Beware, here be spoilers!
So, we've been playing through Lost Mine of Phandelver and all is going splendidly. The players are in the sandbox now and have solved every problem they've encountered using brute force. Nothing wrong with that but I need to teach them that this is nog going to work every time. Especially since they're gearing up to go to Thundertree and face the dragon.
Now, an opportunity has presented itself. The players are at Old Owl Well and have met Kost under rather strange conditions. They were sneaking around but due to the Cleric scoring a 0 (yes, zero) on his stealth role they were found out. Kost, being bored and alone, decided to overlook their skulking around and invited them in for tea. All except the rogue who decided to stay hidden.
A knowledge check informed they players that by accepting his invitation they were protected by the laws of hospitality. By accepting the hospitality from their host Kost they have in essence signed a non-aggression pact. A rather awkward and thoroughly fun tea party ensued between an evil necromancer, a lawfull good fighter and a Light Cleric.
It seemed that it would end here. The players were reminded that they only needed to find out what was going on at Old Owl Well, not kill the problem. The priest and the fighter were ready to leave when the rogue decided enough is enough and attacked We left it there.
What I want to do is subdue the party in the coming conflict. Kost is still bound by the laws of hospitality. He will protect himself, off cource, and has no problem with hurting or even killing the rogue. But I need the players to feel that attacking at this point was a rather stupid or at least very costly idea.
My plan is the following. After the surprise round, assuming Kost is still alive, I'll have him Misty Step out of his tent and colapse the tent on top of the players. I'll try to get the cleric and the fighter to adhere to the laws of hospitality, tempting them with an inspiration token. Effectively taking them out of the fight.
I have 12 zombies and Kost to play with. I think I need to give Kost more than the Evil Mage template. I need him to have Animate Dead, so I'm thinking 5th level Necromancer. Since I've never played 5th as a player and only plated LMoP as a DM I have no clue what would be good spells for him. And a good feat perhaps.
This has turned out rather lengthy.
tl;dr help me build a 5th lever (or slightly higher) Necromancer who would be good at subduing a party of 4 3th lever players (standard rogue, fighter, cleric, mage setup)
Just use the Mage stat block in the Monster Manual (page 347) and swap out some of his spells. One cone of cold will probably do for the rogue - average 36 cold damage and he likely has only a 40% chance of making his saving throw with a +1 Con (64% with Inspiration).
Though really, I don't see much reason to bump the power of this mage. I would leave it as is and see how things play out. It's not really the role of the DM to "teach lessons." If the rogue wants to knife this guy, then so be it. Maybe he's successful, maybe he's not.
iserith wrote:
hmmmm... some interpretations of Hospitality would require the Cleric and Fighter to aid Kost, but that is dependant on the rules of hospitality and who is enforcing those rules. I definitely do not suggest creating conflict between players.
I would recommend that Kost become invisible after (or before) the Misty Step, then verbally order his Zombies to subdue the assassin where the Cleric, Fighter and Mage can hear it... as a player, rules of hospitality are nice, but if they believe the other member of the party is going to die, they would step in, I assume. In the event the other players stand aside and allow the zombies to do their work, then Kost could assume that the thief is sent by a rival from his own people; shouting something along the lines of Who sent you, was it Kellum? Alusti? Though it is bad manners to kill a hireling, if you do not tell me, I will kill you and ask your corpse. Relieve him of his possessions along with any gold, then ask his guests to return the villain to the nearest authority, telling them they can keep any bounty offered for the assassin.
Thanx SterlingRat, I'll do that. Sounds like a cool thing to happen. I'll see how things play out.
@ the others. I'm not trying to teach my players a lesson. They have experienced the lethality of 5th, allthough they are consistently getting a 20 on the death saving throw. I would like to signal that there are indeed situations where they are indeed in over their head. This would be a good and safe point to insert such a situation. LMoP has very few of those encounters and I like it when players think and ascess the situation. I would hate to have a TPK when they decide to bum rush VenomFang. So no "I'll teach them" but a reminder that this is a living world without a "below level 5" area.
If Kost decides that Hospitality binds him to be a good host in front of his guests, he could have the Zombies just football-tackle-pile-on the "assassin" and restrain him under about 500 lbs of undead flesh. Then carefully remove one at a time until the Rogue can be seen, and have a little talk.
I would have Kost sic the zombies on the players, then run away. While he might be able to best the players, it's not guaranteed, and discretion is the better part of valor. I'd then have him work behind the scenes to destroy the rogue. In other words, set him up as a longterm nemesis for the rogue.
Zombies will never catch up to a Rogue.
Hmmm, setting him up as a nemisis for the rogue. Good idea. The rogue joined the Zentarim last session and has second thoughts about it. He's planning to eliminate his contact and remain a free agent. A red wizard co-operating with the Zentarim sounds like cool 
Thanx all, I know what I want to do.