How would NPC assassins generally go about assassinating adventurers?

[Jon_Dahl]

Planning assassinations is a bit of headache for me, I don't know why... I hope people here might have some practical advice for me.

I'm the DM, and the next session in my campaign will start with the following setup:
A foreign diplomat has received a death threat: If she does not stop trying to hire mercenaries to fight in a conflict that is going on back in her home country, a master assassin called the Queen's Chosen Slayer will be hired to take her out. People only know that this assassin is a worshiper of the demon queen Malcanthet and that (s)he never fails to kill a target. The diplomat has now fled and one of the PCs have taken over her job while other PCs act as his bodyguards. They have been given a residence in the Diplomat Quarter.

The session will involve the PCs negotiating with NPC mercenaries and, at some point, the assassin will strike. I don't know what would be the right way to do that so that the players would feel that it was something that a pro assassin would do. Also, I don't know what the class and levels of the assassin should be.

The PCs are a fighter 2/wizard 9 (the diplomat), a cleric 11 of St. Cuthbert and a minotaur monk 2.

My preliminary idea would be the following:
1. The assassin uses Gather Information to find out information about the diplomat, but will not try more than twice so that the diplomat will not be alerted (as per GI rules). Most likely, the rolls will be very high. This make the assassin well informed of the diplomat and his bodyguards.
2. The assassin assumes the role of a 'mercenary agent' and contacts a group of common thugs. (S)he tells them that (s)he is going to groom them to be real mercenaries to be hired by a rich diplomat to do some easy guard duties. Using extremely high diplomacy and maybe some magic, the group agrees.
3. The assassin meets the PCs and tells them that he has a potential group of mercenaries for them, but the leader of the group thinks that his wife is cheating on him, and asks if the PCs can use magic to see this. The PCs have access to scrying. The assassin tells them that the leader and the PCs will meet and the PCs must use their magic to show the leader the truth. In that way, the leader will agree to serve them.
4. The assassin gives the leader of gang an armor and some sword that look impressive and then charms him. The assassin tells him that he thinks that his wife is cheating on him, and the PCs can use their spells to prove this. They leave, and the assassin arranges so that the wife is dead by a slowly working poison before they reach the PCs and their house.
5. The PCs will try to use scrying and so forth to see the dead wife, but they will fail. The assassin will demand that they show their magical powers to the mercenary leader, but the PCs simply can't use magic to see a dead person.
6. Despite the disappointment, the assassin will give the diplomat an official contract to sign (the contract is kept in a lead-made case). The first page of the contract is normal. The second one is covered in nitharit poison. The third page has explosive runes.

When the battle starts after the explosion, the PCs will have less spells than normal; the meeting has taken some time so that some of their protection spells may have worn out; the diplomat PC will be severely poisoned and without 6d6 hit points; and the assassin will play the fool and let the low-level thug protect him at first so that the PCs will spend their magic on him. The assassin will try to run down the clock so that the poison will take effect, but if the magic trap wounds the diplomat PC severely, (s)he will attack before the cleric heals him.

[zlefin]

the level of strategy the assassin would deploy should depend on the general level of acumen used in your campaign in general; (i.e. how thorough PCs and NPCs are and such, there's a lot of room for scaling strategies).

here's some notes:
1) what happened to the prior diplomat? are they still around somewhere? could they be rehired? where are the PCs getting the funds to hire these mercenaries?
Killing the diplomat without killing the funding source could just mean some other diplomat takes over the job of hiring mercs.

2) is the assassin working for hire or are they a permanent dedicated agent? a for hire person would just balk at some contracts if the defenses are too tight.

3) what are the other defenses in the area beyond the PCs? both in terms of magic, and in terms of other guardsmen/scouting. (at least defenses that might be observable/learnable)

4) the assassin should have a bunch of patsies/support/other rogues to help with the information gathering. tipping off your opponents seems moot when you've already sent them a death threat.

5) attacking a properly secured location to assassinate is VERY hard. some places just have too much guard to attack when they're on alert. it's highly preferable to pick another location/wait for an opportunity.

6) does the assassin intend to get away afterwards? there's a big difference in tactics based on whether one expects to get away.

