The King is Dead!
Overview:
This pits your characters in a dangerous situation. They arrive to return news to the king or queen, are let in by the guard and advisor, who mentions he has a task but will join you shortly, and find the ruler dead, with a weapon that had been promised to the PCs as a reward. They know that once the advisor comes in they will be suspects number one. You could set this up so that the PCs can find enough information during the encounter they can clear their name, or this can be a start of a fugitive style arc, trying to prove their innocence. Just make sure communicate to your players if they don’t have enough information to clear their name.
Initial Description: As you arrive in the castle after your quest the guards let you into the castle. You may your way to the throne room and Argus, the advisor is again in conversation with some of the guards.
”I’ll join you in a few minutes” he says.
You walk into the throne room the doors closing behind you to be greeted by three corpses. The kings two guards have slash wounds across their chest and weapon you were promised, Troll’s Bane, is plunged into the chest of the collapsed scene. Clearly someone has set you up. You know Argus will be coming to the throne room soon and when he arrives no amount of talking will get you off the hook.
The otherwise the room looks fine. The throne sits glamorous as ever. The kings work space is covered in papers as always. There are two windows out the back door
What Really Happened:
One of the dead guards, Harold, did it. The king was about to send the PCs to the guards home village, where strange reports had been going on. The guard was involved in a cult in his home town and was here as a spy (if you didn’t want this to lead to another adventure, you could have the village people being rounded up and redistributed because of a lack of crops or something else.) When he found out the PCs were being sent in he decided to stop the plot by framing them. He paid someone to send him a message as the PCs arrived in the castle and made up a situation in the guard for Argus to deal with so he could
Clues:
Below is a list of the clues the investigators might run into. Some are included as red herrings. Every effort should be given to supply investigators with a clue if they succeed on an appropriate skill check for the area, so feel free to add clues as necessary during play.
Letters:
DC 10 Perception at the desk, DC 20 looking around the room. The king has a letter that involves them. It is a reply to the newly appointed mayor of “Ord’s Watch”. He had asked for help investigating some strange disappearances and an increasing air of tension and unease. The King had written a letter promising to send the PCs to investigate.
Amulet:
This is a red herring. The guard who murdered the king is wearing an amulet, which is the symbol of a faction known as the Crescent Blades. The Crescent Blades are a secretive group working under the king. They are a combination of spies and assassins. 20 years ago they had been involved in a rebellion against the King, but once their leader was executed the organization was taken over by royalty. Once they find this group they learn the amulet was from an agent who was killed, not the guard.
Anti-Teleportation and Invisibility Runes:
DC 10 Arcana, DC 25 General perception check - There are runes on the floor prevent magic teleporting in or teleporting out. They should be able to find this information out relatively easily talking to people when the PCs are outside of the castle if they don’t come upon it in the room.
Wounds:
DC 20 Medicine Check: The King and one of his guards have wounds that are consistent with getting attacked with a sword. The third wounds seem to be less deep on the chest and the killing wound seems to be a decisive cut on the neck, which would be difficult to do if he weren’t restrained, especially with such a long sword.
Speak with the Dead:
If the PCs speak with the dead let them know casting is an action, asking and hearing the answer to a question will be 1 action. The King and the Guard Mora know that the guard Harold killed him. But they have no idea why. If they use speak with the dead on Harold’s corpse he will blame the event on an intruder. If asked about his amulet he will say it is only a trinket, not anything important.
Locked Windows:
DC 10 Looking for exits. DC 20 general room check. The windows are closed and locked. There is only one door in and out of the room.
Special Mechanics:
Before we Run Outta Time - The players have (3 for hard, 6 for medium, 8 for easy) rounds to solve the mystery. At the beginning of each round players need to choose their actions as they have have precious little time. They can choose to work on the same thing or different thing, but they can’t wait to see how other players rolls turn out. If they do, they are standing around for one action. Make sure they have this information before they choose to do so.
Extras:
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