Post/Author/DateTime	Post
muppet_man 01-15-04, 08:24 AM	Some background Info: the PC's are currently level 10 they have just escaped from prison after being framed for murder by one of the BBEGs who has become the ruler of my homebrew nation set in FR, one of the other BBEGs is an assassin who as taken control of the thieves guild. Through out the rest of the campaign i am planing numerous assassination attemps against the PC finishing with the assassin BBEG how can i implement believable assassination attemps against the PC's and still give them a chance. Ideas i've come up with include using poisons, setting up and ambush with traps, tampering with some of their equipment to leave something nasty inside (Trap, curse, disease, etc) the assassins are as follows 1st attempt: Halfling fighter 4/Rogue 4. Assisted by: 2 Rogues 5 2nd attempt: Human Ranger 5/Rogue 4. Assisted by: 1 Ranger 5, 1 Rogue 5 3rd attempt: Elf Ranger 3/Rogue 4/Assassin 6. Assisted by: 1 Rogue 5/Assassin 3, 1 Ranger 3/Rogue 5 Final attempt (BBEG): Halfling Rogue 5/Assassin 10 Assisted by: 1 Ranger 5/Rogue 5/, 1 Rogue 5/Assassin 3, 1 Ranger 3/Rogue 5 The party will be level 10 for the first attempt and ~level 12 for the final if any other info is needed I'll be happy to post.
Morka 01-15-04, 12:05 PM	Roleplay the assassination of NPCs some stupid assassins mistake for a PC. Later, you could assassinate a close NPC (DMPC?) the BBEG assume is in the PC party. Or if a player wish to change character, assassinate him (the character, not the player :)) For the ranger/rogue: you could have him introduce a poisonous snake in the PCs room while they're sleeping. An assassin could introduce himself in a room, and have some animal (wizard's familiar?) awake the PC at the last moment, saving his life. Eventually, the PCs should become suspicious, and perhaps set some alarm or trap. Have some assassin's helper fall in a trap.
John Bezo 01-15-04, 12:13 PM	I've run alot of assassines in my time as a evil DM. first? are all the assassines working for the same guild? If not are they all hired at differnet times or is this some sort of compitiion? If they all work for the same guild then they all have access to the same info on the tragets. Which poses the question, how much do they know about the targets? classes? power levels, magic, magic items, how they travel, all that stuff. figuring out what your npcs know will be the key to the whole thing. I will be more then willing to post more and more.... J.
Morka 01-15-04, 12:41 PM	Originally posted by John Bezo If they all work for the same guild then they all have access to the same info on the tragets. Not necessarily. An ambitious assassin will share some information, but will keep the specific for himself.
John Bezo 01-15-04, 12:46 PM	aggred, but it would all be from one sorce and they might also have info on what happened to the guys before them who didn't come back from the first attempt. My point would be that they would be far more organized then, 3 seprate groups. they might also have a stash of potions and other goodies that could be "ishued" for this one job. which could really bring up the power of some lower level guys. J.
muppet_man 01-15-04, 12:57 PM	Originally posted by John Bezo I've run alot of assassines in my time as a evil DM. first? are all the assassines working for the same guild? If not are they all hired at differnet times or is this some sort of compitiion? If they all work for the same guild then they all have access to the same info on the tragets. Which poses the question, how much do they know about the targets? classes? power levels, magic, magic items, how they travel, all that stuff. figuring out what your npcs know will be the key to the whole thing. I will be more then willing to post more and more.... J. The BBEG's consist of 4 people, a sorcerer who has become the Head of state, he's level 15. A hexblade (from complete warrior) as taken control of the national guard. A Black guard who is off doing other stuff unrelated to the assassination attempt. finally a rogue/assassin who as assumed control of the rogue/assassins guild. all the assassins work for the same guild, the final assassin attempt is the rogue/assassin BBEG. the assassins guild knows roughly what level the party are to about +/- 3 the average party level. since the party are wanted fugitives they are using low key means of travel. the assassins know what classess the PC's are but not PrC's, they DO know what items they have as all the parties items were recorded going into prison. the assassins have accesss to government sources which include records and nation guard, however the guards will not help them as most are still unaware of the corruption by the BBEG's it has taken the BBEG's about 18 months to reach this stage, the PC's were in prison for about 6 months.
John Bezo 01-15-04, 02:14 PM	cool.... 1st attempt/group: since it is mostly rogues with a little fighter thrown in. the group might try to lift items from the party, delay them and track them. maybe be used as scout for the big guys. if they can seperate the group and get 1 or 2 alone then I would think that they might try some thing phyiscal. This would also alow for your players to become aware that they are being spied on and stalked by a group. (paranoia is great) This group would also over time, try to poisen the PC's, kill helpful npcs, and atempt to destroy the pcs supoort stucture. Basically make life in the city so bad form them they are forced to flee to the country. The second group would do the same, once they have left the city, plus they could sic the very plants and aniamls on them. Which would futher whittle them down. The third group, which has taken a while to get together, pick a good place and time and really lets the players have it. maybe after the players flee the city and are driven into a box cannoun or the like have the elf assassine strike from above while the rest of group 3 and group 2 keep the players from running. remember the assassines won't have mercy. now since some or all the players might manage to get out and finally wrap up all these nasty assassines and then decide whether to leave with what ever proof they have, or return to the city and face down the guild master before he knows that his troops have failed. If the group never leaves the city the assassines should bring all they have to bear on the group, the 1st group would do the same the 2nd group would bring all the vermin and city animals to bear on them. Like a pack of sewer rats in there sleep, or snakes or spiders ( a whole damn room full ), or spooking a group of horses and a wagon at thr right time, to try to run them over. find the carrion crawlers in the sewers and sic those on the players while they are using the jakes. group 3 would be the one to take directaction against them but first I think they would set the battle field to thier liking. such as lighting the inn on fire, and in the confusion of getting out, start picking them off. J. P.s. I have no idea if any of this helps. But hashing it out usally brings things into focus.
