protect the king [challenge]

[Seppo87]

Hi, I am the king of kingdomland.

I know a rival (not sure which one) has been planning to assassinate me.
He will send a sneaky character with a good selection of scrolls. most likely an assassin.
Unfortunately, I do not know the time or the place.
they are protected from divinations

I will hire one of you.
You will cast spells, use weapons or any means to ensure my safety.

special:
I need some degree of free time to actually work & have a life.
I will need to see people and speak in public.
I would like to live in a royal palace, and not in a portable hole. I'm a noble, you know

Just explain your plan and your daily budget.
The best price/quality/comfort ratio will win

----------
rules:
-you are a pc with any combination of classes. Level 1-20, your choice (lower costs less)
-you can use anything that doesn't lead to infinite combos or resources. refer to the test of spite limitations. you won't ignore money limits with infinite wishes. no tippyverse traps. no divine ascensions. no save points, no going back in time to kill the assassin's mother. no leadership. just rai, straight, out-of-the-box spells & effects
-hiring and casting prices as per dungeon master guide
-just explain your daily protection plan, what makes it the best, how much time I'm left with and naturally the daily price for your services

how will you save my life?

[the_david]

Easy. Have the rival arrested or killed.

Done.

Now I understand that there might be complications. Like say, the rival is the ruler of another country, or you don't exactly know who the rival is, you just know there is a rival because you survived the last assassination attempt.

In the first case, some discretion is needed. And preferably someone to blame.
In the second case, just use a divination like commune to get answers. A 7th level wizard with improved familiar could do that for you.

[Seppo87]

Somehow, divinations aren't working as intended.
The assassination attempt cannot be simply avoided, just countered.

-you can use anything that doesn't lead to infinite combos or resources. refer to the test of spite limitations. you won't ignore money limits with infinite wishes. no tippyverse traps. no divine ascensions. no save points, no going back in time to kill the assassin's mother. no leadership. just rai, straight, out-of-the-box spells & effects
-hiring and casting prices as per dungeon master guide
-the king needs a comfortable life

so, what's the plan

[Ashtagon]

Somehow, divinations aren't working as intended.
The assassination attempt cannot be simply avoided, just countered.

If even a commune spell cann't do it, then your "rival" is a deity. Or at least, has that level of power. In which case, no sane entity without divine ranks would take on the comission.

[Vhaidara]

First off, clearly the Assassin is Vecna-blooded and therefore immune to any and all divinations.

Okay, so, as a 20th level Wizard, I have a personal demiplane that is maximum security. Since you clearly trust me, I require a jacinth worth 1000gp, and 2 5gp silver bars. And 1 million gold.
Step 1: Plane Shift the two of us to my demiplane.
Step 2: Astral Projection on both of us.
Step 3: Plane Shift us back to the Material.

Now, if the assassin strikes, your Astral Projection dies, but you wake up safe and sound on my demiplane. For additional convenience, I would need funds to make 2 items: One of at-will Astral Projection so that you can reproject yourself should this happen, and a single use item of Plane Shift, which you can use yourself to move from the Astral Plane to the Material (it consumes the copy that your projection has, not the original).

EDIT: Oh, and the million gold is a fee. Negotiable.

[Der_DWSage]

An Assassin, eh? Doesn't seem like a huge challenge, then. Let's see, let's go with...a level 13 Wizard here, since I don't feel like doing anything fancy.

Daily Life, Living in the Palace:Say hello to your new best friend, Veil. For 13 hours of the day, you appear as a lesser noble that is safe from assassination attempts. An Extended Misdirection is cast on you to keep divinations from revealing who you are, making you appear nonmagical and to be the noble in question. This is not an indefinite situation, see below.

Public Speaking:A Simulacrum is created in your likeness, and the first orders given to it is 'Obey the King of Kingdomland. Do not obey me unless the King of Kingdomland is slain.' A daily Telepathic Bond for public appearances later, and you now have an expendable body double. The Simulacrum is also given a Misdirection to make it appear as yourself, the King of Kingdomland. When the assassin does strike, your guards will surely deal with him, while you're perfectly fine.

Bill for services rendered
Simulacrum:910+(2600 GP per HD of King)
Veil:780 GP per casting (Likely per day)
Telepathic Bond:650 GP per casting (Likely 2 uses per day)
Misdirection:390 GP (Extended, twice per day, once for King, once for Simulacrum)

Final Bill
2600 GP per HD of King + 2860 GP per day + 910 GP.

