What do you think about this failed mission?

[Jon_Dahl]

There are different types and sorts of "mission givers" in my campaign. For example, the Adventurers' Guild makes an effort to have straightforward, clear and well-instructed missions, which are tailored for murderhobos small teams with varied combat and search & rescue specialties. On the other hand, I have the clerics of Boccob, and just for the sake of variety, I want their missions to be mystical, secretive and even strange.

One the PCs is a dwarven cleric of Boccob (12th-level) and he had shown interest in being an active member of the local church of Boccob and he had sold them a non-magical Helmet of Alignment Change (it was dirt cheap, of course). The clerics had worked hard to re-magicify the Helm and when they were done, they sent a secret invitation to the dwarf.

A meeting was held in the most sacred of all rooms of the temple and the church leaders were present, but masked and anonymous. They explained that there was an ally who could read minds and this ally was so evil that his constant acts of evil were becoming a problem. For the sake of convenience, the dwarf was to put the helmet on his head twenty times. Thus, the ally would become good and most likely more manageable. They gave the location where this ally lived and gave a clue that the ally always wore a black scarf, but the masked clergy members refused to tell anything more because if the ally managed to read the dwarf's mind - which the dwarf could not allow under any circumstances - the ally would turn into an enemy. This was why instead of giving anything more to the dwarf, the dwarf was actually encouraged to actively try to forget any information that was not useful and even the whole mission briefing, if possible. Furthermore, dwarf's allies could not be told of the truth, since more people in the know = more minds to read.

The dwarf got his pals to do the mission by lying that it was a family matter. The lie was very weak but the PCs were a good sport and they didn't question him at all. They decided to ambush the black-scarfed man while he was levitating (i.e. flying) down from a tree where was spending his evening, which was a great idea, because he apparently wasn't able to fly and read minds simultaneously. The group grappled him while the dwarf used Anti-Magic Field to suppress the man's abilities. At that point it was revealed that the man wasn't a man at all, but rather a mancat, some type of humanoid cat that was not harmed by grapple attempts. It was a very long struggle, but while others were pinning the cat-creature, the dwarf first deactivated the Field and then put the helmet on its head twenty times. I determined with my secret rolls that the rakshasa had turned into chaotic good with the third attempt (with the Helmet losing all its powers), but he was being battered and beaten all the time by a gang of strange men that had just ambushed him, so he struggled all the same. After a while he decided to stop grappling and just take it easy, since it was boring and tiresome, and he couldn't even speak because he was in Silence and it was so difficult to concentrate on his abilities with all the men ceaselessly messing with his shiny fur.

At that point the dwarf decided that he had failed because the Helmet had not got stuck on his head. He knew nothing of Helmets of Opposite Alignment and even less about rakshasas, but he thought that the helmet should stick but it didn't. That is why he decided to suffocate the chaotic good rakshasa with a bag. It took a few minutes for him to die a painful death and he resisted all the time.

At the temple, the clergy members didn't understand why the rakshasa had to be killed after putting the Helmet on its head for 20 times (the dwarf actually had made it 30), but the dwarf accused the clerics of not informing him well enough. The clerics explained that it already had been explained to him why such information had not been given, and they were very disappointed that not only their only at-will-mind-reading ally had been killed, but now the Helmet was also non-magical again. The dwarf stormed out and vowed never to again to work with his fellow clerics.

[Calthropstu]

First, did you allow the cleric (or a member of his party) a knowledge check to realize how the helm worked? If not, you kinda screwed em over.

Second, this seems kinda shady to me. An opposite alignment person would likely break ties with many of his old allies simply due to philosophical changes. A now CG rakshasa would no longer work with a LE entity for example, and may even actively oppose it.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Helmets of opposite alignment are sketchy items to begin with; I would avoid using such a heavy-handed way of changing alignment, even when applied to NPCs. What is additionally bad is that the mission failed because this player did not read the item description for helm of opposite alignment, and you did not provide or hint at this information. And then, to top it off, the helmet showed absolutely no signs of working and losing its magical properties? At the very least, once you realized the player (not the character!) completely misunderstood the item, you could've invented some glowing effect, or something that only spellcasters can sense; maybe roll a (hidden) Spellcraft check to see if it's recognized.

