As a bearer of the Squashed Bug on my collar and a lightining fast backstabber, I know that a regular every day Jane Doe has the capacity to be scarier than Eldest Gruff. Here is my idea, please add RPG stuff to it to make it better. Anyways here is my adventure hook. If you have what a sheet would look like or how to build this kind of person that's amazing, but mostly it's a plot device.
Your team of adventurers has finally found the easy to get to dealer of :insert magical drug here or some other low level easy task plot device: who they decide its time to dispatch of. Before he "dies" he smirks and lets go of his cell phone. Your party shrugs it off and walks off wondering what his last act was about and heads over to their favorite local drinking spot. They spend their reward by going to the bar and partying. When they get to their safe house however somethings wrong. Way wrong. The house has been ransacked. By police. Crime scene tape is over the front door and Men in black suits want to ask them about certain "dealings" that they have had in the past few days. They are arrested on the spot and find out that they are flat broke and all their worldly possessions are gone, their families are being held for questioning and it seems like the world is collapsing on them. What just happened? Why is the FBI NSA and CIA in their safe house? Why are their crazy people speaking foreign languages in their living room? Congratulations. You were just hit by a Pure Mortal Death Curse, and you will likely never get to see the outside except for 15 minutes a day for the rest of your life at best.
What this requires is someone who is insanely deceptive and well connected. Someone who has worked inside the system for years, and has wanted to see it fall, only they did not want to be held responsible, in fact they needed a patsy, someone like you. That whole "go bust this drug dealer" thing? That was to get you to think you killed him, taking him out of the game in order to make you look like suspects. He likely uses crazy devices like cryptexes with high tech fail safes so that when a wizard tries something magical to open it whatever part of his schemes and set of instructions is gone forever, making getting the evidence impossible unless you were one of his cat's paws. Whatever his will says, it likely isn't pretty for you, it might even include you, just so it can be used as evidence against you in the court of law. Don't expect it to be anything useful either. What may seem like 5 acres of land may end up being 5 acres of dead bodies and evidence. Meanwhile, somewhere in Aruba, this guy is sipping umbrella drinks (if he didn't have a death wish and was just faking his death.) while you are pleading for your life in a courtroom and the world is falling around you.
This guy is the definition of why you should be thorough.
Commentary?
