Regicide - A Druid's role

[airless_wing]

Hey playground,

We’re setting up for one of the major pothooks of our campaign. Currently, we’ve uncovered some information concerning a plotted regicide. Specifically, at this town’s large festival, a group will be attempting to kill off the Prince.

MY druid has no love for the crown or empire, and has made contact with one of the plotters. I’m doubtful that I’ll be able to formally help the group with their attempt, but I figured there are ways I can still contribute towards their cause, and aid them in their attempted assassination.

What spells would be most useful in helping the group commit regicide?

I’m a level 6 Circle of the Land, druid, 18 Wisdom, and only 11 Constitution. The first spells that came to mind were Call Lightning, Hold Person, or Conjure Animals. Call Lightning and Hold Person are more for the direct attack, while Conjure Animals I thought might be better for crowd control, as I assume there will be plenty of guards, ready to jump into the fray.

The other consideration: one of our group’s Paladins is unaware of my plans. But, he has already gone to the local constabulary to warn them of the plot against he Prince. I’d prefer to be subtle with my aid to avoid his wrathful Smite (and attention in general).
Casting a concentration spell, then Wild Shaping into a rat or spider seemed to be the best way to avoid further attention, while still calling down Lightning. It doesn’t leave me with a lot of options to follow-through with, but that’s the price of stealth, I suppose.

Any further ideas/insights are appreciated!

[Belthien]

So, my understanding is that you will try and kill the prince, and the paladin will try and protect them.

What do the rest of the party think? Can you come to a group decision?

In my experience, members of a group working directly against each other, especially in a fight, never ends well. Usually at least one character needs to leave or the who campaign can dissolve into infighting. For me, dnd works best when a group of people are working together to solve problems and build a cool story. A little infighting can spice things up, but its dangerous.

[nickl_2000]

-Call Lightning give you the ability to reign death from the skies - but if you are trying to avoid killing innocents you will likely fail
-Summons will give you a nice fur wall that allows for crowd control
-Moon Beam is more precise than call lightning and will be a little more subtle in general
-Pass Without a Trace gets you in and out without others noticing.
-Spike Growth can help keep out the riffraff while you are dealing with the Prince.
-Plant Growth can help you get away and create chaos on the battleground
-Tidal Wave is non-concentration, does damage, and can create mass chaos if you attack in the darkness (putting out all flames in the area)

[OverLordOcelot]

From a tactical perspective: Longstrider is great for moving in and escaping. Pass without trace is useful, but the party has to stay within 30' of you to benefit which means it's not that great if you're splitting up. Fog cloud can obscure an absurdly large area, if you use a 3rd level slot on it you get a 40' radius, which is larger than most 'drawn to play on' areas. Plant growth is a great area denial/crowd control spell, making everyone use 20' of movement to move one square comes close to immobilizing them.

From a broader perspective: Party conflict like this tends to crash games, and if it doesn't the game ends up turning into a PVP game instead of the usual D&D. Players attacking major figures can be extremely dangerous for the character, this may well be the end of your druid. I would check in with the DM to be sure you're not accidentally wrecking things.

[airless_wing]

Ohhh I had forgot about upcasting Fog Cloud! That's a great idea; it's pretty passive on my side, so that would allow the NPCs to escape after a successful assassination, or even thwart them if we end up going that way.

As for the inter-party issues:
Our DM loves morally grey issues. This is not the first time the group has had a moral quandary we've needed to work through, and certainly not the first time we've had different goals. I am very much against party conflict in general for the reasons you all have mentioned: DnD should be collaborative and done with friends, not combative for no good reason.
I wouldn't be looking into this course of action if I knew it would ultimately upset the DM and/or mess with the friendly dynamic we share as a group.

I don't believe the Paladin would directly fight us, though he has threatened party members before. Most of the party is leaning towards the passive route; just let the NPC group attempt the regicide. If I can throw a spell or two their way to help with that, I'll be content.

[Sirithhyando]

I'd go with summoning.
If your DM let you choose what you summon, if you take some small flying creatures, they could be use to give advantage to the actual assassins.
All while you are away from everything.
I know you're suppose to give them verbal command, and I'm unsure if it's RAW but if it's possible, you command them to help the assassins against the prince when they give a specific signal. Might not work, should ask the DM. One thing for sure, if it works, you can actively work toward "protecting" the prince while your minions do the dirty work. And the paladin wouldn't know it was you... not right away at least.

[tieren]

Which land circle are you?

In general I would concentrate on Enhance ability - Cat's Grace to help them sneak in and commit the act, then plant growth to slow down responders and switch concentration to fog cloud to cover escape.

[Unoriginal]

You're a Druid. Get in the King's carriage as a fly or a spider, kill him, then leave.

Ask the table if they're fine with your Druid and the Paladin opposing each others, though.

[OverLordOcelot]

Ohhh I had forgot about upcasting Fog Cloud! That's a great idea; it's pretty passive on my side, so that would allow the NPCs to escape after a successful assassination, or even thwart them if we end up going that way.

Plant growth is non-concentration and you can put paths in it. Use two third level slots to get plant growth up to kill everyone's movement except the escape path, then a giant fog cloud to keep anyone from seeing anything. Or if you decide to fight them, use plant growth to trap them in a spot where they can barely move and and leave paths to the guards and/or you.