Help designing a heist?


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Presumably the BBEG doesn't do nothing except sitting in his house brooding and plotting - so have a think about what his general daily and weekly schedule is, write it down, and then if the players try to find out, allow them to pursue appropriate leads to find out some or all of it.
 
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Snap! Players needed an excuse to send an NPC out the other day. They decided some sort of irresistible invitation was needed, but couldn't think of anything enticing enough in the area.

A little light seeding - a fire near the local wildlife bazaar to throw up ideas, a meeting with their old chef mate and a request for a loan to remind the players they're fairly loaded - and they decided to set up an adventure holiday company catering for the rich and unpleasant.

The NPC received a complimentary invitation to spend 48 hours evicting peasants from their crofts, preparing a delicious looking but vile meal for kids who burst into tears, putting glue on pensioners' seats without them noticing and so on.

Half the players welcomed the NPC and others, while the rest went raiding her pad. The players running the events realised they could off the NPC once she'd 'relaxed', but she was having such a good time that she asked, then demanded, to be allowed to invest in a nationwide chain of adventure camps for the rich and demented.

No idea what's next, but it's a sweet balance right now, as the players have lots of choices/ opportunities to chew on and text about over the week, and there's always the chance the NPC will get wise to them somewhere down the line.
 

You say the BBEG is a local mayor ... so unless there's a timing factor, the group would likely await the next available community meeting to ensure he (and obviously bodyguards) would be away from the manor. Such meetings can drag on for several hours, esp if they have hirlings ensure lengthly debate on an item or three.

Getting into the house itself remains an issue, since the mayor is unlikely to leave his home completely unguarded, but perchance a hired street urchin can gain access via errand to retrieve a forgotten document the major needs for the ongoing meeting ... distracting the onsite guard(s) long enough for someone to slip inside and subsequently find safe entrance for the balance of the party.
OTOH whats the community's crime rate? Security is only a concern for those who dont feel their community is safe so he might only have his personal bodyguard(s) ... whose role is primary "companionship/dirty deeds" moreso than actual protection.
 

Help plan a heist

So a couple of questions here.

1) Is there a sewer system and if so an alternative means of getting inside the place?

2) If the bad guy is some kind of cleric then it should have additional defences which leads me to ask whether your players are going to runa paladin after all thats a serious amount of bad stuff being exuded from there, even underground it should be detectable.

3) Ambush those bad guys replace them with heroes in disguise and the person they're chasing is actually another hero and return to the mansion so they can be let in and cut loose!

4) Have the rogue or the player with the best underworld contacts learn whether the mayor has links to the thieves guild if not then find a suitable target he would have interest in say real estate and set upa rumour that suggest the owner needs money and lure the bad guy from the mansion on the pretext of making said deal say through an intermediary who of course is late to the meeting, set it oppoite town in a location he hould feel safe to visit.

5) Whilst he's busy killing said high level party go find what you're after and use the back window to escape before he's finished!
After all if they're THAT high level it will take him a while finishing things after all!

6) Have a look at what equipment they have look into having large numbers of rodents, bugs or whatever found in the kitchen but not before letting a rumour spread of some infestation in the area, simply have them learn that the other problem areas was sorted by a firm of quiet and well mannered people with a talent in pest control and introduce them as checking into the problem and will clear the area for free since they're being paid to do a neighbouring site and the pr will do their firm good!

7) Wait for him to go out for that regular meeting of the town council, ambush a group of his employees heading out and return whilst he's out and then try and stealthily locate and obtain the said item whilst the others keep the rest of the guards busy with a couple of escape points one used to decoy pursuers and the other needs to be elaborate enough to escape scrutiny say finding a link to the sewers underground or a escape tunnel after all the bad guy will have an escape tunnel if he has his own underground church of vecna after all!
 

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