Help me pick the "monster" for this encounter...

[Kerilstrasz]

My players STAY OUT!!!


what i have..
Everything except the actual thing they will fight...
let me elaborate...
PCs are in a long abandoned outpost (2.000 years?) of an ancient & powerful arcane cult.
They are at the last obstacle (encounter) that will let them proceed to the
inner chambers (loot,infos etc etc)...
So.. they enter a corridor that leads them to 3 different rooms.. 2 small & 1 bigger,
which except from a crest on the long wall is otherwise empty.. the idea is to
visit the smaller rooms so they solve a riddle in each so the "guardian" is
summoned.. they have to defeat him and take an object from his corpse that
will interact with the crest to reveal a portal.
http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/6094/555888s.jpg
Rooms 2&3 house the riddles and they are 15x15' each.
Room 1 is where the crest is and the "guardian will be summoned" & it is 30x45'
PCs at this point are lvl2, cleric,rogue,paladin,warmage. They have magic weapons
but only light MW armors... Until now they have fight human bandits, golems
(homebrewed to their lvl) and a Otyugh http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/otyugh.htm
that due to position conditions was a fair fight. I list the above
so you don't say smthing similar :P they will also have a not so random
encounter with some skeletons & ghouls.. and maybe a ghast when they will
be ready to leave the dungeon.


So??? what is your advice? What book and what page you have in mind? :)

Thnx in advance :D

[ericp65]

Would you prefer living or undead? Native to the Prime Material Plane, or something from another plane, bound to guard the area? Nagatha from Monster Manual IV might be worth a look, or a Dracotaur from Monster Manual III might be fun. Adult Neogi from Monster Manual II, perhaps? Sure, these all have CRs higher than the average party level, but greater risk can bring greater reward. Just some suggestions for you. Or, maybe a roughly equivalent party is in the room, revivalists of the ancient cult.

[Kerilstrasz]

Would you prefer living or undead? Native to the Prime Material Plane, or something from another plane, bound to guard the area?

well.. i dont know... undead is nice cause pala and cleric can use their specials
& spells and give them some more spotlight.. but that will be true at their next
session either way (skelies,ghoul and ghust)..

i suppose i d like smthing has the basic humanoid bodytype... a large bypedal..
able to wear armor... maybe have some DR and resistances... no regen though..
HIgh Hp.. about its atttacks... i dont want to 1shot my PCs.. i prefer annoying
abilities like disarm, trip, maybe sleep or fear.. no ranged attacks and no more
than 10' reach... it may have some CC spells (or SLA) but no dmg spells..
i want to force my players to have the time to study it and make a tactic on
their feet.
(EDIT1 : It has to be evil)