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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 2376234" data-attributes="member: 99">We have a guy in our group who occasionally GM's and this is a problem with a lot of his plotlines.  The NPC's are always way more powerful than the party and yet they never seem to do anything to further their own goals.  I suppose that provides a basis for the adventures but it also strains credibility.  What I decided based on this is that NPC's who employ or ask for the help of the PC's should either be weak or lack something that the PC's have.  If the NPC they are helping is frail old lady then it is obvious to the PC's that she needs their help and they feel valuable for rendering that help.  Likewise if the NPC's contact the party and say, "We've heard of you guys and what you're capable of and we need your assistance."If the NPC's appear to be capable of everything the party can do (and particularly if they do it better) then the PC's will naturally start saying "What do they need us for?"  The good news is that this shows that the players are actually immersing themselves in your world instead of casting that question aside and just saying, "Who cares about logic or credibility, let's just go on the adventure."As for your particular situation, I think that one good explanation as to why the organization needs the PC's is Plausible Deniability.  Have one of the members of the leadership lay it out for them, "Why do you think you're here?  Do you think you're special?  Do you think you can do things that we can't do or haven't seen?  Don't be stupid.  You're here for the simple fact that you're disposable.  We are paying you very well to take risks and one of those risks is getting caught.  Now if you get into a minor scrape with the cops while trying to do a takedown then we might pull a few strings or maybe make a couple people disappear.  But if you get into a full blown Law Enforcement Fiasco then we can just walk away.  Got it?  Now here's the check for your next assignment, which will be to...."The PC's may not like that guy but it is pretty clear that he's acting as an authority figure.  And the players can probably identify with (or at least recognize) the whole "I hate my boss but the pay is good so I put up with his crap" situation.  I know that I could deal with this as a player.  The part that I hate is when the NPC's act like jerks to us and then expect us to help because we've either done so in the past or "it's for the greater good".</blockquote>

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