Upstaged by an NPC

[SnowleopardVK]

Erm, well I (kind of) accidentally did this one to my players.

They got attacked by a bunch of skeletons within the boundaries of what was essentially a magic loop. Every 50ft in any direction it wrapped back around on itself, so running wasn't an option and they were forced to fight. This encounter was supposed to be rather easy, so I honestly did not expect them to continually back away from the enemies rather than just smashing them to bits.

In my notes, I had details of a mid/high level wizard across town taking several rounds to notice the magic loop, gather some backup, and teleport over to help. This was supposed to give the players more than enough time to take down all the skeletons themselves before she arrived, but as I said, I didn't expect them to practically not attack the things.

So my wizard got there well before the end of the battle and summoned an Ankylosauros, smashing about 90% of the undead herself with its help.

I feel bad that my players got entirely upstaged like that. I suppose it's a bit comforting that after the session they were gushing about how much they loved the wizard showing up and summoning a dinosaur, but I still kind of feel like I messed up.

Then again, had they smashed the skeletons themselves before the wizard even had time to arrive... Perhaps that would be a bit disappointing in comparison to what actually happened. I suppose that I've got to live with the fact that what happened has happened though. May as well just be glad they enjoyed it.

 

[JamesonCourage]

Yeah, be glad they enjoyed it. It sounds like things didn't go according to how you envisioned them, but if everyone is happy (go dinosaur!) then it's really not a bad mess up at all.

It's nice to have those breaks every once in a while. But I think you story does show once again that players will ruin all the plans the GM has... even if it means not smashing what should be a really easy fight against skeletons

As always, play what you like

 

[Bleys Icefalcon]

It's hard sometimes, trust me, I know - to NOT get involved directly in the form of NPCs/Encounters/Divine Intervention, et all - and force things along. I would have let them hopefully figure out that no matter what, they backed up, ran away there was no getting away - however long it took. Many players can get worried, even terrified, they might get a scratch on their characters. and therefore avoid even simple combat.

Make sure you watch out for a possible unforeseen side effect of this intervention, that being that if they are in a pickle they don't understand they can now expect you will "bip" in the appropriate NPC to deal with the problem for them. They were happy, this time, but a couple of them might have been a little annoyed, who knows. Just a dangerous road to start on is all.

 

[amerigoV]

Just tell your players that you are disappointed in their play since you had to bring in an NPC to save them.

"You better up your game or Elminster is joining the party as a DMPC!"

 

[A flannel shirt]

I might have had the skeletons parlay or even run away.

In the situation you described the fight or flight of your players was flight. Even though they had the upper hand this is how they saw it. Rather then having an NPC show you should get their perception of the battle to change. Give them a nudge that these skeletons are a push over, maybe they appear brittle (even though you don't adjust the stats any). My personal choice would have the skeleton high tail it and run. Now the skeletons are subject to the magic loop. When that happens the players should see a HUGE advantage open up. "Their defenses are broken, let the slaughter begin!"

 

[fba827]

upstaging the PCs with a NPC is not an ideal situation.
But it sounds like the players enjoyed it this time. Just be careful not to repeat it or else it can get old, fast.

It's easy to look back and think of some ways that it could have played out differently (maybe the wizard would have come a couple rounds later, maybe the wizard would have shouted "clear some space and i can come help you" or the PCs would have had to protect the wizard for multiple rounds so that he remained uninterrupted as he summoned the dino, maybe if the skeletons followed the PCs through the "loop" they got destroyed thus turning the PCs flee tactic into a valid tactic to destroy them and making them feel clever for thinking of it, or the wizard needed the bones from at least X skeletons before he could summon the dino and the dino would have instead just been the skeletal structure of a dino rather than a full flesh dino, ).

But I recognize in the heat of the moment you went with what your gut was telling you... and really that's all you can do at a time like that...

Players found it memorable so don't beat yourself up over it. Just learn from it and move on!

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

As long as it doesn't happen often, don't worry about it. Since it sounds like the wiz was going to show up anyway, it seems this is just a case of things not going exactly as planned. And if the players were happy with it, then congrats for being a good DM!

This sort of thing is only a problem if it makes the players jaded, or the PCs start to rely on deus ex machina to get them out of every scrape. But just once in a while? No problem. Heck, it might even be justifiable on very rare occasions: "the cavalry rides over the hill" is a (subvertible!) cliche for a reason.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Removed

 

[Doug McCrae]

after the session they were gushing about how much they loved the wizard showing up and summoning a dinosaur, but I still kind of feel like I messed up.

That sounds like a win to me. I'd have probably done it completely differently and not had the wizard show up at all, unless it was an NPC I particularly wanted to introduce. But I'd have been wrong and you were right, because of your player's reaction.

In fact I have done the exact same thing in the past and had NPCs show up out of the blue to help the PCs before. For my last campaign I'd created an NPC superhero who was the 'spirit of America'. When some bad guys attacked the White House and Capitol in Washington DC I thought that would be the perfect time for the NPC to show up.