However, since little of this requires actual materials from a Wizard (The exception being the Simulacrum, which you are billed for regardless) I am willing to discuss payment in lands, magical artifacts, titles, and a position as Court Wizard.

[Seppo87]

dear sir keledrath and sir Der_DWSage,
we have read and considdred your proposals.
they are indeed effective, but they require me to physically leave my throne.
while this would be acceptable as a temporary, emergency countermeasure, I can't do this my whole life.

money aren't the problem, I need to be safe in my palace and speak in public myself
and I expext to recieve protection in the least invasive way you can come up with

(it wouldn't be a fun challenge otherwise)

[Extra Anchovies]

1. Kill the king.
2. Raise king as a ghost.
3. Rival can no longer kill the king.
Success.

[Honest Tiefling]

I'd kill the rival and seize all of the wealth. Does removing any incentive for the assassin to do their job count as countering? I mean, the rival would have limited ways to pay or reward the guy after that.

Doing unspeakable things to the corpse might also give them pause, hopefully. If not, free skeleton bulter!

[Brookshw]

How does the king feel about project image and contingent celerity/teleports, or meld with stone in dimensional locks?

[Seppo87]

I can use a projected image once in a while for specific reasons. Not on a regular basis.
Contingencies are good because presumably they don't interfere with my daily life and only work when they are needed.
Meld into stone: when, for how long?
Dimensional lock sounds good, it's not like I can tell the difference myself, but if it works it will be welcome

[Ssalarn]

Is this strictly 3.5, or can I draw from PF materials? Can I 3.P to mix and match?

[Seppo87]

Is this strictly 3.5, or can I draw from PF materials? Can I 3.P to mix and match?It's 3.5 but it would be interesting to hear your idea nevertheless

[Segev]

Your majesty, if you will but accept Pelor as your Lord and Savior, my friend, the good Cleric thereof will be happy to build a temple in your capitol and accept a 25,000 gp donation. Should anything happen to you, he will use the diamond purchased with this donation to facilitate a True Resurection, which will ensure your swift and timely return to business as usual.

I, myself, can provide a contingent Soul Binding, which will ensure that, should the sneaky assassin bear any intention of waylaying your soul, it shall instead be whisked away to a pearl in the Cleric's possession. This one-time cost of 15,300 gp will ensure that your soul remains safely in the hands of its trusted caretakers. For further cost-savings, the trigger of the contingency can be anybody else attempting to use a Soul Binding on you. Thus, it is not wasted should you be slain without anybody engaging in such shenanigans.

As these are one-time responses, it will be necessary to re-invest in them after being restored to life. However, I am sure you'll find them the most effective deterrent. It can even be put out that the slain body is that of a double created for the purpose.


Should the devotion to a god of kindness, justice, and light prove too pricey on top of the gold costs of the materials, I could also offer you a simple Clone, for a measly 500 gp lab and 1000 gp in materials per clone you wish to have available. I warn you that some effort will be needed after each restoration to recover your former talents, however.

My own price is, of course, a place of security within your court, and the right to...raw materials...as they become available from your subjects who wish to sell them to me. Your laws will either have to accomodate my personal research, or I will need immunity thereto. In return, I will do nothing to cause harm to your citizens which you yourself do not authorize, and my minions will be available at reasonable rates to defend your territory or exact revenge upon the revealed rival who sends this nefarious assassin.

-Segev Stormlord, Necromancer

[Ssalarn]

It's 3.5 but it would be interesting to hear your idea nevertheless

Warforged Paladin (PF chassis), at least 14th level. DMM Persist shield other and guardian of faith (PF) on the king, neutralize poison and restoration on scrolls (or possibly prepared if level higher than 14), Channeled Revival feat (PF) to quickly restore the king in case the paladin overcomes my counter-measures. Quicken metamagic rod so I can cast king's castle (PF) as a swift action the moment the king appears to be in danger and swap places with him. Holy avenger armblade, cause I'm a paladin.
I don't eat, I don't sleep, it's unlikely that I'll be distracted by serving girls/princesses/straying queens, I have sufficient healing capabilities to counter or neutralize any effect the assassin might bring to bear, and if the king so much as stubs his toe I automatically take half the hurt for him. Has the added benefit of giving the king some serious political street cred and the appearance of the moral high ground over his enemy who employs assassins instead of holy knights.

