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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7826663" data-attributes="member: 20323">Come next weekend's game, my 10th level party* intends to assassinate the evil Lizard Emperor in his forward operating base within the jungle. They know it's full of lizardfolk warriors and dinosaurs, and that his mage advisor Nataxl is actually a night hag in disguise. The night hag is a secondary target, either for assassination or subduing and forcing to craft a particular magic item for the PCs.During this week, they're devising their plan while I'm trying to prepare. Obviously, I want to include all the PCs without it being reduced to a bunch of Dexterity (Stealth) checks to see if they gain surprise or are noticed. I've attached the map I'm using for the Lizard Emperor's camp.What are the best ways to prepare and run a sneaky assassination mission?----The party includes:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lizardfolk Rogue 6 (swashbuckler)/Warlock 4 (raven queen) who's stealthy as hell, has a special bird companion, and has magic items aiding in disguise</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Grung Druid 10 (circle of the land) with the Hand of Vecna and making good use of pass without trace</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Goblin Paladin 9 (oathbreaker)/Sorcerer 1 (wild magic) who is good with undead and has a small squad of goblin allies</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Human Wizard 7 (divination)/Rogue 3 (mastermind) with an owl familiar, a crystal ball, and excellent at divination-based recon</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">NPC Artus Cimber, an archer wielding the powerful Ring of Winter</li> </ul>----Some notes I've made so far...<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Players will want to recon the heck out of the forward base. I'll need a bunch of detail, but I'm concerned my players will go overboard here (I've seen them do it before) and then there's less time for executing the plan, and the rest of the session can feel rushed. So maybe I can come up with some kind of recon check which determines how much recon they can get through magic/familiars/scouting before realizing they're pushing too much and risk getting discovered if they try any more...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What if getting noticed is like the "click" of a trap, and then the player gets to react? For instance, the guard might only have noticed an unusual shadow or heard something or be about to turn their head. So the players get a reaction to save themselves, if they think fast.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Creating opportunities to hide should be important – extinguishing lights, distracting patrols, controlling weather, taking down and replacing a key sentry, etc. Successfully create the opportunity to hide? OK, you're hidden, no need to roll dice.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stealth checks should be an option of last resort – if you need to make a Stealth check something has gone wrong and you're at immediate risk of discovery / the alarm being raised.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Though perhaps an initial group Stealth check (averaged) determine how close to the heart of the forward base the PCs get without being spotted. So perhaps I design 3 concentric rings of security – the outer camp (DC 10), the mid-camp (DC 20), and the inner camp (DC 30) – and their group Stealth check (averaged) determines how many they bypass. Though based on their Stealth scores and pass without trace it's pretty clear that an averaged result would be the mid-camp.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Because my party has scry + teleport tactics at their disposal, think of some advanced defenses vs. magical infiltration. Line of sight to the center of the base might be limited to prevent teleporting in. A lantern of revealing being used to scan for invisible creatures or scrying sensors (though its range sucks).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Make a random table with snippets of conversation – some humorous and some useful – for PCs to overhear. Stealth-based video games seem to do this well. And every time I've seen a player running a sneaking PC who comes across unaware enemies, they always want to eavesdrop.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Reinterpret Inspiration as a flashback mechanism to allow a player to say "Aha! But I remember when I…" and then describe some bit of planning their PC did that the players never actually planned for. This is borrowed from the Leverage RPG, but I really like it for D&D where plans rarely seem to survive actual play.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Think up several complications/twists, around one per PC, which I can spring to keep the players on their toes or use when something goes dramatically wrong.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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