Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Quimquay 05-28-07, 12:45 PM	Here's the basic scenario: we (an evil party) have been hired to off the captain of the guards. Ideally, the employer would like us to make it look like natural causes (read as: bigger reward), but anything that couldn't be traced back to him/us would be acceptable. It's a medium sized town (about 1000 people), the guard-captain lives in a fairly typical house. There are two guards posted at night, one during the day. The captain himself is known as a respectable warrior (probably Fighter, level 5-6, not really sure though). Our party is low level, so we don't have access to any of the flashier means of assassination. The party consists of a level 4 Bard, a level 4 Warlock, a level 2 Duskblade, a level 2 rogue, and a level 2 fighter. How would you plan this to make it look natural? Poison seems like the obvious answer, but we don't know of any commonly available poisons that would reliably kill a character with a fair amount of hp... Thanks.
Pyro_Azer 05-28-07, 12:55 PM	How about infecting his food with desease. Preferably several different ones so if he succeeds the fort save for the first he is still infected with 5 more. It souldn't be too hard to infect the food and making him eat it.
Rerecros 05-28-07, 02:03 PM	a well placed grease spell on the top of a flight of stairs.
DrMorganes 05-28-07, 02:44 PM	First up, 1000 people really isn't all that large of a settlement. I went to high school in a small farming town with a population of about 1500. EVERYBODY knew EVERYBODY, if only by reputation. This town is smaller still. Strangers in a town that size WILL be noticed, particularly strangers equipped as adventurers. Next, unless the Captain is of advancing age, death by "natural" causes will be viewed with suspicion - especially since said death followed closely on the heels of the arrival of a bunch of seedy-looking adventurers. If your patron actually lives in the area, you can be assured that everyone knows of his "issues" with the Captain of the Guard. That the two don't see eye-to-eye will be common knowledge. Rumors of darker things may be whispered over a tankard of ale in the back corners of the local tavern... If the otherwise healthy Captain simply keels over, people WILL start asking unpleasantly pointed questions. SO... a few questions. First, do you have a deadline? Is your patron in a hurry to have the Captain removed, or can you take your time to plan things properly? Consider: A single Level 6 fighter in level-appropriate gear is a CR 6 encounter. Your little mis-matched group has an Effective Party Level of 3.6. If you go toe-to-toe with this guy, someone (or several someones) in your party is going to die. Toss in even two Level 1 mooks and the CR goes to 6.6. At Level 6, the Captain has been around long enough to recognize casters and will likely attack them first. Without arcane support, he'd make short work of the 3 Level 2 PCs in your party. Options: Fast and Dirty. Break into his home around 2AM, find his bedchamber, kill him in his sleep, and get the blazes out of Dodge. This has the greatest chance for disaster, however, as your rogue's stealth skills aren't all that great and the rest of the party's are likely non-existent. If someone messes up and an alarm gets raised, see above for what happens if a Level 6 fighter engages your group. :eek: Poison. Some sort of ingested toxin or disease added to his food is, as noted, the best bet. On the down side, however, you may have a hard time finding such and the Fortitude Save of a Level 6 fighter means he'll make his save more often than not. He'll fail eventually, but do you have the coin and time to wait it out? Also, if he simply drops dead at dinner one night tongues are going to start wagging. As strangers in town, you'll immediately be suspects. Accident. Honestly, I think this is your best bet. Use Charm Person or Hypnotism (I vote for Hypnotism) to get him to go hunting with his new friends (your party). Hunting accidents are fairly common. No witnesses to see him fumble into your ambush or see you feed his remains to that bear you captured four days ago and have been keeping unfed in a small cave...
DrMorganes 05-28-07, 02:46 PM	a well placed grease spell on the top of a flight of stairs. Amusing, but ultimately not likely to work within the rules. He'd get a Reflex save (which he would probably fail) but a Level 6 fighter has enough HP to soak a tumble down a single flight of stairs.
Heros_Backpack 05-28-07, 07:30 PM	Is there a large area of water - lake/sea/deep river near the town? Drowning might work. Perhaps fake a 'heroic rescue' from something that goes 'wrong'? Suffocation might work as well.
