Most dungeons are inhabited by an organized band of humanoids or other monsters that work together towards a common goal. These groups have a clear leader or leaders and usually have a few clerics, wizards, sorcerers, rogues, and other specialists who support the tribe’s war- riors and fulfill specific missions.
The most important place to start with is the tribe or group’s leader. He should have enough levels in character classes to boost his CR one or two higher than the party’s level. Alternatively, the leader can be from a race that has a standard CR one or two above the party’s level. A battle between the tribe’s leader and the PCs should be a climactic portion of the adventure. As such, a fight between the chief- tain on his own against the PCs can be rather disappointing. Even a powerful warrior can be quickly overwhelmed and defeated if the party uses spells against him or simply surrounds and defeats him.
The total EL for the tribe’s leader should be two or three points above the party’s level. This ensures that the encounter will be diffi- cult for the PCs but not overwhelmingly so.
Match the chieftain with a group of monsters whose EL equals the chief’s CR or is one point less in order to boost his EL and give the PCs more opponents to fight.
That general guideline applies to almost every NPC the characters must face. In general, a party of adventurers has an easier time dealing with one creature of a given CR rather than two or three creatures combined whose EL equals that CR. The exceptions to this rule are large, powerful creatures with an innately high CR such as dragons, magical beasts, beholders, and other monstrosities. These beasts typically combine multiple attacks, magical abilities, and defensive abilities such as spell resistance and immunities to counter the party’s range of talents. A humanoid with class levels, on the other hand, is a specialist who cannot cope with a wide range of opponents. Fighters excel in combat, but they lack defenses against spells such as charm person, fireball, and others that can quickly take them out of a fight. Wizards can excel when they are able to rain their spells down upon a party, but even defensive incanta- tions such as stoneskin quickly fade in the face of a raging barbarian wielding a magical greataxe. Without warriors to help defend him, a wizard or sorcerer can be quickly drawn into melee and destroyed.
With that advice in mind, it is important to con- sider the creatures that you can team up with an important NPC that you include in a dungeon. As a rule of thumb, matching up a group of creatures (or a single creature) with an EL equal to or one less than the NPC’s CR makes the encounter tougher without making it over- whelming for the party.
The following table lists some combinations of guards and monsters that provide some useful magical talents for each category of character class. Spellcasters cover wizards, sorcerers, and other classes that have poor AC, hit points, and combat skills. These characters need to be shielded from melee. Creatures that take up a lot of space, have a good AC, and plenty of hit points are well suited to this duty. Warriors cover barbarians, fighters, and rangers. These charac- ters need magical support to stand against the typical adventuring party or additional warriors that can help keep rogues and other flankers off their backs. Creatures with magical abilities or good combat abilities of their own make good companions for these NPCs. Sneaks include
CHAPTER FO
UR: Dungeon Design
CHAPTER FO
UR: Dungeon Design
monks, rogues, bards, and other classes that rely on mobility and stealth to defeat attackers. These NPCs can rarely stand on their own against the party. Instead, they work best when supporting a group of allies that can engage the party and keep them busy. Sneaks should ally with large numbers of creatures or tough monsters with plenty of hit points and dangerous melee attacks. Creatures that have abilities that allow them to hide or sneak up on the characters also make a good choice for sneaks. Clerics and druids fall into a middle ground between spellcasters and warriors. They have good hit points and spells, though they excel in neither combat or in using destructive spells. Their specific needs are dic- tated by the design decisions you made in build- ing the NPC.
The following table lists each of the three class types and gives a set of creatures and character classes that work well with them. Use this table as a guideline to help build encounters that fit your important NPCs in a dungeon.
CR Allies for Sneaks
1 Air elemental, darkmantle, drow, dryad, krenshar, monstrous scorpion (Medium- size), monstrous spider (Medium-size), pseudodragon, wolf.
2 Blink dog, dire weasel, imp, monstrous centipede (Large), monstrous scorpion (Large), monstrous spider (Large), ogre, constrictor snake, thoqqua, wererat 3 Air elemental (Medium-size), allip,
ankheg, assassin vine, dire wolf, doppel- ganger, ethereal filcher, ethereal maraud- er, mummy, phantom fungus, shadow, xorn (minor)
4 Aranea, barghest, displacer beast, gar- goyle, mimic, sea hag
5 Air elemental (Large), cloaker, djinni, gibbering mouther, phase spider, troll 6 Belker, kyton, lamia, nymph, osyluth,
will-o’-wisp
7 Aboleth, barbazu, bulette, chaos beast, criosphinx, drider, erinyes, invisible stalker, phasm, spectre
8 Efreeti, mind flayer, ogre mage, shield guardian, xorn (elder)
9 Night hag, rakshasa, spirit naga, succubus 10 Clay golem, cornugon, retriever
CR Allies for Spellcasters
1 Ghoul, gnoll, grimlock, lemure, lizard- folk, Large skeleton, troglodyte, Large zombie
2 Ape, black bear, bugbear, dire weasel, kuo-toa, ogre, Huge skeleton, worg 3 Animated object (Large), centaur, cocka-
trice, dire ape, earth elemental (Medium- size), gelatinous cube, ghast, hell hound, howler, mummy, rust monster, shadow, wight, Huge zombie
4 Brown bear, carrion crawler, displacer beast, hydra (5 heads), minotaur, owlbear, polar bear, rhinoceros, tiger, vampire spawn
5 Basilisk, ettin, gibbering mouther, giral- lon, hydra (6 heads), manticore, troll, wraith
6 Hydra (7 heads), pyro/cryohydra (5 heads), megaraptor, shambling mounds, tendriculos, wyvern, xill, zombie (Gargantuan)
7 Athach, chimera, chuul, dire bear, drag- onne, flesh golem, hill giant, hydra (8 heads), pyro/cryohydra (6 heads), medusa, skeleton (Gargantuan)
8 Behir, bodak, dire tiger, elephant, gorgon, gray render, hydra (9 heads), pyro/cry- ohydra (7 heads), mohrg, shield guardian, stone giant, treant
9 Delver, frost giant, hydra (10 heads), pyro/cryohydra (8 heads), skeleton (colossal)
10 Clay golem, fire giant, hydra (11 heads), pyro/cryohydra (9 heads), roper
CR Allies for Warriors
1 Air elemental, derro, drow, duergar, earth elemental, fire elemental, ghoul, gnoll, krenshar, lizardfolk
2 Bugbear, choker, ogre, sahuagin, shocker lizard, worg
3 Ankheg, assassin vine, dire ape, dire wolf, howler, shadow, wereboar, were- wolf
4 Aranea, dire boar, dire wolverine, harpy, janni, minotaur, owlbear, sea hag
5 Achaierai, cloaker, dire lion, ettin, giral- lon, manticore, troll, werebear
6 Annis, digester, kyton, osyluth, wyvern, xill
7 Athach, barbazu, dire bear, flesh golem, hill giant, remorhaz
8 Bodak, destrachan, dire tiger, gray render, stone giant
9 Frost giant, roc, salamander (noble), yrthak
10 Couatl, fire giant, monstrous spider (colossal)