I’m a first time DM with one super new player who’s character is a rogue. A few sessions ago an NPC gave this rogue a job to assassinate someone. I now wish that I had made it an investigation of his crimes rather than assassination, but the party is already at the location and several days away from the NPC, so there’s not a convenient way for a “plans have changed” message, since the npc is not an established magic user. Do I just need to live with what I’ve set up so far or would it totally confuse my player to just say “my bad, she should have asked you to investigate x instead of kill him”? I could rule that the npc is a magic user and uses Sending to communicate, but I don’t have a great justification for that in character. But I’m worried just saying I messed up and need to change what the job was will be unecessarily confusing for my player. I can go with the originally assassination, but it’s just better for the story and the character progressions I think if it’s an investigation. The rest of the party don’t know about this job so I’m less worried about them.
Or you could have a servant or some such of the target who is actually an informant for those who sent you who hands the player a secret message in a scroll.
I love the secret agent servant idea, bobberuchi. It could really be a tense moment as they try to quickly and quietly get the rogue's attention before it is too late. Maybe covering his mouth and pulling him around a corner just before he strikes.
Other options might include the patron NPC paying for a different person to cast Sending and send a coded message in thieve's cant. Like a fantasy telegraph.
Or sending a magical servant like a familiar.
Or just a messenger pigeon.
Or let them see a sympathetic side of the target so they question the mission. Maybe they read some letters and talk to some other NPCs first and find out there is more to the story. They might still try to assassinate him, but they might learn the info you want them to first. Or they might change their mind.
You get to determine how hard the target is to find or get to. You get to set how long it takes. Or where their mission takes them. The target can always escape in the night, leading them somewhere else and buying you more time to get a message to them.
The original employer could hire somebody else to cast the spell, since it only requires a location and a description of the person to which the message should be delivered.
I think your best bet is to have an urchin deliver the note, written in Thieves Cant. But, I think it would be best if it were delivered to another party member, as though it were for the whole party. Only the Rogue would be able to read it, so it would depend on them getting to look at the letter.
This has a few potentially awesome results:
1: "shoot the monk" - you are giving your Rogue the chance to use one of their least used abilities, being able to read Thieves Cant. To the rest of the party, it's just strange symbols and squiggles. 2: Uncertainty - the party recieves a mysterious letter, which may or may not get to the Rogue on time. They might still assassinate the target, and invoke the ire of the NPC. 3: Plot Hooks! - if the party get the note translated, they may learn of the assassination job. If the rogue does assassinate the target, it could be the trigger for a big effect on the world which throws the party into the adventure. If the rogue doesn't, then perhaps there should be another assassin - is the rogue being framed? Who is the target, and why might NPC have changed their mind? IS the note even from NPC, or from some counter-assassination agency protecting the target? If they try to kill the target, does it reveal that the target is in fact a vampire, lich, or werebeast?
Some good suggestions above. The coded note idea is especially good and could make sense depending on how much time the party has spent arriving at the destination.
If timing doesn't work out for a hand delivered message then the NPC probably just hired someone to send the message for them using the Sending spell. The message would obviously be pretty cryptic (maybe also encoded in thieves cant) so that the NPC sending the message wouldn't understand it. However, the PC would get the message.
"Quick message from <name>, termination of the contract is no longer desired, new information indicates that further investigation is required before making a deal, report your findings soonest."
The original employer could hire somebody else to cast the spell, since it only requires a location and a description of the person to which the message should be delivered.
The target gets wise to the attempt and flees the area. When the party goes looking, they find whatever it was you wanted them to find in the investigation. But the target is in the wind, no one saw them leave, no one knows where they might have gone. It seems like they left in a hurry (which is why the party can find documents giving them information about the target), but that was a couple days ago at least, they could be anywhere by now. Then, if/when you want the party to encounter the target again, they show up on their terms.
And of course, someone tipped them off, that's how they knew to leave. Who it was and why is another plot hook. Maybe the original NPC was setting them up. Maybe the NPC has a mole working under them.
Some good suggestions above. The coded note idea is especially good and could make sense depending on how much time the party has spent arriving at the destination.
If timing doesn't work out for a hand delivered message then the NPC probably just hired someone to send the message for them using the Sending spell. The message would obviously be pretty cryptic (maybe also encoded in thieves cant) so that the NPC sending the message wouldn't understand it. However, the PC would get the message.