7) it seems like an odd request from a merc group looking to be hired. in general, they're mercs; their personal business is for them to deal with on their own. it'd be EXTREMELY odd for a merc to refuse work because of an unrelated personal matter; either they're looking for work, and should be accepting jobs, or they're simply not looking for wokr while they deal with their problem. this could be a huge red flag for the PCs to notice.

8) does resurrection exist in your world? by default a cleric of that level could do so, and that changes the viability of assassination by a lot.

9) it's far preferable to attack when a target is alone/separated from their guards/fewer guards around, or when there's many places to hide. such as when people are asleep, going to the bathroom, or doing activities/events around town. it can also be worthwhile to arrange a distraction which could pull people away, such as a fire.

10) what's the assassin's budget for the operation? having high funding levels allows more liberal use of hired assistants and poisons and consumables.

[Jon_Dahl]

the level of strategy the assassin would deploy should depend on the general level of acumen used in your campaign in general; (i.e. how thorough PCs and NPCs are and such, there's a lot of room for scaling strategies).

here's some notes:
1) what happened to the prior diplomat? are they still around somewhere? could they be rehired? where are the PCs getting the funds to hire these mercenaries?
Killing the diplomat without killing the funding source could just mean some other diplomat takes over the job of hiring mercs.

2) is the assassin working for hire or are they a permanent dedicated agent? a for hire person would just balk at some contracts if the defenses are too tight.

3) what are the other defenses in the area beyond the PCs? both in terms of magic, and in terms of other guardsmen/scouting. (at least defenses that might be observable/learnable)

4) the assassin should have a bunch of patsies/support/other rogues to help with the information gathering. tipping off your opponents seems moot when you've already sent them a death threat.

5) attacking a properly secured location to assassinate is VERY hard. some places just have too much guard to attack when they're on alert. it's highly preferable to pick another location/wait for an opportunity.

6) does the assassin intend to get away afterwards? there's a big difference in tactics based on whether one expects to get away.

7) it seems like an odd request from a merc group looking to be hired. in general, they're mercs; their personal business is for them to deal with on their own. it'd be EXTREMELY odd for a merc to refuse work because of an unrelated personal matter; either they're looking for work, and should be accepting jobs, or they're simply not looking for wokr while they deal with their problem. this could be a huge red flag for the PCs to notice.

8) does resurrection exist in your world? by default a cleric of that level could do so, and that changes the viability of assassination by a lot.

9) it's far preferable to attack when a target is alone/separated from their guards/fewer guards around, or when there's many places to hide. such as when people are asleep, going to the bathroom, or doing activities/events around town. it can also be worthwhile to arrange a distraction which could pull people away, such as a fire.

10) what's the assassin's budget for the operation? having high funding levels allows more liberal use of hired assistants and poisons and consumables.

Good questions and thank you for numbering them. That makes answering easier.

1. Gone in some place hundreds of miles away. The king of the foreign kingdom is funding the embassy through the local officials. The idea the local kingdom does not really care that much if foreign diplomats cannot get bodyguards that prevent them from being killed. That hurts the diplomatic efforts, but it's nothing serious. However, the people who direct the funds from foreign kingdoms to local diplomats are the officials of the local king. Killing them would mean that everyone would hunt down the culprits. Trying to kill the diplomats means that the diplomats just have defend themselves and the foreign king isn't doing a very good job preventing that from happening. In short: "Someone killed the diplomat of country X? Well, it is most likely a problem that has to with the country X... It is most likely their fault anyway... Of wait, someone killed my officials? I am going to hire two epic level wizards to handle this!"
2. Hired.
3. Low-level NPC guards. The Diplomat Quarter is surrounded by a wall. Nothing magical. Nothing formidable.
4. Agreed. I will follow your advice.
5. The house itself has no protections.
6. Yes.
7. Agreed. But I don't have anything better yet.
8. Not really. My players have found it impossible to get anyone resurrected.
9. The house is not flammable.
10. 4.000 gold pieces.

