Interesting Encounters CR 4 - 7

[Charity]

I recently extorted some help from the boards luminaries (Thanks BWL that ToB trio is top notch) In sprucing up an encounter with some Hobgoblins.

I generally just use downloaded adventures, stitching them together in a vague plotline.
The response I got from my previous request was so helpful and well thought out now I have a hankering for some more.
So gimme gimme, your encounters, nothing too deadly please, my players have a tendency towards spontaneously dying, so no uber death traps please.
I have a Party of 6 characters, they pan out thusly

Brb/Rge - 4
Clc - 4
Ftr - 4
Ftr/Brb -4
Sor - 5
Wiz - 4

Rogue/ Brb has the highest AC about 24ish, the others are 20 (ish)
Ftr/Brb is going for whirlwind attack at lvl 5, so you know what he's got.
the other fighter, is your bog standard PA greatsword type
AB in the +8 region for all of them I'd say.
The Wiz is a fire variant from Unearthed arcana, fire stuff and MM mostly.
The Sorc has GD, Sleep, Scorching ray, Grease... you know the drill.

[Skjaldbakka]

You could try a 'necromancer' who uses animate object to 'animate the dead'. Probably a bit high level for them to fight the 'necromancer', but they could take on some animated object undead until they level.

[Suvarov454]

Hobgoblins? Why not give the charaters a hill fort to assault? Put a warband of hobbos (10-24, for CR of 5 to 7) in the fort (adding another 1 or 2 to the CR). Keep them all Warrior 1, but vary their feats and weapons. That is, keep some with Alertness, Studded Leather, Longsword & Shield, and Javalin (the scouts who man the watchtowers and form the front line). Others will have Point Blank Shot, Scalemail, Longbow/Crossbow/Composite Shortbow (change it up for verisimilitude), and Short Sword (the archers who man the walls). The last group has Power Attack, Studed Leather/Hide/Scale Mail, slings, and some two-handed reach weapon (the second line behind the sword and boarders.

Have the fort be difficult to get to (up on a hill, with a narrow path, and steep slopes). Drop rocks and burning wood on the PCs (flaming oil just seems to expensive to me). Give the archers on the wall cover (or even improved cover). Once the PCs breech the wall, keep the archers on the wall, have the scouts form a shield wall, and the power attackers attack from behind the wall for full power attack (the PCs will have cover, so they'll need 20's anyway, may as well swing for the bleachers). If the front line seems to be missing all the time, have them fight defensively (again, if they need 20's anyway, get some AC bonus for it). All the while, the archers are shooting into combat.

Just like Tucker's Kobolds, keep the Hobbos bog standard, but play them SMART. They're in their home territory, and have been preparing to repell assaults from powerful enemies for weeks (or even months). Maybe they were expecting Ogres instead of 4th level PCs, but that's about the same level of danger.

[Charity]

Sorry, I can't have made myself clear.
I have an excellent Hobgoblin encounter ready for the next time we play. Pretty much along the lines of what you suggested, with a trio of ToB nasties at the end.
What I am looking for is some other stuff to chuck at them, encounters in the woods, maybe on the road, something other than you meet a bear/ pack of wolves/ band of orcs, something interesting as well as challanging, but just single encounters.

[Jorkens]

Maybe some sort of illusionist / thief who tries to con and / or intimidate them out of some of their stuff? We got an illusionist thrown at us once, and having to actually figure out what on earth was going on (at the beginning of our first encounter with him he appeared to do a bunch of stuff which, if it had been real, would have left him frighteningly out of our league) was a nice change from the usual "oh look it's a bunch of monsters a bit like the usual ones but with a different number of claws, lets run at them and hit them with things."

Also, if that sort of thing floats your boat, an illusionist con man (or woman or child) is unlikely to fight to the death once their attempts to trick their way out of the situation have failed, which sets your players a slight moral dilemma as to what to do with an enemy who's given themself up...

[Lapak]

They encounter a Troll and at quartet of kobolds on the roads, all dressed in all-enveloping robes. The Troll is a 3rd level cleric - probably of either a Trollish god or a god of mischief - and runs counter to the norm for his kind in being a planner and a thinker of sorts. He has deceived the kobolds into worshipping him as a god-touched prophet, and they will fight to the death to defend him. Being cautious, he keeps Resist Energy on hand at all times and his first action will be to get his fire resistance up before stepping between his 'charges' and any significant melee threat. He is wearing studded leather under his robes.

The troll should be enough of a challenge in melee for your fighter-types, and the crossbow-wielding kobolds behind him should eat up at least one character's attention for a round or two, lest they do the casters harm with their missle fire. Someone will have to toss a spell their way or close to melee. The troll's regeneration, 3 attacks plus rend, and increased armor class should make him a more than credible threat to the fighter-types, and he might have another spell or two up his sleeve, as well; it could cause them some consternation if he pops a Sanctuary spell to give him some time to regenerate.

EDIT: One other thing to add. The Troll *is* a thinker, and will leave them alone if they don't investigate the hooded figures too closely. This is one encounter that will just walk on by if they let it.

[Funkyodor]

I got one. Pretty good I thought. Drop hints and some story about a ferocious man eating bear in the woods or mountains or whatever. Survivor stories and the like. Lead em to the cave through reward for capture, rescue of someone, random chance, or bad weather. Drop some hints about a large shaggy shape in the shadows. As then get ready to ambush the 'Bear' or light up the cavern, drop a large venomous spider on 'em. Story is that the spider killed the bear and has been feeding off him for some time. Make him smart and arrange it to get the drop on the party and they're already off to a bad start. I like the survival instinct encounters so have it flee when hurt too bad. Little bit of treasure, dead (or possibly living) cocooned up, spider egg.

Spruce it up however you like, garnish to taste.