[EyethatBinds]

I think I can do this the cheapest. We'll simply cast Polymorph Any Object to create about 30 king clones to wander around the castle. Since Donkeys are the same kingdom/class of animal and the same size these changes are going to be permanent. You can then rest comfortably knowing the donkeys will justly rule the kingdom in your absence.

My fee is 10,000gp.

[Honest Tiefling]

money aren't the problem, I need to be safe in my palace and speak in public myself
and I expext to recieve protection in the least invasive way you can come up with

(it wouldn't be a fun challenge otherwise)

I disagree. Other people's opinions and free will are just another challenge to overcome. I don't know specifics, but there has to be a way to conjure up a harem to get kingy out the way while you risk your life to save his life and possibly the lives of his family.

[BRC]

Thank you for hiring Barkville Royal Consultants.

First, security.

From this point on, your Palace is to be sealed off except for a single, well-guarded entrance with a sturdy door capable of admitting only one person. A guard will be posted in this doorway at all times, blocking it physically to prevent invisible entry. Anybody who seeks to enter the palace will be tested by one of our consultants: Timmy the Sorceror. The test will have two parts, first, Timmy will cast Resistance (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistance.htm)on the visitor. Then, Timmy will use Detect Magic.

If Timmy can detect his resistance spell on the visitor, then we can conclude that the visitor has no protection from divination magic, and is therefore not the assassin. If Timmy's spell fails to pick up the Detect Magic, then the visitor will be dropped through a trapdoor, where they will be horribly [VERB] By a pack of [ADJECTIVE] [NOUN], which are available from BRC Monster Farms for competitive prices.

Now, while all other entrances to the palace are to be sealed off, it is always possible for the assassin to infiltrate in some other manner, or to overpower your guards and force his way in.

We will, of course, blanket your quarters with the standard dimensional anchor, anti-scrying, and anti-teleportation spells, as well as trustworthy clerics to use Detect Poison and Purify Food and Drink to ensure your food is fit for consumption.

Speaking in public will be a difficult matter, but our consultants have a solution. First, our smiths will craft you a magic item, a signant ring or amulet, capable of casting two spells: Alter Self, and Telepathic Bond.
When the time comes to make a public appearance, you will select a trustworthy bodguard/body double, the individual does not matter, but I recommend Bertrand the Bard, whose public speaking and persuasive skills are top notch (Or so he's managed to convince me, which is really all the proof one needs).
You will utilize the Alter Self spell to change your appearance to that of a servant, guard, or other nobody in the background. Bertrand will use the same spell to take on your appearance. Because these are physical transformations, NOT illusions, spells such as True Seeing will not reveal you.
You will form a Telepathic Bond with Bertrand, who will serve as your mouthpiece. Using the Bond, you may tell him what you wish him to say, either in exact words, or convey the intent and allow his silver tongue to do the rest. In addition, Bertrand is very proficient at detecting falsehood, and can therefore communicate to you when the person "You" are meeting is lying.

In the event of an overt attack, Bertrand can use his bardic powers to enhance the abilities of your other guards, or cover your escape with illusions.

Thank you for considering our services.
Barkville Royal Consultants.

PS: Ask about our lifetime guarantee! Guarantees no successful assasination attempts over the course of your natural* life!
(For the record.

Timmy: 1st level wizard hireling. Perhaps add a few more Timmies to allow greater traffic in or out of the palace.

Bertrand could be as low as 4th level, but at least 6th would be preferable, so his Alter Self can last at least an hour.

Pack of [ADJECTIVE] [NOUN]'s to [VERB] intruders, client's discretion.
)
*Natural Life ends after first death, regardless of subsequent resurrections, reincarnations, or returns from the dead. Warranty invalid after end of natural life.

[Seclora]

Your Highness,

I'm intrigued by this challenge you've offered, and present the following solution.
Firstly, we shall light your entire kingdom, thoroughly. This will prevent the Assassin from using his ability to hide in plain sight. There are also several practical benefits to doing so and you would do well to consider this step no matter who's solution you choose.
Then we shall place a contingency to cast faerie fire on anyone intent on killing you who spends a full round observing you for without your knowledge of both observation and intent, indicating your attacker to you and your guards.
Lastly, I shall provide you with an item that will call me to your side as a standard action whenever you should see need. As a Wizard of some power, there is little chance I cannot ensure your safety, if not outright remove the threat.