DrMorganes 05-28-07, 08:03 PM	Is there a large area of water - lake/sea/deep river near the town? Drowning might work. Perhaps fake a 'heroic rescue' from something that goes 'wrong'? Suffocation might work as well. Suffocation... opposed grapple check... must maintain pin to inflict suffocation damage. Could work... AC isn't much of an issue, and using an elite array his STR wouldn't be more than 16. Could even the field a bit, but it takes time to suffocate someone and the sounds of the struggle from the grapple may well alert the guards. Still... a well-placed scroll of Silence would do wonders here. And more than one person can assist the grapple...
Twippie_Diggs 05-28-07, 08:19 PM	how about a fire? maybe some one left a lantern sitting next to the town donkey, whatever. in a small town like that who would be able to tell arson from a simple mistake that lead to the tragic death of the captain of the guard. also you may have some additional deaths with this method, would that be a problem with your patron? hell for kicks you can be the "brave heroes" who try to save him, but sadly you wernt able to pull him out in time (and this could be an opportunity make sure he doesnt get out). or you could just walk into his house late at night coup de grace him and then set fire to the house to cover it up.
yellowdingo 05-29-07, 01:28 AM	Ergot Grows as a parasitic fungus on crops such as Rye in farming districts with heavy rainfall or swampy land. Functions as a Hallucinagenic (poisonous in large dosage or multiple exposures over time). Combine the Halucinagenic effects with a few silenced illusion spells and your stealty wizard can Make him seem insane, Then they will sack the madman. Sideeffects are reminiscent of the Plague. "There was a dragon I tell you!" Captain Frando stood over his dead guardsman with a bloodied sword.
Comus 05-29-07, 01:53 AM	Assassinations are easy, as long as it doesn't have to look... natural. Personally, I'd recommend silence, cast thrice on three pebbles, pebbles dropped into tanglefoot bags which are thrown first at the two guards (who are then killed swiftly and, ah, silently), and then toss the last on the sleeping captain, doing him in shortly thereafter. Then just set the building on fire - it's extremely unlikely the medicine of the day will be able to tell he died from stabbings instead of being burned alive... especially if you soak him in oil to make sure he goes up. Burn the guards, too, obviously. For extra fun, leave something at the scene that implicates a third party, like a local thieves guild or just some local guy you don't like. Really, it shouldn't be that hard.
Derren S. 05-29-07, 03:24 AM	Assasinations in D&D serve not really a purpose and, when having to look natural are extremly hard to do. Not only can the really important people always be ressurected, divinations makes it extremly hard for the assasine to escape. Also the higher the enemy character is, the harder it is to kill him unnoticed. The combat last long enough for the victim to escape/raise an alarm and poison works so slowly that most of the time he can stilol run to a temple to get a delay/neutralize posion. Not to mention that poison has a low save DC.
Serrin 05-29-07, 04:24 AM	Make sure to steal or disintegrate the body. That forces them to use a higher level spell and more diamonds. Best case is that he doesn't have any cleric friends powerful enough to cast true rez, and he stays dead. You're still going to get chased down by anyone who can Speak With Dead.
Radijs 05-29-07, 04:57 AM	Make sure to steal or disintegrate the body. That forces them to use a higher level spell and more diamonds. Best case is that he doesn't have any cleric friends powerful enough to cast true rez, and he stays dead. You're still going to get chased down by anyone who can Speak With Dead. Disintegration looks to be too expensive for this party (at lvl 2). The options I like best is the fire and the hunting trip. They both remove the evidence quite well and force a more expensive ressurection, and chances are that a 1000 pop town can't afford such an expense.
