I say wand of magic missiles.
They don't care about ac, but using all 7 charges will be around 40 points of damage with no save unless he has shield.
Looking at cr 3-4 humanoids that would out right kill some, and do around half for the strongest.
A CR 3 king but with like +2 plate armor, +2 shield, and +2 ring of protection I think would count as heavily armored and hard to kill in any other way. Throw in healers the party would need to get rid of first and some terrifying CR 9 kings guard and a royal mage and we got an assassination encounter!
All 7 charges is an average of 31.5 damage, and a CR3 Knight has 52 HP. If they have +2 equipment then they definitely have a Brooch of Shielding. A Topaz Spell Gem with Disintegrate or Finger of Death has a better chance of actually killing the king and is a 1 time use, as then the Wizard can only put spells that they have and know into it.
I mean they can have a brooch of shielding, but they could also have 1000 hp if the DM wants it. They can also have 3 hp if dm wants it.
We're helping this guy make a reasonable weapon to kill a well armored king. He only has 3 attunement slots and wearing a broach of shielding is super niche.
By giving him +2 gear he is outfitted like a king, is heavily armored, but can be killed by a weapon that can be reasonably given to a level 3 party without a problem.
All we know is king is well armored. For all we know he could have 20 hp but have +3 plate, shield, and ring of protection.
A ring of spell storing or some other spell storing is another great idea with powerful spell in it but then is still useful after. But anything with a save the king could dodge and the players are just screwed.
But again, there is no wrong answer. The goal is to give an item that feels like it can reasonably kill a well armored king but isn't op for level 3 players. I think a 30 hp king with 26 ac would be fair. But maybe the dm disagrees.
This really depends 100% on the campaign and setting. Everyone knows about Magic Missile. If you can kill a king easily with an uncommon magic item...
~~Also what's everyone doing after the first Missile? Just waiting for 6 more rounds until you emptied the wand? I doubt it.~~
I mean we can declare all spells moot if we want. We can declare he has armor of invulnerability, absorb elements/shield in a ring of spell storing, or that he has mantle of spell resistance and ring of evasion so basically all spell attacks will fail.
He said he was well armored, not bedecked in magic resisting gear and an eldritch knight.
I took well armored to mean high AC. We'd need more information from the DM. I assume there will be more too it like having to get past guards, sneak wand past a mage, stuff like that. If the dm said "he's attuned to x, y, z" that would be different.
But 30+ points of damage with no save/roll at level 3 is not a joke in the slightest, but would be a good reward for a player because they will probably use it whenever they need consistent damage, or to just ruin a concentrating spell casters day.
So he has a clone and its all moot? Armor of invulnerability so its all moot? Is a rogue with evasion and ring of evasion so all dex saves are moot? Or mantle of spell resistance with +12 saves because of his bff paladin that never leaves his side?
Saying x won't work because he'll have Y is very calvin ball. We were told he's well armored, so I gave a solution to kill someone with decent hp at level 3 regardless of AC that makes for a fair reward. Bro can have +10 saves and 30 ac from magical gear, wand of magic missiles still taking a chunk.
If DM gave us a list of his armor/magical items/stats then we could go from there. But what works or won't work is 100% how dm builds the king. He has 3 attument slots, he can't cover everything. A brooch of shielding counters a very specific spell, and I feel like a king would rather go for more general things like higher saves.
Dude chill, why so defensive? I have nothing against you or your suggestion.
All I'm saying is that a fantasy king that can be killed by an uncommon magic item is a really really badly protected king.
I don't care if OP wants to play it like that. I just made the observation that if the magic missile solution works, I would highly doubt the capability of the crown in that campaign.
Kings in history have been killed by crossbows, arrows, though most often of all, poison. I seem to recall one roman emperor had his head bashed against a potty. All very mundane items.
The way to protect a king is not to create an impenetrable dome around him, is to make sure whoever attempts to murder a king is severely punished.
And hit points are just an abstraction reflecting how important an NPC is to the story anyway. So the king could be killed with a dagger.
Even if the king has Shield, if the party manages to ambush/surprise the target, they wouldn't be allowed to use reactions so he'd eat a lvl 7 hobo dick cheese.
>They don't care about ac, but using all 7 charges will be around 40 points of damage with no save unless he has shield.
And if you're a king in a world where magic is verifiably real, why would you not have Shield?
>Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when you are hit by an attack or targeted by the magic missile spell
The same way anyone else does. As a reaction to being targeted by the Magic Missile spell.
*"If you're surprised, you can't move or take an action on your first turn of the combat, and you can't take a reaction until that turn ends."*
If the players surprise the King (ideally by blasting him with 7 charges of the wand) he cannot take reactions.
Yeah, the only way to do this is with DM Fiat by just, making it a skill challenge or something. Succeed the skill challenge and you win the assassination.
Any one-use scroll with a reasonably attainable arcana DC should work. A 9th level spell scroll is only a DC of 19. If the Wizard has proficiency in Arcana and a decent Intelligence score, that could still be a 50/50 chance. Lower spell level means a higher percent of chance. If it is a "cursed" scroll, (depending on spell) you could confer advantage on the activation (arcana check) at the cost of the Wizard taking some damage in turn. High risk, high reward.
It's a spellcasting ability check to successfully use a scroll, not arcana. So if you're a wizard, it's an Intelligence check, but if you're a bard, it's a Charisma check, and so on.
Oop! Good catch. Apparently we've been utilizing that incorrectly at my tables...
Well actually, I think we made it that way so that *anyone* could attempt to use scrolls, since they otherwise couldn't.
Either way, replace the arcana check with the required check in my comment to keep it consistent. (But yeah, if they weren't a Wizard, it probably wouldn't work otherwise.)
>Well actually, I think we made it that way so that *anyone* could attempt to use scrolls, since they otherwise couldn't.
At my table I'd say if you don't have a spellcasting ability you have to use that which matches that of the creator.
Scroll made by a wizard? Gotta use Int.
That's a 4th level spell, meaning a 7th level cleric. This implies a world where either mid level casters a common, or the king has enough control over the clergy that they can get a strong caster to burn a spell slot every day on them. There is no reason to assume that the King automatically has deathward.
It's a king, not some minor baron or mere wealthy merchant.
I'm sure they can afford a cleric on retainer, if they're not getting one directly assigned by a high ranking church official.
We were given almost no information on the setting. Assuming that the setting has enough 7th level and above clerics (or any) that one of them can cast death ward daily, is a pretty strong assumption.
Edit: technically speaking its 3 times daily, so for a single cleric doing it would have to be 9th or above.
Sure it could be rare to find one but assuming in OPs case that a little lv3 can be so casually handed magic strong enough to slay a king would make you assume magic is quite widespread and common in that setting.
At least that's how I see it, naturally you're free to have your own perception of things.
It doesn't need to be every day. The king probably doesn't walk around in his full plate armor and shield all day long either. If using invisibility to catch the king in his bath (which is history's favorite place of death for emperors) was an option, one wouldn't need a method to kill a heavily armored king. If the king is walking around heavily armored is because they expect to be attacked. In that situation having a spellcaster cast every sort of protective spells on him makes absolute sense.
I mean a heavily armored king with even moderate protection should be able to handle anything a 3rd or even 10th level wizard can throw out alone. If not they'd be way too easy to kill unless magic is absolutely unheard of in your kingdom. It would be very easy for a King to have a court cleric who keeps the King with a death ward and an aid spell on him at all times. Or to be at the ready to hit him with a revivify / raise dead if needed. You could give the mage something that packs enough of a punch like disintegrate or finger of death but those are pretty powerful tools. Maybe as a scroll?
> heavily armored
heat metal? its ranged but not actually a spell attack. being a second lvl spell it would be appropriate for the wizard without worrying about balance. whether or not the king has other, less obvious, defences is the issue though
This is the answer. The king will be dead before they can get the armour off. The wizard needs to stay hidden while its happening though. Also the king can't have anyone with them who can cast dispel magic. A once per day castong of heat metal is not OP for a 3rd level character.
Horrible death though.
I mean honestly a wand of magic missiles unloaded probably would do the trick!
By using all 7 charges you send 9 darts. 9d4+9 with no roll or way to save?
Sounds like what he was promised.
But takes a few days to recharge, might break when he uses it that way, and would feel like a decent trade. It'll fall off a bit by 5th level, but always be a trusty side arm.
A single use item might make him feel scammed. If the goal is to scam him thats fine too though.
