I have plans to frame one of the PCs in my Kingmaker game for murder most foul... he's expressed interest in going from CN to CG (and in worshipping Cayden Cailean), and I think one way for him to do that is to realize that people actually *could* see him as doing something so heinous, and correcting his behavior after a moment of realization. (He's in on this a little bit, but the details of how it will go down are in my control).
So basically, I ask of the amazing Advice boards - how would you frame a PC for murder (or some other heinous crime)? There are so many delicious ideas, I think I'll refrain for now from posting my own to see what you guys and gals come up with.
A little bit of background info:
The PC is an 8th level wizard of the Air school, and is Magister of the PC kingom. His pet projects are a recently-built Academy and meeting with the Old Beldame and other magic-users to trade spells, if you're familiar with Kingmaker. Most of that is irrelevant though. The character's personality is of the neutral-because-of-a-jaded-past variety, and is selfish but not unreasonable.
Thanks in advance!
Dot
Does he have a favorite spell? Kill the victim with that spell (lightning bolt, summoned air elementals, whatever it is.) The killer can use a wand or a scroll or something.
The killer uses the Disguise skill, or disguise self (or both) to appear as the PC in question. The killer could also create an illusion of the PC going toward the murder scene (so the witnesses honestly believe what they saw) or running away from it (ditto). This obviously works better with a spellcaster enemy (Grigori?) but even a low-level character could use a wand of silent image or something.
The killer steals a lock of hair from the PC (maybe by bribing or charming his barber or valet) and then leaves it at the scene so that anyone using "this body part the killer left behind" to scry will pick up the PC. (CSI: Arcane Connections, gotta love it.)
The killer something recognizable from the victim's belongings (clothes, favorite possessions, spellbook) and plants it in the PC's rooms, or maybe a location they frequent. Again, possibly with creating an illusion of the PC going there and leaving that so that witnesses can plausibly point to it and lead to the discovery of the artifact.
Suggestion on the investigators is another possibility, but it works better if there's some evidence backing it up.
How is Grigori doing in your world? I think I would be looking to him (or his masters) first.
How I would do it depends on how well prepared the character is, however, I like simple plans. I would probably just steal something from his room and leave it at the site of the murder.
Something that screams 'This PC' really obviously. Perhaps he is the only one who wears a bright blue cloak? Did he notice the was a bit torn out of it? Or even something with his cypher or mark on. If you are more subtle, something that can be tracked back to him magically.
Then there is always that pesky bard hanging around to build the story up ...
Of course, he would need to rely on a different spell caster finding all the evidence of his innocence. After all, his word is now suspect ....
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I assume he has either a familiar or bonded object, yes? Steal one of those, and leave it at the crime scene. (If it's the familiar, it should be dead, obviously. Make it look like the victim killed it in the struggle.) There's nothing more directly associated with a wizard than their arcane bond- it should allow any scryers to identify him with certainty. Also, make sure you have a means of dealing with him submitting to magical lie-detection. Have the person framing him disguise themselves as him and purchase several potions of glibness and some bracers of the glib entertainer, or perhaps even the spellcasting service of a permanent glibness.
Also, when he's giving his side of the story to the city guard, judge, or whoever, have the framer or an ally be there with the Obfuscate Story and Steal the Story rogue talents. An Archaeologist Bard would be great here- they receive some rogue talents and Bard spells, which are useful for deceit and confusion (Honeyed Tongue, Glibness, Disguise Self, Alter Self, and so on.) A level 12 or 13 Archaeologist could have even have an advanced talent like Rumormonger, and be an appropriate challenge whenever the party finally discovers who's behind it all. More importantly, he'd be too difficult a challenge if your wizard can't convince the rest of the party.
Does he have a favorite spell? Kill the victim with that spell (lightning bolt, summoned air elementals, whatever it is.) The killer can use a wand or a scroll or something.
This is the direction I was headed in.
The person doing the framing is likely from his backstory (a Razmiran sorcerer-priest), so would be able to pull off a lightning bolt from a scroll or wand with no problem. I think I'll have him pose as a refugee from Razmiran coming to make amends (but secretly coming to get vengeance on the PC). I also like the illusion and disguise self angles of the story.
How is Grigori doing in your world? I think I would be looking to him (or his masters) first.
What happened to my Grigori:
Grigori is alive, but has been banished from the kingdom for spreading sedition. I actually united him with the werewolf kingdom event, and had him poison Kundal (the werewolf) with an extract that made him turn into a were. The PCs never followed the right clues to figure this out, so without any evidence against Grigori other than his lies, they told him to get out of the kingdom and never come back. So he's certainly an option, I just think that he's not quite the right person for this (see above person from background).
I assume he has either a familiar or bonded object, yes? Steal one of those, and leave it at the crime scene. (If it's the familiar, it should be dead, obviously. Make it look like the victim killed it in the struggle.) There's nothing more directly associated with a wizard than their arcane bond- it should allow any scryers to identify him with certainty. Also, make sure you have a means of dealing with him submitting to magical lie-detection. Have the person framing him disguise themselves as him and purchase several potions of glibness and some bracers of the glib entertainer, or perhaps even the spellcasting service of a permanent glibness.
Great ideas. He has a bonded ring that would be quite conspicuous if missing. And I love the idea of a few potions of glibness disappearing from the local apothecary...