Who's your Gandalf now, baby?

[Darrin Drader]

My homebrew is set in a romanesque empire with a kind and beneavolent emperor, at least the current emperor is, the former one was an usurper and a despot, but retaking the empire was the focus of the first campaign many years ago, and now the original suviviing PCs are the NPC rulers.

There are two Gandalf characters. One is Fubar (yes, Fubar, it was the name the player insisted on taking). Back in the day, he was at the center of one too many fireballs, and now his face is burned and disfigured, so he wears a veil. He's also E-V-I-L and would probably be working against the PCs if he and the emperor were not tied by bonds of friendship.

The second is the Emperor's uncle, who ascended to godhood. I rarely use him, but when he does communicate information to the PCs, he does so through dreams. It really irritated them the first few times it happened, because they had no idea who he was, why he was taking an interest in them, or if he was even real. Later they learned the truth of the matter, which frustrated them even further.

 

[genshou]

In my online D&D game Age of Elements II, I have a crucial NPC from the prequel 800 years in the past acting as the "Gandalf" to the party. As a descendant of the gods (aasimar), he has many connections to the Spirit Realm, and can provide them with information, healing, and various items crucial to spellcasters (material components). He's more of the shamanistic wanderer type, travelling between islands and aiding imperiled villagers with what to him is very low-level magic.

In the Urban Arcana game I'm running, there's a mysterious half-elven swordsman who shows up occasionally in alleyways and a sports bar the PCs frequent, and asks them questions to get them thinking about the unanswered in what they're involved in. He has his own character motivations, but is mostly a plot tool for me to get the PCs to trust the organization they belong to less and less.

 

[Darth Shoju]

I had one in my previous campaign. He was a lvl 20+ mage who was cursed by a death goddess to be perpetually stuck in the last moment of his life. As such he could not memorize new spells and those he cast were gone. I had him travel with the party (level 10-12 ) and basically used him to provide plot information and save the party's bacon when they didn't think things through or I accidentally over-powered them.

It was possibly the stupidest thing I did in that campaign. The party grew to resent him as they didn't trust him and didn't like the meta-game idea of someone always being there to bail them out. Whenever I wasn't using him to shoe-horn the party back onto my railroad of a plot I forgot about him. Too many times one of the players would stop in the middle of combat and ask what this NPC was doing because I hadn't had him act the whole time. Usually I would say something stupid like "you don't see him" and then he would re-appear after the combat. :\ This would cause the party to dislike him even more.

*sigh* I will never pull that crap again. If I do have an NPC travel with the party he will fill a specific need and be of equal or lower level, and will have a personality (and I won't forget him). I'm also going to avoid railroading so I won't need an NPC to get them back on track. And if they need info that is important to the plot they will have to seek out someone who knows, and that person will likely be an Expert or something.

Blarg. "Gandalf" characters are best left to novels IMO.

 

[Old Gumphrey]

The Gandalf in my campaign is Mr. T; or rather, a celestial agent that looks somewhat like Mr. T. It is somewhat comedic, but my players love it.

"Say fool, what you doing bang'in on that Sphinx! Get over there and find you some villians!"

I pity the fool who doesn't listen!

 

[Slife]

What? You mean a PC sorcerer who abuses pyrotechnics and doesn't show up for half the sessions?

Not as a DM avatar, no.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Hey, waitaminute.

What's the plural of Gandalf - Gandalf or Gandalves?

Enquiring minds et cetera.

 

[genshou]

I had one in my previous campaign. He was a lvl 20+ mage who was cursed by a death goddess to be perpetually stuck in the last moment of his life. As such he could not memorize new spells and those he cast were gone. I had him travel with the party (level 10-12 ) and basically used him to provide plot information and save the party's bacon when they didn't think things through or I accidentally over-powered them.