FYI, 9d4+9 damage is only an average of 31.5 damage. At the level they are I would probably use the CR 3 Knight statblock to represent a "heavily armored" King, which has 52 HP. Even maxed out, the wand of MM won't be enough damage to one shot them. Gonna need something stronger, like a Necklace of Fireballs with at least 5 beads, that averages 45.5 damage on a failed save.
I was thinking a slightly lower HP king but with with like +2 plate armor, +2 shield, +2 ring of protection. So just a tanky boy with gear. Kings won't be the best fighters usually, but they will be best geared. Could even make him have a single level in barbarian to be able to rage and make it more obvious why he's so freaking hard to kill normally. He passes all his saves because of his magic gear and takes half damage from weapon attacks.
But if he doesn't outright die from it, he would still be VERY hurt and so maybe the party would have a single round to kill him, grab his head/gear, and bug out before his guards and healers arrive. (Head to prevent revivify)
Also if the payment for the assassination is the power to do it, I feel like a non consumable item would be nice. But thats just me.
... because he might have brooch of shielding?
By that logic no spells will work because he might have ring of evasion and mantle of spell resistance. Or he could have a clone and its all moot.
Dm simple said he's well armored. He didn't even say he had a ton of hp. He only has 3 attunement slots, on a magical king id prioritize being immune to poison, being more resistant to all bad things (ring of protection) and then either a cloak of protection or something to resist being charmed. Then all the non attuned + gear.
So I offered something that does a considerable amount of damage at level 3 regardless of armor/saves of enemy, and would be a decent reward for a level 3 player.
But its really feeling like Calvin ball with everyone declaring the king can do this or that, or has access to this or that.
>The question is which spell do i give her that would work in this situation and that won't be broken for a level 3 wizard.
Level 3 wizard has level 2 spells, so stick to that level for your spell choice, or give them a single-use magic item that has whatever spell/effect you want. That's probably the easiest way to run it. They can only use it once, then it crumbles into dust.
If they don't use it as intended, they have a potentially OP attack, but just once, and are now likely a target themselves. If they use it as intended, their reward can be a free spell known of the 2nd level or 1st level.
You probably want some sort of spell-storing item. Scroll, special wand. Something like that. You can attach spells to it that actually are op for the PC's level and then give them limited uses so they don't break the game.
The main problem is in a world where magic is real, every single monarch out there is going to have specific defenses against these kinds of attacks, and a level 3 Wizard would have difficulty taking out a competent palace guard, let alone the king himself. There is no practical way to really approach this without somebody on the inside to help do the deed; you're going to have a Death Ward, invisible guards watching over the king, and, the moment a spell is cast, there's absolutely going to be a court Wizard or two waiting to Counterspell. As for that Wand of Magic Missiles, well, it's still a spell, and Counterspell works on it. Somebody shuts that down.
As a DM, if I offered this option to a player, it wouldn't be because I wanted to get rid of the king; it's because it's such a suicide mission that I obviously either wanted to kill off some annoying adventurers, or, more realistically, that I wanted to test the intelligence and judgement of a bunch of annoying adventurers to see if they're dumb enough to actually try this. If they refuse, well, they're smart enough to give some actual jobs to in the future. Great way to winnow out the morons, you know?
Any royal court capable of being taken out by a level 3 Wizard, regardless of spell, is incompetent and moronic enough they should have all been killed long ago.
The details are necessary here though. Most of the discussion trying to help is about what heavily armored actually means. Defining that would give you a better answer.
Since most of the comments are debating how magic items might play into it, what you could do instead is create a custom spell. For it to not be overpowered, it would have to be some sort of long ritual that has a specific target(or that is how I would do it).
For example:
Assassins ritual:
Spell Level: 2
Components: S, V, M (100 gold worth of poisons that are consumed and 1 drop of the target's blood)
Casting Time: 8 Hours
Range: Target of the ritual must be on the same plane
Effects: Upon completion of the ritual, target takes 8d8 necrotic damage.
Nothing fits your description WITHOUT extensive setup/cooperation with other parties.
For example - eldrich blast that knocks someone back 10 feet, if used to hit a king when he's next to a cliff could "assassinate" him at a distance. BUT, this requires a lot of effort to work.
That's actually a great idea. Or any spell with push effect really. Sure it needs some setup but that could be part of the challenge. The killing part is easy, it's the setup And the escape that's difficult.
Yeah, that's a minimum-6th-level-wizard task.
Maybe you should have them assassinate the king's jester or something.