Maybe your players go in for this sort of thing, but I'd call this pointless obscurity. As DM, but also as player, you can--even should!--provide OOC hints to anyone at the table; in this case, someone should've suggested detect magic on the helmet, or Spellcraft to identify the workings of the item, or detect evil on the rakshasa, or literally any of the billion tools that would clear up all the misunderstandings that went into this failure. Because it's a cooperative game, because there is a learning curve, but most of all because it's completely unrealistic that a cleric on an alignment-changing mission would not think to do some routine checkups using some of the first spells they ever cast. It's about playing the character, without being held back by the player's lack of knowledge (in this case, the completely reasonable lack of knowledge, because you're not supposed to learn the DMG by heart).

[Jon_Dahl]

The dwarf has no ranks in Spellcraft. He has no ranks in Knowledge skills other than Religion. He can talk about Boccob but beyond that he doesn't know anything and he doesn't know how magic items work or don't work.

One of the PCs had actually used the very same Helmet before and he had turned from N to CG. There had been no special effects when that had happened. The PC had just gone from one alignment to another without any visible effect and that is why I couldn't change the way the Helmet worked and I couldn't give any hints because I was protecting the fact that one of the PC's alignment had been changed. If the player doesn't want to talk about it off-game and the PCs don't get it in-game, then I respect that. In any case, one of the player who participated in the fight knew actually how the Helmet worked but didn't say anything.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Um. So what I'm getting here is that your table is just relatively "stingy" with information. In that case, I don't think anything went wrong; it's just how the game works out sometimes.

[Jon_Dahl]

Um. So what I'm getting here is that your table is just relatively "stingy" with information. In that case, I don't think anything went wrong; it's just how the game works out sometimes.

Yeah, I want to highlight the importance of knowledge skills. If I were lenient with tips etc., it would not incite the players to put ranks in knowledge skills.

[Bronk]

Why 20 times? Was it an in game attempt to mimic a 'take 20'?

The helm loses it's magic once it works. The cleric could have used detect magic to see if the helm is used up or not.

If they're trying to turn someone from evil to good, it would have made sense for them to get a 'detect evil' ability to make sure they had the right guy, then to make sure the process worked.

The cleric should have been clued in to some of this, not just because of the cleric's class, but because he's a follower of the god of magic.

The other clerics should know that they can just raise the cursed rakshasa from the dead. The curse would carry over, and he'd still be 'good'.

[Jon_Dahl]

Why 20 times? Was it an in game attempt to mimic a 'take 20'?

Yes, that is correct. The clerics thought that if you try something 20 times, it almost always happens.


The helm loses it's magic once it works. The cleric could have used detect magic to see if the helm is used up or not.

If they're trying to turn someone from evil to good, it would have made sense for them to get a 'detect evil' ability to make sure they had the right guy, then to make sure the process worked.

The cleric should have been clued in to some of this, not just because of the cleric's class, but because he's a follower of the god of magic.

The other clerics should know that they can just raise the cursed rakshasa from the dead. The curse would carry over, and he'd still be 'good'.

Yes, raising the rakshasa if a possibility, but expensive, and the rakshasa will be slightly weakened and the clerics aren't sure how bad that will be (Answer: not very bad). The clerics do not know if the rakshasa can still read minds after being weakened by Raise Dead (Answer: yes, it still can). The dwarf made life expensive for the clerics. What's even worse, the body has been found by the villagers.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Yeah, I want to highlight the importance of knowledge skills. If I were lenient with tips etc., it would not incite the players to put ranks in knowledge skills.
That's good, but do make sure your players know you're going to emphasize knowledge skills. Also explain to your players that a cleric of Boccob can be expected to be an expert on all things related to magic, and not having the commensurate skill ranks will make them look stupid :smalltongue:.

