kidnap scenario

[Gilladian]

Lately, my PCs have ticked off a high level wizard. They've interfered with his plans several times, and "stolen" his belongings (ie looted his henchmen).

He wants to scare the PCs, and force them to quit their interfering. He plans to kidnap a family member as a warning. He WANTS and EXPECTS the PCs to come after the family member and rescue him. The point is NOT to kill the family member, but rather to show the PCs that continuing to mess with him will only get them deeper into trouble.

If you were said wizard, what sorts of challenges would you put in front of the PCs as they attempted a rescue?

My PC's are almost 9th level, a small party of wizard, druid, rogue and NPC fighter. They are a bit underpowered and only the wizard is a combat-machine.

I want a challenging rescue, with a clear warn-off (YES, I do expect that it will only tick them off further, but the wizard doesn't!), not a TPK.

All ideas welcome. I've got some, but they're pretty mundane at this point.

 

[Andre]

Not quite what you've planned, but you might consider having the wizard contact professionals for this. - after all, I would guess that kidnapping is not his area of expertise. He could reach out to the local mob and request their help with a "negotiation". The mob makes clear to the characters that it's in their best interests to come to an accomodation with the "client". If the characters agree, then nothing happens. If they don't...well, we've all seen the scene in the godfather with the horse's head.

Since you don't want to be lethal to the npc, you could just have the mobsters hint at what "could" happen. For example, the family member relates a story about a very polite young man who helped her out in some way and seemed to know a bit about the related character (sending the message that the mob can get to the family member whenever they want). Excalation could include getting the family member fired from their job, or burning down the family member's barn or shop, as appropriate - no one gets hurt, this time, but...

If you go this route, make the face guy very civilized. Maybe he refers to himself as an ombudsman or negotiator, someone who makes his living "resolving disputes". Depending on the characters' response, the mob may continue to excalate things (if the wizard pays enough), or they may decide there's too much visibility and back off, or they may simply arrange for the two parties to meet in a situation where only one is likely to leave (alive, that is).

Then again, maybe the characters frame the wizard, making it look like he's been messing with mob operations...that could be fun too.