D&D 5E Invisible murderhobos

[n0nym]

Hi folks, it's me again.

I'm looking for some help with a recurring problem I have with my players. They have a tendency to assassinate (evil) NPCs in their sleep, and I have a hard time coming up with solutions to avoid that.

Here's the situation : Archbishop Albeorn has taken over the local religious community and is trying to convince his zealots (and the population) to eradicate the elven race. We're playing Dark Sun during the Green Age, but the PCs only recently realised it. Now they want him dead.

One of the PCs is a warlock with a sprite familiar which he uses to scout invisible before the whole party eventually follows, invisible too. He tried to sneak up on Albeorn, but I decided that all Sorcerer Kings had permanent See Invisibility, so that failed.

Unfortunately, realising that, the PCs decided to murder Albeorn trusted right-hand man, High Praetor Krull. I can't really say that Krull has See Invisibility too, because I don't want to frustrate the player (furthermore, he's just a human being, albeit a powerful divine spellcaster).

How would you prevent the PC from sneaking up on him at night and killing him ?
OR how would you make that hard and entertaining ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sunseeker]

Maybe he's really paranoid and has a bunch of traps set around his room? Maybe if he's a divine spellcaster, he has done one-too-many diviniations about his own future and has seen some invisible enemy kill him in those diviniations so now he has an extra guard on his room, or maybe his entire room is an elaborate illusion and his bed is really a bunk bed, he sleeps on top, but the illusion just makes it look like a large classical bed with a frilly top and a "human shape" in the blankets below.

Remember that the party still makes noise and makes smells while invisible. A well-trained hound could detect intruders.

 

[iserith]

Give High Praetor Krull an Alluvial mastiff that guards him while he sleeps. The beast's Keen Hearing and Smell would be a challenge to even invisible PCs.

 

[KahlessNestor]

As above, but also maybe he doesn't sleeo in the same place twice. If there's a large castle, he might rotate rooms. Or have a secret room (or multiple).

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[Iry]

You mention this is a reoccurring problem.

Have the Sorcerer King divine his own impending assassination attempt. But instead of merely sleeping with a guard, he creates magical papers with pictures of his would-be-assassins. These pictures are spread far and wide, and now all the guards across town are looking out for the party members.

If captured, they have not actually attempted the assassination yet, and are brought before the Sorcerer King who outright tells them that he divined their attempt upon his life. He then gives them an alternative task that involves getting them the hell out of the city in exchange for this 'insult'.

Of course, since he knows someone is going to try to assassinate him in his sleep, he no longer sleeps. He has an item to ignore the fatigue, but if the party takes a long time to be caught the Sorcerer King may slowly go mad from lack of sleep.

 

[delericho]

Let the PCs assassinate the guy.

Then have the Sorcerer King approach them with the classic "offer they can't refuse": either they take the place of the guy they've just assassinated, or they serve as an object lesson to any others who might dare resist.

 

[Oofta]

As others have pointed out, invisible does not mean they cannot be detected. They still need to make stealth checks.

In addition you can give your bad guys Lanterns of Revealing that they set up at strategic places. Have Magic Mouth cast on corridors that scream "Intruder!" if someone enters it without whispering the pass phrase. Set up noise making traps in people's rooms. Heck, just have really squeaky hinges on doors that the PCs have to open to get in.

Unless magic is extremely rare, high level NPCs are going to have protections against invisible assassins.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

How would you prevent the PC from sneaking up on him at night and killing him ?
OR how would you make that hard and entertaining ?

I'd make it hard and entertaining with three Glyphs of Warding right outside the bedroom door, all set to the same trigger ("someone who doesn't touch his chin with his pinky before opening the door").

Glyph #1: Cloudkill
Glyph #2: Conjure Earth Elemental
Glyph #3: Wall of Force

The PC will either have a Mission Impossible-type adventure where he is trying to recon the place and solve the mystery of what and where all of its defenses are; or he will get to fight an Earth Elemental while taking 5d8 poison damage per round, and then 5d8 poison damage per round after the fight until 10 minutes elapses and can get out of the Wall of Force. (Or has a Disintegrate/Dimension Door/etc. to get out.)

The former method (recon) is probably entertaining for players who are into kidnapping and interrogating servants, which I bet your players would be. The second method (Cloudkill, etc.) is mostly entertaining for the DM.

For extra entertainment, even if they succeed, I would take great joy in simply Resurrecting the high priest dude from the dead if they didn't find a way to prevent that (e.g. turning him to stone instead of killing him). Besides, that's exactly what a Sorcerer King would do if his high priest were murdered, in a game where Resurrection Survival Rolls aren't a thing.

 

[mellored]

Alarm is an easy spell, as is leomunds tiny hut. Mordikai's magic mansion also gives you a safe place to sleep. Hallowed or a magic circle can help too.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

If there's been a string of assassinations, I think most potential targets would invest in some traps. The Grimtooth's Traps series of books has some lovely fiendish ones that are easily adapted for 5e. Some guards on watch, including pets with tremorsense or scent-related abilities, would be likely, too.

For my part, I wouldn't necessarily prevent them from their assassinations, but I'd make it more challenging, especially if they're just spamming the same exact approach to every problem.