How do you take over a magical island?

[STARP_President]

My campaign has a magical island that floats around the place. It's populace consists entirely of magic-users (arcane only, plus a few clerics of the goddess of magic.). There is also an organisation of evil mages which is devoted to, among other things, world domination. Now, my question is - how do they take over the island with a handful of people(it can't be too many cos the PCs have to fight them)? Bear in mind the island's queen is a 20+ level Wizard and EVERYONE on the island is magically active. They can't charm or dominate the queen because there's too many people who can see through it or dispel it - ditto for killing or capturing her and replacing her in some fashion. How could they do it logically? My only thought is that they actually coerce her in some way - they aren't using magic to control events at all - though the baddies are all wizards (or sorcerers or warlocks or whatever) they are controlling the Queen, and events, simply though tried-and-tested blackmail, extortion and other mundane methods.

Suggestions, comments?

 

[BigTom]

Have the baddies invoke a huge anti magic shell and send in the troops. By the time the shell drops the good mages are dead or captured and the baddies have a magical island.

 

[Arkhandus]

Have each evil magic-user cast Antimagic Field upon himself or herself, and be accompanied by a rogue or fighter. EMU moves in to grapple a mage, rogue or fighter proceeds to slay the mage within the antimagic field. Lather, rinse, repeat. Slow and methodical, but nothing to be done about it unless the magic-users escape before noticing an AMF-shielded baddie approaching them.

Or, y'know, hold some massive ritual to planeshift the magical floating island into the Negative Energy Plane or the Abyss, then watch the fun begin. Not much chance of casting spells when suffering negative energy damage automatically each round. And it's likely to draw in Shadows and such from the area who'll come to slay the poor berks.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Could they send in some kind of spy or sleeper agent? Maybe someone who has been next to the queen's side for years is actually an individual that is in the employ of the cabal. Or maybe the cabal of wizards can try to find some unique artifact that will have some special designed power that can put the island under their control (like the original spell that created the island). This way you might be able to design a series of adventures where the PCs try and stop the wizards from getting the artifact then if the wizards get it the PCs have to stop the wizards from USING the artifact.

 

[Lobo Lurker]

Why even try the magical route if the evil guys are so hopelessly outclassed. Have them track down some incredible weakness/shadowy past for the key players in the islands hierarchy (or simply kidnap thier loved ones and something nefarious to them) and blackmail them into capitulating.

Or have them find something powerfully threatening, but completely unrelated to the island and use that as thier bargaining chip. "Cede control to us or the nation of Horivane sinks beneath the waves..." that sort of thing.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Golems are goot at taking out mages as they're immune to most spells.

Monks are very good mage killers as well.

Then of course you could always just 'buy' the island. What's to prevent the queen from say leaving the prime material plane one day bored by the going ons of standard mortals?

 

[Darkness]

They can't charm or dominate the queen because there's too many people who can see through it or dispel it

Use a helm of opposite alignment. Only a wish or miracle can break through that. Just take out those powerful enough to cast it first.

Also make sure to find out whether there are rings or scrolls of wish on the island and if so, secure them.

(Of course, the victim of such a helm isn't necessarily on your side but you at least might have an easier time working from there - evil characters are more likely to agree to certain deals than good ones.)

 

[William_2]

I would think the islanders would have given a considerable amount of thought to this issue, and taken many steps to protect themselves. I would think that every day, a fair number of people would be engaged in nothing but casting additional defensive spells to protect the place. So, fairly simple and obvious tactics should result in pretty serious defense systems meeting them. Opposing large evil forces would probably be expected- it is very hard to see how a small, inferior force would manage to seize power by conventional magical means, never mind just plain conventional means.
So, I think the idea that there is an important individual that has an unrevealed major weakness that is exploited is probably the best one. Once your evil villains get a toehold, then something along the lines of mass enslavement, or influence, starts to look more plausible.
One major question is do the villains want people to know they have taken over, or do they want to remain hidden? It seems to me that a sort pf public announcement that a small group of villains was now running the island would net a spectacular, crushing response from whatever forces of good are available, making the PC role potentially small. Having the PCs be the ones who stumble on the bloodless coupe and have to thwart it seems best, I think. Sounds like a cool location and potentially fun adventure. I’m curious as to what level the PCs, as well as the villains would be, and whether there would be a major group battle, or if the PCs would have to pick the villains off one or two at a time.

 

[Ormiss]

I'm thinking that a Wand of Zeus Summoning would come in handy here. The cabal of evil mages probably has one lying around, right?

 

[MerakSpielman]

I'd have them take over in more or less the same way Palpatine took over the Galactic Republic.

Evil mages a) care about their own skin too much to risk it rashly, b) are very smart, and c) are very patient (well, that or they're dead).