Here's where my group is currently at:
- We are reaching the end of a campaign and we are going to be switching GM's.
- I have been playing a (secretly) evil Psion who has plans to betray the party before I bring in a new character.
- The new GM will be retiring his character.
The new GM and I have been coming up with a plan to make all of this happen:
- The plot hook for the new adventure will be the new GM's current PC getting kidnapped.
- My character's betrayal will be organizing the kidnapping and attempting to kill the rest of the party
My question is how to pull it off. I have some time to work with (both IRL and in game). My psion has access to the Faulty Memory power, a ridiculously high bluff skill, and a Hat of Disguise.
Here's what I've done so far. During rest periods I've been having 1-on-1 conversations with the various party members disguised as a recently deceased authority figure. Afterwards I use Faulty Memory to convince them that they actually saw a vision of the authority figure, and not my disguised PC. (Whether that is a valid use of the power or not is debatable, but the DM allows it for the purpose of the story). These visions are seeds I am planting in order to influence the PC's future actions during a pre-planned "betrayal encounter."
I'm having trouble planning the betrayal encounter. What can I do using the strategies I've already employed to kidnap the PC? I'd rather not just say "Bob gets kidnapped," but have it be the result of a fun, engaging encounter during which a trusted friend (my psion) turns the tables on the party.
If anyone wants to include specifics, the game is 4e. But I'm really just looking for a good strategy to accomplish the betrayal. I will worry about the mechanics once I have a solid concept in mind.
Best Answer
In a campaign I recently ran, a rogue/assassin run by one of my players betrayed the party. He only partially disguised the fact that he was an assassin, so the party was always a little wary of him. However, he had always participated in combats and done little (that they ever spotted or knew about) to betray their trust. Secretly, he stole a couple of critical artifacts from party members while they slept in camp and it was his watch. His betrayal also waited for the party to enter into a major combat (3.5e rules btw).
During the first couple of rounds of combat the party's main fighter was slain (taken to something like -25 HP). When the fighter went down, the assassin passed me a note that he was holding his action for the cleric's attempt to raise him. The party's cleric was about to cast Revenance to restore him to life when the assassin let loose his sneak attack. The cleric's spell was wasted, the fighter remained dead and the cleric had no other spell prepared to help that day. The bard was about to use the artifact (a Zagyg's token which would have provided a limited wish) to revive the fallen fighter or restore the cleric's spell, only to discover that he could not find it any longer (having been stolen by the assassin in the previous night's camp). The rest of the party fled, pausing only long enough to kill the betrayer.
A couple other ideas he had were to secretly replace the party's magical weapons with non-magical replicas. I ruled the in-game story & timeline wouldn't allow him enough time to carry out that plan, but it might be an idea for you. He also got the party's fighter to accept an intelligent, magical weapon as his main weapon. The weapon did not reveal itself and later (long after the assassin's death) took control of the fighter to carry out its own agenda, thus slipping the betrayal even further into the party and story.