northern_bear 05-29-07, 08:39 AM	Making it look "natural" is going to be almost impossible, using the rules. But making it look like like it is something other than a deliberate assasination should be much easier. He's the captain of the guards, right? And as such he is somebody who is often going to be involved in violent situations. In violent situations, people can easily get killed. Make it look like he got killed just doing his usual dangerous job. That way, there is no reason to expect it is anything other than an unlucky coincidence. His death would be just part of his job. Not a deliberate assasination attemt. Have somebody start a drunken bar fight. When the captain shows up to break up the fight, he accidently gets himselfed stabbed and killed. Or let one of the PCs get arrested. Then, as part of his escpae from jail, he kills the captain. Or his friends show up to bust him out of jail, the captain resists, and gets killed. (If the captain doesn't resist, just kill him anyway. everyone will assume he got killed defending the jail.) Even better, set up an NPC to draw attention away from yourselves. Roger (the run of the mill NPC farmer) gets drunk one evening. The PCs set him up so that it looks like he did something bad while drunk (rape, fighting, theft, etc). Roger gets arrested. While in jail that evening, a mysterious group of bandits ride into town to rescue Roger. The bandits (the PCs) smash into the jail, killing everyone, and "freeing" Roger. They ride off with Roger and are never seen again. All the villagers say to themselves "Wow, Roger always seemed like such an average guy. Who would ever have believed that he was mixed up in some dark cult." The PCs cover their traces by killing Roger and disposing of his body. The authorities will be busy trying to track down Roger and the cult/bandits. They will never suspect that the entire thins was a set up, and just an excuse to storm the jail killing the head of the guard.
_Jayne_Cobb_ 05-29-07, 09:25 AM	but anything that couldn't be traced back to him/us would be acceptable. An important thing to bear in mind, especially when you go back to claim your pay from this guy, is that you can be traced back to him.
wrecan 05-29-07, 12:39 PM	I think you need to watch more Monk episodes. The key here is to commit an even bigger crime, of which the murder of the captain of the guard is inconsequential in comparison. Without more information about the captain and the town, it would be hard to come up with a plan. (Also, Complete Adventurer, I believe, had a special material which, if it is used ot kill someone, sucks the soul into the blade, preventing resurrection unless the ressurector is in possession of the blade.)
DX2052 05-29-07, 03:02 PM	I think you need to watch more Monk episodes. and hope that there is no one in the area is even remotely near the level of Monk (skill wise), if there is you'll need to off him/ oh I have an idea, after killing him hang him, make it look like a suicide. granted you'll need to do something about Speak with dead, but they lack the tech to tell the CoD.
Sareld 05-29-07, 03:31 PM	Cast hypnotism or suggestion on him, have him murder an innocent victim in public, and have him hanged. Or if the guy is known to be honorable, give him a length of rope and a chair in his cell while he is awaiting trial. By using this approach, you dont have to deal with his far supirior combat powers. All you need is for him to fail a single will save, and the good captain is basically done for.
Rerecros 05-29-07, 03:48 PM	Cast hypnotism or suggestion on him, have him murder an innocent victim in public, and have him hanged. Or if the guy is known to be honorable, give him a length of rope and a chair in his cell while he is awaiting trial. By using this approach, you dont have to deal with his far supirior combat powers. All you need is for him to fail a single will save, and the good captain is basically done for. I doubt he would feel guilty for something he doesn't remember. He always has the "it was a witch" defense, which might actualy hold water for a respected member of the community, especialy in a medieval society where witches actualy do exsist, and they just might burn a few new commers at the stake.
Pyro_Azer 05-29-07, 04:14 PM	If all else fails have a large and heavy object fall on him. E.G. bookcase, tree, rock slide, ect. Then it will look like an accident.
drake_vampiel_d 05-29-07, 05:09 PM	If the rougue is a female she could saduce the Guard and get into his home and use poisons on him I don't have an array of poisions here but I'm sure there are some that could really hurt him and then allows the rest of the group to wack him.
Sareld 05-29-07, 05:20 PM	If the rougue is a female she could saduce the Guard and get into his home and use poisons on him I don't have an array of poisions here but I'm sure there are some that could really hurt him and then allows the rest of the group to wack him. Neat idea! If she has ranks in use rope he might even let her tie him down too, that would be helpful. Combine that strategy with an object on wich someone has cast silence, and the rogue can simply make it look like a choking game gone wrong. A good or a casting of change self might also ease the getaway.
