[Pathfinder] Endgame Assassination

[Skyflare19]

I am making an endgame boss for my party to fight. Despite only having two PCs and a DMPC, they are able to make allies to make it to the fight easier. The problem comes in with the fact that I am uncertain as to how to handle a plan to just assassinate the final enemy, a level 18 cavalier with 3 Mythic ranks, and a dragon to aid him in the fight.

I don't want to restrict the players, but I also think that it would be somewhat disappointing on all fronts if the vigilante just stabs the king (final boss) in the back and calls it a day.

Any tips to make this work better without restricting my players' plan?

[noob]

Red Jester is a fine boss that is 100% sure to end the campaign before the players have the time to plot an assassination.
Just make it throw one card at a person every turn and the world will be a complete mess within the hour and will cause enough chaos for the adventurers to have a good chance of not finding the jester due to the excess of noise and random castles and other things like that.
As a plus even if the adventurers finds it and kills it then they win xp as if it was cr 10(while it is clearly more dangerous than a cr 10 thing against campaign settings)
If you want extra resilience on that undead then make of it a painting of a red jester.

[AnimeTheCat]

Who are they plotting with and how much is this king willing to pay? Have there be a traitor in their midst and pull a "judas" and sell out the party. The king and his elite guard are waiting for them.

Don't just make it a plot thing though, give the party a chance to use their sense motive if they are suspicious of someone, or even drop hints of treason among their "allies".

[Skyflare19]

Who are they plotting with and how much is this king willing to pay? Have there be a traitor in their midst and pull a "judas" and sell out the party. The king and his elite guard are waiting for them.

Don't just make it a plot thing though, give the party a chance to use their sense motive if they are suspicious of someone, or even drop hints of treason among their "allies".

The party is working with a 7 person crew of thieves, and one is building connections with some reputable bards. If I bring in a traitor, I think that it will have to be a new character. Also, given his reputation, the king won't pay the party to leave him alone, he sooner take his own life. I do like the idea of a traitor though.

[Geddy2112]

At that high of level, it is not unusual for things to be immune to death effects, assassination being one of the many. That said, high levels is basically rocket tag so there are plenty of other save or lose/save or die/person who gets the first move wins. There is nothing you can do to totally prevent that short of making an enemy immune to everything with a boatload of HP so not even the most powerful full round can hurt it.

Any boss of that high of CR should be basically unreachable, and the methods to get to them should be far beyond what most garden variety assassins can access. If the party will be that high of level they will not need to hire people, they will be the most dangerous things around. Let them have their fun if they wanna do the mission stealthily and assassinate the king themselves, but make it difficult. Any enemy of that level has a myriad of magical defenses and their ability to totally get the drop on them is hard, but not impossible.

Although the suggestion of a trompe l'oeil of a red jester is utterly sick.

[AnimeTheCat]

The party is working with a 7 person crew of thieves, and one is building connections with some reputable bards. If I bring in a traitor, I think that it will have to be a new character. Also, given his reputation, the king won't pay the party to leave him alone, he sooner take his own life. I do like the idea of a traitor though.

Well... there is the old saying "there is no honor among thieves" you know... any one of those thieves could turn sour and thus against the party, for the right price of course. That's where king moneybags comes in. Maybe the thief isn't promised a mountain of gold, maybe it's a landed title (that the king immediately revokes due to lack of "royal blood" or some nonsense). It gives the grounds for the party's little scheme and coup to be thwarted, thus maybe prolonging the game.

I don't know this king's motives, but if he is of similar or higher level, perhaps have him transcend to become a demigod or something. I'm pretty sure that leaves him "killable" but it can't be some measly assassination.

[Skyflare19]

Well... there is the old saying "there is no honor among thieves" you know... any one of those thieves could turn sour and thus against the party, for the right price of course. That's where king moneybags comes in. Maybe the thief isn't promised a mountain of gold, maybe it's a landed title (that the king immediately revokes due to lack of "royal blood" or some nonsense). It gives the grounds for the party's little scheme and coup to be thwarted, thus maybe prolonging the game.

I don't know this king's motives, but if he is of similar or higher level, perhaps have him transcend to become a demigod or something. I'm pretty sure that leaves him "killable" but it can't be some measly assassination.

The thieves aren't part of the assassination yet, at least not the party's end. Also, the party is currently at level five, and they are aware, both in and out of character that the king is far out of their league currently. As far as getting to him, the city he is in is sectioned off by wealth and title. The party is stuck in an area with a massive, impoverished population. To get to any other areas, it will require passes, which they are hoping the thieves can forge. That is currently the main purpose of the thieves.

[Skyflare19]

At that high of level, it is not unusual for things to be immune to death effects, assassination being one of the many. That said, high levels is basically rocket tag so there are plenty of other save or lose/save or die/person who gets the first move wins. There is nothing you can do to totally prevent that short of making an enemy immune to everything with a boatload of HP so not even the most powerful full round can hurt it.

Any boss of that high of CR should be basically unreachable, and the methods to get to them should be far beyond what most garden variety assassins can access. If the party will be that high of level they will not need to hire people, they will be the most dangerous things around. Let them have their fun if they wanna do the mission stealthily and assassinate the king themselves, but make it difficult. Any enemy of that level has a myriad of magical defenses and their ability to totally get the drop on them is hard, but not impossible.

Although the suggestion of a trompe l'oeil of a red jester is utterly sick.

The party will be unlikely to receive help in the actual killing of the king, and haven't informed any allies of the plan. As to the level, the party is well aware that the king is strong, and well protected by a group of level 15s and a 16, and they know that an attack at their level is suicide.

[Andor13]

Honestly I think it's acceptable for the assassination itself to be anti-climactic, if done correctly. It is, in essence, turning the campaign arc from kung-fu movie to a heist flick. You don't get a boss fight in a heist flick unless something goes horribly wrong.

The campaign appears to be a politically centered one, and Great C'thulu knows the politicking doesn't stop just 'cause the king died. In fact you can reward them for perfect execution by the structure of the alliances they build in getting to him in the first place. If they can pull off a flawless assassination, then whatever plans they have in place go forward, if they tip their hand, then their allies feel betrayed and the whole thing collapses, they may even make things worse.

[Skyflare19]

Honestly I think it's acceptable for the assassination itself to be anti-climactic, if done correctly. It is, in essence, turning the campaign arc from kung-fu movie to a heist flick. You don't get a boss fight in a heist flick unless something goes horribly wrong.

The campaign appears to be a politically centered one, and Great C'thulu knows the politicking doesn't stop just 'cause the king died. In fact you can reward them for perfect execution by the structure of the alliances they build in getting to him in the first place. If they can pull off a flawless assassination, then whatever plans they have in place go forward, if they tip their hand, then their allies feel betrayed and the whole thing collapses, they may even make things worse.

I like this idea. The campaign started with the recruitment of the two players, who were the only ones to answer a job request storywise, hired by the former mistress of the king in order to fix what many view as a broken society. While the party works toward the kill, others, NPCs, work the political field, unbeknownst to the party. Perhaps the king can be taken rather easily, or at least weakened by an attempt. After that the party will have to ensure the change of regime.

[Seto]

So if I understand correctly, the party is level 5, but are planning to assassinate the 18 lvl King with a Dragon and high-level guards in the future, when they're strong enough?
That's some forward thinking. Let them try. If they're planning that far ahead, they're probably invested in their plan, and any plan that takes 10+ levels to pull off should be given a fair chance to succeed. In the meantime of course, the conspiration could be discovered, or obstacles to their plan could arise if they're not careful.