Pitting a lvl-1 group against a single lvl-7 monster

[Jhaelen]

I need an advice: Will it be too hard, if I pit my group of noob players (lvl 1, may be reaching 2) against a single lvl-7 shadow hound?

Depends. What are you trying to achieve with this encounter? Why does it have to be a lvl-7 shadow hound?

There are lots of options to adjust monsters or simply 'reskin' them to make them work better for your party. It all depends on what your goals are. What exactly is it about the shadow hound that makes you want ot use it?

 

[Neonchameleon]

I need an advice: Will it be too hard, if I pit my group of noob players (lvl 1, may be reaching 2) against a single lvl-7 shadow hound?

Stiff, certainly. But mostly what it's going to be is annoying. The PCs will have serious problems hitting a L7 monster leading to frustration at the table. Fights against a single monster (even a teleporter) tend to go static - an ideal 4e combat rolls and takes a lot of space and movement.

To deal with the whiff factor, drop the L7 to a lower level elite or solo. If the PCs are hitting and denting it - and it isn't always hitting them - the combat will be a lot less boring.

To deal with the static nature, add interactive terrain, a couple of additional monsters, or (preferably) both.

 

[the Jester]

Well, to be fair... it'd only be a problem if the DM chose to make it a problem. He wouldn't have to have the hound focus on a single character until it dropped... he could have it teleport all over the place, taking potshots and bites against all the party, not just one. Just because the DM can focus against a single PC until he kills it, doesn't mean he has to. And thus that mitigates the potential power of the monster itself.

While it is true that playing any monster poorly will power it down, that's a terrible way to adjust an encounter. Monsters should fight to win, not to lose.

 

[Doctor Proctor]

While it is true that playing any monster poorly will power it down, that's a terrible way to adjust an encounter. Monsters should fight to win, not to lose.

It's not necessarily playing the monster "poorly" actually. For one, the monster is clearly outnumbered here, in which just concentrating on one guy would mean it has to stay near him, and therefore becomes an easy target. Constantly teleporting around to get little jabs in at different PC's will keep them guessing constantly.

Basically, think Nightcrawler from the X-Men. He didn't just teleport in and stand still next to someone and wail on them, he typically bamf'd all around the place striking from different angles to keep them off guard.

Secondly, it is a hound, right? Wolves are capable of taking down creatures much larger than themselves (such as Moose, Elk, even Bison) through what's called "Wolf Pack Tactics". Basically, it means that they encircle the prey and one side will attack the backside of the animal and then retreat when the animal turns. Then the other part of the group will attack now that it's attention is focused on the ones that just attacked it, at which point the animal turns again. Rinse and repeat.

In this case, it's the hound that's outnumbered, but it doesn't need others to constantly switch attack angles and engage the other "side" of the party. If they all circle up, for example, it could attack on the side where the Defender isn't, and then when he tries to engage the hound teleport back to the other side of the group where he just was and engage the squishies over there. By bouncing around like that it will keep the party off balance and won't allow them the time they need to set up complicated tactics and build a defensive line.

Of course, it also has the benefits of spreading damage around a bit and helping the party to survive the encounter, but they're not going to be thinking of that when they're constantly worried about where the next attack is coming from and who the next target is. And plus, it's not like you have to tell them that you're trying to make sure they don't just wiped out.

 

[Black Knight Irios]

It's not necessarily playing the monster "poorly" actually. For one, the monster is clearly outnumbered here, in which just concentrating on one guy would mean it has to stay near him, and therefore becomes an easy target. Constantly teleporting around to get little jabs in at different PC's will keep them guessing constantly.

Basically, think Nightcrawler from the X-Men. He didn't just teleport in and stand still next to someone and wail on them, he typically bamf'd all around the place striking from different angles to keep them off guard.

Secondly, it is a hound, right? Wolves are capable of taking down creatures much larger than themselves (such as Moose, Elk, even Bison) through what's called "Wolf Pack Tactics". Basically, it means that they encircle the prey and one side will attack the backside of the animal and then retreat when the animal turns. Then the other part of the group will attack now that it's attention is focused on the ones that just attacked it, at which point the animal turns again. Rinse and repeat.

In this case, it's the hound that's outnumbered, but it doesn't need others to constantly switch attack angles and engage the other "side" of the party. If they all circle up, for example, it could attack on the side where the Defender isn't, and then when he tries to engage the hound teleport back to the other side of the group where he just was and engage the squishies over there. By bouncing around like that it will keep the party off balance and won't allow them the time they need to set up complicated tactics and build a defensive line.

Of course, it also has the benefits of spreading damage around a bit and helping the party to survive the encounter, but they're not going to be thinking of that when they're constantly worried about where the next attack is coming from and who the next target is. And plus, it's not like you have to tell them that you're trying to make sure they don't just wiped out.

All this doesn't change the fact that a level 3 solo version would be more fun and less of a grindfeast.

BTW, a new challenger appears...lools like the lvl3 solo version...