King assassinations, liches, and demons! (oh my)

[Frostthehero]

Hi playground,

I need some help. I have a great story arc planned out, but the last arc just ended, and I have no idea how to get them to where I want them to go. Allow me to explain

Right now, the party has just killed the boss of the previous story arc and is now sitting in the catacombs where the boss lived, milling around because our meeting ended because we ran out of time. I either want to get them into a city where they have to guard a king from assassins who are led by a blackguard, or I want to get them to somehow fight a lich who takes interest in them because of how powerful they are. If it matters, the assassins are part of a shadowy organization the details of which I have not fully planed out, so if you want to play with that, please do.

The party is currently level 14-15, and consists of a hyper optimized summoner druid, a GOD wizard, an unoptimized psion, and a melee based dragon shaman. The previous dungeon was filled to the brim with undead of all sorts. The boss was a nightwalker (nightshade).

The campaign is based around the fact that the entire world is being threatened by demons, and that only a single legendary sword can slay the archdemon and save the world. The sword was broken into pieces, and they are trying to reforge it.

In theory, I could just have someone contact them about the king being in danger, or have the lich just show up, or something boring like that, but I really want something that flows naturally. What I am asking for is an idea as to how I can get the PCs to where I want them to be, which is preferably the assassin path.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and just to be clear, the issue is not how to get them to join the team, the issue is that I need to actually coerce them into going to the location, and not wandering off somewhere random as they tend to do.

Really, my question is as to how I can get PCs to go to a specific location without letting them know that I want them to go there.

[Honest Tiefling]

Kingypants wants them to join Team King. If they are that powerful, wouldn't you want them to protect your royal backside from demons? A general call for new blood to protect him, or even news that one of his generals has died and he wants a replacement.

Maybe this King also has a court wizard with information on where the next shard is, as well as a moderate magical library, so plenty of ways to bribe them there. You could also say that for whatever reason, this kingdom is also big on creating magical gear, so they might show up just for new toys.

[Ettina]

Well, since they're trying to reforge a legendary sword, how about they hear a rumor about an incredibly skilled blacksmith in the kingdom whose king is in danger. While they're looking for the blacksmith, they get contacted by some emissary because people recognized them based on their previous heroics.

[Saintheart]

If you want the lich to take an interest in them, have the lich's phylactery somewhere among the gear of the boss they just killed, protected by a box that had Obscure Object cast on it until now. The lich has been scrying for his phylactery, but until they take it out of the box, he doesn't know where it is ... uuuuntil the party picks it up. If the party destroys it without thinking, they become his mortal enemy. If the party keeps it, he goes hunting them because they've got him by the phylacteries.

[jiriku]

You want them to go somewhere, but you don't want them to know that you want them to go there. Invisible railroad?

Ok, sure. The most certain way is the power of hate. Take your basic villain. Take anything that the players value highly, such as a base, cherished NPC, or their professional reputations. Villain takes that valuable thing and burns it to the ground, then defecates on the ashes, flips them the bird, and runs off. Rhetorically speaking, of course. Do it off camera so they can't stop it and don't know who did it. They'll find the culprit in short order with their considerable magical resources. And where should the villain be hiding out except... dun dun dun! The exact place you want them to go. And of course, it's crazy that he didn't bother to protect himself from divinations. No way would a powerful villain be so sloppy. Which means it's obviously a trap. Too obviously. They'd know, and he would know that they'd know. Which means he's taunting them. They will charge in. You couldn't stop them if you tried.

[Ger. Bessa]

If your aim is to get the pcs to the king, make a (Magic/Fighting/Exhibition) tournament arc with incentives for the PCs to participate, and maybe an attempt on the king could happen during the tournament, giving an occasion for the PCs to throw a few spanners in the blackguard's evil plan.

The prize could be a McGuffin/relic part of the legendary sword, or access to the royal library for data on the next McGuffin/relic part of the legendary sword.

Probably a bit to railroaded, but it's a start.

[Frostthehero]

You want them to go somewhere, but you don't want them to know that you want them to go there. Invisible railroad?

Ok, sure. The most certain way is the power of hate. Take your basic villain. Take anything that the players value highly, such as a base, cherished NPC, or their professional reputations. Villain takes that valuable thing and burns it to the ground, then defecates on the ashes, flips them the bird, and runs off. Rhetorically speaking, of course. Do it off camera so they can't stop it and don't know who did it. They'll find the culprit in short order with their considerable magical resources. And where should the villain be hiding out except... dun dun dun! The exact place you want them to go. And of course, it's crazy that he didn't bother to protect himself from divinations. No way would a powerful villain be so sloppy. Which means it's obviously a trap. Too obviously. They'd know, and he would know that they'd know. Which means he's taunting them. They will charge in. You couldn't stop them if you tried.

This is fantastic.