PaladinSix 01-15-04, 02:31 PM	Be very careful with assassinations. PCs, especially if they've gotten to 10th level, are going to be royally :censored::censored::censored::censored: :censored::censored: if they die from an unseen assassin's blade, rather than in heroic combat. That said, high-level PCs should be constantly concerned with this sort of thing, having presumably made a lot of enemies by this point in their career. I would suggest making the first couple of attempts rather ham-handed and poorly planned. That way the PCs survive but immediately realize that they are being hunted and have a chance to take the necessary precautions. After that, the gloves come off and anything goes. Also, make sure that you plan your assassination attempts with knowledge that the assassins would know rather than what you as a DM knows. And if someone dies, be ready to explain how the assassin knew that he was normally immune to fire and decided to use acid instead.
muppet_man 01-15-04, 02:48 PM	group 3 would be the one to take directaction against them but first I think they would set the battle field to thier liking. such as lighting the inn on fire, and in the confusion of getting out, start picking them off. ooh thats evil....I like it. I also like the idea of turning nature against them. I know that poisons are a realistic option but i dont want to use poisons to kill the party maybe just cripple them. I think i will use brief encounters to confuse the party and maybe pinch some of their items. Eventually lead them into ambushes with traps and low level spells to sow confusion. I am aware of using NPC knowledge rather than my own, the hardest task for the assassins will be first to find them, then to find the right opportunity. what i have come up with for an encounter is as follows: The BBEG who is now head of state is planning a formal at his home in the capital, the party gain access while in disguise (wanted fugitives after all) the BBEG will taunt them occasionally, this will be frustrating for the party as they will be in the same room as the BBEG but cant attack him. once the party leave they will be abushed by a group.
John Bezo 01-15-04, 04:16 PM	If they are in diguse how does the bbeg know who they are? As for finding them, that is what your 1st atempt group should be for. 1 4throgue/1st fighter and 2 5th rogues should not enter combat with a 10th level party. but they should be able to track, befuddle, mess with, harrass, and in general make life really suck and still have enough skill to get back to the guild with any info they need to. As a side note, why are the local gaurds/constipals/sherifs tracking down these wanted fugitives? and why doesn't the bbeg just have them arrested at the party then unmasked and hauled off to prison. then give them a "trial" and execute them? Another thought: your first group, couldn't they after finding the party, take out any help they have and turn thier location over to the "police" and get the reward. J. P.S. all done at work for today, I'll be going home now. I will be back tomorrow, don't have time to play around on-line at home, got my next game session to plan, ammo to relaod and make dinner, "I'm swamped".
halzmar of geoff 01-16-04, 12:39 AM	Unless the first low level chumpies is merely a test of the PC's reactions. Truly Machavillian leader types aren't above sending people to die merely to see how the PC's react and then bad mouth their incompetence to encourage the next set of minions to do better.
muppet_man 01-16-04, 06:48 AM	Originally posted by John Bezo As a side note, why are the local gaurds/constipals/sherifs tracking down these wanted fugitives? and why doesn't the bbeg just have them arrested at the party then unmasked and hauled off to prison. then give them a "trial" and execute them? Another thought: your first group, couldn't they after finding the party, take out any help they have and turn thier location over to the "police" and get the reward. They're been tracked for escaping from prison, which they were sentenced to for murder. the BBEG doesn't trust sending them back to prison (they have escaped allready) he wants them dead, so thats where the assassination atempts come in. in my setting the death penalty is rarely used.
Arakano 01-16-04, 08:42 AM	Well, MY players had fun fighting the assasin I set on their tracks. Although this might have not been the case if said assasin would have killed his targets. ;) Background: The group had foiled some plans of Drow worshippers of Vhaeraun. Then they got to Ravenloft (against their will of course). However, because Vhaeraun is so vengeful, I had him sent one of his assasins (same lvl as the group) on their tracks, with a special spell that would take him ANYWHERE the group went, even to another plane. By the time the assasin reached the group, only two of the original drow-enemies were still alive, and their players had forgotten about the whole thing (yes, my players have bad memories...). So, the Pelor-Cleric was quiet surprised when suddenly he heard a voice whispering "In the name of Vhaeraun", and felt a poisoned blade entering his body... To shorten the story: The drow made several other attempts to kill his targets, but always failed (mainly due to bad luck).