[Jon_Dahl]

That's good, but do make sure your players know you're going to emphasize knowledge skills. Also explain to your players that a cleric of Boccob can be expected to be an expert on all things related to magic, and not having the commensurate skill ranks will make them look stupid :smalltongue:.

I'm sure that I failed to communicate a great many things to my players, but the importance knowledge skills is not one of them. The problem is simple: dwarf made Int his dump stat. And I'm not even joking.

[ExLibrisMortis]

I'm sure that I failed to communicate a great many things to my players, but the importance knowledge skills is not one of them. The problem is simple: dwarf made Int his dump stat. And I'm not even joking.
For a cleric of Boccob, that seems like a really bad idea. I mean, more so than it is already for spellcasters with 2 + INT skill points. Or spellcasters in general. Or characters with 2 + INT skill points. Characters in general, really. Sigh.

Not a lot you can do, at that point.

[King of Nowhere]

the players screwed up big time. as others pointed out, they had a lot of ways to confirm that the helm worked. And they had the knowledge, it wasn't passed because of intraparty lack of communication.

the clerics screwed up even more. No, I don't care that you fear mind reading and so you'll only give essential information for the mission. How the macguffin the players have to use actually works is possibly the most important piece of knowledge they can give. And they didn't, so what?

As or clerics and skill points, I can't figure out how a cleric can be expected to have any skill with his meager allotment. 2 skill points per level, but since he's a primary caster he's supposed to max concentration, and possibly spellcraft. And since he's a cleric he's also supposed to have knowledge religion). Maxxing those is the minimum requirement to cast epic spells, by the way. And you're also supposed to handle diplomacy. So you're already supposed to have 4 skill points per level when you actually have 2. How can you also expect knowledge (arcana)?

And that's something the clerics at the temple should have planned for, incidentally.

So yeah, everyone involved mishandled the situation. hopefully everyone can learn from that.

[ExLibrisMortis]

As or clerics and skill points, I can't figure out how a cleric can be expected to have any skill with his meager allotment. 2 skill points per level, but since he's a primary caster he's supposed to max concentration, and possibly spellcraft. And since he's a cleric he's also supposed to have knowledge religion). Maxxing those is the minimum requirement to cast epic spells, by the way. And you're also supposed to handle diplomacy. So you're already supposed to have 4 skill points per level when you actually have 2. How can you also expect knowledge (arcana)?
I agree with your post, except this. Diplomacy isn't necessarily a cleric responsibility, Concentration doesn't need full ranks, and that leaves plenty of ranks for a 12th-level cleric of Boccob to unlock Knowledge (arcana) and Spellcraft, which are trained-only. Unless you dumped Intelligence to 8.

[Jack_Simth]

A meeting was held in the most sacred of all rooms of the temple and the church leaders were present, but masked and anonymous. They explained that there was an ally who could read minds and this ally was so evil that his constant acts of evil were becoming a problem. For the sake of convenience, the dwarf was to put the helmet on his head twenty times. Thus, the ally would become good and most likely more manageable. They gave the location where this ally lived and gave a clue that the ally always wore a black scarf, but the masked clergy members refused to tell anything more because if the ally managed to read the dwarf's mind - which the dwarf could not allow under any circumstances - the ally would turn into an enemy. This was why instead of giving anything more to the dwarf, the dwarf was actually encouraged to actively try to forget any information that was not useful and even the whole mission briefing, if possible. Furthermore, dwarf's allies could not be told of the truth, since more people in the know = more minds to read....

Seems odd that the gathered leaders of the church of Boccob would be collectively lacking in Int and Wis. Regardless of what specific details any given person involved in the plan knows, anyone involved in the plan will still be thinking about "capture This Bloke and do X" regardless of whether or not they know the results of "X" or who "This Bloke" is under the disguise. The masks make a bit of sense (makes it harder to tell who specifically ordered it... but then... well, where are they meeting? That's enough, honestly....), and "Don't tell them who ordered it" also makes a bit of sense, but what they're doing and who they're doing it to would be all Mr. Rashaka really needs to blow the plan to bits (he knows his current disguise, and if force is needed to do X it's obviously something he doesn't want done voluntarily). Meanwhile, because they didn't tell the person they tasked with running it how to tell if they were done, everything blew up in their faces.

