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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 1321863" data-attributes="member: 3146">In my home campaign, I didn't deal with the Ueberest NPCs at all. However, there were a number of NPCs who were of higher level than the PCs.The Earl's court wizard, the retired mercenary leader of a merchant company, the orc warleader who rescued the party from another tribe of orcs, the ogre champion of that orc tribe (in my campaign, ogres were a kind of mutant orc that were sometimes produced by the magical energies of the lands the orcs lived in), the bishop of the local fiefdom, and a few adventurers whom the PCs interacted with (most notably a paladin and a sorceror).These NPCs came into the story in various capacities. The orc who initially rescued the PCs negotiated with the cleric to heal his injured warriors. Later, the PCs heard a few scattered stories about how he had left his tribe on a quest. The court wizard was the source of several plots as he faked his death and then used the PCs to draw out and defeat the bad guys who were manipulating the earl. The paladin joined the party for a short time and accompanied them on an adventure (well, actually, they accompanied him since it was his suggestion (the PCs saw my plot hook and swallowed the whole line and sinker as well)). He was approximately the same level as the PCs though and worked quite well with them. (He also served as a means to introduce another PC to the group). The sorceror was significantly more powerful than the PCs but he didn't hang around for very long. He fought one or two battles at their side and then continued on his way (he had a quest that could not brook as much delay as the PCs' quest would require). The leader of the merchant company served as a villain operating in the background--the untouchable villain whom the PCs desperately wanted to defeat but could never find a proper excuse for doing so. (For that matter, they would have failed if they'd tried--he was a good deal more powerful than them).On the whole, I think the reason that they all worked without making the PCs feel insignificant was that none of them accomplished the PCs' tasks (well except the sorceror who won one fight for them but they asked him to). The rest of them created challenges for the PCs or simply cleared the way for them to defeat the challenges they wanted to defeat. (For instance, the court wizard dispelled a demon's polymorph ability before a courtroom full of PCs and onlookers--affording the PCs a chance to cut the villain down).</blockquote>

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