I consider this plan most worthy of your consideration on account of its simple, non-intrusive elegance, and reasonable nature. It is priced in its fullness as follows.
Eternal wand of Continual Flame: 4.420 gold multiplied by the number of towns in your kingdom, and by the haste with which you wish to illuminate your people. To be supplied by the crafters of your kingdom, and implemented by your guards.
An item able to cast Word of Recall once per day, 26.400 gold. This gold is to be supplied directly to me, that I may craft and attune it properly. The item itself will be entrusted to you, and left to your discretion along with thorough instructions on its care, use, and how to re-attune it should you choose to entrust your safety to some other of your subjects at a later time.
And a single contingent spell, Faerie Fire costing 100 gold and to be installed myself the day our contract is signed.

After this time I shall take my pay in the form of a room kept ready in the northmost tower of your castle should I visit, and in a government contribution to the practice and study of The Art in the form of a full-ride scholarship for your kingdom's most promising prospective prestidigitator. The means by which this young wizard should be identified, I leave to you, although I would be pleased to consult on the matter at no charge. Included in this fee, is any replacement of the aforementioned contingent spell and my services whenever called.

Yours respectfully,
Seclora

[Judge_Worm]

Level (any) Necropolitan Human Expert
Class Skills: Bluff, diplomacy, sense motive, umd, profession (actor), perform (oratory)

I would require only enough wealth to gain magical items to make me extremely charismatic and intelligent. I simply stay around you all day and when the assassin comes I convince them that you are not the king. Since I don't need sleep I can stay ever vigilant.

[OldTrees1]

Send this message to each of your rivals:

"I know one of you is sending an assassin. I have taken insurance that none of you will survive the month of my demise. I look forward to us all living very long lives."

If this is signaled credibly then the King has little to fear.

[Heliomance]

sneaky assassin bear

I have nothing to contribute; I just wanted to point this out. That is all.

[Charles Atan]

Sire, you must be the luckiest king alive!

I, Charles Atan, the great adventurer, have just returned from my long quest, which took me to regions few men have ever seen, and even fewer dare speak of.

In my travels I have come across many wondrous things, but my greatest treasure is this:

(draws a small bottle from a pocket in his cloak)

the Seal of Mutually Assured Destruction! It is, without a doubt, exactly what you are looking for.

How does it work? Well sire, it is astoundingly simple! You need only allow me to apply it in a fashion similar to the one used by men of lower birth to brand themselves with tattoos. A small circle in the forehead should be enough, but if your grace so desires I can make the seal on any other shape.

Once applied it will take effect immediately. It is also permanent.

To explain the effects of this wonder I think it is best if I describe how I came across it:

In my travels, I visited many distant lands, some not even on this plane of existence. In one of such lands, in a plane of powerful creatures with magic long lost in our own Material Plane, I became aware of an ancient legend, a story of two powerful kingdoms from the dawn of time, kingdoms in perpetual war with each other. Now, a specially gifted magician of one of this kingdoms deviced a method by which their army would become indestructible: The Seal! No one quite knew what it was. However, what they did know was that the secret of the Seal had been stolen by the enemy kingdom, and that had lead to the ultimate destruction of both lands. No one survived the war.


So I set out to explore the long ruined castles and keeps of this ancient lands, until I found a tower inhabited by evil fiends. In this tower I found an ancient laboratory belonging to a wizard of great power. Imagine my surprise, sire, when I found it was the very same wizard who had created The Seal! I went through his belongings, and found some notes explaining his greatest creations, along with the last vial in existence of it.

Here is what I found out:

This substance, when applied, would instantly bond with both the body and soul of the user and, if anything were to compromise the harmony between the too, be it death, undeath, a soul bind or any such thing, the Seal would immediately obliterate anyone responsible for the trigger effect. But here's the beauty of it: it can *sense* responsibility! That is, it can feel the souls of those who consider themselves responsible! If someone hired an underling to kill a king, then both the underling and the employer would suffer the consequences! Furthermore, the seal can bypass any trick such as provoking memory loss in oneself, as it works on the soul and not the mind, and the soul remains unaltered. Even if the soul were to be temporally relocated to another vessel or even another plane, the Seal would find it and kill it! You heard that right sire, it would kill the soul!

You can see why this amazing substance caused the fall of two great kingdoms: once the soldiers were given the seal, instead of just the kings of the lands, the Seal traced the responsibility back not only to the enemy soldiers but also their commanding officers and even their rulers!

If it were to be applied to a single person, however, there is no need to fear such horrible consequences.

