A challenge! To slay a King

[Timothy]

Okay, I have a challenge for all of you:

You are a noble at the court of a king. You want to kill the king, for any reason possible (you don't like him, you want to be him, you know the drill). You've got a fairly good amount of money, acces to a small army on your own land on the other side of the country and some contacts within the various guilds (both legal and illegal)

I would like of you to devise a way to get rid of the king (not neccesairy by killing him if that is not your goal) and take the throne. Try to be as creative as possible!

Good luck!

 

[clark411]

So so many many ways.. just to start-

1) Have his seamstress line one of his finer sets of dining attire with a discreet poison laced needle. If he dies of poison at dinner, everyone will rush the cook and the food. It won't be till long after that someone *might* notice the needle in the clothing and a slimmer chance yet that they'll put that together with the poisoning (as leaving needles in clothing isn't a terribly uncommon circumstance in times without sowing machines).

2) If he enjoys hunting of any type vs rather dangerous woodland animals, seduce his squires with gold and promises of land if they see fit to get him heavily intoxicated as he goes out. This'll work on your more glutton-y kings and less on your prim and proper ones.

3) If you have connections to any guilds which deal with repairs to his transportation, arrange any sort of accident. Ships can sink at sea, wagons can invariably lose a wheel just as coincidence sends "savage brigands" along the same path.

4) Good ol' Polymorph can get you on the throne without disposing the king.. although magic can be a dangerous ally at court.

 

[Bagpuss]

Getting rid of the King isn't too hard, but that's rarely your target. I mean how do you know his replacement isn't going to be any worse?

Getting rid of a king is a means to an end, very rarerly is it the end in itself. You want to be King then killing the current King is unlikely to get you the job unless you have a lot of other things going in your favour. (IE: Your his Son, and have popular support within the other nobles, and have someone else to take the fall for the murder.)

Strikes me killing the King is probably the easy bit, a number of English Kings died on hunting expeditions, when a stray crossbow bolt happens to hit them.

Marry his daughter and ensure he lives no male heirs, or make sure you are positioned as the guardian of his very young son, then you rule via proxy, once he's gone. Once established you can have your queen or the heir die of some illness.

 

[Darkness]

Magically inhabit his body, bind his soul into some item, and then dump the item into that one plane of the Abyss where everything falls, and falls, and falls, and... infinitely.

 

[Piratecat]

OT: Timothy, your signature is too big. Will you please make it smaller, or get a new one? Thanks! Email me if you have any questions.

I now return you to the thread.

 

[hong]

Cast haste on him.

Er, oops, I mean harm.


Hong "I always get those two mixed up" Ooi

 

[Sanackranib]

kill the king

its not nessicary to kill him to take over. over the course of several months just slip him a few charm potions and have yourself put into increasing positions of power and slowly apply a parylitic toxin that hakes it hards to move and slows the mind. then be sure you are in a position to have him lean on you his loyal supporter for assistance. slowly you will take over. this type of senerio has worked multiple times in real life.

 

[Umbran]

Okay, I have a challenge for all of you:

You give insufficient information. I'll assume this is in a D&D game, as you don't even say that much...

In D&D, viable ways to kill another are highly dependant on the specifics of a situation. For example, if he's a high-level fighter, he'll have a buff Fort save, and poison may not work. If he always has a cleric at his side with Slow Poison prepared, you're in similar trouble.

We need to know who he is, who and what he tends to have around him, who and what magics are at his disposal...

 

[AngelTears]

I'll have to actually think for once. This is good!

The way I would go about it is by inciting a rebellion with the king using a noble I have cultivated for several years. All the time I would stay frimly neutral in the conflict trying to draw both sides into burning up allies in the conflict. Using my contacts, charm, and wiles I would remove possible contestants to the throne from among the nobles.

I would have the noble assisinate the queen, six months into the conflict by leaking the infromation of her movements to the opposing noble. I would then comfort the king, slowly making him dependent on me. After about a year of full conflict I would have a network on both sides and the when the castle would be under siege. I would have the noble "responsible" for the rebellion assasinated, as well as the king. I would then arrange negotiations with both sides, with most of my proxies attending and loyal soldiers picked from both sides. Those who would not like my assention to the throne can be publically executed as traitors and their families sold into slavery.

-Angel Tears

 

[Deedlit]

Lower public opinion of him by hiring a skilled impersanator to do bad things acting as the king, and starting a propoganda campaign. Then, find out what his governing weaknesses are, and thrust him into positions where those weaknesses are exposed. Then, get a war started with a more powerful kingdom, as whatever position he takes in a war will reflect badly on him, with such poor support. Once the vast majority hates him, seize power in a rebellion, and negotiate peace with the invaders.