Eragon_seer 05-29-07, 07:16 PM	Well.. considering you are evil I doubt your party will have any problems with some other inocent bystanders getting killed during your Job so to speak. so all you need for this plan is the strength and resolve to subjigate a tribe of goblins [anywhere from 10-25 will sufice because if your dm is using the DMG to make his towns this tiny throp will have only 10 full time soldiers, combine that with the element of suprise and your golden] to gain control of them could be a problem but if you have enough gold or are powerful enough to either intimidate them or charm them then you should be able to gain control [heck use the money you were going to spend money on poison for this porpose]. now have them attack this town which should think its nothing new just another goblin raid. or if no goblins have attacked for a long long time then all the beter for you they are caught more off gaurd. now your party can either disguise yourselves as goblins [if anyone has good duisgues ranks] and lead the charge, or let the goblins strike out on there own without any help [with the element of suprise this should be quite a slaughter] , now the captain of the gaurd and the warriors of town should meet up with the goblins at some point[or there not doing there job very well] hopefully they have overran some soldiers before this point but heh you dont care there expendable. now the goblins might try to retreat if sorely pressed but you should have made it clear to them if they retreat then you will hunt them down and kill every one of them, but to be sure tail behind them as they raid the town. they attack and one of two things can happen. the goblins overwhelm the gaurds and gaurd captin and your very happy [Xp may be minimul though, as the goblins did much of the work. if you dont like that then go ahead and at a major turning point in the battle charge in and slaughter every gaurd and goblins, which neatly ties up all the loose ends, like the goblins blabing about your involvment], or the gaurds break the goblin charge and route them which means there are a lot of loose ends to tie up, but salvation the gaurds and captin are at least wounded that night sneak into the captains home [preferibly disguised as goblins or beter yet bring a goblin corpse with you to drop at the crime scene] and slay him in his sleep now the people of town will just think it was the goblins wanting revenge on the captain so no implications are on you. now if any of the goblins retreated or were caught then hunt them down and kill them and then all the loose ends are tied up time for a victory whoop and celebration. and during the raid if you dont want to be so cruel tell the goblins to leave the homes alone and not Raze the city.
Relic 05-29-07, 09:05 PM	To be an evil bastard, I would arrange for the Captain to get infected with Lycanthropy and let the backlash of his murderous transformation have the townspeople wanting to find and kill the beast that ate the mayor's delicate little daughter. Then, you can get to be the heroes as you not only assist in the capture and merciful act of ending the Captain's vile curse (i.e., killing him) but also can get rewarded for your efforts as well as being paid for the "assassination." As an evil bastard, I do not want to kill people - I want to send them into a desperate plunge into corruption and despair and have all they value cast him away... and then smile as I reveal how I manipulated this damnation.
TheAngryFish 05-29-07, 09:53 PM	You could just burn his house and hide out around the house ready to engage him in an open area in case he survives. Your group looks like you can use plenty of ranged attacks, just make sure you're all out of sword range, but maybe one of you has enough hp to hold his attention in melee long enough for the rest to gun him down.
Comus 05-29-07, 10:04 PM	I like that lycanthropy idea. Get paid twice for the same job!
Viseryn 05-29-07, 10:24 PM	Use the "Hypnotism" spell with your bard and have him commit a crime, and then the entire team can kill him in the act, with witnesses. It might trace back to you, but you'll be called heroes for it. Or, in a restless medium size town, with a good charisma check you could probably get a riot going to kill him.
Nived 05-29-07, 11:08 PM	Stink palm him.
Krusk 05-30-07, 12:06 AM	sneak up while he is sneaking somehow, dosn't really matter how. slit his throat. then place the dagger in his hand, along with a note that your character with forgery wrote- someone has forgery right, you have a bard and a rogue-. The note should be something about not being able to take the stress of the job and its his only way out. Leave, mission complete.
Poison_Dusk 05-30-07, 07:28 PM	Or do it as I have done. Sneak in and kill him, and then force someone else to take the blame by threatening to eat... or just kill... his family.