Now, of course, there's a small problem with this solution: it is vital that anyone who wished you ill were aware of it. Unlike other methods that rely on the element of surprise, this one relies on the enemy knowing about it. That, sire, you can also leave to me. I am a skilled storyteller and have a knack for spreading rumors. Lies come to me naturally and I spread with no problem. I once convinced the wisest of clerics that we were not created by the gods but evolved from apelike creatures over the course of millions of years. Ridiculous, I know. And because the tale I've just told you is, without a shadow of a doubt, completely true, spreading this will be even easier. Gossip, sire, is my domain.

As for my fee, sire, your safety is all I need. I would not dare charge a good soul such as yourself for protection. your gratitude is all I need.

[Jack_Simth]

Hmm...

Human Cleric-7/Dweomerkeeper-10 (Complete Divine Web Enhancement). UMD (cross-class) + Divine Insight on a Domain Staff of Creation to cast Genesis to make a demiplane.
Plane shift us both there.
Use Supernatural Spell on Miracle to duplicate Forbiddance (repeatedly) to seal the plane off from most forms of Planar Travel.
Wall of Stone (repeatedly) to limit the available space to just us, plus one large creature.
Use a set of Ivory Goats (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#ivoryGoats) (specifically Trevail) to get a mostly-obidient Nightmare.
Have the Nightmare use it's ability to Astral Project to get us both out of there.
I then guide you back to the material plane.

Now if something should happen to you, you will wake up, safe and sound, in my demiplane. At which point, we just invoke the Goat again, and Astral Project out again.

[(Un)Inspired]

I'm a level 7 bard.

I cast Glibness and convince the king that dipping him into my bag of holding will coat him in a solution that will protect him from all harm.

I cast reduce person from a scroll on the king, put the king in my bag of holding, then drop my bag of holding into a portable hole.

A rift to the astral sea is torn open and the king is lost forever. No chance of the assassin killing the king if he is lost forever.

I would like 1 million gold and a red horse with racing stripes as my reward please.

[WeaselGuy]

It has always been my opinion that the best way to defeat an assassination attempt is to beat the assassin. To that end, I offer my services as a reformed assassin to perform as your personal spy, interrogator, and counter assassin. I can accomplish these tasks efficiently as early as 13th level, but based on the unpredictability of your would-be assassin, you should hire me at no lower level than 20. As for my resume, I submit to you:

Rogue 2/Beguiler 5/Mindbender 1/Assassin 3/Slayer of Domiel 9

I started my career of larceny and minor assault as a CN Rogue, and developed a set of magical abilities to help beguile people into believing I wasn't who I seemed. By the time I reached level 7, I was ready to join the ranks of Mindbender, developing a form of telepathy, which was further enhanced with mindsight (which, incidentally, allows me to know if there are any hidden enemies in the vicinity). After touring the criminal underbelly as an Assassin for a short time, I came to the realization that I was going about life all wrong, and subsequently sought atonement and repentance from the local clergy, dedicating myself to a life of law and good, and further more purchasing a set of scrolls to Shun the Dark Chaos from my soul, and repledging my soul as a Servant of the Heavens. Now (as of level 13) I am able to detect evil at will, and slay it with a touch. If that doesn't seem apparent to work, well, I'm still an accomplished sneak, and know the best ways to deliver incapacitating damage to an unaware foe.

In exchange for these services, I request payment in the form of permanent lodging and a minor position at court (nothing fancy, just enough to where I would be expected to attend various functions where your presence would be required), a modest stipend to support my cost of living (100 gp per month is sufficient), and access to the court blacksmith, alchemist, farrier, and master at arms whenever needed (general upkeep of arms and armor).

[The Grue]

dear sir keledrath and sir Der_DWSage,
we have read and considdred your proposals.
they are indeed effective, but they require me to physically leave my throne.
while this would be acceptable as a temporary, emergency countermeasure, I can't do this my whole life.

money aren't the problem, I need to be safe in my palace and speak in public myself
and I expext to recieve protection in the least invasive way you can come up with

(it wouldn't be a fun challenge otherwise)

Pardon my insolence Your Grace, but the suggestions you have dismissed as unacceptable do in fact meet these criteria.

[Vaz]

I am a Level 20 Wizard.

