D&D 5E Encounters for 4 10th level characters using CR1s

[Stalker0]

So let’s put 5es notion of bounded accuracy to the test, focusing on encounters only using CR1 npcs/monsters (or lower). Assume your stock standard fighter/rogue/cleric/wizard

now obviously we could always just throw hoards at the party but that’s too easy…so you can use no more than 8 creatures.

so we want encounters with special synergies, traps, weird terrain, etc….anything that would make these CR1s a credible threat to this party.

have at it!!

 

[Zubatcarteira]

Would depend on the what spells the wizard has and if the party has a longbow, but I guess 7 Scouts with warhorses, sniping from 600 feet away in a vast open plain, just keeping the distance with the horses and slowly cutting them down.

Might take a while.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I guess a healty mix of Shadows, Gas Spore and Specters can be a real pain in the posterior, especially in a dark place.

 

[toucanbuzz]

The enemy has something the party wants - a MacGuffin - whether it be an artifact, a captive, a land deed, the plans to the Death Star, whatever. The PCs are in pursuit. The enemy has a choreographed ambush setup in a cave/city street with tall buildings, etc.

The enemy has 4 Spies (CR1) hidden behind murder holes at ground level (providing 3/4 cover if they are in the act of firing, and total cover if they move between murder holes).

Two Duergar (CR1) mercenaries, enlarged and invisible, have moved obstacles to block the way (boulders, wagons, something requiring a DC20 Str check to move and having a lot of HP). They wait for the main-line fighters to pass and strike at the cloth-wearing characters once the PCs find a barrier before them. The Spies, hidden, remove the cloth covering their murder holes and fire, presumably with advantage and sneak attack if they hit. They use their bonus action to hide each turn to gain advantage on attacks.

To complicate the combat, the enemy has hidden Caltrops under fake floors (Perception DC15 or whatever you like). The enemies know where these are, but PCs may step on them and be crippled. The Spies run back and forth from murder holes to snipe.

Finally, one of the Spies has a Dark Charm that allows him to control 2 Specters (CR1). These undead start in the murder hole corridor and move when directed. If this spy dies or drops the charm, the undead attack whoever is nearest. This charm is a one-use item, and once the sun rises the next day, the specters are sent back to their nether realm and the Charm is useless.

The PCs have 1 minute to resolve the battle and get past the obstacle before the enemy can finish casting or activating a magical escape, which the party should know about in advance. So, it's not simply a matter of kill the foe. After that, it's a distance race.

 

[Asisreo]

So let’s put 5es notion of bounded accuracy to the test, focusing on encounters only using CR1 npcs/monsters (or lower). Assume your stock standard fighter/rogue/cleric/wizard

now obviously we could always just throw hoards at the party but that’s too easy…so you can use no more than 8 creatures.

so we want encounters with special synergies, traps, weird terrain, etc….anything that would make these CR1s a credible threat to this party.

have at it!!

Do magic items count?

 

[Ovinomancer]

So let’s put 5es notion of bounded accuracy to the test, focusing on encounters only using CR1 npcs/monsters (or lower). Assume your stock standard fighter/rogue/cleric/wizard

now obviously we could always just throw hoards at the party but that’s too easy…so you can use no more than 8 creatures.

so we want encounters with special synergies, traps, weird terrain, etc….anything that would make these CR1s a credible threat to this party.

have at it!!

Bad premise -- this isn't testing bounded accuracy because bounded accuracy is not about 8 CR 1 creatures being a serious threat to a party of 4 10th level characters (assuming they didn't all roll stats, nothing higher than a 6, and rolled hp and never got more than 1 per level, and also are all playing wizards with no combat spells).

What bounded accuracy means is that a CR 1 creature can be successful with an attack roll (not counting 20s) against almost all characters of any level. It's about the range of bonuses and target numbers, not if CRX is a great encounter for level Y PCs.

 

[MichaelSomething]

It's easy to make that challenge the PCs. All I have to do is make it the 10th encounter of the day!

 

[J-H]

Dryad swarm
8 dryads engage the party in conversation. During the conversation, they attempt to surreptitiously charm the party members, using a Deception check of +4 vs. the party's passive(?) insight checks.
If someone catches on but they have already charmed some of the PCs, the charmed characters will need to take it in the best possible light and accept the dryad explanation for what they are doing.
With 8 different dryads, nobody is likely to pass all of the saves. A successful save only grants immunity to that dryad's charm.

They have entangle and tree stride if mobility becomes an issue.

How is this a threat?
1) The dryads could get the party to sleep, and then take them out one by one, using their "favorable approach" to persuade whoever is on watch to wander off and get ganged up on (7 attacks at +6 for 1d8+4?)
2) The dryads persuade the party to stay with them and rest for a day or two, or to help them deal with some local issue - when the party is in fact under a time crunch and a 2-day delay means the BBEG's plans go off un-interrupted.

Ghouls
A pack of ghouls squat [not prone], motionless, in covered foxholes, behind bushes, near the door to a McGuffin building the party needs to enter. They have full concealment against the party, so unless someone goes looking, they won't be spotted. The area is under the effects of an UnHallow, filled with total silence. The ghouls rise and attack when half the party has stepped into the building, allowing them to focus fire for a round or two. Depending on the DM, they may get in a surprise round when they stand and charge.
If someone is distracted inside, the ghouls may maintain a numbers advantage for more time.

They are within 30' and should all get some attacks off even in round 1. With +4 to hit, the claw attack will hit maybe 25% of the time, and then there's a DC 10 CON save that someone will fail at least 1/4 of the time on hit. I'd expect an average of 1 paralysis per round. Once someone is paralyzed, all ghouls next to that target have advantage on attacks, and auto-crit on hit, making the damage stack up quickly.

Evil Chickens
A group of 8 cockatrices sneak up on the party while they are resting (Stealth +1). 8 attacks at +3 to hit, with each successful hit causing a DC 11 save against petrification.
This may not kill a PC in time (depending on AC), but it will scare them!

 

[overgeeked]

CR1s tend to have around 30 hp or less. A level 10 full caster has 4/3/3/3/2. Cleric and wizard. A 3rd-level fireball is 8d6, for an average of 28 damage. A 3rd-level spirit guardians is 3d8, for an average of 13.5 damage. Drop both and whatever CR1 they hit is dead. A 10th-level fighter has two attacks and an action surge. She can drop four attacks in one round, almost certainly hit and deal an average of 42 damage from those four hits. A 10th-level rogue has one attack and can aim to guaranteed sneak attack for 6d6 damage (including the d6 weapon), for an average of 27 damage. And none of that assumes magic items. Two spell slots and two martial attackers.

Those CR1s wouldn’t survive two rounds.

 

[Quickleaf]

I orchestrated an encounter with 10 goblins against a 10th level party that wrecked them... but there were a ton of mitigating factors...

• One of the goblins was a homebrewed CR 5 "goblin assassin."
• Party was worn down after two really hard encounters.
• Party was betrayed by a mage (who'd been traveling with them), basically stealing the Ring of Winter from a charmed Artus Cimber, then feather falling down a mine shaft. So there was an urgency to catch up to her.
• Goblins were benefitting from pass without trace, almost guaranteeing a surprise round. On top of that the goblins won initiative.
• Goblins were spread across cliffs, popping out from cover to shoot, then popping back behind cover and Hiding.

Definitely breaking the rules of this thread outlined in the OP, but it was the only example that came to mind.