Voran 05-30-07, 07:37 PM	a well placed grease spell on the top of a flight of stairs. QFT Especially if the flight of stairs is from a brothel.
leif008 05-31-07, 01:11 AM	I would say since you have a 4th level bard, he could do it alone. step 1: bard casts charm person "hello chum, let's go swimming" step 2: fighter goes for a dip in the deep end step 3: bard casts hold person step 4: collect the reward Depending on the bards charisma score you should have a much better shot of succeeding at this rather than poisoning him.
loaba 05-31-07, 01:14 AM	Does he dally with the ladies? Perhaps his heart gives out (meaning someone stuffs a pillow over his face) while he's egaged in the throws of passion. :D Happens all the time, I tells ya!
RobbyPants 05-31-07, 12:05 PM	Here's how! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIbhB4ObuDQ&mode=related&search=):P How would you plan this to make it look natural? Poison seems like the obvious answer, but we don't know of any commonly available poisons that would reliably kill a character with a fair amount of hp... ...back on track... Well, any poison that attacks non-physical scores will be very useful. Dex might also be a useful stat to "attack." Here are a few suggestions from the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#poison): Poison Type Initial Dmg Secondary Dmg Cost ________________________________________ ___________________ Terinav root Con (DC 16) 1d6 Dex 2d6 Dex 750 Id Moss Ing (DC 14) 1d4 Int 2d6 Int 125 Oil of taggit Ing (DC 14) 0 Unconscious 90 Con = Contact Ing = Ingested A couple notes on the above suggestions: I didn't pick any injury poisons, as you wanted it to appear "natural" I tried to keep the cost down (hopefully to keep them readily available). The oil of taggit could be so useful, because if you get him unconscious, then you can poison the hell out of him when he's helpless. Otherwise, is anyone a psion in your group? If so, Ego Whips (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/egoWhip.htm) work great. Just keep attacking his Cha score until he drops. If you have some time, Mind Thrust (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/mindThrust.htm) could be a good choice. You still have to overcome a lot of HP, but hopefully his Will save is low. This is 5.5 damage on average per die.
unundindur 05-31-07, 12:23 PM	What would teh mafia do? Get his feet in concrete adn drop him in a lake. That way his body is gone, and raise dead is harder. Now the hard part here would be to get him in his concrete-shoes :) I like the idea of taking him hunting (possibly by use of magic). Lets say you set up a well-hidden pittrap with concrete in it... Throw in some water, mud, or whatever you want to seal the deal. But again, the hard part is getting this guy alone without anyone knowing.
Stumm_Dolch 05-31-07, 12:23 PM	I would say since you have a 4th level bard, he could do it alone. step 1: bard casts charm person "hello chum, let's go swimming" step 2: fighter goes for a dip in the deep end step 3: bard casts hold person step 4: collect the reward Depending on the bards charisma score you should have a much better shot of succeeding at this rather than poisoning him. This was the first thing that popped into my head aswell, except I was going to have the bard break into his house while nobody was home, wait till night, cast hold person and smother him with a pillow.
Nathreet 05-31-07, 12:32 PM	Drow knockout poison x 5. 75gp each. Scrolls of silence. 375g each. Rogue can UMD the silence scroll, or bard can cast it with a failure chance. Hence, get extra. Cast it on an object before getting near (maybe on a poisoned crossbow bolt), then approach with the object. Ready action, whole party fires poisoned weapons at once. Captain knocked out. CdG. Take body. Walk out with it. No chance of ressurection. Some rags to catch the blood from the CdG would be wise. Since nobody knows you even entered, you'll have plenty of time to get away without being tracked. If your rogue can UMD some scrolls of pass without trace (only 25gp each), that'd also be helpful for when they do track you later. Now you have multiple options. You could even make it look like the captain is still alive. You just need to find something to connect to his disappearance.
_Jayne_Cobb_ 05-31-07, 01:07 PM	Burn the town down.