I make it obvious to all that you are under my protection, and that death of you will result in known rival and all who share in his beliefs, take of his money, and support him (whether intentional or not) will be either turned in my own personal undead servitors through various means, or tortured and sacrificed to devils and fiends so that their souls will be their play things for all eternity, while my collection of Greater Planar Bound Pit Fiends and Dominated Shapechanged Great Wyrm Steel Dragons patrol the corridors.

[Malroth]

As A shadowcraft Mage with Arcane Disciple Luck, I can replicate a Mere Cleric's Miracles with no cost to myself, These Miracles of Shadow can replicate all the normal effects of Divination magic while being an Evocation which Vecna blooded assassins have no immunity to.

[atemu1234]

Send this message to each of your rivals:

"I know one of you is sending an assassin. I have taken insurance that none of you will survive the month of my demise. I look forward to us all living very long lives."

If this is signaled credibly then the King has little to fear.

Epic, but it could be an outside or unknown threat.

[rockdeworld]

"Like all good medecine, this is going to hurt."

PC: an undead/construct/otherwise-immune-to-ability-damage-type arcane caster with Spell Knowledge (Love's Pain) and the Mind Rape spell.
Round 1: Mind Rape you, now all your rivals are your dearest loved ones.
Rounds 2+: Spam Love's Pain until they are all dead. With metamagic if desired.
Last round: Mind Rape you, undo the effects of round 1.
Cost: 3,600gp + 600gp/Love's Pain casting.


Edit:
Epic, but it could be an outside or unknown threat.

I know a rival (not sure which one) has been planning to assassinate me.
Excludes unknown threats, and maybe outside threats depending on your meaning.

[Der_DWSage]

dear sir keledrath and sir Der_DWSage,
we have read and considdred your proposals.
they are indeed effective, but they require me to physically leave my throne.
while this would be acceptable as a temporary, emergency countermeasure, I can't do this my whole life.

money aren't the problem, I need to be safe in my palace and speak in public myself
and I expext to recieve protection in the least invasive way you can come up with

(it wouldn't be a fun challenge otherwise)

The cost of a Dominate Person spell has been added to your bill, to make it more palatable to your needs.

(Mostly because, well, anyone that fears an assassin but also demands that he not have his daily life changed in any way whatsoever isn't going to receive good protection, but instead get what he wants. Few changes, and a sudden change in routine when he becomes a corpse. Even D&D magic isn't that good. There's a reason that level 20 Wizards go crazy, make private demiplanes, and refuse to speak with anyone except via astral projection, rather than walk down the street in plain sight.)

[Honest Tiefling]

Epic, but it could be an outside or unknown threat.

Then kindly inform them it is in their best interests to start protecting the king pro-actively, lest everyone die to an outside threat.

[ace rooster]

Let me introduce myself, I am Rooster, cleric of Heronious (11th level), and this is my colleage, Tom. (Wizard, 9th level with cwi).

I will simply turn your castle into a proper fortress, impenetrable to all but the most powerful of magics, which cannot be defended against reliably I am afraid. It will require from you the services of several musicians, who are to play round the clock on 50 lyres of building in the great hall. Planar travel is prevented by forbidance spells. You will be able to make speeches from the balcony, but I must insist on a thin sheet of glass between you and the outside world at all times.

Towers will be set up around your castle with firing positions on them, to take aim at any who approach the walls with the aim of defeating them with an antimagic field. 5 foot of stone should be enough to slow any attackers down if they cannot use magic, and time is all you need. An inch of iron on the outside, (including underneath) is enough to prevent any intrusion by passwall or similar magic, and iron is scattered throughout the internal walls for the same reason. Additional casters with scrolls of wall of stone, wall of ice, meld into stone, and stoneshape are stationed throughout the castle, taking advantage of the fact the walls cannot be damaged within the castle. A bodyguard will be kept near you at all times (discretely of course), with scrolls of stone shape, a scroll of greater teleport, and spare scrolls of teleport. He is aware of several regions of bedrock that are not covered be the forbidance effects, each under an iron hatch with a mechanism to open from the inside only. In the event of an attack you will be taken to this location, and the bodyguard will stoneshape the stone away leaving a small area that can be teleported out from (and which nobody has ever seen before, so nobody can teleport into). He will then teleport you to an undisclosed safe house of my construction until the castle can be made secure again.

Guests are trickiest, and as vetting is not my speciality I would suggest you get a specialist in to deal with this area of security. I would additionally suggest that you invest in some personal protections, in the form of contingent spells and items. My esteemed colleages seem more knowledgeable in these areas, so I would refer you to them.