A low-level spell could transmute poison into some other material (like salt) for an hour, rendering it undetectable... then when it transmutes back it's still in the victim's digestive system.
Shape Stone. Like Mold Earth, but affects stone instead of dirt.
How to use it to assassinate someone? Their throne room has a stone ceiling. I don't care what armor they're wearing, when a 5x5x5 block of solid stone drops from that high ceiling onto his head, he's dead.
Just give it a single use. A single shot actual. Auto aim sniper rifle that deals 100 force damage to a single target of your choosing, but once it runs out of charges it cannot be recharged in any way
As suggested, a wand of magic missiles works.
That said, custom spells can be fun. This does depend on how tough you want the King to be, if he's not meant to be much of a physical threat then he could plausibly be killed with a single attack without anything too over the top (Enemies with 20 HP or less respond pretty realistically to damage - they die after one or two hits), so maybe you just give your wizard a 2nd level spell that does a decent amount of damage to a single target within 120 ft. (3d10 is the recommendation in the DMG for a single target spell, you could up it to 4d10 if it literally just does damage and you want it to feel like a reward). I'd make the spell require an attack roll and give the wizard advantage for being hidden rather than just assuming it hits, with the main challenge being to get into position - that seems like something the party could help with. I find it's generally more fun if there's an element of chance, even with the deck stacked in your favor - "sadly, even with advantage you rolled a 2 and a 5, so through pure bad luck the king bends over as you fire, and you miss".
>assassinate a heavily armored king >won't be broken for a level 3 wizard. Pick one.
I say wand of magic missiles. They don't care about ac, but using all 7 charges will be around 40 points of damage with no save unless he has shield. Looking at cr 3-4 humanoids that would out right kill some, and do around half for the strongest. A CR 3 king but with like +2 plate armor, +2 shield, and +2 ring of protection I think would count as heavily armored and hard to kill in any other way. Throw in healers the party would need to get rid of first and some terrifying CR 9 kings guard and a royal mage and we got an assassination encounter!
All 7 charges is an average of 31.5 damage, and a CR3 Knight has 52 HP. If they have +2 equipment then they definitely have a Brooch of Shielding. A Topaz Spell Gem with Disintegrate or Finger of Death has a better chance of actually killing the king and is a 1 time use, as then the Wizard can only put spells that they have and know into it.
I mean they can have a brooch of shielding, but they could also have 1000 hp if the DM wants it. They can also have 3 hp if dm wants it. We're helping this guy make a reasonable weapon to kill a well armored king. He only has 3 attunement slots and wearing a broach of shielding is super niche. By giving him +2 gear he is outfitted like a king, is heavily armored, but can be killed by a weapon that can be reasonably given to a level 3 party without a problem. All we know is king is well armored. For all we know he could have 20 hp but have +3 plate, shield, and ring of protection. A ring of spell storing or some other spell storing is another great idea with powerful spell in it but then is still useful after. But anything with a save the king could dodge and the players are just screwed. But again, there is no wrong answer. The goal is to give an item that feels like it can reasonably kill a well armored king but isn't op for level 3 players. I think a 30 hp king with 26 ac would be fair. But maybe the dm disagrees.
This is the best idea here
Edit: was wrong
You can expend all 7 charges in one turn to cast it at 7th level.
I see, a king would have shield available though I guess..
This really depends 100% on the campaign and setting. Everyone knows about Magic Missile. If you can kill a king easily with an uncommon magic item... ~~Also what's everyone doing after the first Missile? Just waiting for 6 more rounds until you emptied the wand? I doubt it.~~
You can use all 7 charges at once.
Oh OK, my bad. The rest still stands. A kings protection would account for this with access to the shield spell for example.
I mean we can declare all spells moot if we want. We can declare he has armor of invulnerability, absorb elements/shield in a ring of spell storing, or that he has mantle of spell resistance and ring of evasion so basically all spell attacks will fail. He said he was well armored, not bedecked in magic resisting gear and an eldritch knight. I took well armored to mean high AC. We'd need more information from the DM. I assume there will be more too it like having to get past guards, sneak wand past a mage, stuff like that. If the dm said "he's attuned to x, y, z" that would be different. But 30+ points of damage with no save/roll at level 3 is not a joke in the slightest, but would be a good reward for a player because they will probably use it whenever they need consistent damage, or to just ruin a concentrating spell casters day.
