard chokes to death in it.
Binding Earth: Something you can try to slap on the Monk, though depending on his fort save he might avoid it. Still, it will inflict 1d6 points of damage for each tile he moves through on a successful cast. Consider lowering his saves first with Con damage, Evil Eye, or etc.
Control Winds: Swat the Wizard out of the air with a Windstorm.
Fleshworm Infestation: Completely disable a character while they're eaten alive by worms
Khain's Army: A great way to conjure up addition threats, and they force fort saves constantly against paralyzation.
Wracking Ray: 3d4 Str and Dex damage on a failed save is absurd. This will take whoever you hit with it out of the game.
Ok so there's been good ideas here but let me be the dick who makes the nuanced point.
Why are you doing this ?
Will it increase the dramatic tention at the table ? Will it impart a valuable lesson to the players? Will they heaps that lesson.
Define your story elements before you define your mechanical elements.
Who is attacking the party ? Is it a rival group of adventurers ? Have they met the PC's so far ? What are their goals ? Do they seek to win or kill? Triumph or take monetary positions ?
If you answer that question then the next part of strategy is easy.
Rival group? Who's the party? What are their classes and ressources ? What can they leverage.
In strategy, it is always better to have a strong tactical point that best leverages YOUR assets rather than to counter the OTHER PARTY's assets. Now once you have that ideal engagement scenario in mind, how do you optimise it's happenstance (if you have a stealthy group, how do they become stealthier, if you have a magic based group, how do you shore up those weaknesses even more).
If you're only asking what's the best way to wreck your party, here's the answer I give everyone:
Flagbearer bard
Saurian druid
Exploiter wizard
occultist arcanist
Cleric
Everyone gets the 3 feat chain for druid animal companion if they don't. Wizard gets craft wondrous items.
Load up casting stats with +6 items, open with:
Everyone wins Ini (ambush or spells for Ini) druid and occultist place 1d3+1 of their best summon around ennemies.
Bard sings
Cleric casts blessing of fervor
Wizard casts hemispheric wall of force or straight wall of force that blocks room.
Round 2
Cleric casts "conjure food and water"
Arcanist turns water into wine.
The party watches the awesome flag dancing show the bard puts forward in order to stimulate the fire dire tigers wrecking s$!$ on other side of the wall.
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All right, let’s see. A bard, summoner, cleric, wizard and a monk. The bard seems to be the easiest to counter with things as silence, although casting Paranoia on him/her would be amazingly funny.
For the Summoner and (mostly) the Wizard, a very problematic opponent would be an abjuration specialist like a Spellscar Oracle. Give him/her Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus Abjuration, Dispel Focus and Abundant Revelations. As revelations, pick Trigger Primal Magic Event and Magic Penetration . With this setup, have the Oracle use Dismissal (with a Persistent Metamagic Gem if you want) to get rid of the Eidolon, his Primal Magic Revelation to mess with the Wizard, and then ready to counterspell the Wizard on all spells which will keep the Wizard at bay and the Summoner inconvenienced.
For the Monk (and the Summoner if it still has the Eidolon) you need to create something that they do not want to hit. If they use slashing/piercing, have their opponent loaded up with Caustic Blood. Thorn Body is also a good one, and Resinous Skin for some DR. The Idea is that they can be hit, but the PC’s don’t really want to. A Druid would be amazing for this, Wild Shaped into something with a lot of movement options and speed to keep up in case that is necessary.
The Cleric may be the most difficult to counter, as it is a all-round character. So it might be easier to keep the Cleric busy instead. An evoker might be just a damage output that the Cleric can counter, but it forces the Cleric to keep healing, instead of dealing with the problems.
But as already stated above, terrain is the key to victory. Preferably, you get them out of their lair to a place that you can prepare beforehand. Symbol spells (covered by illusions), terrain that a Druid can alter easily (Stone to MudMud to Stone, Thirsting Entangle), easy hiding places to wait out the PC’s, etc, etc. But to get them there, I think they need to trick the PC’s. As example, if your PC’s consider the rival party to be incompetent buffoons, then the rival party can use that to their advantage in their plot to take them down. The PC’s are aware that they are using Lesser Planar Ally, what if they let your PC’s believe that they overreached?
The idea is to strengthen the PC’s idea that they are idiots who cannot control their called creatures. The PC’s will buff themselves to deal with the (fire-based) creatures and therefore waste resources on things that won’t influence the rival party’s tactics. Have the village square be the place of the final showdown, with a fake summoning circle in the middle with some creatures to defend it. Have the rival party hide in a nearby building, ready to strike when the PC’s guard is down.
Honestly, even without planning 4 8th plus 1 9th level NPCs (if made with PC wealth) have a better than even odds of TPK against 5 8th level PCs without any plans to specifically counter particular foes or planar binding shenanigans.
I can't see your party surviving against the tactics you outlined, basically you have pretty much neutralized all of them with only minions, leaving the rest of your evil party to focus on one PC a round, probably killing him.
I guess if that is your goal it will work out fine, but I don't really see it being fun for anyone.
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Honestly, even without planning 4 8th plus 1 9th level NPCs (if made with PC wealth) have a better than even odds of TPK against 5 8th level PCs without any plans to specifically counter particular foes or planar binding shenanigans.
I can't see your party surviving against the tactics you outlined, basically you have pretty much neutralized all of them with only minions, leaving the rest of your evil party to focus on one PC a round, probably killing him.
I guess if that is your goal it will work out fine, but I don't really see it being fun for anyone.
Yeah exactly, this just makes very little dramatic sense
Silence cast on a Tanglefoot bag is a nasty but effective tactic.
Is it? Doesn't the Tanglefoot Bag break upon impact, and lose the spell effect?
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I would let the evil party use the PC’s as scrapegoats for their own plans. Alterself or disguise person to hand them the blame. Use the planar allies as distractions so the pc’s are seen in the area and lacks alibis. Plant evidens in their home. Keep up the work until the locals or the authorities pays the PC a visit. Let them try to clear their names and find the Real criminals. Then have your fight in a place of your choosing.
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Use swarms on the wizard and summoner in an under ground complex.
Ex. Vescavor Swarm or Hellwasp Swarm if more nasty is required. Both are outsiders.
Or trick an Angel (summoner lesser ally) to attack them because of some desecration of a temple, for which the group are blamed. Could give the cleric ethical problems...?
Even if it broke there's no reason to think this would end the Silence spell if that's what you mean. The spell can target a point in space. Perhaps the chuck of alchemical goo with the Silence on it is not attached to the PC but that would be up to the DM to decide and the PC would still need to move away from the effect. Personally to me it sounds like an interesting tactic keeping in mind the Bag has the Silence aoe on it until thrown and may be disruptive to the party until it is thrown elsewhere.Silence cast on a Tanglefoot bag is a nasty but effective tactic.Is it? Doesn't the Tanglefoot Bag break upon impact, and lose the spell effect?
Cast Silence on a rock, put the rock into the tanglefoot bag, throw the tanglefoot bag.
Now, the rock is stuck to the person you hit with the tanglefoot bag.
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So a mirror party has a 50/50 chance of killing the entire player party. Realistically half of the party would die or go down. A party made to counter the player party is practically guaranteed to kill the player party. You should double check that encounter's CR beforehand. I of course have a bias here and maybe your players like dying but I wouldn't. I even disagree with GMs who try to counter the OP Monk grappler. Capturing the party would be the best option as you could use that to further your story.
Is this slaughter of an encounter that you're cooking up meant to kill your party so that you may send them to some pit of hell as part of your adventure? If so then well done. If not then consider it as your party will likely die before giving in to the shame of running away from an equal party.