Honestly, those church leaders deserve whatever repercussions they get.

[Jon_Dahl]

...

Seems odd that the gathered leaders of the church of Boccob would be collectively lacking in Int and Wis. Regardless of what specific details any given person involved in the plan knows, anyone involved in the plan will still be thinking about "capture This Bloke and do X" regardless of whether or not they know the results of "X" or who "This Bloke" is under the disguise. The masks make a bit of sense (makes it harder to tell who specifically ordered it... but then... well, where are they meeting? That's enough, honestly....), and "Don't tell them who ordered it" also makes a bit of sense, but what they're doing and who they're doing it to would be all Mr. Rashaka really needs to blow the plan to bits (he knows his current disguise, and if force is needed to do X it's obviously something he doesn't want done voluntarily). Meanwhile, because they didn't tell the person they tasked with running it how to tell if they were done, everything blew up in their faces.

Honestly, those church leaders deserve whatever repercussions they get.

Thank you :) If it's ok, I can try to explain some of the things you have mentioned, but in any case, you are right.


Regardless of what specific details any given person involved in the plan knows, anyone involved in the plan will still be thinking about "capture This Bloke and do X" regardless of whether or not they know the results of "X" or who "This Bloke" is under the disguise.

The rakshasa ally knew very well how intelligent detailists the boccobites were. The fact that they had given such hazy instructions would have not seemed characteristic to them at all. That was their last lifeline: the rakshasa would not believe that such sketchy plan was given to one of their own clergy members. The boccobites were already ready to explain how the dwarf was a brainwashed turncoat etc. They even had all the evidence ready. In any case, the unusual briefing was part of the plan.

Additionally, the dwarf could've been killed in the battle, one of his (clueless) team mates could've carried out the mission and there would have not been anyone to implicate the boccobites.


The masks make a bit of sense (makes it harder to tell who specifically ordered it... but then... well, where are they meeting?

If things go wrong, the dwarf didn't speak with anyone. Whom did he speak with, specifically? No one.


"Don't tell them who ordered it" also makes a bit of sense, but what they're doing and who they're doing it to would be all Mr. Rashaka really needs to blow the plan to bits (he knows his current disguise, and if force is needed to do X it's obviously something he doesn't want done voluntarily).

The boccobites were counting heavily on the fact that this dwarf would be able to avoid the implication his own clergy. It made sense, because when you examine rakshasa's abilities, he can read surface thoughts. When you are working hard, you are thinking about your job (i.e. the mission) and not your company (i.e. who gave you the mission). It was risky.


Honestly, those church leaders deserve whatever repercussions they get.

I absolutely agree with you.

[Bavarian itP]

The problem is simple: dwarf made Int his dump stat.

Give him bonus XP for good roleplay, because he nailed that :smallbiggrin:

[Keltest]

Hang on, did I read that right? The priests deliberately and knowingly made a badly put together plan under the assumption that "nobody would possibly think we were that dumb to think this is a good idea!"? And then proceeded to run the plan straight?

[Jon_Dahl]

Hang on, did I read that right? The priests deliberately and knowingly made a badly put together plan under the assumption that "nobody would possibly think we were that dumb to think this is a good idea!"? And then proceeded to run the plan straight?

It was a good plan because the dwarf only needed to do what was told, nothing more, nothing less. He wasn't require to analyze the man after the Helmet had been utilized 20 times.

[Keltest]

It was a good plan because the dwarf only needed to do what was told, nothing more, nothing less. He wasn't require to analyze the man after the Helmet had been utilized 20 times.

I'm just hung up on the part where they thought "this is so dumb it cant possibly fail"

[Darrin]

Hang on, did I read that right? The priests deliberately and knowingly made a badly put together plan under the assumption that "nobody would possibly think we were that dumb to think this is a good idea!"? And then proceeded to run the plan straight?

