Here is my run at the CR 5 "dungeon" with a 3.P Summoner. Mostly defaulting to PF, except for some items. Anyway, here goes. My sheet can be looked at Here:
http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=701527 A note on Equipment: The Wands that I purchased are as first level spells. They appear on one list at that level or another. While this limits the effectiveness of Haste for example, it allows an initial flurry of violence, and the +X of the Cure spells, while awesome, is not required to be useful.
Alternate CR 5 dungeon.
All monsters straight from the SRD, traps straight from DMG.
Preknowledge
General
You are asked to go to a nearby cave, defeat a Hydra, and return with the Village's prized ceremonial amulet.
The cave is North of town 15 miles.
The entrance is guarded by a powerful shaman riding a celestial lion!!
Ok. So Harazar is not going to benefit from any of the pre-knowledge as he has only a +8 to knowledge checks.
Skill Checks
Knowledge Local 20: It is not a shaman and celestial lion, but instead a griffon and a bugbear.
Knowledge Nature 20: Can look up Hydra
Ok. I will approach the cave with my superior stealth and perception. I will be able to get close enough to get a good look at the monsters and slink away before they know I am there. According to the PF skills, I am able to recognize them for what they are with a DC 7/9 respectively. I will be able to note what they are, including the bugbear's darkvision and the griffon's flight and pounce routine.
Monsters
Griffon and
Bugbear Outside, guarding cave entrance, plains setting, say 250' sight range*, Bugbear riding Griffon to start
*This is you spotting the cave entrance, Griffon spots you at this time. May be possible to hide/sneak at this point, but it is just an open plain.
Here is my plan. I will summon a Wererat(one of the applicable summons as per the list here:http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/summon-monster#3rd-level ) I will instruct the Wererat to draw attention, taking a pot shot at the bugbear from just within the first range of it's crossbow, and then draw it away from the entrance. I will instruct it to continue this shoot and flee tactic to keep the bugbear (Int 10) busy, or shoot him down. With the Bugbear's low intelligence it is unlikely that he will recognize the ruse. I will then sneak into the cave. I will continue to move as quietly and with as much stealth and guile as possible. Once safely a couple minutes in, I will stop to summon my Eidolon. I will then continue ahead.
15 minutes into the cave
Cave entrance, 15' wide, followed by a chamber 15' x15'x10' ceiling, followed by a corridor 20' long that varies between 15' and 20' wide. Trap around corner.
Camouflaged Pit Trap
CR 5 mechanical, location trigger, manual reset, DC 20 ref. save avoids, 50ft deep (5d6, fall), multiple targets (first target in each of two adjacent 5' squares), search DC 25, disable DC 17 Pit is 10x10, DC 20 climb check to exit.
I cannot disable the trap. As such, we will run into it. Qygar will be in the lead, since he is more combat capable, and trigger the trap. However, as a creature with Flight can cease or resume flight as a free action, he will simple resume flight rather then falling. I will use my Rod of Ropes to swing across.
10 minutes later
3x Shocker Lizards (CR 2 each)
20'x20'x2' deep pool of water to SW corner, doorways at SE (entrance) and NW corner, lizards spread around room, 2 in pool
Lizards are hiding (+11), so there might be a surprise round before init.
The Lizards are unable to notice us as we move through due to our superior Stealth skills. We have +15/17 respectively, and our perception scores easily reveal them as we have +13/+16. We can choose to avoid them, or confront them in this scenario. As such, we will choose to avoid them. We will see what lays ahead and then come back to deal with these as needed.
10 minutes later
Cloaker
Small antechamber before final boss door, 5'x15'x10' ceiling, cloaker attempts to surprise while preparing at doorway
Again, here we can choose to sneak by as we notice it waiting. In this instance, it appears that we will have no choice but to deal with it as it is blocking our progress. Since we notice it first, we will take our surprise round. I will use my wand of Haste to effect me and Qygar. Qygar will charge and pounce on the Cloaker swooping down from the ceiling and ripping it from the doorway in which it hangs, initiating Death From Above for a +5 to hit, and using Power Attack for a -2 to hit +4 Damage on all attacks. He will make 1 Bite and 4 Claws. Due to the Natural Weapons rules in PF, all are Primary. He will also make an additional Claw due to Haste. These deal 1d6+7 and strike at +11 to the Flat-Footed AC of 16. This is a total of 10.5 per hit, or 63 damage. Easily kills the cloaker.
6 Headed Hydra
Large domed chamber, 40'x70'x40' ceiling, mostly water filled (difficult terrain), avg. 1' deep, no deeper than 3', hydra starts at far end of chamber
Before entering I cast Evolution Surge. Qygar immediately manifests Energy Attacks:Electricity. We sneak into the room, using our superior stealth. We take up positions and I use a second wand casting of Haste. Qygar Charges from Hiding near the ceiling, just within Haste's range, and pounces on the Hydra. He uses the same routine as described above, but deals an extra d6 per hit of Electricity damage. This brings his total to 14 per hit, times 6, equals 84 damage. The Hydra falls to Qygar the Flying Dervish before he even realizes he is in danger.
We now loop back to the room with the lizards. We kill the first on the surprise round. Qygar darting down from hiding near the ceiling to eat it. He then wins Initiative, and devours #2 before it blinks. #3 will take it's turn, and since they were hiding all around the room, probably have to run over, and will attempt to stun Qygar. Qygar saves, taking half, for a total of 4.5 damage. Qygar finishes his meal and we rest while the non-lethal damage heals up.
We return to the entrance of the cave. This is when we discover if the Wererat was able to kill off the Bugbear or not. Since the Wererat is so unlikely to actually hit the Bugbear or Griffon, we will assume that the Rat just lead them on a merry chase for a few rounds. They no doubt have returned. We will employ the same tactics as we did with the prior combats. I will instruct Qygar to first take out the Griffon to limit the Bugbear's tactics, and then to take out the Bugbear. From about a minute away we will cast Evolution Surge, again choosing to pick up an element, this time, we will choose Fire. We will then sneak up and on the Surprise Round, I cast Haste, and Qygar charges from the roof of the cave entrance. He deals 14 damage per hit, killing the Griffon with the 5 Claws, and then striking the Bugbear for 14 with his Bite. The Bugbear will lose initative and will be savaged by Qygar on our next turn.
SCORING:
While we did skip encounters, it was done so for tactical advantage, not because we were unable to complete them at any point, and we did then return and complete each challenge. We spent a total of 3 wand charges and 2 of my 3 allotted 2nd level spells. We took no damage, and were never even directly challenged during our assault. With the brutality ended we could then pillage the cave to our delight. We would return to the town with the heads of the Hydra and the Griffon as trophies.
Scoring:
Win all encounters = win
Need to skip 1-2 encounters = tie
Skip/lose to more than 2 encounters = loss
