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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8626682" data-attributes="member: 6790260">I have had some good luck with a similar character, Tenryu Shen, a gold dragon masquerading as a mere dragonborn priest. The best advice I can provide on this front is:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">If possible, try to let Big John meet the party in a way that doesn't immediately reveal to them that he is a guardian angel. Perhaps he's an NPC in a location they're likely to frequent, or can act as a contact for the party to call on when they need information. IOW, make him someone useful to the party without making him someone doing their work for them or impressing them with how badass he is.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Keep his active involvement more or less as you have done here: soft-touch, around the edges, merely nudging events in desirable directions. More or less, you don't want the party to feel like he is "responsible" for their success, but rather that he has given them a helping hand now and then.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Decide on some limits--whether external or self-enforced--that would prevent him from being at their beck and call. In my case, Shen is in town on his own mission, which occupies most of his time (when he isn't assisting with other priestly duties or spending time with his fiancee, that is.) Having limits on what Big John can do, so that again he is a helper and a benefit but not a "we win" button nor a glory hog, is very useful.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Either give Big John a distinct personality and desires, ones that can ground him and give him likable texture and make him a friend, OR make him have no real personality of his own at all....but have one develop as a result of his interactions with the players. The former is what I did, the latter might make more sense for you, and will give the players some sense of "ownership" that can mitigate other problems.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">If possible, present situations where Big John has to turn to the PCs for help. This, again, mitigates potential issues, while at the same time emphasizing that the PCs matter. You'll probably want to hold this kind of thing off until later on, perhaps even after the party knows Big John's true identity, but "please help me solve a problem I can't solve on my own" is a great way to tone down potential "DMPC" fears.</li> </ol>Keep in mind that there is no magic bullet on this stuff. The powerful guardian angel character is a risky play, but I have personal experience playing one and having it turn out well. As others have said, you made a good opening move by presenting it as a mystery rather than as the players getting saved. If you can build toward a situation where the players "already" like Big John without knowing it, then you can have a cool or heartwarming revelation later on. Best of luck to you, this sounds like it could be a really fun campaign element if you can pull it off.</blockquote>

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