Creative methods of assassination

[Emperor Valerian]

Ok... so I'm an evil DM, and right now tons of assassins are on the trail of my PCs and the charge they are currently guarding. Unfortunately, I'm running out of creative ways to have people taken out... so I'm looking for some devious ways to keep them on their toes (or off them, should the attacks succeed )
So far, I have done the following:

1) Tried to lure one PC upstairs with a quth-maren sorceress that had alter self going to look like his love interest. Her plan was to slash him to bits with her acid attacks, but PCs were mindful.

2) Poisoned arrows... tried and true

3) Stirge bolt sniper. I had one assassin, armed wiht a crossbow with stirge bolts and an immense hide check, snipe away at a PC and the NPCs around her, knocking quite a bit off of their health. Drained one NPC to 3 Con.

4) Half Tabaxi monks. Get extra damage to their claws and can rake. They worked in conjunction with teh sniper above, keeping the PCs busy while he sniped away.

5) Used a poison from the BoVD (Modrayn) to turn one of the PCs into a bumbling fool, while the charismatic assassin got all the information from her he wanted... his targets location, place of stay, etc... (which led into the sniper mentioned above)

6) Used a homebrew poison (paralysis for 2d6 hours is the result when applied to the back of the neck) for a treacherous NPC to knock out his fellow person on watch and steal the magic item the party was carrying away from the demon to take it to her...

I'm hoping for more, similarly creative ideas. The assassins chasing after them are affiliated with a demon that now has power over fire and ice, as well as undead, if that can help any...

EDIT: I forgot the poison! How can I forget that fun trick!

 

[Trainz]

You should have bystanders be taken hostage in the next encounter. Have a critter grab a poor fair maiden with his claw around her throat. That should create some tense moments.

 

[WayneLigon]

By now they've probably gotten wary and use Detect Poison a lot. Now's the time to break out multi-stage poisons: things that are not in themselves poisonouus but become so when combined.

For instance, Lord X (secreted in the pay of the assassins) has his men thwart an 'assassin attack' on the group and offer the safety of his well-defended keep for the night. The feast that night has wine, roast pig, desert, etc... all of which the lord eats as well. The fine beeswax candles in the rooms given to the PC's, however, are laced with a substance that becomes a gas as the candle burns. The wine and the pig have the first stage of the poison, while the gas is the second part. Inhaling the gas, they go unconsious only to wake up on the rack in the dungeon...

 

[ph34r]

Have the PC's come to a point where they have to cross a rope bridge. Have assassins on both sides cut the ropes once the PC's reach about half way and watch them fall to their deaths. If the fall doesn't kill them, have more assassins waiting at the bottom to finish the job!

 

[caudor]

They might take the 'Vlad Tepes approach'. Have a noble invite them to a party under false pretenses. Lots of other innocent people might be invited as cover (heh, we are talking about a demon here).

Then the bad guys simply lock bar the door from the outside and torch the place. The PC will be faced with fleeing and saving themselves, or risking themselves to save a few other people. Families of those that don't survive might even blame the PCs!

Just some thoughts. Good luck with your idea!

 

[Aeolius]

Dream assassins. Have the PCs attacked while they dream, by a night hag or similar creature.

Ghostly assassins. A ghost possesses a PC then jumps off a cliff.

 

[Salad Shooter]

If they're staying at an inn and leave for a bit, only to come back to their room, rigging the door to explode might be fun.

Have them framed for something that might get them hung

Place a nasty Curse on them

Collapsing terrain

Have the assassins misguide them into the lair of some nasty nasty creature.

 

[Gothmog]

Well, you could always mail them an assassin...

I did this once, in a situation very similar to what you describe- a nobleman who knew he was marked, and hired the PCs (who were old friends) to protect him on his estate. Security was tight, magical surveilance abounded, and twice assassins had tried to break in with no luck. So one assassin got the bright idea to hide in a wine amphora (huge wine pottery jug) wearing a ring of non-detection and with another item that put him into suspended animation for 24 hours. No evil was detected, and since the human body volume:weight ratio is about the same as water, nobody detected it. The amphora was brought in with the rest of the supplies the noble had ordered, and placed in the cellar. Later that night, the nobleman decided to try some of the new wine that had been sent to him. When he got to the cellar, the assassin was already awake, and had broken out of the amphora. The noble was poisoned by the assassin, who then fled the manor, tripping off some of the external magical alarms the PCs had set up. The PCs believed he was trying to get in, and gave chase- and while they were away the noble died because no one could neutralize the poison since the PCs were chasing the fleeing assassin. It took the PCs a while to figure out what happened, and they still get riled up when the name of the assassin is mentioned.

 

[RC Hagy]

Hehehehe...

Typhoid...

...

...Baby!

Who can resist smootching the little buggers. Or something similar. If the assassins cannot get them directly do something to some one close who may be able to pass something on to the players chars.

No reason the bad guys maynot just take out a whole town in an attempt to get the pcs... town water, a taverns ale.

Get mean!


Hagy

 

[alsih2o]

(monsterX of appropriate Cr) pheremones.

sprinkle a litle ont he party horses and wait