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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 4448470" data-attributes="member: 467">I think that if the campaign is built around saving the world (or a portion of it) from great evil or whatever, it's probably best not to have these kinds of uber powerful NPCs exist at all, if you want to maintain some versimilitude and have the PCs be the heroes of the story.&nbsp; Or, at the very least, they need o be taken out of the picture or made inefectual in regards to the specific threat.In campaigns where the safety of the world doesn't rest on the PCs' shoulders, these kinds of NPCs are easier to incorporate without the threat of them overshadowing the PCs.&nbsp; If the party are simply fame/glory/wealth seeking adventurers, or if their goals and motivations are more personal and smaller in scope, powerful NPCs can easily serve as mentors, foils and antgonists (without necessarily being villains).I started one campaign with a number of (relatively) high level NPCs present in the PCs' hometown.&nbsp; They were a retired adventuring party that had established the town some 20 years before.&nbsp; Early on in the campaign, they served as mentors to the PCs and provided adventure hooks and role-playing opportunities.&nbsp; As the campaign progressed, it became apparent that the nature of the underlying threat was going to inevitably draw the NPCs into the conflict.&nbsp; i thought about it for a bit, and realized that if I realized it, so did the villains.&nbsp; So, the druid and the wizard NPCs -- the most dangerous to the villains plans -- were assasinated.&nbsp;&nbsp; This had 2 big benefits: 1) it took those NPCs out of the equation, and 2) it established how powerful and dangerous the villains were.&nbsp; At the same time, the PCs were just starting to gain some power and noteriety of their own -- enough to be trusted with the task by the remaining NPC (a fighter and mayor of the town; he had neither the personal power nor the freedom to wander off to take on the bad guys himself) but not so much that they were obvious targets for assassination by the villains.&nbsp; It worked out well, and in the sequel campaign these PCs became NPCs in much the same role as the previous set.(same players).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 4448470, member: 467"] I think that if the campaign is built around saving the world (or a portion of it) from great evil or whatever, it's probably best not to have these kinds of uber powerful NPCs exist at all, if you want to maintain some versimilitude and have the PCs be the heroes of the story. Or, at the very least, they need o be taken out of the picture or made inefectual in regards to the specific threat. In campaigns where the safety of the world doesn't rest on the PCs' shoulders, these kinds of NPCs are easier to incorporate without the threat of them overshadowing the PCs. If the party are simply fame/glory/wealth seeking adventurers, or if their goals and motivations are more personal and smaller in scope, powerful NPCs can easily serve as mentors, foils and antgonists (without necessarily being villains). I started one campaign with a number of (relatively) high level NPCs present in the PCs' hometown. They were a retired adventuring party that had established the town some 20 years before. Early on in the campaign, they served as mentors to the PCs and provided adventure hooks and role-playing opportunities. As the campaign progressed, it became apparent that the nature of the underlying threat was going to inevitably draw the NPCs into the conflict. i thought about it for a bit, and realized that if I realized it, so did the villains. So, the druid and the wizard NPCs -- the most dangerous to the villains plans -- were assasinated. This had 2 big benefits: 1) it took those NPCs out of the equation, and 2) it established how powerful and dangerous the villains were. At the same time, the PCs were just starting to gain some power and noteriety of their own -- enough to be trusted with the task by the remaining NPC (a fighter and mayor of the town; he had neither the personal power nor the freedom to wander off to take on the bad guys himself) but not so much that they were obvious targets for assassination by the villains. It worked out well, and in the sequel campaign these PCs became NPCs in much the same role as the previous set.(same players). [/QUOTE]

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