Min/Max Boards

Hello all,

Just looking for some ideas on my campaign. I'm looking to use my BBEG's spy abilities to gather information on the group from the inside. I'm looking for ideas and feedback, I'm hoping you all will view this as an interesting challenge in mechanics as well as crafty RP.

My campaign is Gestalt, all books but Dragon Mag allowed, with the players being level 14 currently. The BBEG is level 16 and is a changeling. "Right side" of his build is Factotum 11/Mindspy 5 and the "left side" is Changeling Rogue 1/Marshal 1/Hexblade 3/Cabinet Trickster 5/Chameleon 6. As such, he's a consumate deceiver and can easily take on the appearance and personality of any of the players.

One important point on the villain is that to date I've done nothing with him that an identically built PC couldn't pull off with preparation, so I'm trying to avoid DM fiat solutions, I want the ideas to be something a player could do. It's something I've adhered to to ensure the players have a real chance to "pierce the veil of deception".

What I'm struggling with is how I remove one player from the party (currently in a large city) without the others noticing. Once they're gone, the BBEG will replace the character and use the position to gather information, nudge the group toward his agenda, and ensure his own survival through creative application of lies before returning the original member to the party.

I'm going to pull the player aside who has been "replaced" and have them roleplay the villian (though they won't necessarily realize t's the BBEG, they'll just know they have a "special RP project"), then at a time of my choosing swap them back their real character. I'm going to return the PC to the group, but not before convincing them through roleplay they have good reason to keep secret that they've been absent. Once the PC has been returned to the party everything will go back to "normal".

My goal is more complicated, unfortunately. I'm going to do this with several of the players one at a time until they catch on or someone spills that for the last week they've been gone and if the others didn't notice it was an impostor.

What I'm really looking for here is ideas on how a PC can be removed from the group and replaced without tipping off the others. Magic (spells OR items), trickery, con games, etc. are all fair game, and if necessary the BBEG could recruit NPCs able to cast spells he can't handle personally.

Ideas so far:
1. Translocation trick followed by lockdown/stun/knockout on the player in question. The spell would be cast by a manipulated cohort (probably level 14) with DC pumped to guarantee success. The player would be persuaded their absence was necessary to share with them the shocking insight that there's an impostor in their group and in order to ensure this revelation is kept from that spy they have been pulled out and temporarily replaced so they can return soon and do something about it.
When they return they'll think they're the spy hunter and should hesitate to share their absence and new knowledge with the group.

2. Impersonate the captain of the guard in the city they just arrived at and imprison the PCs. They'll be charged with disrupting the order of things (which given recent events they ought to understand) and be told they are going to be given a chance to explain their actions. The players have been doing good things, but haven't been keeping the Crown in the loop so they ought to believe they have a better chance coming through it by cooperating and explaining what's going on. While they're in separate cells the Villain replaces one of them and then lets everyone (minus the one player) go.
Once the villain has what he wants he leaves long enough to release the captured PC and gives them an RP reason to not share that they just spent a day in jail longer than the rest of them. Probably the "spy in your midst" story but I can come up with others

3. Impersonate the guy that's been giving them resources and advice (independent NPC who's trying to stop the apocalypse the PCs unwittingly began) and pull a player aside. Put the player in touch with a minion who'll keep them busy in the city with a side project (yet to be decided) and in the meantime replace that character with the villain.

I'm looking for additional spells or magic items that might open up new methods, or clever ways I haven't come up with yet to cut one of the players out of the herd for maybe 24 hours. Any clever stories you guys can imagine that'd make the PC unwilling to share that they've been gone would also be appreciated.

Any thoughts?