The way this mission was constructed, it's hard for me to imagine how it could have ended any other way except "murderhobos murderstab anything that can be stabbed."

If that's the play style the group gravitates toward, I would avoid giving them missions with a lot of hidden objectives that don't respond well to murderhoboing.

[Karl Aegis]

Murderhoboing is a Good act if Evil outsiders are involved. Good for them.

[Jon_Dahl]

Murderhoboing is a Good act if Evil outsiders are involved. Good for them.

The rakshasa was, in fact, Chaotic Good when it suffocated to death. But I'm not going to penalize the PCs for that. I'm just saying.

[King of Nowhere]

The priests deliberately and knowingly made a badly put together plan under the assumption that "nobody would possibly think we were that dumb to think this is a good idea!"?
this would make for a good meme

[Karl Aegis]

The rakshasa was, in fact, Chaotic Good when it suffocated to death. But I'm not going to penalize the PCs for that. I'm just saying.

Not a huge loss. Easily replaced by a 12,000 gp Medallion of Thoughts. Meanwhile, the world was rid of an outsider. Thumbs up.

[Jack_Simth]

Thank you :) If it's ok, I can try to explain some of the things you have mentioned, but in any case, you are right.
That's the reasons they gave themselves, sure. But they're bad reasons... if the masked folks were actually Boccobites. See further down.

The rakshasa ally knew very well how intelligent detailists the boccobites were. The fact that they had given such hazy instructions would have not seemed characteristic to them at all. That was their last lifeline: the rakshasa would not believe that such sketchy plan was given to one of their own clergy members. The boccobites were already ready to explain how the dwarf was a brainwashed turncoat etc. They even had all the evidence ready. In any case, the unusual briefing was part of the plan.

Right... they add a small amount of insulation against consequences from failure, but the way they did it increased the odds of failure considerably. That's a bad gamble. This is a decidedly unwise choice of the clerics in the group.

Additionally, it's a stupid choice. If the mark suspects the clergy and gets to the briefing? He's got a chance to read their minds while they're lying to him. Even if they've got something to stop that: Rashakas actually get Sense Motive as a default skill. Clerics don't usually get Bluff as a class skill. I'll let you do that math for what's going to happen at the briefing. There's only a tiny chance for the insulation to work. Even if the "Boccobites" actually manage to pull off the bluff... they now have to stick with their guns on it, which means sending folks after their "Rogue agent" (or whatever phrasing). If it hits this contingency, they're almost certainly going to lose their ally, and even if they don't, they now have burned the stupid dwarf and have to spend resources hunting him. This is lose/lose for the Boccobites.

Additionally, the dwarf could've been killed in the battle, one of his (clueless) team mates could've carried out the mission and there would have not been anyone to implicate the boccobites.
If there's a significant likelihood that a specific member of the team gets killed - especially when you're not handing out details - then there's also a significant likelihood of complete failure, or of that specific member being the one captured. Pointless. Bad gamble. They should have at least given him the minimum information needed to confirm if it worked - helm registers as a Helm of Detect Thoughts (or teleportation, or whatever; it's how cursed items generally work); when it stops showing magic, the deed is done. That would have solved things easily. They skipped that detail in favor of their thin insulation. It's an important one. That was very stupid of them, especially as their insulation won't work.

If things go wrong, the dwarf didn't speak with anyone. Whom did he speak with, specifically? No one.Masks are within reason for a security measure in an instance like this, but are also a security risk in a different manner (see below). Besides: It doesn't matter who, specifically, the dwarf spoke with; he spoke with the organization, and the alliance is between the Rashaka and the church orginization. The fact that he did is enough - especially for a chaotic creature, which is what they were hoping to end up with. Again: Lose/Lose for the Boccobites.
The boccobites were counting heavily on the fact that this dwarf would be able to avoid the implication his own clergy. It made sense, because when you examine rakshasa's abilities, he can read surface thoughts. When you are working hard, you are thinking about your job (i.e. the mission) and not your company (i.e. who gave you the mission). It was risky.
In 3.5, your mark has to stay still for three full rounds before you have the chance to read surface thoughts (in Pathfinder the Common Rashaka doesn't need that), and your stock Cleric has Wisdom as a primary stat and a good base Will save... so you're looking at multiple attempts before it's reasonably going to read thoughts. Not going to happen in a fight unless the guy who knows what's going on doesn't know about the mind-reading and thus spends several rounds directly in front of the beast. Only really a problem if the Cleric fails and lives. Even if he fails and dies, well, Mr. Rashaka knows that the church was involved, because the Cleric only had one church's holy symbol on 'im. Again: Lose/Lose for the Boccobites.