Duncfoo 05-31-07, 02:31 PM	I think what people said about Charm and Hypnotism are a good idea. Follow the man around for a week with those two rogues. The guy has to have some hobby or enjoyable activity for you to exploit. Option 1 If you can find an opportunity for him to get out of town, charm + lake + manacles + bags of rocks = Dead Guard. Charm (or bluff if you need to) him onto a "lake rest". Possibly claim that you are giving him a reward for being a good guard (possibly a secret group that rewards the good?). Blind fold him to "save the suprise". Manacle him in the boat to the bags of rocks. Destroy the boat in some way (vials of acid, sundering, lamp oil and fire) and swim away. The faster the boat goes down, the better. Keep your archers on the shore to fire at him if he some how gets free and starts swimming in. Keep things like a tangle foot bag to peg him with before you swim off, or if you see him swimming in. This will also keep him from having any weapons or armor on him. You could start the above with a secret note slipped into his pillow or house. "Honorable Captain, your deeds of valor have not been unnoticed. The Hand of Glory (or some other cheesey name) has recognized you." Have another letter show up a week later saying he will be rewarded. You might even get him to let you charm him. Have a mystic ceremony in the woods, him kneeling, the bard puts his hand on the Captains head and intones some arcane words, meant to release his Glorious power. Charm + Bluff = Win. Maybe ego whip him a few times as pre ritual flagellations? :D Have all the notes found together, with a final note "Calling him to arms in the west, where the darkness grows." Remove his boots and travel gear. Viola. Option 2 If you find a regular patrol route he takes, set a house on fire as he passes it, tanglefoot bag him with one of the rogues inside (maybe spread some caltrops, grease spells or some psionic abilities) then make an escape with trappers (or ego whipper) and let him burn. Maybe have a damsel inside scream about babies and such (Or use a bluff + disguise). Any spells or abilities you possess to limit movement will help. You could try and get him into a basement with ventriloquism, illusions or more acting where you push the heaviest thing you can find onto the door, or spike it shut. You could also knock out the stairs, Trap the stairs (caltrops + grease or normal slick oil?) or hit him with any combination of spells and abilities that your group has to disable him or cause him to not be able to move about for an amount of turns, leaving his dumb fighter butt in the basement. If you use the basement, make sure there is some fire IN the basement, or he might have enough time to get clever. A silence in the area (on a pebble or something mundane) should help to keep the captain from crying for help. Block the front door as soon as the captain gets in. You wouldn't want good citizens spoiling the entire ruse. The building should collapse onto the body destroying most of the evidence. Maybe pick a place where you won't burn down the entire town? Keep someone across the block to help confuse the situation, so that an water chain or emergency service does not get well coordinated enough to prevent the conflagration.:D Employ poisons as needed. Remember, Poisons can he hard to come by AND will something that can possibly be traced back to you, either by the purchaser or some very skilled NPC sleuth. I put those in blocks, as I got long winded.
WilwarinAndamar 05-31-07, 02:52 PM	Invisibility + criting Move Silent check = dead captain
_Jayne_Cobb_ 05-31-07, 05:09 PM	Burn the town down. Or more specifically, throw a lit lantern on the guy to burn him to death and let the fire spread to his house and neighbouring ones. Then help fight the fire using everything in your power. Fires happen, people die. Case closed.
Stoyrm 06-02-07, 03:07 PM	I remember in a campaign i was in: Where a sneaky little scoundrel of ours had to sneak inn an murder a noble man, it would have to look like an accident or something else nasty. Well this guy he had 4 guys on duty: And 4 sleeping(in case of guard changes) He had a huuuge mansion but anyway. The sneaky guy went in the guard room, and stole one of the sleeping guards swords. After that he created a diversion and made the guards on duty a little spooked as in the meen while the sneaky dude snuck into the room of the noble. And just as he was about the murder the guy the guards start banging on the door ^^ Well our rogue suddenly skipped under the bed. And he was very upset with his guards waking him up for a coin that had made sound (the diversion) so i he warned them not to wake him again. Rogue lying under bed, waited till the noble fell asleep and then murdered him. Then snuck to the guards room and put the sword in place. He then snuck out. I can tell you one thing. He wasn't the one prosecuted for murder :)