These protections do not come cheap, and I would estimate a total budget of one to one and a half million gold pieces. The castle does however become a formidable military installation as well though, and there are other perks. If the protections are deemed to be unneeded for a time (because you are out for example) the lyres can be used for mining or construction, and much of the rest of the budget is on guards who can do other work. Much of the construction work can be done with the lyres of building, if you are prepared to put up with low quality work, so there are savings to be had that way. The only item that needs to be outsourced is a scroll of greater teleport. Subteranian guards to deal with miners with antimagic fields would also be a valuable addition, though if more powerful magic was available it could be easy to make mining in an antimagic field a bad idea (polymorph any object, "the rock becomes what???")

The lyre of building is one of my favorite items, for this reason. You can't break in. No, not even like that. That fragile wall of ice; not so fragile. If you have enough of them to overlap protection, and some way to prevent extradimensional intrusion, I believe anti magic fields are the only way in short of wish. Forcing intruders to work in an antimagic field is a massive win for the defenders.

[Seclora]

The cost of a Dominate Person spell has been added to your bill, to make it more palatable to your needs.

(Mostly because, well, anyone that fears an assassin but also demands that he not have his daily life changed in any way whatsoever isn't going to receive good protection, but instead get what he wants. Few changes, and a sudden change in routine when he becomes a corpse. Even D&D magic isn't that good. There's a reason that level 20 Wizards go crazy, make private demiplanes, and refuse to speak with anyone except via astral projection, rather than walk down the street in plain sight.)

This is true. Which is why the most effective route, rather than become paranoid, is to simply have someone on call to show up and deal with this one assassin. Or, you know, hire a party containing 1d4 plucky young adventurers and let them deal with it.
Wizard Paranoia -is- their balancing factor, since it keeps high level wizards from doing anything but preparing contingencies and divining the enemies they are yet unable to defeat, or likely as not have convinced themselves they have. Because ultimate security costs maximum freedom.
What he's saying is he won't pay with his freedom. The cost is that his security cannot be paranoid wizard level, because he doesn't want to be paranoid. That's fine, smart king if you ask me. So downgrade that level of security to, say, paranoid Paladin or Wizard who likes to visit the local pub from time to time, but not having his pocket picked by local urchins.

[MukkTB]

I suggest that you hire an adventuring party for your needs. You only need to offer a paltry reward. There will be treasure somewhere in their path. Tell them someone is trying to murder you and that you need their help. Then hire a wizard to be on call to come to your defense if you are attacked. Hire a cleric to resurrect you if you get killed. Seclora seems like a competent wizard and Segev has your religious needs covered.

#1 This only works well if you can convince the adventurers that you are a 'good' king. As such you should pay your minstrels well to run propaganda for you. In addition make sure the levels of taxation are within acceptable parameters and keep a general eye out for propaganda opportunities.
#2 Being a patron of a holy temple will make it easier to appear as a good king. In addition, if something were to happen to your kingdom or capital, a well connected church will be able to carry out a resurrection even if the church at your capital was destroyed or conquered. Just make sure your contract is with the church as a whole.

[Zanos]

Bertrand will use the same spell to take on your appearance. Because these are physical transformations, NOT illusions, spells such as True Seeing will not reveal you.

You confer on the subject the ability to see all things as they actually are. The subject sees through normal and magical darkness, notices secret doors hidden by magic, sees the exact locations of creatures or objects under blur or displacement effects, sees invisible creatures or objects normally, sees through illusions, and sees the true form of polymorphed, changed, or transmuted things
Alter Self is certainly a transmutation.

[Der_DWSage]

...ultimate security costs maximum freedom.
What he's saying is he won't pay with his freedom. The cost is that his security cannot be paranoid wizard level, because he doesn't want to be paranoid. That's fine, smart king if you ask me. So downgrade that level of security to, say, paranoid Paladin or Wizard who likes to visit the local pub from time to time, but not having his pocket picked by local urchins.

Alternatively, the paranoia level is ramped up to 'Someone is out to end your life in particular.' Because, you know, that's what the scenario is. The methods I described are classical precautions taken by real-world dictators to avoid assassinations, though the body doubles tend to be less disposable and malleable than a Simulacrum would be.

Really, the ideal way to deal with this potential assassin is to draw him out into the open with a situation too good to be true, and then resume normal living after said Assassin and everyone that has been hired is dealt with.