I absolutely agree with you.

Now, I mentioned that the masks were a security problem? Suppose it wasn't Boccobites. Suppose there's a rival organization. Suppose instead it was actually a bunch of followers of Olidammara. The outcome that happened is made of win for them (the Dumb Dwarf Cleric will never work for the church of Boccob again, the church lost the ally that's good at getting through deceptions). As is just about any other outcome (If by some miracle the plan actually worked... then Mr. Rashaka is now 1 step from the CN Olidammara [Previously 4] and is going to be much more recruitable; if Mr. Rashaka kills the blokes sent after him... it'll almost certainly break Mr. Rashaka's alliance with the Boccoboites, and also get rid of one of the Boccobite's thug squads).

What does it cost the followers of Olidammara? Well, they need to get a few folks with good Bluff checks (not hard for Oldammara! Disguise helps, but isn't needed thanks to the masks) to trick a single dwarf who happens to be quite dumb (and has no ranks in Spot or Sense Motive). This is an easy thing to do for a Rogue, Bard, or a Cloistered Cleric of the Trickery domain (all of which are quite feasible for Oldammara). Alternately, they need to convince enough actual Boccobbites that it's a good idea that the Boccobbites will do it themselves (again: Bluff and Disguise). Not an expensive operation for them. This plan is made of win... for anyone who doesn't like the Boccobbites.


It was a good plan because the dwarf only needed to do what was told, nothing more, nothing less. He wasn't require to analyze the man after the Helmet had been utilized 20 times.
"do what you're told, nothing more, nothing less" is a pretty extreme Lawful stance.

[Jon_Dahl]

Additionally, it's a stupid choice. If the mark suspects the clergy and gets to the briefing?

Not a problem. The rakshasa spends his time 110 miles away from the Boccobite HQ. The rakshasa regularly meets with the Boccobites who live close to its hideout and these Boccobites pose no security risk since they have no clue about the plot. The rakshasa has already told the clerics that it doesn't want to visit the great temple because there are so many "unfriendly" people (i.e. paladins) in that same city where the temple is. The have decided to brief the dwarf shortly after it was verified that the rakshasa was staying in his hideout and they know that the rakshasa can't travel 110 miles in two days.


If there's a significant likelihood that a specific member of the team gets killed - especially when you're not handing out details - then there's also a significant likelihood of complete failure, or of that specific member being the one captured. Pointless. Bad gamble. They should have at least given him the minimum information needed to confirm if it worked - helm registers as a Helm of Detect Thoughts (or teleportation, or whatever; it's how cursed items generally work); when it stops showing magic, the deed is done. That would have solved things easily. They skipped that detail in favor of their thin insulation. It's an important one. That was very stupid of them, especially as their insulation won't work.
Masks are within reason for a security measure in an instance like this, but are also a security risk in a different manner (see below). Besides: It doesn't matter who, specifically, the dwarf spoke with; he spoke with the organization, and the alliance is between the Rashaka and the church orginization. The fact that he did is enough - especially for a chaotic creature, which is what they were hoping to end up with. Again: Lose/Lose for the Boccobites.

The knowledge of Helmet's functions was not important. What was important was that the dwarf did what it was told to do. Getting killed is part and parcel of my campaign world and all the clerics were humans and found the dwarf problematic as well, because dwarves have clan loyalties and thus have divided loyalties with human religion and dwarven lawful good way of life. All in all, life is hard and then you die. And as True Neutral clergy of an utterly uncaring deity, they didn't really care what happened to the dwarf that was acting out of free will.


