Making big fights with weak monsters fun.

[JiffyPopTart]

Several things I can think of...

1. Have the "weak" monsters show up at the least opportune time. FREX as the adventurers finish fighting the BBEG and are out of spells and low on HP.....in comes the goblin raiding party who were going to have a go at the BBEG themselves. While the 20th level fighter doesn't have a TON of fear at melee with a goblin or two, with enough shots they might make him sweat his last 20 hit-points.

2. Have the weak monsters part of another challenge. One encounter I devised that comes to mind is described thusly....adventurers are at bottom of Well/Passage/Whatever staring up at a several hundred foot climb. Door seals shut and water start to fill in, forcing the nimble to scramble with all their might for the top while the heavily armored start disrobing so they can swim. After about halfway filling up, with the PCs busy climbing/jumping/swimming/whatever the doors on the sides open up and the sahuagin or zombies or whatever non-water-fearing monster you like file in, getting lots of AoOs and free hits as the PCs cant spend time focusing on killing the bad guys for fear of drowning.

3. A shaman illusionist teamed up with a goblin/orc/whatever band keep creating illusions of squads of archers or spearmen mixed in with the real squads so that the wizards fireball isn't always roasting something handy.

DS

 

[Hejdun]

Bull rush.

Into a pit.

With lava.

(Ok, the lava's optional)

Sure, the first guy to try is going to be demolished by the AOO, but after they're out of AOOs, bull rushing is surprisingly effective because it's just a straight Strength check instead of an attack roll. Have them be bull rushed into some sort of trap, our a pit, or anything to isolate the party members and/or wound them.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Further Ideas

Here are some other things you can do to the players to make life interesting / difficult. Lets assume you throw in 1 or 2 3rd Level Wizards, 3rd Level Clerics, or perhaps even a Bozak Draconian.

1) Have a cleric cast Silence on a weapon of an ally, then have that attacker get near the casters. Silence can really make life miserable for a player. To be very mean, cast it on a thrown weapon, then have at least 6 of your fodder attackers throw items into the area near the casters. Based on the Thunderstone item, hitting a specific 5 foot square requires an attack against AC 5. If one dagger is silenced, and you have thrown 5 of them in one round, the players will have to identify which dagger is the source of the spell. Throw more to make life yet more difficult.

2) Use some Baaz with nets. Even with a non proficiency penalty, it is still a ranged touch attack. If you hit, the opponent is entangled. That is a -2 to attack rolls, (mildly helpful) and a -4 to Dex. Lowering Dex lowers Reflex saves. And Baaz inflict a Reflex save to trap a weapon when killed.

3) Grease Spell + Caltrops. Give the Caltrops a new attack every time someone falls down. I do not think it is unreasonable to give the Caltrops the benefit of attacking against prone (negate the AC for shoes but allowing the normal Armour bonus is reasonable)

4) Tanglefoot Bag while Prone. There is probably not a specific rule for it, but you can infer the following. If someone is prone, they are flat on the floor. If your hit with a tanglefoot bag, your glued to the floor. Given that, it does not seem unreasonable to declare someone stuck to the ground prone until they succeed the DC 17 escape check to break free. I would allow them to become non prone if they succeed a DC 8 check though.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[the Jester]

It's all about tactics! If the low-level monsters are manning a ramp and have barrels of Greek fire ready to roll down at the pcs, things get (a little bit) more interesting.

-Did this last session with goblins vs. 12th level party Spikey

 

[Spatula]

I'm not sure it can be done unless it's sort of a fast battle where the players get to show off how far they've come.

This is what I do. Hordes of lesser foes allow the party to show off, make area effect spells worthwhile, and distract some of the PCs from the larger threats for a few rounds.

 

[Piratecat]

With lava.

(Ok, the lava's optional)

Not if you have the right rules!

http://www.lavarules.com/