Making enemies dangerous that don't have magic

[Nightfall]

Or pets. It's amazing how dangerous a well-trained pack of wolf hybrid dogs can be in the right NPC hands...

Better yet, DIRE boars!!

 

[Fieari]

According to Upper Krust, a naked character is worth 80% of his levels, with each level of standard gear adding in that final 20% for full ECL value. So lets say you give the bandits first level gear. That's 1 full level, and then the rest of the levels are worth 0.8, so to make them the equivelent of a 9th level character, you'd need to make them 10th or 11th level.

A normal 9th level equivelent that is. Gestalt gives the party an extra little oomph, and you may want to give the bandits a level or two on top of that just to compensate. Your gut instinct of 12th level may be about right, but you could even consider 13 or 14.

I find that I personally know my group pretty well, and can gague what they can and can't handle at various points, often by trial and error through "Random Encounters", pitting them against this or that and seeing how the numbers and tactics work out. But if you're worried the bandits are too powerful, make sure the party has an excape route available and then next time don't send so many at once against them. A gestalt party should have the resources to deal with most any single, non-magical foe, even if that foe is double their level (though it may take some EXTRA effort in such a case, and the expending of a fair portion of those resources). Non doubling, they should be able to handle a larger number fairly well.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Like the others have said, maximising the half orcs advantages.

Rangers can be a good class - the woodland skills can be tricksy in a natural environment. Favoured enemy of the PC race(s) gives them a healthy damage boost. Possibly allows for tamed monsters, which could be nasty.

If you're going for a sorceror, then the buffing type could be quite effective - although a cleric or bard is better at this IMO. Black tentacle, fog or wall type battlefield control spells can also even the odds if they don't have a lot of magic.

Or do what our git of a GM did - give their hideout cave a patchy natural antimagic field. Now nobody has any magic. It was small areas in our case: Gives the bad guys somewhere to hit and run from and really limits the range of spells. Orcs have darkvision, which could give them a good edge in that kind of environment - target the PCs light sources first?

 

[philreed]

Find and read The Black Company. There are some excellent examples of tactics that are nasty, dangerous, and should make your orcs as terrifying as you want them to be.

 

[VirgilCaine]

The problem is that this is a relatively low magic world and the bandits would have no logical access to magic weapons, armor, or potions. I considered making one of them a sorcerer, and I'm still playing with that idea, but that still wouldn't provide the level weapons a typical CR 9-10 group would have. Most of the creatures they encounter are rare monsters in the deep, unexplored depths of the continent. But now they reaproach more mundane lands.

So the question to you all is How do I put together a magicless bandit party that would intimidate a level 8-9 party (paladin/rogue, druid/ranger, cleric/sorcerer, cleric/fighter)?
Would a level 12 group be level 9-10 without magic equipment?

Tactics, preparation.
Poison, lots of poison.
Maximize flanking and SA, tripping and disarming, pit traps and bear traps and tripwires.

A group sneaking up on the PCs camp--where they would not have magical protections for, I'm betting.
Make sure they have a well-fortified camp on a hill with motte & bailey walls, arrow slits, a trench with wooden spikes buried in the hill.

Magic weapons and armor aren't what hurts--potions are. I'll ask the smartass question--single-use items okay?