[liquidformat]

So some thoughts:

1) You should probably go with a rogue/wizard/unseen seer build of something similar.
2) Like said before the wife of the merc cheating and merc needing some divination to confirm seems pretty weak. Instead maybe something like the Merc group being charmed into trying to assassinate the diplomat. Have them argue over pay then give the contract with their terms that has been poisoned and trapped. The main assassin could use this as a diversion for the real attempt and a chance to waste pc resources knowing full well the mercs will fail.
3) There are a lot of options on the table like the assassin trying to blow up the building with the pcs in it. This could be handled by the building only partially being destroyed and the pcs having to get out before being crushed while mercs and assassin trying to prevent their escape. Or else trying to lead the pcs to a less safe location or split them up.
4) Does the attack have to be at this particular venue? If not why not have the assassin force a change of venue? Having the assassin lead the pcs into a trap that they themselves may even know is a trap is pretty classic. IE kidnapping someone else and leaving a note where they can be rescued is pretty classic assassin setup. Heck you could even have the assassin kidnap family members of the mercs to force them into trying to kill the pcs.

[Jon_Dahl]

So some thoughts:

1) You should probably go with a rogue/wizard/unseen seer build of something similar.
2) Like said before the wife of the merc cheating and merc needing some divination to confirm seems pretty weak. Instead maybe something like the Merc group being charmed into trying to assassinate the diplomat. Have them argue over pay then give the contract with their terms that has been poisoned and trapped. The main assassin could use this as a diversion for the real attempt and a chance to waste pc resources knowing full well the mercs will fail.
3) There are a lot of options on the table like the assassin trying to blow up the building with the pcs in it. This could be handled by the building only partially being destroyed and the pcs having to get out before being crushed while mercs and assassin trying to prevent their escape. Or else trying to lead the pcs to a less safe location or split them up.
4) Does the attack have to be at this particular venue? If not why not have the assassin force a change of venue? Having the assassin lead the pcs into a trap that they themselves may even know is a trap is pretty classic. IE kidnapping someone else and leaving a note where they can be rescued is pretty classic assassin setup. Heck you could even have the assassin kidnap family members of the mercs to force them into trying to kill the pcs.

How does blowing up the house work technically?

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

A master assassin would, at the very least, case the place after gathering info and before enacting a master plan. If the PCs don't sleep in a Rope Trick or use any other major protections*, the best solution is probably just to murder them in their sleep with a team. If you want to go with the patsy option, I'd skip the scrying bit and go straight to the explosives/poison to avoid suspicion, and I'd use my own hired help as the mercs so the surprise attack can be coordinated better. I know I'd get suspicious if this weirdo merc wanted me to deal with his personal problems, and then I got an error message when trying to Scry on what should be a low level NPC. If you want to mess with the PCs, maybe have them negotiate with a weird mercenary group first - one that's legitimately there to help the group for pay, but has some minor issue the PCs can solve.

Of course, the problem with being too convincing with the assassin is that the assassin either rejects the job ("That's the diplomat? A wizard with his powerful cleric and Minotaur friends? Too risky, I'm out"), or you TPK the party.

*Side note: Alarm is vastly overrated. Any tiny animal passing through triggers it, which could happen all night in a city (hello, cats who eat mice) or outdoors. Worst case, the assassin magically gets diminutive or smaller.

[denthor]

My suggestion is a group of two one wizard with feign death.

It is a spell that puts you in a coma like death state for about 24 hours or so. This throws everyone off the trail of the assassin. 3rd level spell mage in older edition.

Then You go about isolated targets. Since you do not want the party to have strong alliance within the town. Get small personal items and commit other assassinations of well known associations owner of inns they are staying at. Arrange to have a public argument with a baker or blacksmith. That person is your target leave item there.

Speak with dead counters all of this. They may not come up with that solution. Illusion spells fool the victim.

[Saintheart]

Obligatory link to the Poisoner's Handbook (http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=2714.0).

In terms of low-ish assassin builds -- from what I suggest in the RHOD Handbook for a poison-based sniper:

Human Rogue 2/Assassin 5. Feat selections (using flaws): Master of Poisons, Poison Expert, Poison Master, Venomous Strike, Staggering Strike, Terrifying Strike.
Assassination short sword. Black Lotus Extract is too expensive, content yourself with something like Lifebane or Deathblade.

You now have a character who can reliably apply poisons to his weapons as a swift action. Increased Virulence, Poison Expert, Venomous Strike, and the Assassination properties of the weapon raise the DC by 8, on top of an indirect -4 to saves that Terrifying Strike and Staggering Strike impose. Even sassone leaf residue is looking a bit more impressive at DC 24 rather than DC 16. Black Lotus starts at DC 20, does 3d6 Con damage primary which affects Fort saves...before the Assassin's Death Attack kicks in. That's our point here, we are trying to max out the CON damage before the target has to save against the death attack.

