Need help with an NPC theft scenario

[Oryan77]

I doubt my players will ever see this post, but just in case, stay out guys

People here always seem to have good ideas about dealing with situations, so I thought I'd ask for some help. I know campaign specific questions don't get many responses, but I'm desperate and am hoping someone will read this & actually want to help give me ideas. I've been trying to problem solve this for 2 weeks.

I'm trying to begin this major quest I've come up with by using a PC's (player A) arch nemesis as the hook. I ran a published side quest where the PC's found a Book of Vile Darkness. Afterwards I decided to reveal to them that it's actually a major artifact (I won't go into detail) and I need the villain NPC to get her hands on it and escape. This will begin a plane hopping chase throughout several adventures.

Most of my old group disbanded due to R/L, and I now have a new group. The player (player A) with the BoVD is on the first layer of Baator (or Hell) travelling to the 2nd layer. The new players will be hired by the NPC villain to track down and "capture" player A (she really means to kill player A). The new players think the NPC is the victim who just wants to capture the "bad guy" that screwed her over. The confrontation will take place in the wastelands on Baator.

The whole point of this setup is to introduce the new players to this villain and slowly develop a hatred towards the NPC during their hunt for player A. Also, I need the BoVD to end up in this NPC's hands and for her to escape so I can begin the chase across the planes later on when the PC's are told it was a dangerous major artifact.

I just can't figure out how the NPC will steal the book and escape. I've come up with a few scenarios, but then I can't justify why she would just steal the book without killing player A. I'm trying to come up with a way for the NPC to "try" to kill player A and still end up with the book. I also can't figure out how the NPC will learn about this books existence. It's ok if she knows it's a BoVD (a minor artifiact), she'll still want to steal it. Later on she'll learn what it really is. I've thought of everything for this adventure beginning right after she steals the book, but I keep redoing this scenario & realizing later it still has flaws.

So what I'm asking for help on are ideas for the following scenarios:

1. How will the NPC learn about the BoVD?
2. How will the NPC steal the book and escape with it?
3. How can I accomplish this without killing player A?

I apologize if this doesn't make sense or if I haven't given enough info to go on. At this stage, the campaign is pretty straight forward and adjustable. If you need to know more details, I'll gladly post more. The party consists of a cleric, sorcerer, fighter, & monk, all lvl 6, and the NPC is a lvl 9 Sorcerer that can hide, move silently, and turn invisible.

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

[Saeviomagy]

1. How will the NPC learn about the BoVD?
2. How will the NPC steal the book and escape with it?
3. How can I accomplish this without killing player A?

First up: The NPC travels with the team doing the capturing. Once A is captured, they just take the book and walk off. Character A gets no chance to explain until the book has been taken. Since the book is an artifact, you COULD have it force it's bearer to lie, or something similar - enough that while the book is in possession that character A cannot warn the party. You could also make it intelligent and force ego checks...
You could also have your NPC persuade the party cleric to cast silence on one or more party members, on the grounds that their target is a spellcaster. Having a silenced fighter or monk grapple a spellcaster is an awesome tactic in general, and has the neat side effect that the target won't be able to communicate with their captors for a bit.
Second: The NPC has a reason not to kill character A. A good one would be that spilling the blood of an innocent on the book activates it in some way, and the NPC doesn't want that to happen. Or character A is a family member. Or the NPC just doesn't like killing. Or fancies character A. Or hopes to twist character A to the dark side eventually. OR is actually a genuinely good guy who's been led very, very far astray.

The party consists of a cleric, sorcerer, fighter, & monk, all lvl 6, and the NPC is a lvl 9 Sorcerer that can hide, move silently, and turn invisible.

They had a scroll of contact other plane, used it and contacted an evil entity who lied to them enough to push their own hidden agenda. That way once your party FINDS the NPC, you have a backup bad guy.

 

[AuraSeer]

1. How will the NPC learn about the BoVD?

Any major artifact is always a Big Deal, and powerful beings will be keeping track of what happens to it. NPCs who are looking for the book could get plenty of information from summoned outsiders, or from divination spells like contact other plane. You could even invoke divine intervention, if the NPC has ties to a church or cult whose deity is interested in the book's fate.