[malonkey1]

A wizard from the future looks up all attempts on the king's life in the history books, casts Teleport Through Time (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/pg/20030409b) and prevents each of them at his leisure before collecting payment, returning to the future, and researching any new attempts on his life resulting from his tampering so he can foil those, too.

[Seclora]

Alternatively, the paranoia level is ramped up to 'Someone is out to end your life in particular.' Because, you know, that's what the scenario is. The methods I described are classical precautions taken by real-world dictators to avoid assassinations, though the body doubles tend to be less disposable and malleable than a Simulacrum would be.

Really, the ideal way to deal with this potential assassin is to draw him out into the open with a situation too good to be true, and then resume normal living after said Assassin and everyone that has been hired is dealt with.

Yes, yes they are. But this is not a real-life dictator we're dealing with; it is a king who feels the need to personally interact with his subjects and rule his kingdom. If he is any sort of dictator, he is at least one who wishes to do so himself instead of relying on Simaculara and body doubles to deliver his speeches for him, as I feel has been expressed already.

Drawing him out would be a good strategy though. Perhaps if you were to arrange for some sort of especially vulnerable occasion shortly after learning of the threat, no more than a month later, time enough for the assassin to plan and scout out your castle, and then have a powerful wizard, who has Foresight as well as immunity to sneak attack and poison, pretend to be you throughout while you pretend to be him (Rary's Telepathic Bond for ongoing character reference). Maybe the assassin would take the bait, and maybe he'd see through it and do something clever himself.
'Dealing' with those hired, when those hired are powerful casters and adventurers, is a surefire way to bring about your own demise. Any bard could tell you that.

[BRC]

Alter Self is certainly a transmutation.

Dear Kingdomland Police Department

We here at Barkland Royal Consultants must lodge a formal complaint against your officers ongoing harassment of our staff. As we clearly explained, we have never heard of this supposed "Zanos", and we object in the strongest terms to your insinuation that we had him killed for "Pointing out flaws in our business Proposals". Our Business proposals are flawless. Furthermore, the vice president of our Assassination Preemptive Security division takes offense to the insinuation that, if we were responsible, we would be so foolish as to have the body hidden somewhere around our offices, or leave any physical evidence that could be traced back to us. We must ask that you cease this pointless investigation immediately.

[WeaselGuy]

Guests are trickiest, and as vetting is not my specialty I would suggest you get a specialist in to deal with this area of security. I would additionally suggest that you invest in some personal protections, in the form of contingent spells and items. My esteemed colleagues seem more knowledgeable in these areas, so I would refer you to them.

Good evening Rooster. As a Beguiler, and former occupant of the other side of the law, I come quite highly recommended as a quest vetting agent. With my Mindbender granted telepathy and mindsight, I can even inform you of the target's general level of intelligence, and any surface thoughts they might be having, not to mention being able to detect any invisible or otherwise unseen occupants of the general vicinity. And, just in case there happen to be unsavory types in the area, my training as an Assassin (and subsequent redemption and atonement as a Slayer of Domiel) shall allow me to dispatch with mundane means any who happen to avoid your arcane and divine magicks.

[ace rooster]

Good evening Rooster. As a Beguiler, and former occupant of the other side of the law, I come quite highly recommended as a quest vetting agent. With my Mindbender granted telepathy and mindsight, I can even inform you of the target's general level of intelligence, and any surface thoughts they might be having, not to mention being able to detect any invisible or otherwise unseen occupants of the general vicinity. And, just in case there happen to be unsavory types in the area, my training as an Assassin (and subsequent redemption and atonement as a Slayer of Domiel) shall allow me to dispatch with mundane means any who happen to avoid your arcane and divine magicks.

Mindsight would be a wonderful addition to the defense, and works very well with another defense I would suggest adding. Throughout the castle will be placed around 30 eversmoking bottles, that are unstoppered as soon as an alert is called. A complete lack of visability would presumably be very a minor inconvienience to you, but could make keeping the king out of the sights of attackers considerably easier. Being able to use your telepathy to securly coordinate the defense would be a massive asset too. You have my recommendation as head of security.

[WeaselGuy]

Nothing quite says security, like a hand crossbow bolt to the back for 1d4+7d6+dex. I'm in.

[the_david]

A whisper reaches your ears on the wind: "I have slayed the rival as I promised in post #2. I will cut off his head so you may display it." (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?392139-Kill-The-King!-Counter-Challenge&p=18637902#post18637902)