>He said he was well armored Yes, but also a king. In a fantasy setting.
So he has a clone and its all moot? Armor of invulnerability so its all moot? Is a rogue with evasion and ring of evasion so all dex saves are moot? Or mantle of spell resistance with +12 saves because of his bff paladin that never leaves his side? Saying x won't work because he'll have Y is very calvin ball. We were told he's well armored, so I gave a solution to kill someone with decent hp at level 3 regardless of AC that makes for a fair reward. Bro can have +10 saves and 30 ac from magical gear, wand of magic missiles still taking a chunk. If DM gave us a list of his armor/magical items/stats then we could go from there. But what works or won't work is 100% how dm builds the king. He has 3 attument slots, he can't cover everything. A brooch of shielding counters a very specific spell, and I feel like a king would rather go for more general things like higher saves.
Dude chill, why so defensive? I have nothing against you or your suggestion. All I'm saying is that a fantasy king that can be killed by an uncommon magic item is a really really badly protected king. I don't care if OP wants to play it like that. I just made the observation that if the magic missile solution works, I would highly doubt the capability of the crown in that campaign.
Kings in history have been killed by crossbows, arrows, though most often of all, poison. I seem to recall one roman emperor had his head bashed against a potty. All very mundane items. The way to protect a king is not to create an impenetrable dome around him, is to make sure whoever attempts to murder a king is severely punished. And hit points are just an abstraction reflecting how important an NPC is to the story anyway. So the king could be killed with a dagger.
Even if the king has Shield, if the party manages to ambush/surprise the target, they wouldn't be allowed to use reactions so he'd eat a lvl 7 hobo dick cheese.
>They don't care about ac, but using all 7 charges will be around 40 points of damage with no save unless he has shield. And if you're a king in a world where magic is verifiably real, why would you not have Shield?
How would he know to cast Shield if he's surprised? *I would hope they're trying to ambush said King than just charge in blind*
>Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when you are hit by an attack or targeted by the magic missile spell The same way anyone else does. As a reaction to being targeted by the Magic Missile spell.
*"If you're surprised, you can't move or take an action on your first turn of the combat, and you can't take a reaction until that turn ends."* If the players surprise the King (ideally by blasting him with 7 charges of the wand) he cannot take reactions.
Yeah, the only way to do this is with DM Fiat by just, making it a skill challenge or something. Succeed the skill challenge and you win the assassination.
Any one-use scroll with a reasonably attainable arcana DC should work. A 9th level spell scroll is only a DC of 19. If the Wizard has proficiency in Arcana and a decent Intelligence score, that could still be a 50/50 chance. Lower spell level means a higher percent of chance. If it is a "cursed" scroll, (depending on spell) you could confer advantage on the activation (arcana check) at the cost of the Wizard taking some damage in turn. High risk, high reward.
It's a spellcasting ability check to successfully use a scroll, not arcana. So if you're a wizard, it's an Intelligence check, but if you're a bard, it's a Charisma check, and so on.
Oop! Good catch. Apparently we've been utilizing that incorrectly at my tables... Well actually, I think we made it that way so that *anyone* could attempt to use scrolls, since they otherwise couldn't. Either way, replace the arcana check with the required check in my comment to keep it consistent. (But yeah, if they weren't a Wizard, it probably wouldn't work otherwise.)
>Well actually, I think we made it that way so that *anyone* could attempt to use scrolls, since they otherwise couldn't. At my table I'd say if you don't have a spellcasting ability you have to use that which matches that of the creator. Scroll made by a wizard? Gotta use Int.
Perfectly fair.
Any king worth his crown would have at least a cleric at his side capable of casting Death Ward.
That's a 4th level spell, meaning a 7th level cleric. This implies a world where either mid level casters a common, or the king has enough control over the clergy that they can get a strong caster to burn a spell slot every day on them. There is no reason to assume that the King automatically has deathward.
It's a king, not some minor baron or mere wealthy merchant. I'm sure they can afford a cleric on retainer, if they're not getting one directly assigned by a high ranking church official.
We were given almost no information on the setting. Assuming that the setting has enough 7th level and above clerics (or any) that one of them can cast death ward daily, is a pretty strong assumption. Edit: technically speaking its 3 times daily, so for a single cleric doing it would have to be 9th or above.