In 3.5, your mark has to stay still for three full rounds before you have the chance to read surface thoughts (in Pathfinder the Common Rashaka doesn't need that), and your stock Cleric has Wisdom as a primary stat and a good base Will save... so you're looking at multiple attempts before it's reasonably going to read thoughts. Not going to happen in a fight unless the guy who knows what's going on doesn't know about the mind-reading and thus spends several rounds directly in front of the beast. Only really a problem if the Cleric fails and lives. Even if he fails and dies, well, Mr. Rashaka knows that the church was involved, because the Cleric only had one church's holy symbol on 'im. Again: Lose/Lose for the Boccobites.

The Boccobites already had prepared proof that the dwarf had gone rogue and acted alone. And the people presenting the evidence would've honestly thought that it was true. They would've have also warned him - very honestly, I might add - that few of the Boccobites were good guys and the rakshasa hobby of baby killing was getting on their nerves and that was evident with the dwarf who had obviously gone nuts because dwarves are good and do not tolerate that kind of stuff.


Now, I mentioned that the masks were a security problem? Suppose it wasn't Boccobites. Suppose there's a rival organization. Suppose instead it was actually a bunch of followers of Olidammara. The outcome that happened is made of win for them (the Dumb Dwarf Cleric will never work for the church of Boccob again, the church lost the ally that's good at getting through deceptions). As is just about any other outcome (If by some miracle the plan actually worked... then Mr. Rashaka is now 1 step from the CN Olidammara [Previously 4] and is going to be much more recruitable; if Mr. Rashaka kills the blokes sent after him... it'll almost certainly break Mr. Rashaka's alliance with the Boccoboites, and also get rid of one of the Boccobite's thug squads).

What does it cost the followers of Olidammara? Well, they need to get a few folks with good Bluff checks (not hard for Oldammara! Disguise helps, but isn't needed thanks to the masks) to trick a single dwarf who happens to be quite dumb (and has no ranks in Spot or Sense Motive). This is an easy thing to do for a Rogue, Bard, or a Cloistered Cleric of the Trickery domain (all of which are quite feasible for Oldammara). Alternately, they need to convince enough actual Boccobbites that it's a good idea that the Boccobbites will do it themselves (again: Bluff and Disguise). Not an expensive operation for them. This plan is made of win... for anyone who doesn't like the Boccobbites.

The meeting happened at the heart of the largest Boccobite temple of the kingdom. No chance for Olidammara's followers to be there. Well, "no chance"... Hmm... Very small chance?


"do what you're told, nothing more, nothing less" is a pretty extreme Lawful stance.

No problem. I use NPC alignments when it's convenient for my stories and ignore them when they are not useful with my ideas. My philosophy with NPC alignments is slightly arbitrary.

Alignment is a tool for developing your character’s identity. It is not a straitjacket for restricting your character. Each alignment represents a broad range of personality types or personal philosophies, so two characters of the same alignment can still be quite different from each other. In addition, few people are completely consistent.

[King of Nowhere]

It was a good plan because the dwarf only needed to do what was told, nothing more, nothing less.

that's the downfall of so many secret operation. the guy only needs to follow instructions exactly. Then the slightest disturbance happens (or it seems it happened, or he didn't remember all the details exactly - more likely with a INT penalty) and the guy does't have a clue on what to do. from there things go downhill pretty fast.
In books and movies that kind of secrecy is generally used by the bad guys, and it causes the bad guys to lose most of the time. Either that, or it requires dumb minions that will execute suicidal orders without hesitation

[Telok]

Players never follow instructions. Only give PCs instructions with the expectation of a screw up.

DM: The npc gives you written instructions on how to not activate the death trap.
...later...
PC: I activate the trap.
DM: Bwuh?
PC: I want to know what it does!
DM: A ton of lava falls on you. Make a new character.