I'm looking for some advice from other GMs regarding an extensive side-mission I'm running in my Runelords campaign.
Long story short, the PCs have broken up a smuggling ring run by the Aspis Consortium, and have killed an Aspis gold agent. They also have also taken an item from that agent that the Consortium had been planning to sell to a powerful buyer (for a lot of money). The PCs are now hot on the trail of another Aspis agent (and former PC) who's traveling to Kaer Maga with a stolen Thassilonian artifact thay they need (it's Asheia: The Sword of Lust).
I decided that the Consortium now considers the PCs to be a major obstacle in their plans and wants them eliminated.
I'm having the PCs head to Kaer Maga aboard the halfling-crewed magical paddleboat The Lucky Jenny. (See Pathfinder #63: The Asylum Stone.) According to that write-up, the captain prefers to dock in port towns along the Yondabarki River and Lake Syrantula whenever possible. As the passenger cabins are sized for halflings, the PCs will have an incentive to stay at inns along the way rather than aboard the boat.
I'm thinking that the Consortium will be sending a four-man hit squad against the PCs, and taking a page from the film version of The Fellowship of the Ring, will attempt to sneak into the PCs' rooms at night and try to murder them while they sleep.
(Note: This is also a bit of poetic justice harkening back to a scene in Burnt Offerings where one of the PCs murdered a sleeping Orik Vancaskerin. They've also been pretty merciless with cutting the throats of still-living enemies that have fallen in combat.)
So far, I've always hand-waved the PCs spending the night in an inn. The players usually spring for "good" rooms-- which are individual private rooms. This means that each PC will be a) alone; and b) not wearing armor or have weapons at hand at night.
The PCs are currently 10th level.
I'm thinking of making the hit squad consist of three highwaymen and one slayer. The tactic would be that each of the assassins attempts to silently break into a PC's room, and then make a coup de grace attempt. I'd have the slayer go after the barbarian, and the highwaymen each go after one of the other PCs.
Obviously, this is treading dangerously on TPK territory. However, I want the PCs to feel genuinely threatened and vulnerable-- and to really really hate the Consortium!
Fully equipped and alert, any one PC would be more than a match for one of these assassins. However, assuming that the assassins are able to actually sneak into the PCs' rooms undetected, the four indvidual fights should be pretty harrowing.
Any advice on how to proceed?
I did something similar in my Crimson Throne campaign, having eight Red Mantis assassins sneak into the four individual rooms. Even though the bard and the wizard's familiar made their Perception rolls, it still would have killed two of the four PCs if the wizard hadn't crit his Will save against the Mantis's hypnosis, Lightning Bolted the poor guy out the window, and Dimension Doored into the Warlord's room to save his life. (The bard was in the same room as the paladin for reasons I shall not discuss, and that will just be referred to as 'Bad Day for Mantises'. Though the whole group still loves to talk about Smiting Evil in tighty whities.)
I think the big question is: Do you have a plan as to what you're going to do if you succeed? You're certainly going to kill a PC or two, but at 10th level, that's a temporary inconvenience and will definitely get them as angry as you want them to be. But you're setting it up so that a few bad rolls (failed Perception + failed Fortitude save) will result in a TPK. What then? Does the campaign end? Is there a deux et machina that resurrects them?
My major concern is that it's an awesome idea and it will be something the players remember and talk about for years, and they'll never sleep carelessly again (my party certainly didn't). So I really really like it.
But you might succeed. And anything that happens after that will simply leave a VERY bad memory of the campaign for all the players. Work through the probabilities: What are the chances you'll kill the whole party with CdG's without a fight? If it's over 10%, I wouldn't risk it. Any resolution post-TPK is just going to feel bad; I cannot think of a single situation where I'd ever trust a GM who did that to me again.
So I'd say, "Go for it, but be darned sure one of the PCs survives."
My personal approach would be to choose the least combat-oriented PC (a bard if you've got one) and have that particular assassin 'happen' to roll poorly on his Stealth. CdG the other 3 PCs, let 'em live or die, and force the bard to flee in his or her underclothes screaming into the night, vowing revenge... once he or she gets some pants, that is...
