Quick question....

[I have a question...]

I have a question. . .

I'm running a campaign with 4 characters (mage, cleric, paladin, and thief) and I want to set up an encounter between them and a wizard and his assassins. I want the encounter to be challenging, but don't want to outright kill the party.

I would like multiple enemies. Also, the encounter will take place in a back alley near a loading dock to a shop (probably 40x40 area with some barrels, pallets, and other things littering the area.).

What levels should the wizard and assassins be?

Thanks for the help.

[David Fryer]

To answer your question we would need to to know what the level of your characters are.

[KenderKin]

If the wizard wants to kill the party he likely would cast buff or area of effect spells before they arrive, leave the scene and let the assassins do the job......

The assassins will obviously be magically aided, and make the PC's wonder who is after them........

Then you can focus on the assassins and the now new plot hook of the wizard.....

[TriOmegaZero]

I would run with the assassins at party level and the wizard party level +1 or 2.

[David Fryer]

TriOmegaZero wrote:

I would run with the assassins at party level and the wizard party level +1 or 2.

Agreed, although having the wizard at the PCs level and the assassins being level-1 would work out too.

[TriOmegaZero]

I was going under the assumption that PF NPCs are considered one CR below their actual level

[I have a question...]

David Fryer wrote:

To answer your question we would need to to know what the level of your characters are.

Woops...11th level. Sorry

[Fergie]

I'm going to lowball the CR on this one. I would go with a level 8 for the assassins, and level 12-14 for the wizard.

Here is the reason - the assassins are going to probably have a terrain/ surprise advantage over the PCs. If you want it to feel like the party is fighting assassins they are going to have to stick someone, and almost drop them. Otherwise it will just feel like a bunch of thugs.

Also, there are many creatures that make great assassins, ogre mages jump to mind, but there are all kinds of demons, devils, etc. etc. that seem almost purpose built for that kind of thing. Gargoyles are perfect, as they have surprise almost built in. Giving any monster a few levels of rogue works well, and you could also give them a level of some caster class to up their saves, and give them a few tricks.

The wizard should use a lot of magic to ensure surprise, and keep his minions from being fought on the parties terms. Might I suggest an Aboleth with some levels of sorcerer or wizard? Make the fight near an area with a sawmill, grainmill, or other "industrial" area, with lots of noise, movement, and distractions.

Finally, make sure the villains have fallback plans to bring the fight into other areas (think vertical) and split up the party. If the party gets the villains into a straight toe-to-toe fight, it will be over quick.