Now, death attack is going to be tricky to arrange unless you can keep him hidden from the party for 3 rounds while they're in the same room as him. This can be fixed by giving a mostly-spent Wand of Deathsight (Complete Mage). And you've got +4d6 sneak attack damage; spellcasting which includes True Strike and Obscuring Mist; Evasion; Improved Uncanny Dodge; and all the rest.

Some of this will be expensive in gp terms if the assassin's budget is 4,000 gp; I would get around this by using his WBL as much as possible.

[rel]

being killed in your sleep is boring.
Having a fight between the assassin and 1 player while the others go for pizza is boring.
Thus, for meta reasons, the assassin should face off against the whole party in a straight up fight.

Keep it simple:

1) assassin hires some bad dudes (or summons some demons) for backup

2) assassin prepares the trap location; no teleporting out, traps strewn around, some sort of activatable environmental effect that the assassin and his goons are conveniently immune to, etc.

3) assassin convinces the PC's to meet at the trap location

4) The trap is sprung! The doors are physically and metaphorically barred preventing escape, a hostile environmental effect manifests and the Assassin and his goons attack. During the fight the PC's either wander into or are pushed into pre-laid traps.

big fight happens, assassin is defeated, etc.

[flappeercraft]

If your assassin is not a spellcaster this is what I would do. Get scrolls of Khelben’s Suspended Silence (MoF) and use it on some small items that would go unnoticed and use it on them with the same command word. Now make a sleight of hand check to hide it in the possession of all spellcasters or trick them into accepting it, etc, whatever works. Now before combat starts say the command word and casters are disabled. Now the only issue would be the meatshields.

[Jon_Dahl]

If your assassin is not a spellcaster this is what I would do. Get scrolls of Khelben’s Suspended Silence (MoF) and use it on some small items that would go unnoticed and use it on them with the same command word. Now make a sleight of hand check to hide it in the possession of all spellcasters or trick them into accepting it, etc, whatever works. Now before combat starts say the command word and casters are disabled. Now the only issue would be the meatshields.

What about the rules?

"Activate the Spell
Activating a scroll requires reading the spell from the scroll. The character must be able to see and read the writing on the scroll. "

I mean, I do not care that much about the rules, but my players can potentially get super pissed off if I go against the rules.

[Jon_Dahl]

Obligatory link to the Poisoner's Handbook (http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=2714.0).

In terms of low-ish assassin builds -- from what I suggest in the RHOD Handbook for a poison-based sniper:

Human Rogue 2/Assassin 5. Feat selections (using flaws): Master of Poisons, Poison Expert, Poison Master, Venomous Strike, Staggering Strike, Terrifying Strike.
Assassination short sword. Black Lotus Extract is too expensive, content yourself with something like Lifebane or Deathblade.

You now have a character who can reliably apply poisons to his weapons as a swift action. Increased Virulence, Poison Expert, Venomous Strike, and the Assassination properties of the weapon raise the DC by 8, on top of an indirect -4 to saves that Terrifying Strike and Staggering Strike impose. Even sassone leaf residue is looking a bit more impressive at DC 24 rather than DC 16. Black Lotus starts at DC 20, does 3d6 Con damage primary which affects Fort saves...before the Assassin's Death Attack kicks in. That's our point here, we are trying to max out the CON damage before the target has to save against the death attack.

Now, death attack is going to be tricky to arrange unless you can keep him hidden from the party for 3 rounds while they're in the same room as him. This can be fixed by giving a mostly-spent Wand of Deathsight (Complete Mage). And you've got +4d6 sneak attack damage; spellcasting which includes True Strike and Obscuring Mist; Evasion; Improved Uncanny Dodge; and all the rest.

Some of this will be expensive in gp terms if the assassin's budget is 4,000 gp; I would get around this by using his WBL as much as possible.

I like this idea. The Diplomat Quarter does not have any abandoned buildings for a Lee-Harvey-Oswald type of sniping. What would be a good venue for this? An alley, perhaps?

