Thieves, Spies, and Assassins
Hello all and welcome to Grave Plots, where I try to provide you new plot ideas and adventure hooks for your game. This week I would like to discuss adventures for rouges, bandits, thieves, and any other sneaky character. These sorts of adventures are great for all rouge parties as well as for when you want to let your party’s rouge bask in the spotlight for a while (like right after a dungeon full of constructs and undead, where your rouge was stuck doing 1d4+1 all day). Below are three potential suggestions for stealth-themed adventures.
1) They Steal the Brooch!
In this adventure the PCs are hired by a local shady merchant to steal the ruby brooch of Lady Elena Valiuer, or, if you prefer, they saw the brooch from afar and just decided to take it for themselves. Either way, the PCs find the lady and her brooch extremely well guarded, for she is already aware that someone may try to steal it from her. There are a couple of ways to go about this one: perhaps the PCs decide to wine and dine the lady, become involved with her somehow and get close enough to steal her jewel. Or maybe they decide to hack and slash their way through the lady’s defenses to take it. From there you could have the merchant double-cross them or send his forces after them for snatching his prize away from him.
2) The Treasure Keep
One of my personal favorite adventures ever was a keep nearly devoid of monsters but full of traps and loot. In this plot the PCs hear rumors of an old stronghold with a terrific treasure; however, no one has ever managed to retrieve it before, and rumors of a terrifying dragon living in the ruin have kept people from trying for some time. The PCs or their benefactor decide it's time for another try. Now this adventure can be set up so when the PCs arrive they have to navigate their way through a trap-riddled, cleverly designed dungeon to retrieve treasure—no dragon, no monsters, just traps and puzzles. But maybe you don't play those kinds of games—maybe after all those traps there is a dragon. Or perhaps rival thieves or mercenaries sneak around in the PCs wake in order to take the PCs hard-earned reward for themselves.
3) The Assassination
The PCs have been hired by a mysterious organization to kill a wealthy and powerful political figure, Baron Percival Nevar. The Baron is well-guarded and a mage to boot, so the task won’t be easy. Whether you choose to make this an infiltration mission, a direct assault or something else is up to you. Another way to go is to have the Baron hire the PCs to protect him from assassins, requiring either that they infiltrate the ranks of the enemy or stand guard at his manor to ensure that danger never gets close enough to harm him.
Well, that's it for this week’s Grave Plots, until next week let me wish all the best in your gaming experience.