Monster reccomendations?

[Ghostwind]

Use a pack of displacer beasts. Nothing like a pack of creatures that are hard to hit to shake things up.

 

[the Jester]

What kind of terrain are they in?

 

[Schmoe]

I love the MMIII. It's the best monster book I've gotten so far, hands down. You could try the Warbound Impaler (Lesser Battlebriar). It's dangerous up close, it's dangerous at range, and it has improved grab. I imagine once it grabs someone off their mount, that mount will likely run away. Plus, it has a great Hide skill in wooded environments, so it should be able to ambush them fairly easily. Those things are nasty. The CR is right for the group, at 7, so what's not to love?

 

[DMH]

I love the MMIII.

He doesn't have it.

Another suggestion I have are creatures with sonic attacks. If a group of harpies are sitting in the trees in dense foliage, the party won't know they are there until they start singing.

And swarms are never a bad thing (how the mounts will react is another thing).

 

[Psychotic Jim]

It seems like your party is fighter heavy. A swarm (especially Diminutive size because they are immune to weapon damage) is paticularly bad news for fighters, unless the druid thought to prepare Gust of Wind or a similar spell, or if they have invested in alchemists fires. However, sicking a swarm on them might totally make your fighters powerless and annoy your players. Some locust swarms or centipede swarms might do the trick.

How dependent are they on their mounts? I have found creatures with area of affect abilities are particularly damaging to people who depend on mounts (especially with Will saves- like Fear Aura for example). A few meenlocks (from MM2) might work (3 for EL 6, 4 for EL 7) would be nasty. Each has a seperate fear aura that could cause the charging animals to go catatonic (poor Will saves) leaving the druid (and possibly the raging barbarian) to duke it out with the meenlocks, The creatures are weak physically, but have some nasty abilities (Dimension Door for mobility, Rend Mind to deplete Wisdom, and a paralysis with their claw attack).

It also looks like (with the possible exception of the the rogue and the druid with lightning) that your party is weak on ranged attacks. The flying invisible wizard sugguested earlier is a good idea. A small strike force of dragons of the younger types (such as wyrmingls or very young) strafing the area with breath weapons might work. A young blue dragon (EL 6) might be exceptionally tough since it is immune to lightning (although the druid could still sick her summoned creatures on it).

 

[domino]

Kill. The. Mounts.

It seems like they're really attached and counting on those mounts for speed and as a force multiplier. I'm assuming that the mounts are attacking to. A pack of kobolds (especially a few kobolds with character levels) can, if it catches them flat footed, sink a bushel of arrows into their mounts. Even if it doesn't kill them, as long as it takes them out of the fight.

Also, traps. Kobolds get that bonus to trap making for a reason. If the characters stumble across a kobold lair/nest/city whateve in the forest, they're going to be running into traps that the kobolds set up to protect them. Put some tunnels even. They're good miners, and give them tunnels to escape into. They can run into the tunnels, and have other kobolds pop out of other exits. Like a lethal game of whack-a-mole, with arrows.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Kobolds riding hasted rust monsters. The head kobold is a druid/sorceres who makes heavy use of entangle and grease spells to take down the mounts.

With an attack squad of ethereal filchers to steal the druid's spell components.

 

[Schmoe]

MMIII

He doesn't have it.

Doh! I misread the number of I's behind that book. Well, the MMII is a bit of a mixed bag, but I might go with an Amnizu devil (CR 7). Between its flight, spell and energy resistances, and quickened fireballs, it should be able to hurt the party pretty well. It should be easy enough to come up with a reason someone might summon one (Planar Ally) and send it after the party.

Alternatively, if you change the environment to, for example, a cave complex, you can nullify some of the biggest strengths of the party (the mounts and ranged combat). In that setting, the Hook Horrors are effective combatants. A couple or three spell-stitched ghasts (CR 4 each, total EL 6 for two or 7 for three) can use their spells to fight at range or lay down obscuring mist to negate opposing charges and ranged attacks. Once the party gets close, their stench and paralyzing claws could prove deadly.

 

[Schmoe]

Another thing that you should consider is that the mounts, if they contribute to the combat, increase the effectiveness of the party beyond their level (unless of course their values are considered as party of party wealth). For encounters where the mounts can play a significant role, I would consider the base party level to be 7 or possibly even 8.

 

[Stone Angel]

A hill giant or two they can pepper them with stones and such and they can hold their own in close combat. Plus their AoO for reach will help.


The Seraph of Earth and Stone