[Jon_Dahl]

being killed in your sleep is boring.
Having a fight between the assassin and 1 player while the others go for pizza is boring.
Thus, for meta reasons, the assassin should face off against the whole party in a straight up fight.

Keep it simple:

1) assassin hires some bad dudes (or summons some demons) for backup

2) assassin prepares the trap location; no teleporting out, traps strewn around, some sort of activatable environmental effect that the assassin and his goons are conveniently immune to, etc.

3) assassin convinces the PC's to meet at the trap location

4) The trap is sprung! The doors are physically and metaphorically barred preventing escape, a hostile environmental effect manifests and the Assassin and his goons attack. During the fight the PC's either wander into or are pushed into pre-laid traps.

big fight happens, assassin is defeated, etc.

Number 3 is problematic.

[Awakeninfinity]

I'm the DM, and the next session in my campaign will start with the following setup:
A foreign diplomat has received a death threat: If she does not stop trying to hire mercenaries to fight in a conflict that is going on back in her home country, a master assassin called the Queen's Chosen Slayer will be hired to take her out. People only know that this assassin is a worshiper of the demon queen Malcanthet and that (s)he never fails to kill a target. The diplomat has now fled and one of the PCs have taken over her job while other PCs act as his bodyguards. They have been given a residence in the Diplomat Quarter.

The session will involve the PCs negotiating with NPC mercenaries and, at some point, the assassin will strike. I don't know what would be the right way to do that so that the players would feel that it was something that a pro assassin would do. Also, I don't know what the class and levels of the assassin should be.

The PCs are a fighter 2/wizard 9 (the diplomat)

Question 1: The Assassin was hired to kill the current Diplomat(Your player), or the former? Because it seems as though the new Diplomat ( based on given context) hasn't even had time to attempt his job, so he can't have failed) and if the assassination is because of the previous diplomat's failures the new one is an illegitimate target.

Question 2: Is the Warrior Wizard a Diplomat (has ranks in diplomacy / player has filled a similar role in the past)? Because if not it would be a very poor decision to place him in that predicament and asinine to assume he would succeed (especially immediately)

Question 3: Is the Assassination called off if the player starts to produce results? If not; that would literally be killing a minion for succeeding in the task you requested they perform.

I'm sorry; but I feel that I am missing information here.

[Jon_Dahl]

Question 1: The Assassin was hired to kill the current Diplomat(Your player), or the former? Because it seems as though the new Diplomat ( based on given context) hasn't even had time to attempt his job, so he can't have failed) and if the assassination is because of the previous diplomat's failures the new one is an illegitimate target.

Question 2: Is the Warrior Wizard a Diplomat (has ranks in diplomacy / player has filled a similar role in the past)? Because if not it would be a very poor decision to place him in that predicament and asinine to assume he would succeed (especially immediately)

Question 3: Is the Assassination called off if the player starts to produce results? If not; that would literally be killing a minion for succeeding in the task you requested they perform.

I'm sorry; but I feel that I am missing information here.

1. The assassin has been hired to kill the diplomat of Country X. There can be a new one every day, but one of them is going to die - the one at the office on the wrong day.

2. Yes, he is.

3. No, the assassination threat continues as long as there is an active diplomatic effort going on to hire mercenaries. However, if one diplomat is killed and another one comes as a replacement, the assassin will request more money to kill the replacement (if any).

[Quertus]

So, the reason that the Assassin "never fails" is because they use Teleport Through Time, and a custom "Congenital Birth Defect" spell, which acts as an unlimited length Quivering Palm effect. At a random point, chosen by the Assassin the NPC just keels over, and dies. The Assassin killed the target before they were even born.

[gkathellar]

being killed in your sleep is boring.
Having a fight between the assassin and 1 player while the others go for pizza is boring.
Thus, for meta reasons, the assassin should face off against the whole party in a straight up fight.

So much of this. While it's nice if you can pull off an assassin who behaves sensibly, it's more important to have fun. A super-stylish assassin who gives warnings and scopes the place out in disguise and plants red herrings and makes everyone super-suspicious is a much better time than a pile of numbers with a high Death Attack DC.