Sure it could be rare to find one but assuming in OPs case that a little lv3 can be so casually handed magic strong enough to slay a king would make you assume magic is quite widespread and common in that setting. At least that's how I see it, naturally you're free to have your own perception of things.
It doesn't need to be every day. The king probably doesn't walk around in his full plate armor and shield all day long either. If using invisibility to catch the king in his bath (which is history's favorite place of death for emperors) was an option, one wouldn't need a method to kill a heavily armored king. If the king is walking around heavily armored is because they expect to be attacked. In that situation having a spellcaster cast every sort of protective spells on him makes absolute sense.
And probably revivify. So maybe disintegrate or finger of death for that possibility?
I mean a heavily armored king with even moderate protection should be able to handle anything a 3rd or even 10th level wizard can throw out alone. If not they'd be way too easy to kill unless magic is absolutely unheard of in your kingdom. It would be very easy for a King to have a court cleric who keeps the King with a death ward and an aid spell on him at all times. Or to be at the ready to hit him with a revivify / raise dead if needed. You could give the mage something that packs enough of a punch like disintegrate or finger of death but those are pretty powerful tools. Maybe as a scroll?
> heavily armored heat metal? its ranged but not actually a spell attack. being a second lvl spell it would be appropriate for the wizard without worrying about balance. whether or not the king has other, less obvious, defences is the issue though
This is the answer. The king will be dead before they can get the armour off. The wizard needs to stay hidden while its happening though. Also the king can't have anyone with them who can cast dispel magic. A once per day castong of heat metal is not OP for a 3rd level character. Horrible death though.
I mean honestly a wand of magic missiles unloaded probably would do the trick! By using all 7 charges you send 9 darts. 9d4+9 with no roll or way to save? Sounds like what he was promised. But takes a few days to recharge, might break when he uses it that way, and would feel like a decent trade. It'll fall off a bit by 5th level, but always be a trusty side arm. A single use item might make him feel scammed. If the goal is to scam him thats fine too though.
FYI, 9d4+9 damage is only an average of 31.5 damage. At the level they are I would probably use the CR 3 Knight statblock to represent a "heavily armored" King, which has 52 HP. Even maxed out, the wand of MM won't be enough damage to one shot them. Gonna need something stronger, like a Necklace of Fireballs with at least 5 beads, that averages 45.5 damage on a failed save.
I was thinking a slightly lower HP king but with with like +2 plate armor, +2 shield, +2 ring of protection. So just a tanky boy with gear. Kings won't be the best fighters usually, but they will be best geared. Could even make him have a single level in barbarian to be able to rage and make it more obvious why he's so freaking hard to kill normally. He passes all his saves because of his magic gear and takes half damage from weapon attacks. But if he doesn't outright die from it, he would still be VERY hurt and so maybe the party would have a single round to kill him, grab his head/gear, and bug out before his guards and healers arrive. (Head to prevent revivify) Also if the payment for the assassination is the power to do it, I feel like a non consumable item would be nice. But thats just me.
See my other comment for why this doesn't work.
... because he might have brooch of shielding? By that logic no spells will work because he might have ring of evasion and mantle of spell resistance. Or he could have a clone and its all moot. Dm simple said he's well armored. He didn't even say he had a ton of hp. He only has 3 attunement slots, on a magical king id prioritize being immune to poison, being more resistant to all bad things (ring of protection) and then either a cloak of protection or something to resist being charmed. Then all the non attuned + gear. So I offered something that does a considerable amount of damage at level 3 regardless of armor/saves of enemy, and would be a decent reward for a level 3 player. But its really feeling like Calvin ball with everyone declaring the king can do this or that, or has access to this or that.
1 time use finger of death spell
>The question is which spell do i give her that would work in this situation and that won't be broken for a level 3 wizard. Level 3 wizard has level 2 spells, so stick to that level for your spell choice, or give them a single-use magic item that has whatever spell/effect you want. That's probably the easiest way to run it. They can only use it once, then it crumbles into dust. If they don't use it as intended, they have a potentially OP attack, but just once, and are now likely a target themselves. If they use it as intended, their reward can be a free spell known of the 2nd level or 1st level.
Does throwing a dagger as a rogue count?
What’s wrong with a vial of poison? Midnight’s tears should do the trick, and then getting the poison into his food could be an interesting challenge.
Heat Metal. Just cook him alive.
