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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 682808" data-attributes="member: 4937">Don't be afraid to unload.  Remember, in 3rd edition, dying has extraorinarily little consequences.  Raise dead is readily accessible to your party.For my part, I'm always on the look out for the weakest foes I can still successfully challenge the party with.  This requires a little meta gaming on your part.  You will have to look carefully at your parties strengths and weaknesses.  What is the minimum BAB needed to have at least a 10% chance of hitting everyone in the party?  Can I put such a creature in a defensive position so that the party has a fairly low chance of hitting as well?  What is the minimum TOUCH attack needed to have at least a 10% chance of hitting everyone in the party?  It probably won't be that high.  What low powered monsters can I put in the module with such a touch attack?  Stirges?  Shadows?  Wraiths?  Be on the look out for creatures like Mephits who can do a little damage to just about anything.  These sorts of monsters become your new grunts.What is the weakest monster with at least a 25% chance of winning a grapple against everyone in the party?  What happens if a horde of otherwise weak monsters accept the AoO and all try to grab on to the PC's in a tidal wave of flesh?  At the very least, you give the PC with combat reflexes and great cleave a chance to really show off his abilities.  At the best, you force the fighter focused on taking down single large foes to rethink his position.Does the party rely heavily on a single player for missile fire?  If so, a large group of relatively weak archers in a defensive position will force the rest of the party to chip in.  What will the party do against a dozen or more dispersed low level spell casters all hurling dispel magic, lightning bolts, magic missiles and other low level high power spells?Force the players to act as a team by assembling small groups of monsters that act as a team.  Select creatures so that each player has at least one foe that is a danger to him, even if such a foe would be no problem for someone else in the problem.  A couple of varguoille's or anything provoking a will save can still be a severe threat to even a high level fighter.  A stealthy creature with grapple can be a serious problem for a wizard.  Traps are a serious threat to a cleric.  Constructs and undead are serious problems for rogues.  Combination like this can be easy to handle if the party works together, and embarassingly difficult if they dont.  Templates are your friends: Fiendish, Air Elemental Creature, Half-Fiend, Skeleton, Multi-Headed.  They keep the encounters fresh and unexpected.Don't be afraid to give monsters alot of low level expendable items - potions, scrolls, alchemist fire, tanglefoot bags, wands, etc.  Don't be afraid to start min maxing monsters, especially old stand buys.  A troll with just a level or two of cleric returns to respectability.  A minotaur with a few levels of barbarian and a masterwork axe will make a decent grunt.  Don't be afraid to through canon fodder against the party from time to time just to let them clean house.   Don't be too worried when your cannon fodder turns into a challenge and your challenge turns into a one turn kill.My experience with PC's is that they are absolutely lethal any time the players themselves have a good idea what is going on.  Don't be afraid to put the players in unknown situations.  Confusion about what do to can make what is on paper a simple or even trivial problem into a one that the players will remember as a real horror show.</blockquote>

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