Dire Tigers CR is WRONG.....

[LGodamus]

one single dire tiger freakin TPKed our entire 6th lvl party....ane we were rolling well, and the tiger was only rolling average. I know CRs are not a perfect science , but there werent any anomalies in the rolls and the tactics of the party were fine, but the tiger mopped the floor with us...

 

[Grog]

Now just imagine what a Young Adult Black Dragon (also CR 8, same as the tiger) would have done to your party!

The entire CR system is absolutely worthless.

 

[Crothian]

Or one could say that the tactics were not fine since the party died!!

But the CR system is not perfect, but far better then absolutely worthless. They are guidelines only, use them with a few grains oif thought.

 

[WizarDru]

one single dire tiger freakin TPKed our entire 6th lvl party....ane we were rolling well, and the tiger was only rolling average. I know CRs are not a perfect science , but there werent any anomalies in the rolls and the tactics of the party were fine, but the tiger mopped the floor with us...

I'm curious what your party consisted of. It should have been a nasty encounter, but not necessarily lethal. A dire tiger is a combat monster...but compare it to a Bodak, also CR8, that has a DC15 death attack for anyone within 30 ft., or a Girallon, that has less hit points, but does more damage.

I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but I'm not sure you can truly be objective about your tactics. With 120 hit points, if you were rolling well, then he should have gone down to a few sustained attacks.

 

[Saeviomagy]

At 6th level, you've got fly (which basically makes you invulnerable to the beast), a host of will-targeting spells like dominate , charm animal, bestow curse, blindness etc, all of which will utterly destroy a creature such as this, a large number of spells which will help the party stay out of melee with the creature (sanctuary, invis, entangle, web etc), a large number of magical items which should help you do the same (boots of springing and striding, items of jump, slippers of spider climbing).

etc etc.

I can only assume that the entire party attempted to remain ground-bound and melee the creature with mid to low-range armour classes, average to low hitpoints and average to low damage output, and no thoughts given for their own survival. Otherwise, at the very least, someone would have escaped.

I would suggest that, unless the fight was in EXTREMELY biased surroundings (like a sealed, featureless room barely larger than the beast itself, a completely open, flat plain, an anti magic field) that your group's tactics were inadequate at best.

The only other possibility I can imagine which would alleviate you of any responsibility would be if your entire party consisted solely of fighters in heavy armour, and even then someone should have had the sense to run away.

 

[Pielorinho]

even then someone should have had the sense to run away.

Regdar and Krusk were out in the jungle one day , hunting for the lost Ruins of Il'th'nbakabadum. Suddenly they heard a roar, and a dire tiger leaped out in front of them!

Regdar turned pale and drew his sword. But Krusk just sat down on the ground and began to put on a pair of running boots.

"What are you doing, Krusk?" demanded Regdar. "You can't outrun a dire tiger!"

"Krusk not need outrun dire tiger," he answered. "Krusk just need outrun Regdar."

Daniel

 

[Murrdox]

Bwah ha ha ha!

 

[Valiantheart]

What nobody had any bows? I find Close-Quarters Fighting one of the best feats ever for just such an encounter.

 

[JChung2003]

At 6th level, you've got fly (which basically makes you invulnerable to the beast), a host of will-targeting spells like dominate , charm animal, bestow curse, blindness etc, all of which will utterly destroy a creature such as this, a large number of spells which will help the party stay out of melee with the creature (sanctuary, invis, entangle, web etc), a large number of magical items which should help you do the same (boots of springing and striding, items of jump, slippers of spider climbing).

Dire tigers have good saves (Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +11). Those are hefty enough saving throw bonuses to defeat spells from most 6th level casters (typical Save DC's of 13-19). It would probably resist all the offensive spells listed above with relative ease. Using fly and invisibility is a good approach. I would recommend haste and expeditious retreat (put some distance between you and the tiger), feather fall (jump off the nearest cliff) and darkness as other spells useful to make your escape. Haste, blink, blur, and displacement are helpful if you want to fight it without getting shredded by its +18/+18/+13 attacks.

Dire tigers have low AC (16) and no evasion. Kill it with ranged attacks and magic attacks from afar if possible.

 

[LokiDR]

The dire tiger is another example of bi-polar challange. You can not challange the thing in it's own domain, it will eat you for breakfast. If you can fly, though, it can't touch you, and you can destroy it out of hand.

An elven wizard, 6th level, with two GMW and a fly prepared can take the beast, assuming he survives the opening round of combat. A ranger who stands his ground is going to be kitty litter. The hope is that the party faces other challanges oriented the other way around.