It was possibly the stupidest thing I did in that campaign. The party grew to resent him as they didn't trust him and didn't like the meta-game idea of someone always being there to bail them out. Whenever I wasn't using him to shoe-horn the party back onto my railroad of a plot I forgot about him. Too many times one of the players would stop in the middle of combat and ask what this NPC was doing because I hadn't had him act the whole time. Usually I would say something stupid like "you don't see him" and then he would re-appear after the combat. :\ This would cause the party to dislike him even more.

*sigh* I will never pull that crap again. If I do have an NPC travel with the party he will fill a specific need and be of equal or lower level, and will have a personality (and I won't forget him). I'm also going to avoid railroading so I won't need an NPC to get them back on track. And if they need info that is important to the plot they will have to seek out someone who knows, and that person will likely be an Expert or something.

Blarg. "Gandalf" characters are best left to novels IMO.

It's very important to avoid making them a DMPC. The aasimar I mentioned is crucial to the plot of the Age of Elements series, but in much the same way as Gandalf, Belgarath, and many other such powerful wizardly types. He isn't the one who goes out and does all the amazing stuff, he's just wandering around the Nine Oceans using his magic in minor ways, and happens to have answers to some of the PCs' most burning questions. He's never showed up to bail the PCs out of trouble, even when they attempted to use magic to find him and request his aid.

 

[The_Gneech]

The master of a wizards' school is kinda sorta my campaign's Gandalf (although given his profession, I guess he's more like my campaign's Dumbledore). He's also a shapeshifted dragon.

And like both of those guys, he's recently died. The PCs don't know that yet tho.

-The Gneech

 

[lukelightning]

You bet! I made a mysterious mage named Aristaeos who was secretly helping the PCs; they kept seeing his handiwork (blasted remains of goblins that were going to ambush them, etc.)

When they finally met him, they weren't sure if he was actually trustworthy; since the Pcs goal was to get into an ancient vault there was a good chance he was the cliche "sure I'll tell you how to get in and help you and when you get the treasure from the vault surprise I'm fireballing you and taking it for myself!"

So sure enough, they get into the vault and Aristaeos pops in again full of helpful advice. The players were totally prepared for a double cross...then in the next room they saw a sarcophagus with Aristaeos's name on it.

Yup, he was a ghost all along. Basically he had a duty to guard the vault and ensure only the right people get the special magic item within.

Of course he might not count as a "Gandalf" because once returning to his tomb he passed on. I'm not a big fan of long-term Gandalf figures. I particularly detest Elminster. They are fine if they are "stationary", as in a resource the PCs can go to if they need, but the randomly showing up and helping and giving advice (or orders) and being ubiquitous is kind of annoying.

 

[haakon1]

They are fine if they are "stationary", as in a resource the PCs can go to if they need, but the randomly showing up and helping and giving advice (or orders) and being ubiquitous is kind of annoying.

Agreed. They shouldn't just show up randomly.

I don't really have a Gandalf, but the PC's do have a patron, sort of. He's a druid of Odin, and advisor to the ruler of their land. Basically, he's the old guy in a cloak (literally) who sometimes gives them (and other adventurers) missions and helps (reluctantly and at a cost) with training and special needs like a Remove Curse. He's only ever found at the castle in the capital, and I never stat'd him out -- probably about 10th level.

Perhaps more Gandalf-like is the dragon in the basement of the castle. She's a retired PC from a previous campaign in the same setting, once a paladin and reincarnated as a gold dragon. Most of the time, she sleeps in the basement, guarding the secret gate to an allied kingdom. But once, when the PC's were facing a major assault at a castle and sent a runner and a bird with a message, the help that was sent was a cavalry detachment, with the dragon flying in first as a "first responder". The Gandalf-like things she did is take aside the highest level PC -- a ranger, a bit Aragorn-like -- and tell him a bit about the background of what was going on, and ask him to report to her and keep it a secret.

Oh, and in Oriental Adventures, I had a flying, talking carp in a well of a haunted castle. He was pretty much like the "Dungeon Master" character from the cartoons, giving lots of advice when asked. He was very well liked.