I have a situation that I am setting up in my home game this week or next week, and I’m looking for some help on parts of it.
I have a character who is inspired by Christopher Chance from Fox’s Human Target TV Show. He is an ex-assassin that has had a change of heart as he experienced the world and is now trying to save lives rather than take them.
During the second session of game, the heroes came to a village outside of Dyvers (where Chance worked for ‘management’ as an assassin) named Caltaran. As one of two notable settlements under Dyvers control, the Dyvers Alliance still had interests here. Chance had been in Caltaran one other time, when he killed someone. While on that trip, he was assigned a guide from the local pool, a young member of the Alliance named Tamara Raspidol, who normally acted as a gopher for those who were more important.
Recently, Tamara’s group was busted by the lawful authorities of Caltaran. Everyone but Tamara was picked up and they got sent away. While being transported though, the group of bad men broke out. Knowing that they were all blown in Caltaran, and not wishing to return to Dyvers where they were being taken anyway, the group went through the Gnarley Forest to Verbobonc.
While the heroes were in town, Tamara recognized Chance. She believed that he was in town cleaning up anything that remained of the group that used to operate there for the Dyvers Alliance. She started to book, was picked up by the heroes. In the end, Chance believed that she might end up in danger and so sent her along the river to Verbobonc City.
Now in session five the group arrived in Verbobonc City. I’m thinking of using what I already have and making a story line using Tamara and the escapees (something another character is interested in as well). I thought that some of the bad guys can catch Chance in town and figure that he is there searching for them to clean them up. They track down Tamara and force her to tell them what happened. After listening to her story, they figure that Chance has a soft spot for her and so use her as bait.
They leave a message for Chance that they are keeping her captive. Chance heads to a meeting with them, maybe to storm the place, maybe to talk. If he goes and talks, the guys should have demands for him. I was thinking of two demands, the second of them being ‘go back and tell them that we are all dead.’
The first demand is what I’m trying to figure out. I thought that they might want Chance to do a job for them, one they were going to do until they thought he was on their trail. So I started wondering what kind of job would they be interested in getting done. Maybe stealing something (the city is a huge trade hub) that would be useful to them. What is useful enough to them to force their hand like this?
So I’m hoping to get feedback on two things. The first is if this seems like a decently fun scenario from the player’s side (things are pretty vague in how they will go off because a lot of it is up to the players). The second part is what the group wants Chance to do for them.
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The first is if this seems like a decently fun scenario from the player’s side (things are pretty vague in how they will go off because a lot of it is up to the players).
Yeah, works for me.
The second part is what the group wants Chance to do for them.
I think you should go with the obvious and have the group ask Chance to kill for them. Tamara confessed to them that Chance is "out of the game" and the group thinks that if they can get him to kill, that maybe he'll join up with them. Their hand is 'forced' because they have a future mission in mind with some big payoff that they need his skills for, i.e. they know they couldn't do it without him. The hope is that he'll join them once he tastes blood again, so that he can keep killing to feed his addiction. They figure that even if he doesn't join them, they hope to at least get twisted pleasure from getting him do the one thing he swore off. And if Chance ends up not killing, then the group will get their jollies from killing Tamara and knowing that Chance will have to live the rest of his life knowing that he could have prevented her death (when supposedly he had dedicated himself to saving lives). Finally, if Chance ends up attacking the group and killing one or more of them, again the group will have succeeded in showing Chance that his true colors are that of a killer, and again get their jollies from that (at least the ones who survive will get their jollies off!).
(The person the group wants him to kill could be the one who tipped off the lawful authorities of Caltaran. This guy should be a really bad person (allegedly). Someone that Chance knows has done really bad things (allegedly), but gotten away with them. Perhaps he even wronged Chance himself or someone close to him (allegedly). He could be old too, near the end of his life. All of this to make it more tempting for Chance to off him.)
P.S. I've never seen the show, so I may be way off.
I would go a slightly different way. These are not demons trying to corrupt a paladin. These are thieves and robbers that want do make a dishonest living unmolested by a reformed assassin. That said they probably would like to have some kind of leverage over him to prevent him from hunting them down.
They could ask him to steal something that wouldn't be too difficult a decision for him to make. Maybe some valuable jewels from a "corrupt" merchant. Then, while he is in the middle of the theft the bad guys kill the merchant. At this point they can tip off the guards with the hope that he will be caught and executed for the crime, or they might just get some "evidence" and say that if he tries to move against them they will give the "evidence" to the authorities.
Later on these guys can start to do more and more evil deeds. How long can Chance put off dealing with these guys in order to save his reputation?
I like the double cross and the blackmail. It gives them more leverage than 'go away or we kill the girl'. That situation kind of ends up with questions about the girl being held captive forever or not.
More goals, more stuff...back to my ruined arcane academy!
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The first demand is what I’m trying to figure out. I thought that they might want Chance to do a job for them, one they were going to do until they thought he was on their trail. So I started wondering what kind of job would they be interested in getting done. Maybe stealing something (the city is a huge trade hub) that would be useful to them. What is useful enough to them to force their hand like this?
This you'd want from a professional killer;
1) Someone killed. No-brainer, there.
2) The identity of who hired the killing of someone that you used to work for and need to avenge. Assassin-guy killed their father / prelate / former employer, and they know that killing the assassin accomplishes nothing (since he was but the blade that struck the blow), as they need to find out who ordered the hit (striking at the hand that directed that blade). Naturally, they aren't exactly overflowing with the milk of human kindness towards the 'blade' either, and will probably try to kill him after finding out who ordered the death of their former boss.
3) An exact step-by-step recounting of one of his missions (perhaps even a walk-through, although they will lie about what exactly they want to know...), because;
3.1) The dead dude died because he'd stolen a bunch of money or valuable something from another meaner dude, and the meaner dude didn't just want him dead, but expected to also recover his loot. Sadly, the dude hid the loot, so the employees of big meanie now want a thorough detailing of anything the victim said or did in his last moments, that might have revealed clues as to where the loot was hidden. "Well, yeah, now that you mention it, when I killed him, he had dirt on his hands. Maybe he was burying something?" What was the valuable loot? A royal writ that confers upon the bearer a mark of royalty, complete with a deed to some decrepit keep on the borderlands or something. A liches phylactery. A contract with an infernal being, written in blood, discussing how an annual tithe of sacrifices will be made so long as the contractee remains young and vital, and that no spell to divine her true nature would reveal her non-royal nature or true identity as a lowly tiefling bastard-child, signed by the beautiful and virtuous Queen Whatshername.
Yanno, some trinket like that. :)
3.2) They want to know where dead dudes body is, so that they can ressurect him. Oh, and the bargain-basement spell they are using has a quibbly requirement that the body and soul of the man who killed him has to be sacrificed to make it work. Shh. Don't tell the assassin that last part...
3.3) They want to know where dead dudes body is, so that they can use Speak With Dead and find out the password to the magical trap on his spellbook of sekrit lore.
3.4) They want to know how assassin-boy got into the royal bedchambers to assassinate the king, because they might have some reason to want to sneak in and visit his widow.