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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 4450697" data-attributes="member: 58197">Some ways of dealing with high-level good-aligned NPCs:1: The NPC is not a combatant. This is much easier to do in 4th Edition, where NPC stats are a la carte rather than being dictated by classes, and there's a clear segregation between combat and noncombat abilities.&nbsp; Let's say you want an extremely powerful wise old wizard.&nbsp; So, you give him the Ritual Caster feat and declare him to be 28th level, allowing him to cast just about every ritual in the book.&nbsp; You give him skills to match, so his rituals all work.&nbsp; You give him plenty of material components.And then you give him 15 hit points, crap physical stats, and no combat powers to speak of.This guy can quite legitimately lay claim to the &quot;mighty wizard&quot; label.&nbsp; He can perform incredible feats of magic, using ritual casting.&nbsp; But he can't fight worth a damn, so he needs the PCs to go out and do his fighting for him.2. The NPC is not in a position to go adventuring. This is a good one for monarchs and powerful nobles.&nbsp; The queen could be a paragon- or even epic-level fighter, but she can't go off slaying monsters in distant lands, because the kingdom falls apart if she leaves.&nbsp; So she sends the PCs to do the job for her.3. The NPC is needed elsewhere.&nbsp; You have to take care with this one to avoid giving the feeling of &quot;the NPC is taking care of the big problem while you PCs go off and do the minor stuff,&quot; but as long as you watch that tendency, it can be quite effective.This approach works best in situations where the BBEG is too powerful for anyone to defeat in direct combat.&nbsp; The NPC announces that he will hold the BBEG's forces at bay, while the PCs go out and collect plot coupons until they can redeem them for a way to beat the BBEG once and for all.&nbsp; If the NPC were to go out and hunt for plot coupons, the BBEG's forces would win while the NPC was out.4. The NPC's power is constrained by an even more powerful evil NPC.&nbsp; Perhaps the great priestess is in hiding, not daring to use her divine magic lest the demon lord sense it and come to destroy her.&nbsp; Perhaps the mighty warrior has been stricken with deadly illness by the lich-king.&nbsp; Something like that.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 4450697, member: 58197"] Some ways of dealing with high-level good-aligned NPCs: [b]1: The NPC is not a combatant.[/b] This is much easier to do in 4th Edition, where NPC stats are a la carte rather than being dictated by classes, and there's a clear segregation between combat and noncombat abilities. Let's say you want an extremely powerful wise old wizard. So, you give him the Ritual Caster feat and declare him to be 28th level, allowing him to cast just about every ritual in the book. You give him skills to match, so his rituals all work. You give him plenty of material components. And then you give him 15 hit points, crap physical stats, and no combat powers to speak of. This guy can quite legitimately lay claim to the "mighty wizard" label. He can perform incredible feats of magic, using ritual casting. But he can't fight worth a damn, so he needs the PCs to go out and do his fighting for him. [b]2. The NPC is not in a position to go adventuring.[/b] This is a good one for monarchs and powerful nobles. The queen could be a paragon- or even epic-level fighter, but she can't go off slaying monsters in distant lands, because the kingdom falls apart if she leaves. So she sends the PCs to do the job for her. [b]3. The NPC is needed elsewhere.[/b] You have to take care with this one to avoid giving the feeling of "the NPC is taking care of the big problem while you PCs go off and do the minor stuff," but as long as you watch that tendency, it can be quite effective. This approach works best in situations where the BBEG is too powerful for [i]anyone[/i] to defeat in direct combat. The NPC announces that he will hold the BBEG's forces at bay, while the PCs go out and collect plot coupons until they can redeem them for a way to beat the BBEG once and for all. If the NPC were to go out and hunt for plot coupons, the BBEG's forces would win while the NPC was out. [b]4. The NPC's power is constrained by an even more powerful evil NPC.[/b] Perhaps the great priestess is in hiding, not daring to use her divine magic lest the demon lord sense it and come to destroy her. Perhaps the mighty warrior has been stricken with deadly illness by the lich-king. Something like that. [/QUOTE]

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