Monsters
Challenge that scales with the Adventurers
Monsters in Seven Swords are a constant threat to the Adventurers. Each adventure has a different setup, and provides the lesser monsters a unique bonus that is carried on to the main encounter with the Monster Lord.
A Closer Look: Monsters abound
The monsters in Seven Swords were always meant to be a challenge, but were also meant to inform the player of how to deal with the much more potent monster lords. Many abilities are shared to some degree between monsters and monster lords, and this tries to foreshadow and tutorialize some of the game all while entertaining the players. I took a big cue from the game Portal, where so much of that game is training you how to do things that then become important when things seem to count more.