What will my NPC do next?

[AddizAbeba]

Hiya all,

If you are playing wtih my group (Woensdagavond bij Eddy), stop reading now or spoil it for yourself!











I've got an evil wiz6 NPC who was sent out by his master (Wiz 15+) to retrieve a book from a dungeon. Unfortunately for him, my player characters took the book before him. They think it's just a spellbook, but it actually contains a puzzle which gives clues to find some pretty nice artifact (or to other books which give these hints, I havent' decided yet).

The wizard thinks the party has it, because they cleared out the dungeon before him (they basically occupied it). He already diverted their attention (setting hydra loose upon hapless farmers nearby) and burglarized their home, but did not find it (Party Wiz has it in her Heward's).

What could he do now? I was thinking about getting the mage (he thinks the mage has it, because it is a mages' spellbook) alone (is easy: fake 'summons by wizards guild'), hurting her badly, and then taking the book off her, but I don't like the fact that the mage would be alone, or I would have to plan a one-on-one session (there are three other players), which would be suspicious, of course.

Does any DM out there have another idea for the Wiz to try to get this book off the party? He does not know for sure who has it, and his funds are too limited to hire a band of thugs. I also need rationalisation why he would not try and kill the party (one by one if need be). He just needs this book, the party is as of yet not interesting enough.

Hmmm.... Idea comes up: he plants the hint of the book containing more than spells, and party goes around trying to solve the puzzle for him... could end in nice confrontation at artifact-site!
Thank guys!
If you have more/better ideas, please feel free!

 

[Dirigible]

Perhaps he calls in a favour, and gets a doppleganger / master of disguise-type to infiltrate the party, walk up to the mage and say "Hi, can I hold you spellbooks for a second?". Well, something slightly more subtle than that.

A simple burglary comes to mind. Hire one low level rogue, break in wile the PCs are asleep somwhere.

 

[Thanee]

Well, he could take hostages and force the party to surrender the book in exchange (having a scroll of dimension door handy to escape).

bye
Thanee

 

[AddizAbeba]

A simple burglary comes to mind. Hire one low level rogue, break in wile the PCs are asleep somwhere.

The mage can do the burglary mostly himself. Gaseous Form is such a nice spell; you can get inside anything. That is how he did the first burglary.
But you meant to just try and get the book off their hands while they are sleeping by hiring a low-level rogue. Gives the party also a good opportunity to find out what's going on, since they don't know yet.

How do you get something out of a HHH when you don't know what's in there? We had that problem before. You should know what's in there to get it out, so I guess just 'wishful thinking' will do the trick in this case .

 

[AddizAbeba]

Well, he could take hostages and force the party to surrender the book in exchange (having a scroll of dimension door handy to escape).

Sounds good.

The thing is, I want the party to become aware that someone is after the book (for as now without knowing the reason), preferrably without losing it. I also hope my NPC wiz6 will survive. This encounter sounds a bit dangerous (He took Improved Init when levelled to 6, but most of the party has that feat as well).

Addiz

 

[Three_Haligonians]

Well, he could also help the party out with some side-quest they are working on. I mean, he's trashed the rooms and had no luck, so he knows one of them must have it on their person. Maybe he decides to infultrate the group for a bit, help them with their latest adventure, so that, by being close to them, he can descern the exact location of the book. Once he discovers it, he may wait until he has a good oportunity to take it. For instance, maybe in the next dungeon crawl, he manages to icolate the character with the book from the rest of the group. That way, while they are busy fighting off whatever big bad, she can get stuck fighting off the wizard.

Just a thought.

T from Three Haligonians

edit: this also lets your wizard know that the book is in the HHH, so he can pull it out, if needs be

 

[Siegfried Niemand]

Now, it seems to me that all of the above ideas may quickly draw undue attention towards this book from the party. So, unless the evil wizard decides to let the PCs figure out the book's secrets and lead him to its treasures, he may want to follow a more subtle course. You say his funds are too limited to hire a gang of thugs, but could he afford to simply buy the book? Or, perhaps, to simply ask to purchase a/some spells from the party wizard? Then he can copy everything he needs from the book, and leave the PCs none the wiser.

 

[The Forsaken One]

altijd grappig om weer eens nederlands tussen het engels hier tegen te komen

 

[VirtualWizard]

Have the NPC approach the party and inquire about the book. The NPC will explain that he is researching the spellbook writer and heard that the party may have some information. (He will need to come up with a plausible background story.)
If they mention the book, he should make an offer of money to study it, but not keep it (wink, wink). If they hand it to him, he will say that he needs to have a quite place to study it and when he is alone make his escape.
If the party doesn't mention the book, he should still make an offer for any information about the spellbook writer. What party can resist money without risk

 

[CombatWombat51]

What funds does the NPC have, and are you willing to fudge them a little? What's the wizard going to get out of the book? What does the wizard know about the party? Does/could he have any allies? All that is important to figure out his tactics.

If you want the PCs to keep the book, but have to fight for it, I would really suggest the tried and true method of fighting through henchmen. Hire a rogue to simply steal it.

If the PC's are generally trusting and/or greedy hire someone to offer a spell exchange with the PC wizard. Doesn't even have to be a wizard, and certainly not the main wizard. Then "Oh, you have the book of Blah Blah, I'll pay handsomely to copy its knowledge."

A simple mugging, preferably in a city with lots of bystanders, could work.

If they're not dilligent or effective in taking a nightly watch, a thief in the night could work, too. Of course, the thief has to fail a MS roll, or something, so that the PC's catch the thief.

Without more information on the party and NPC it can be hard to come up with a sneaky plan that uses all available resources.