Killing a NPC slowly

[Dreaddisease]

I have a situation where the party will be encountering a high level warrior who is in the battle of his life. They will be arriving just as the Bad Guy gives a blow that will end the NPC's life. But I want the group to arrive, have the bad guy flee, but not be able to heal the warrior in time, but be able to talk to him for a few seconds. I have the weapon to do it but I am afraid that with the clerical spells that the death will be averted.

The Weapon:
Short Spear of Deep Wounding +2

When you hit successfully you can attempt to drive the spear into the creature with a opposed strength check (add half of the armor bonus to the roll for the defender). With t he spear in the person they are unable to remove it themselves and take 2d4+2 points of subdual damage and 1d4+2 points of actual damage. Removing the spear causes the greatest damage doing 3d10+2 points of damage. Afterwards the open wound continues to deal 2 points of damage per round unless treated. Heal check DC 35. Any Cure spell just subsides the damage for 1/min per caster level. But the wound opens again. Heal spell will cure it completely.

(Don't worry, its cursed too)


But here is the kicker. I don't want an unprepared party to be able to just cast a couple spells, and be able to save the guys life. But I do want him to tell them some important information through this guy. So that is why it is set that way.

Besides this elaborate scenario, do any of you have suggestions to have an NPC die slowly enough to give his/her dying words?

 

[Ravellion]

A delayed blast fireball?

Rav

 

[Brisk-sg]

I don't think you NEED any rules to handle a slow death. Just keep him conscious until you don't need him to be anymore.

This is what I have always done in the past in such situations. My players have never had a problem with it.

And if you are not allowing raise dead and other resurrection spells, then I would probally allow the players to have "last words" and what not when there characters die.

-Josh

 

[Sejs]

Actually, a number of hits from a normal wounding weapon can garner the same effect, assuming they can't break out a cure spell in time. An enemy with Arterial Strike can also pull this one off, they just need to be able to sneak attack,.. handy if you want the villaian to be a blackguard, or have a blackguard lieutenant.


Alternately, maybe this guy had a few levels of barbarian, and his rage is just about to wear off, and he's so low on life that when the con bonus goes away he'll die. And he knows it.

Edit: wait, I'm a doorknob. Combine the two! Bleeding wounds -and- a rage that's about to drop. Cover your bases both ways.

 

[Victim]

This is where I miss old school wounding weapons. Damage from those bad boys had to healed naturally, and cure spells only stopped the extra bleeding damage.

 

[Bonedagger]

A magical costumized poison.

Maybe made specifically to kill that NPC.

 

[Umbran]

I've got a possibility - one contingent on the departing bad-guy being pretty hefty. Massive damage - PHB, pg 129.

If the NPC has taken 50 points of damage in one shot, and failed his fortitude save, then he's not dying from the actual damage. Cure spells won't fix the problem. Nobody ever said that death by massive damage must be instantaneous.

Mind you, this means you need slightly different optimization. That spiffy woulnding spear isn't the thing for the job. Spear is good - it's got a x3 critical. If the enemy is really buffed up, and the spear is magical, 50 points becomes rare, but not impossible. Put some fortitude-damage poison on that spear, to make the guy fail the save, and voila!

 

[Xarlen]

While I agree with Umbral, but remember, you're the DM.

The badguy could've just had the best luck of his life, and critted with superdamage from a flaming burst weapon. He could've slipped some poison that negates healing.

Massive damage would do the trick, something like cutting the man's leg off, or something that would cause shock, or beyond just 'patching together'. Such as drowning on his own blood, the obliteration of an important organ, something that would require a Heal spell or regeneration.

 

[Ravellion]

Re: Re: Killing a NPC slowly

A delayed blast fireball?

I thought my solution was more elegant. With some luck you might get a PC in there as well:

Disabled (o hp) NPC: Thank god you've arrived! BlahBlahBlahBlahBlahBlahBlahBlah, BlahBlahBlah, BlahBlah!
BOOOM!!!!!
PCs, afterregathering their senses: By Heironeous' fist! WTF happened!?



Rav

 

[kenjib]

I must say that the title of this thread seems rather...umm...deviant...when taken out of context.

How about some kind of poison? Initial effect is debilitation, secondary death. That gives the NPC a full minute to give his last words.

What level are the player characters? If they are high enough to cast neutralize poison you can make it a magical poison -- the foul corrupting taint of a dark god. It requires remove curse, then neutralize poison. I doubt the players have remove curse already memorized. Even if they did, would they even think of trying that? Right? Right. That'll put the fear into them when they see that they can't heal the poison and consider that they might be facing this same enemy later. It also gives them a chance to discover what the cure is and prepare so that you don't have to kill off the players ruthlessly using the same technique.