2. How will the NPC steal the book and escape with it?
3. How can I accomplish this without killing player A?

I'm thinking flesh to stone. The target becomes incapacitated but is not actually dead, and he doesn't even lose a level when restored. Normally the spell affects all carried gear, but a major artifact should clearly be immune to such puny mortal magic.

Escaping afterward is easy. That's what teleport and plane shift are for.

No matter what the NPC plans, remember there's a possibility that he will fail. The players may outsmart you, or they may just get lucky with the dice. Resist the temptation to make up new rules and force the NPC to win, because that's not fun. That kind of railroading turns the players into spectators instead of participants, which would be committing one of the cardinal sins of DMing.

If the NPC is unable to steal the book in his first attempt, have him teleport away to make further plans. He can scry on the PCs from a place of safety, and plan another theft attempt for when he is better prepared.

 

[Oryan77]

Once A is captured, they just take the book and walk off.

Second: The NPC has a reason not to kill character A. A good one would be that spilling the blood of an innocent on the book activates it in some way, and the NPC doesn't want that to happen. Or character A is a family member. Or the NPC just doesn't like killing. Or fancies character A. Or hopes to twist character A to the dark side eventually. OR is actually a genuinely good guy who's been led very, very far astray.

They had a scroll of contact other plane, used it and contacted an evil entity who lied to them enough to push their own hidden agenda. That way once your party FINDS the NPC, you have a backup bad guy.

This NPC is stubborn and cocky. She had an affair with player A's father, then killed him. Player A has foiled the NPC's evil deeds before, and destroyed her guild. So the NPC really wants revenge. She'd enjoy killing Player A more than just capturing. The new players just think the NPC wants to capture Player A.

You could even invoke divine intervention, if the NPC has ties to a church or cult whose deity is interested in the book's fate.

I'm thinking flesh to stone. The target becomes incapacitated but is not actually dead, and he doesn't even lose a level when restored. Normally the spell affects all carried gear, but a major artifact should clearly be immune to such puny mortal magic.

Escaping afterward is easy. That's what teleport and plane shift are for.

Both of you guys mentioned using another entity...that might be the way to go. Behind the scenes, this NPC is actually working for a Lich who will be the one that finds out the books true nature (can turn him into a god). I might just have to alter the story so this Lich already knew the PC's found the book and sent the NPC there to get it.

You're idea for using flesh to stone might actually work also. Maybe the NPC could have made a deal with a devil beforehand and promised him fresh mortals to keep as he wishes (the new party), along with a pretty statue (player A) to decorate his home if he helps her. That way she isn't doing the James Bond villain cliche where she assumes player A is gone forever by her flesh to stone spell (instead, she'll think player A is gone forever because the devil has her). This actually works perfectly also because I planned to have an encounter with a devil that wants to make a deal with the new party. It would make it much easier for him to get the party to meet him later (as planned) by turning player A back into flesh if they all agree to meet him on the second layer (which they would've made a deal to meet him on the 2nd layer anyway in the original encounter). It would also make sense for the NPC to have brought along a plane shift scroll also for a fast escape from Baator.

The only question now is: How does this lich find out that the PC's have the book? This lich lives in Sigil. The PC's found the book on a Prime world and ended up in Hell soon after. They've only had the book for a few days.

Thanks a ton for responding. It's helped out a lot!

 

[Saeviomagy]

The only question now is: How does this lich find out that the PC's have the book? This lich lives in Sigil. The PC's found the book on a Prime world and ended up in Hell soon after. They've only had the book for a few days.

Divination magic. It solves all ills. It's pretty easy for a high level wizard-type to find out ANYTHING he wants to know, even if there's only one person in the universe who knows it. Look at legend lore, contact other plane, commune and the like. Guaranteed information, no risk of detection. Then when you want an agent, use a dream spell to contact someone appropriate.

As for not killing him? She wants him to suffer. Where better than in hell? Slap a curse on him or something instead. Bestow curse is great. A nasty curse would be "may your screams of agony ever be delicious to the ears of fiendkind". For the duration (which is permanent...), every fiend he encounters wants to, just once, hear him scream for mercy. They don't know why, but they do. And then take away his ticket home, so he's stuck in hell for a while.