"Quick message from <name>, termination of the contract is no longer desired, new information indicates that further investigation is required before making a deal, report your findings soonest."
This is super helpful, I definitely like the idea of using thieves cant in the message. Thanks!
I’m a first time DM with one super new player who’s character is a rogue. A few sessions ago an NPC gave this rogue a job to assassinate someone. I now wish that I had made it an investigation of his crimes rather than assassination, but the party is already at the location and several days away from the NPC, so there’s not a convenient way for a “plans have changed” message, since the npc is not an established magic user. Do I just need to live with what I’ve set up so far or would it totally confuse my player to just say “my bad, she should have asked you to investigate x instead of kill him”? I could rule that the npc is a magic user and uses Sending to communicate, but I don’t have a great justification for that in character. But I’m worried just saying I messed up and need to change what the job was will be unecessarily confusing for my player. I can go with the originally assassination, but it’s just better for the story and the character progressions I think if it’s an investigation. The rest of the party don’t know about this job so I’m less worried about them.
just let it ride.
Or you could have a servant or some such of the target who is actually an informant for those who sent you who hands the player a secret message in a scroll.
I love the secret agent servant idea, bobberuchi. It could really be a tense moment as they try to quickly and quietly get the rogue's attention before it is too late. Maybe covering his mouth and pulling him around a corner just before he strikes.
Other options might include the patron NPC paying for a different person to cast Sending and send a coded message in thieve's cant. Like a fantasy telegraph.
Or sending a magical servant like a familiar.
Or just a messenger pigeon.
Or let them see a sympathetic side of the target so they question the mission. Maybe they read some letters and talk to some other NPCs first and find out there is more to the story. They might still try to assassinate him, but they might learn the info you want them to first. Or they might change their mind.
You get to determine how hard the target is to find or get to. You get to set how long it takes. Or where their mission takes them. The target can always escape in the night, leading them somewhere else and buying you more time to get a message to them.
The Animal Messenger spell might work.
The original employer could hire somebody else to cast the spell, since it only requires a location and a description of the person to which the message should be delivered.
I think your best bet is to have an urchin deliver the note, written in Thieves Cant. But, I think it would be best if it were delivered to another party member, as though it were for the whole party. Only the Rogue would be able to read it, so it would depend on them getting to look at the letter.
This has a few potentially awesome results:
1: "shoot the monk" - you are giving your Rogue the chance to use one of their least used abilities, being able to read Thieves Cant. To the rest of the party, it's just strange symbols and squiggles.
2: Uncertainty - the party recieves a mysterious letter, which may or may not get to the Rogue on time. They might still assassinate the target, and invoke the ire of the NPC.
3: Plot Hooks! - if the party get the note translated, they may learn of the assassination job. If the rogue does assassinate the target, it could be the trigger for a big effect on the world which throws the party into the adventure. If the rogue doesn't, then perhaps there should be another assassin - is the rogue being framed? Who is the target, and why might NPC have changed their mind? IS the note even from NPC, or from some counter-assassination agency protecting the target? If they try to kill the target, does it reveal that the target is in fact a vampire, lich, or werebeast?
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Some good suggestions above. The coded note idea is especially good and could make sense depending on how much time the party has spent arriving at the destination.
If timing doesn't work out for a hand delivered message then the NPC probably just hired someone to send the message for them using the Sending spell. The message would obviously be pretty cryptic (maybe also encoded in thieves cant) so that the NPC sending the message wouldn't understand it. However, the PC would get the message.
"Quick message from <name>, termination of the contract is no longer desired, new information indicates that further investigation is required before making a deal, report your findings soonest."
This idea works great, as well as Sending
The target gets wise to the attempt and flees the area. When the party goes looking, they find whatever it was you wanted them to find in the investigation. But the target is in the wind, no one saw them leave, no one knows where they might have gone. It seems like they left in a hurry (which is why the party can find documents giving them information about the target), but that was a couple days ago at least, they could be anywhere by now. Then, if/when you want the party to encounter the target again, they show up on their terms.
And of course, someone tipped them off, that's how they knew to leave. Who it was and why is another plot hook. Maybe the original NPC was setting them up. Maybe the NPC has a mole working under them.
This is super helpful, I definitely like the idea of using thieves cant in the message. Thanks!
What if the assassination target is already dead, and the quest becomes to find out who else was sent on the same job and by whom?