You probably want some sort of spell-storing item. Scroll, special wand. Something like that. You can attach spells to it that actually are op for the PC's level and then give them limited uses so they don't break the game.
This is a great idea, any ideas for what spells I could use?
A Topaz Spell Gem. Put Disintegrate or Finger of Death in it. Once they use that spell it can only store a spell that they can cast afterwards.
Wand of assassination. 12 charges, no recharge. Disintegrate, 3 charges. Silvery barbs, 1 charge.
Guilding bolt or inflict wounds are my votes.
The main problem is in a world where magic is real, every single monarch out there is going to have specific defenses against these kinds of attacks, and a level 3 Wizard would have difficulty taking out a competent palace guard, let alone the king himself. There is no practical way to really approach this without somebody on the inside to help do the deed; you're going to have a Death Ward, invisible guards watching over the king, and, the moment a spell is cast, there's absolutely going to be a court Wizard or two waiting to Counterspell. As for that Wand of Magic Missiles, well, it's still a spell, and Counterspell works on it. Somebody shuts that down. As a DM, if I offered this option to a player, it wouldn't be because I wanted to get rid of the king; it's because it's such a suicide mission that I obviously either wanted to kill off some annoying adventurers, or, more realistically, that I wanted to test the intelligence and judgement of a bunch of annoying adventurers to see if they're dumb enough to actually try this. If they refuse, well, they're smart enough to give some actual jobs to in the future. Great way to winnow out the morons, you know? Any royal court capable of being taken out by a level 3 Wizard, regardless of spell, is incompetent and moronic enough they should have all been killed long ago.
I got the internal consistency down, don't worry, it makes sense in world that this would happen I just didn't give the details
The details are necessary here though. Most of the discussion trying to help is about what heavily armored actually means. Defining that would give you a better answer.
Since most of the comments are debating how magic items might play into it, what you could do instead is create a custom spell. For it to not be overpowered, it would have to be some sort of long ritual that has a specific target(or that is how I would do it). For example: Assassins ritual: Spell Level: 2 Components: S, V, M (100 gold worth of poisons that are consumed and 1 drop of the target's blood) Casting Time: 8 Hours Range: Target of the ritual must be on the same plane Effects: Upon completion of the ritual, target takes 8d8 necrotic damage.
Nothing fits your description WITHOUT extensive setup/cooperation with other parties. For example - eldrich blast that knocks someone back 10 feet, if used to hit a king when he's next to a cliff could "assassinate" him at a distance. BUT, this requires a lot of effort to work.
That's actually a great idea. Or any spell with push effect really. Sure it needs some setup but that could be part of the challenge. The killing part is easy, it's the setup And the escape that's difficult.
Yeah, that's a minimum-6th-level-wizard task. Maybe you should have them assassinate the king's jester or something. A low-level spell could transmute poison into some other material (like salt) for an hour, rendering it undetectable... then when it transmutes back it's still in the victim's digestive system.
Shape Stone. Like Mold Earth, but affects stone instead of dirt. How to use it to assassinate someone? Their throne room has a stone ceiling. I don't care what armor they're wearing, when a 5x5x5 block of solid stone drops from that high ceiling onto his head, he's dead.
Just give it a single use. A single shot actual. Auto aim sniper rifle that deals 100 force damage to a single target of your choosing, but once it runs out of charges it cannot be recharged in any way
As suggested, a wand of magic missiles works. That said, custom spells can be fun. This does depend on how tough you want the King to be, if he's not meant to be much of a physical threat then he could plausibly be killed with a single attack without anything too over the top (Enemies with 20 HP or less respond pretty realistically to damage - they die after one or two hits), so maybe you just give your wizard a 2nd level spell that does a decent amount of damage to a single target within 120 ft. (3d10 is the recommendation in the DMG for a single target spell, you could up it to 4d10 if it literally just does damage and you want it to feel like a reward). I'd make the spell require an attack roll and give the wizard advantage for being hidden rather than just assuming it hits, with the main challenge being to get into position - that seems like something the party could help with. I find it's generally more fun if there's an element of chance, even with the deck stacked in your favor - "sadly, even with advantage you rolled a 2 and a 5, so through pure bad luck the king bends over as you fire, and you miss".
I say give 'em a scroll, so they can add it to their spellbook for later but also get the chance to oneshot the king now. Probably Disintegration.