Need a good encounter

[Theodred theOld]

Shamelessly pumping the brain trust. I need a good encounter for a 10th level party consisting of an uber-rogue, a human(ish) sorcerer, a pixie sorceror(permanently reduced to tiny and stripped of all abilities except invisibility and flight) and a diopsid warblade. These guys tend to rely heavily on iterative attacks while the casters have recently discovered the joys of charm monster (I may have accidentally given them a pet t-rex). Any thoughts on a challenging encounter would be appreciated. If you suggest a monster please include book/page if possible. Thanks.

[ComaVision]

If you haven't done one recently, have a mobile encounter. The enemies have something the party wants/needs but they use hit-and-run tactics and superior movement speed to stay away from being full-attacked.


For monsters, maybe some Varags (MM4 168) with class levels.

[Sliver]

Have you considered a swarm? Cranium Rat Swarm, Greater Pack (Fiend Folio) is CR 11. Immune to weapon damage, but the hive mind means that they can be influenced by Charm Monster... You could go for the Plague Ant Swarm (Fiend Folio as well) if you want them to be immune to charm as well, though those are CR 5, so you'll need a bunch of those swarms for it to be up to CR. Elementite swarms are tiny, so they don't have complete immunity to weapons, but they don't have hive mind, so they aren't susceptible to mind affecting spells (at least those that target specific amount of creatures). They are CR 4, though...


Optimize dragons. A mature adult spellhoarding (Dragon 313) loredrake (Dragons of Faerun) steel dragon (also dragons of faerun) is CR 11, has between 22d10 to 24d10 hp, and casts spells like a level 15 wizard. If you want it to be considered considered a 50-50% win-lose encounter, that's CR 14, so you advance it to very old, at 30d10 hid dice, which would up his wizard casting level to 19. Don't forget the breath spells!

(A level 19 wizard alone is unlikely to be a 50-50 battle for a level 10 party, unless they are heavily optimized and the wizard filled everything with magic missile, but if you attach a dragon to it, their chances are probably even lower. So, I wouldn't do it under most circumstances.)

[Theodred theOld]

Their last encounter was with a bunch of needletooth swarms that had been flushed out by the approaching t rex. They handled it pretty well but were set to be eaten when they busted out the old charm monster routine.

[Darrin]

A pair of grigs steals something from the party, then flies off with it. As the party gives chase, they fly into a grove of Porcupine Cacti (Sandstorm) that is guarded by two Fang Golems (MMIV). If the party enters the grove, one of the grigs plays his fiddle while the other casts entangle. After that, the grigs may drop Dither Bombs (Races of the Dragon) into the grove or lose interest and fly off, dropping the stolen item in the middle of the grove. At the center of the grove is a hollowed-out stump, and if they look carefully, they notice some strange scratches on the inside. This is a message written in Druidic script that says, "Don't open the box." If the PCs dig inside the stump, they find a wooden box about 2 feet down. The box is cold to the touch, and radiates abjuration magic. It's actually a box of brown mold (DMG p. with a fire trap spell cast on it. Opening the box triggers both the brown mold (3d6 cold damage) and the fire trap (1d4+10 fire damage). The fire also causes the brown mold to "double in size", which isn't entirely defined by the rules but for our purposes it spreads brown mold on the 5' square directly underneath the box, which will do 3d6 cold damage within a 5' radius on the round after the box is opened. If the PCs manage to deal with the brown mold, they find a bag inside the box (also with a fire trap spell cast on it, which will again set off any brown mold lingering nearby). The bag itself is either a magic item, such as a Thorn Pouch (4400 GP, MIC) or it contains something suitably druidish: Hand of the Oak Father (5000 GP, MIC), Cornucopia of the Needful (6000 GP, MIC), or Druid's Vestment (10000 GP, DMG).

[Theodred theOld]

That sounds perfect. The theft leads to a chase(skill challenge time) which leads to some tense moments in the grove which leads to many question about why a druid would've been there in first place. I love it.