Party of villains to challenge a large-ish group of players

[tyriuth]

After the first session it is quite apparent that my group of seven 5th level players (Grey-elf Psion, Human Soulknife, Warforged Monk, Human Fighter, Elf Archer (Fighter), Druid and Spellscale Artificer; of the which the last three are pretty well optimized) is able to take on quite a lot more that what I had first thought. And, as such; have decided that my villain will need a little help or suffer a rather pathetic defeat.

I was planning (and will be running) a large dungeon with a large emphasis on darkness and the underdark with a range of creatures from the shadow magic section of ToM, the plane of shadow, Drow of the underdark etc... And to tie it all together; a Drow Dread Necromancer as the arch-villain.

What other characters (they don't have to be Drow, or necessarily shadow related) do you think would work well with my necromancer? (I was thinking perhaps a drow warlock, duskblade...) Also, what level should I place them at? (They were able to quite easily take out three CR 5 Boneclaws and subsequent four CR5 Spitting spiders)

[TheDarkDM]

Well, the good news is that despite the large party size you don't have a glut of primary casters to unbalance the game even further. However, that doesn't relieve you of the difficulty of counteracting the party's control of the action economy without sending them into a pure meatgrinder. I've run parties that large in the past, if you want some advice on that front, but as far as minions, here's a few ideas.

A pair of drow rogues with the Dark template (for Hide in Plain Sight) and magic items to increase their Hide modifier. Probably should be level 5 or 6 unless you want to run the risk of one-shotting PC's with effectively invisible assassins. However, a couple of level five rogues isn't that threatening even with Hide in Plain Sight, so pair with 2-4 Shadows.

A drow warlock with a terrain advantage. Lets your archer feel awesome and hopefully forces your party to think three-dimensionally. Should probably be 7th level, both so it can have Fell Flight and for the 4d6 Eldritch Blast. Pepper the floor level of the encounter area with some Ghouls (6 or so) for distraction and slight Paralysis danger.

A draegloth barbarian bodyguard to back up the dread necromancer. I assume the dread necromancer is level 8 or 9, so the draegloth should only have 2 or 3 levels. But tailor its feats towards multiattack and throw in a few wraiths for additional backup and you should have a suitably climactic encounter.

Additional ideas going somewhat outside your theme could include a mind flayer with troll bodyguard or some sort of moderately powerful demon, perhaps a succubus or babau with dretch support.

[tyriuth]

The rouges and shadows sounds like a good idea, though the druid will have a good change of spotting them even with magic items and stuff. But thanks for the ideas.

Are you sure that having a level 8-9 villain with minions won't be too much for them? Especially with the ability to summon more.

[VoxRationis]

Have a cavern with some sort of platform or mezzanine around the periphery and a LOT of stalactites and rock walls in the way. The warlock, as mentioned by a previous poster, can attack from above, as can spider-mounted archer types if you're into that sort of thing, while drow rogues sneak around the backs of the party and melee types keep their front busy. The close confines can help stop too many of the party from acting on one person, the environment rewards people who put points into Climb, Jump, etc., and the combat becomes interesting.

[Azoth]

Cloistered Cleric1/Hexblade4. Trade Death domain for Death Devotion and Law Domain for Law Devotion or Travel Domain for Travel Devotion. Take the Dark Companion ACF. Dreadful Wrath as a feat. Make one of his spells known Karmic Aura.

Give him a few unique Darkmantles to back him up like those found in this link: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/eo/20070720a

When the party starts having Darkmantles rain down on them his Dark Companion moves in to give them all -2 to pretty much everything. Have him hang back for 2 rounds while he activates Death+Law devotion. First enemy that gets free is hit with his Hexblade Curse for another -2 to everything. Have him throw up Karmic Aura and charge on in.

At this point the whole party is feeling some debuff fun. Now the Hexblade is throwing out a Fear Aura with a decent DC, a negative level per hit, and anyone who attacks him has to save VS fatigue (-2Str/dex...basically another -1 to hit/damage/AC).

If the Darkmantles start losing their dinner they overlap Darkness and he can drop obscuring mist before running away.

[TheDarkDM]

Are you sure that having a level 8-9 villain with minions won't be too much for them? Especially with the ability to summon more.

Not at all. I'm just spitballing against seven PC's played with reasonable competence. Ideally, you should be using the dungeon's other encounters to suss out just how much your PC's can take and why. Make note of what made difficult encounters difficult and what made easy encounters easy, and dial those values around until you have a happy medium. Incorporeal undead a problem? Maybe cut down on those. Melee monsters not enough of a threat? Maybe beef them up or give them backup. Ultimately, you're the only one who can make an informed judgement call on what your party can and cannot handle.

[lytokk]

Also, don't forget that you can always have encounters immediately before the BBEG, who's only purpose is to wear down the daily resources of the party, thinking mostly the psion and the druid. Anything with a poison will do a lot of damage if it can't be resisted.

[John Longarrow]

Wisper Gnome Beguiler-2 / Warlock-3. Invocations are for spider climb and summon swarm.

Little critter sees in the dark, has a massive hide bonus, and can sit back and rain swarms on the PCs head from a hiding spot on the roof. Being a small race with a bonus to dex, even if the PCs spot it they should have a hard time nailing it.

[RedMage125]

A party of 7 5th level players is effectively Party Level 8 or so (+1 for each character over 4), so CR 8 monsters should be more their speed. be careful for "tough" encounters though, as some CR 10 monsters may be too much. But I'd make your BBEG level 9 or 10. The "enemy party" should all be at least level 7.

[tyriuth]

Thanks to all you guys for your responses.