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If you're afraid you'll succeed and of the precedence you may set by assassinating your PCs, you may want to consider an alternative. Especially if the party is the type and level for whom "death" is merely a speed bump.
Sometimes the threat of force, or demonstrating just how vulnerable the characters accomplishes more than actually assassinating a PC. Killing them just ups the ante and you may create a game of escalation. Threatening to kill them denies knowledge on just how and where they may meet their fates, giving further intimidating power to the Consortium in your campaign.
To play it legit as a GM, I might create an NPC assassin who silently toys with your PCs, leaving calling cards in their rooms, or perhaps taking something very personal just to show how close they can get. Then, if your group is the type to have ancillary NPC allies, have one or two tell the PCs of some new face that is ever so "helpful" with something while they've been away. When the PCs return to check it out, they find their missing effects in the NPC's residence.
I can guarantee you'll accomplish the same effect, paranoia is as satisfying, if not more than simply putting a dagger in them while they sleep.
I would never let a few lucky dice rolls result in a TPK-- especially if I was doing something this diabolical. I'd ensure that at least one of the assassins botched his Stealth roll.
But I do like the "warning" idea!
The would-be assassins sneak into the PCs' rooms at night, and leave a warning. Preferably something icky, and in a place that indicated that the assassin had free rein in the room without being detected by the sleeping PC. Maybe not quite so dramatic as this scene, but something similar in effect.
Of course, the PCs will be undaunted, and the NEXT time would be for real... and by then the PCs would have upped their vigilance in some way, making it less likely that the assassins would succeed.
LOL -- I love the warning idea!
I think you're reading my campaign thread, so you know how I had the Skinsaw Man roll all over the paladin's bed, leaving his scent in her sheets.
No harm was done to anyone, but to this day EVERY SINGLE TIME the party sleeps at an inn, they check and lock the windows, and they still talk about how gross it was.
Mission accomplished!
I'm kinda against the warning or what I'd rather see is something that's slightly less of a chance to result in a TPK be the actual warning. I mean yessh their assassins not comic book characters.. Usually people hire thugs to warn and assassins to kill but, hey I could be wrong.
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If you don't mind my input Haladir, have you considered using those NPC's to kidnap who they think is a critical part of the PC team? I don't know how far you plan on taking this side-mission, but it could put the PC's in the kind of mindset you may be looking for.
-Late at night they infiltrate said marks' room and incapacitate him/her.
-Have two of the assassins make off with the PC to a preset meeting point to have him/her taken for "questioning".
-The other two can set the ship they were using for travel on fire, possibly long term repairs or even torch a couple of structures to create a diversion if needed to buy time for their fellows, maybe even the inn. Basically forcing the PC's to help the locals save lives and also to demonstrate how the innocent will suffer due to the PC's meddling.
-A note or letter to the remaining PC's could arrive a couple of days later stating something to the effect of "Do you think you are untouchable?" which should definately clue them in on who's behind it if they have not already figured it out.
-Remaining PC's then make plans for rescue etc etc.
Hope this was helpful for you :)
Well, I'm running this tonight, so I'll let you know how it goes!
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It went pretty well!
While the boat was docked at Wartle, the PCs spent the night at the Lean-To Inn. The boat was guarded by the crew, but the assassins managed to sneak past the guards and put bloody dead chickens in the beds of the PCs' cabins, along with a note to "Turn back or else. This is your only warning."
Four days later, while the PCs were asleep in an upscale inn in the town of Melfesh, the assassins struck. The assassins managed to get a coup de grace attempt on three of four PCs. (The PC with the +19 Perception roll woke up just in time to react.) The cleric rolled a "1" on the Fort save vs. the coup de grace, and died when the assassin cut his throat. The rest of the PCs survived the hit, and managed to each take out the assassin they were facing. This included a very dramatic defenestration of one of the assassins: the ranger/rogue bull rushed the assassin, throwing them both through the plate glass window onto the cobblestones two floors below. The assassin did not survive the fall.
I had given the PCs a single-use raise dead item a few sessions earlier, so the cleric won't be out of commission for long!
The only bad part was one player called in sick, so he wasn't there to experience his PC being woken up by someone trying to cut his throat.
Spectacularly brilliant! I can't believe anyone but the barbarian survived the CdG's.
But I think you probably got their attention...