Hellhound
Hellhound (CR 7)
Coal black dogs wreathed in hellish flame, hellhounds are monstrous beasts often found as pets of the mighty and dreadful. On the Prime Material, Hellhounds in the wild can be found in wastelands, deserts, barren mountains, volcanoes, etc. They are hardy, canny, and good hunters. Hellhounds typically lair within a badland and raid out to search for prey. Hellhounds view humans and other humanoids as prey, along with domestic animals, children of all species, and pretty much anything else they can catch. Hellhounds can also gain sustenance from fires, and a pack of hellhounds moving into a forest will soon reduce it to a wasteland unless they are stopped.
GENERAL
CR 7 Hit Dice 10
XP 3,200
Lawful Evil, Medium, Magical Beast
Init +3; Senses Perception +11
DEFENSE
AC 25, touch 15, flat-footed 20 (+5 dex, +10 armor)
hp 82
Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +6
Special Defenses Fire Shield, ER 20/fire
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Single Melee Bite +11 (2d6+2/x2)
Full Melee Bite +11 (2d6+2/x2), 2x Claws +11 (2d4+2/x2)
Ranged -, but see Fiery Breath
Special Attacks Fire Shield, Fiery Breath
Action Points 0
STATISTICS
Str <###>, Dex <###>, Con <###>, Int <###>, Wis <###>, Cha <###> <copy from source>
Base Atk +7; CMB +13; CMD 25
Feats <pick one or two thematically relevant feats; avoid complicated ones.>
Skills <choose only if relevant, values around 1.5 x creature’s CR>
Languages <copy from source>
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Basic monsters typically have up to one special ability. Named monsters could have three to five special abilities.
Often, the converted creature's special abilities should just be carried forward, with the numeric values adjusted using the numbers above.
Be aware, however, that you don't actually need very many special abilities, even for complex uniques like Orcus. Your monsters probably won't live more than about three rounds. Some creatures you convert may have dozens of listed abilities in their source material. Just pick a few of the most interesting ones to make the fight memorable. Your named monsters should be able to do something interesting each round, though there's no rule it has to be a different interesting thing each round.
Named monsters can also have 1 or even 2 action points, even if they have no role. Note that you can never spend more than 1 action point in a single round.
Any special abilities which have a save DC should have the DC set to 16.
TREASURE
Assuming you're using the 'Medium XP' progression chart, each creature should drop loot with a sell value of approximately 2,375 gp at this CR.
COMBAT TACTICS
Dire rats are animals, but they have a surprising amount of wisdom. Their tactics usually boil down to 'charge and bite' or 'flank and power attack.' If they have inflicted a good number of bites, dire rats are perfectly willing to flee and come back in a few days to see what's died from their filth fever.