[Fizban]

Plan seems needlessly convoluted. An enemy with sufficient resources and determination can always assassinate any but the most savvy of players- and yours are not the type to use (or even have) all the appropriate spells required. Since the target is now a PC, they will almost certainly be sleeping in a room full of other PCs, with some actively standing watch. Even with a teleport/invisible+gaseous entrance you'd need cheese-tier initiative to ensure going first- but a full attack with a pre-poisoned blade ought to be able to one-round a single PC. If they're savvy enough to have two on watch at a time, then this plan is probably too risky (though with a Vanisher weapon you can deliver the attack and bamf to the safety of behind a bunch of walls in the same turn), so you go to the random ambush.

Which proceeds the same way, except using a ranged full attack with Sniper's Shot against the primary target, from a sufficient distance to penalize their spot checks into failure and prevent immediate retaliation. This can be executed from anywhere along a path that they walk outside, flying/levitating/air walking and invisible if required, but ideally from a spot with something they can 5' or fall prone behind to break line of sight. You could pull the proper Assassin's Creed knife in a crowd, but the players might be afraid of crowds- if they aren't, then there's really no reason it wouldn't work.

If no good ambush point exists, then you make one by burning down the house they're in.


*Side note: Alarm is vastly overrated. Any tiny animal passing through triggers it, which could happen all night in a city (hello, cats who eat mice) or outdoors. Worst case, the assassin magically gets diminutive or smaller.
You don't use Alarm on the outside, you use it in the place where you're actually sleeping, which denies the intruder a surprise round. Getting diminutive is harder than it sounds, though amusingly, if you do then as long as you have an attack you can still death attack/coup de grace. Which makes polymorphed invisible rat-assassin capable of bypassing the Alarm and delivering a death attack during the surprise round.

Alarm also makes no mention of you being notified if it fails, so dispelling it while under a Ring of Silent Spells would be effective. But nothing can be done if those on watch are properly cycling or have long-use items of See Invisbility and/or Detect Magic/Arcane Sight. Arcane Sight is the final answer, 'cause any non-epic stealthing in will require spells on your person, and those can't be hidden by anything. But those spells have durations of a couple hours, so if the assassin is patiently listening at the wall until they hear the PCs talking about the spell ending and when to start the next one (which they will be, unless they specifically told you they planned out in advance/silently), they can know when to hit.

[Jon_Dahl]

So sniping is the answer?

[flappeercraft]

What about the rules?

"Activate the Spell
Activating a scroll requires reading the spell from the scroll. The character must be able to see and read the writing on the scroll. "

I mean, I do not care that much about the rules, but my players can potentially get super pissed off if I go against the rules.

Doesn’t break them. Khelben’s Suspended Silence is permanent until triggered by the command word set, and then acts as silence for 6 rounds

[Awakeninfinity]

So your trying to make an assassin that kills their target with out fail (So far) and has always gotten away( so far)?

Is the character already planned out ; because I just thought of a build that could challenge that entire party at once and could almost certainly kill them one on one. If you decide to just brute Force it.

[Analytica]

The assassin perfectly replaces an NPC the PCs trust, then strikes at a random time.

[rel]

Number 3 is problematic.

Spread some rumours about an adventurer who had some trouble with the law and is hiding out in the sewers.
He might be useful to the PC's as a Merc but he is in hiding so they will have to seek HIM out.

An old man has heard tell of a mysterious pit full of otugah's deep beneath the city, rumour has it those who visit that horrid place have their wills strengthened. he can sell the PC's a map.

A merchant has received a strange artifact and now his warehouse is full of ghosts. If the PC'S can clear it he will reward them.

The PC'S favourite bar is under new management but the new guy seems nice enough the beer is better and the place is cleaner. The new owner is throwing a big party for his main clientele; adventurers to advertise the change. Expect a fun night and a bit of business on the side.

A merchant bought a cursed magic item on the cheap and want's an expert opinion from the PC'S. if they come have a look he will offer a discount on his stock.

A rich recluse is sick and bedridden and the nature of the disease is... embarassing. The healer's of the city will do the work but they might talk. An outsider might be safer and he has heard one of the PC'S is a cleric of some power.


Now any of these might work but your assassin isn't that simple. He deploys ALL of these baits over the course of a few weeks. When the PC'S respond to one, he pounces.

And once the PC's kill the assassin they find a bundle of documents detailing all these schemes and can with some effort profit from the assassin's preparations.