D&D 5E A Guardian Angel... Good or Bad Idea?

[GMforPowergamers]

IMO, one reason the first interaction (of sorts) with Big John worked so well is because it wasn't a rescue, it was a mystery/plot hook. Most groups LOVE plot hooks. And at the same time most groups HATE DM PCs - especially ones who they see as stealing their thunder.

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I only had this idea work out 1 time (in 2e). I had an NPC who was pretending to be a weak bard join the party after they saved her from bandits... what they didn't know was she was a higher level wizard then they were and the daughter of the leader of the mage guild... officially the guild could not send a representive to the adventure place they were heading (long story) but she was 'just some bard'

I had her interact with them while she had been writing a song (I used a cindy lopra one time after time) and they left her in town as they went to the adventure sights... that kept having a mystirus robbed figure with a muffled voice show up... no one knew who he was until one player asked "Look, if your here to help tell us who you are...how can we contact you"
his answer was somthing only 1 of 4 got at first "If your lost you can look, and you will find me..." 'he' said... best part was thress sessions of her signing "You said go slow, I fell behind" and "Suit case of memories, time after..." trying to get the words right while Ross had a huge grin on his face having figured it out... and asking if she could sit in on there planning sessions even if she wasn't going... after the 3rd session when 'he' showed up again and Kurt called BS "He can't have known..." that jim said "Yeah... wait, shoot what song is it Jessy has been singing" and tony swore then said "Are you kidding me" and I thought we killed ross he turned red laughing since he had figured it out weeks earlier.

 

[haakon1]

I DM'ed my first game 2 weeks ago after a 32 year hiatus

Welcome back. Did you play 1e or 2e last? I assume you are running 5e, but old rules still work.

It‘s a good idea because it’s YOUR idea. As DM, you need to be invested in creating the world. Your players will feed off your enthusiasm and amplify it back.

I think the idea of Big John as a retired adventurer of like 9th level when the players are 1st works. He can be a mentor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), a source of information about the game world and pointing in the direction of the next adventure (Basil Exposition in the Austin Powers movies, M in James Bond), and a role model for service to the people as a worthy adventuring goal.

Could he be an actual Angel? Maybe. Go watch the Clint Eastwood movie “Pale Rider” - sounds very much like what you have in mind, and it gives me chills thinking about how to game that feeling. It’s never revealed what that character is - could be an angel, or ghost, who knows? Perhaps best if it’s never revealed what his exact nature is.

Maybe even you don’t know - could be an unknown you wing for now and figure out later.

 

[Jmarso]

Lack of genuine threat makes for the most boring of all possible games. Sometimes you need to kill one off just to keep the rest fully invested and consequence-aware. There's no school like the old school. Ever notice in the artwork for AD&D books, often times the characters are in full retreat or panic? The new artwork shows nothing but superheroes kicking monster a$$. Go back to the old.

 

[Mort]

Lack of genuine threat makes for the most boring of all possible games.

Mostly agree. but the threat doesn't have to be character death. For example, I've found threatening characters STUFF usually elicits much more fear than threatening just the character.

Sometimes you need to kill one off just to keep the rest fully invested and consequence-aware.

If you mean deliberately kill a PC, essentially by fiat? Very, very strong disagree! This is the worst kind of attack on player agency. If I knew or even suspected that a DM killed a PC by fiat, without consent of the player, I'm no longer going to be in that campaign.

There's no school like the old school. Ever notice in the artwork for AD&D books, often times the characters are in full retreat or panic? The new artwork shows nothing but superheroes kicking monster a$$. Go back to the old.

Hogwash, it's no more difficult to challenge the players and provide a great experience as it used to be. I'd argue modern DMs have more tools for doing so.

 

[humble minion]

As far as plot possibilities go, when GMing I've always preferred guardian devils to guardian angels.

You can still use them to save PCs bacon when the dice are particularly unkind, but the PCs will never trust them or rely on them, and know they probably have their own agendas, and hate been obligated to them because of the dubious favours they'll get asked to perform as a quid pro quo.

It's a much more fun dynamic.

 

[Greggy C]

Instead of having him save the party, he can show up late, every time, even if a player died.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I have seen it played good and bad (No i DON'T want the JLM showing up and stopping threats in front of us... but I also don't want lame excuses why in a world with the Justice League Midnight why our problems are so lesser they don't care)

 

[Mort]

Instead of having him save the party, he can show up late, every time, even if a player died.

This is fun from a comic relief perspective.

But I think the OP is more looking for a cushion for the PCs!

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I have seen it played good and bad (No i DON'T want the JLM showing up and stopping threats in front of us... but I also don't want lame excuses why in a world with the Justice League Midnight why our problems are so lesser they don't care)

To give an example of how one can address this in a reasonable way, using my aforementioned example of Tenryu Shen, an actual NPC in my game.

1. Shen hasn't actually "saved" the party from much of anything. He did one specific thing early on (vaporizing some nasty zombie/spirit creatures so they couldn't infect anyone else). He does have the power to do so, but hasn't really used it, so the party doesn't really feel they "owe" him anything.
2. It's actually very important to him that his true nature remain secret. He has an important mission, a mission he is not willing to compromise upon, which he (as the party has recently learned) has a personal motive for, not just a religious or casual one. (In specific, the black dragon he's hunting used to be one of his extremely close friends, before they fell to evil, so he feels some degree of personal responsibility.) This is a huge reason why he can't just act freely.
3. The party actually did several things to help him before he revealed his true nature to them. They had earned his trust, and so he wanted to eliminate the walls of deception between them. This meant the players felt they had achieved something, and made the reveal feel like a reward rather than a sudden surprise/gotcha.
4. There had been hints, several times, that Shen wasn't ordinary. Just his confidence about dealing with various issues made it clear he wasn't some run-of-the-mill priest. More importantly, I had him do things at various points that left unanswered questions. So, again, the reveal became something the players wanted.
5. Finally, but perhaps the most important of the bunch...the players just liked Shen before they learned he was really a gold dragon. I had feared he would be hated or viewed as a lame DMPC, but after their first meeting with him they were talking amongst themselves about what his deal might be, and after they had dinner with him and his human fiancée (their wizard/artificer ally, Hafsa), they were actively on board for the shipping.

Finally, the players later on went to Shen to ask for his help. Obviously, having a gold dragon you could call on would be super powerful! But, on the flipside, obviously having a gold dragon you can just summon whenever you like is stupidly overpowered...and doesn't really fit with what this character would do. So, he worked with his fiancée to create some magic items, pairs of earrings. One red, one white, for each of the players. The white earrings allow them to keep in touch with one another (limited transmit-only telepathy to the other bearers, more or less), and allow Shen to monitor their status from a distance. The white earring doesn't let him directly observe them (unless he throws significantly more magic on top), it's more like a vitals monitor--if their vitals go SUPER out of whack, he can try to do something. The red earrings, meanwhile, are a get-out-of-disaster-free card; wherever they are (so long as it is on the mortal plane), they can summon Shen to them in their hour of need, and so long as he isn't bound or completely unable to answer, he WILL come help them. But this is something he has to use very sparingly, because of his mission--the party hasn't used it yet and odds are looking good they probably won't, not unless they really, really need his help.

So...they do kinda, sorta, ish have a "guardian angel." But he's an "angel" with his own agenda and life, who really does like and value the party and the party really does like and value him. The fact that he's their dragon friend is almost totally secondary to the fact that he's their dragon friend.