How do you handle introducing characters who are just considerably stronger than the players at a specific moment in the game? And I mean as usual NPCs, not enemies necessarily. My gut feeling keeps telling me that this is going to create unfair situations, or that players might resent me or think I'm trying to make them seem less capable or less relevant in the story. Or they might assume it's some kind of GMPC situation. Yes, I'm autistic and hypervigilant about these things.It's not that I want to steal the spotlight from the players by any means, but ultimately by restricting this I feel like I'm automatically ruling out a lot of good tropes and story resources, like having a powerful mentor, or an awe-inspiring ally they can occasionally rely on for something, or a powerful friend who is now a menacing rival after turning coat. Is it that bad an idea? Do you have any good examples of how you've done these characters? How restricted should I be about it? I just want to spice up my games a bit, I think they're getting quite predictable because the players are just used to always being the best at everything in the room. I know there isn't anything particularly abnormal about powerful NPCs, but they can be quite judgmental about how I handle situations, and I don't want to drop the ball on them.
Whenever my players upset me I just have a Dalek teleport into the campaign and start killing them
>>93404141More problems of running storygames. It's almost as if tabletop is terrible at linear narratives hmmm.
>>93404141NPCs more powerful than the PCs are a such a normal thing that I suspect you don't actually have a game and are just fantasizing about running one.
My players make most of the NPCs in the game, so I don't have this problem.
>>93404141In my experience, there are two ways to do it. The first is easiest: you simply introduce an NPC as normal, and only reveal their power later on after the players have already gotten to know them. This also lets you play a bit of slight of hand, you can introduce a number of different NPCs that all 'could' be a mentor to the players, and then whenever the players actually find one that they like you reveal THAT one is actually a badass and all of the others were just nobodies. This mitigates teh risk of investing too heavily into an NPC that the players are indifferent to or outright hate. If you want to established that an NPC is stronger than the players up front, you need to do so by reputation. Having the NPC come in and solo a powerful monster will just make your players upset that they were not allowed to do the cool thing themselves, or were made to feel helpless so that the NPC could 'save' them. That never ends well. Instead have the NPC show up in town and have the common folk immediately recognize him with fancy titles or past deeds. "Is that... Goldenharl? The giants bane?" "I heard he slew the Hydra of Mirror Lake". As long as those feats they are known for are something that the party themselves considers a difficult challenge for their level, the guy who did it solo should be taken as being no pushover.
>>93404141Whenever I add someone who is leagues more powerful than the party I make them a bystander. Great wizards, warlords, and mafia bosses don't work alongside the players; they give them quests, technical assistance, or become villains.
>>93404141You just do. The only failsafe should be having the NPC act dismissive when threatened and only retaliate if actually attacked. To prevent character suicide by bad manners.
>>93405381How do you do that?
>>93404141It's a good thing my players aren't faggots and I can just do stuff like this without worrying about hurt feelings or some bullshit. They even surprised one of said NPCs and killed him with a well-timed burst maneuver while he was still fucking around with the group and holding back his best skills.
>>93404141I just do. The world is a big place, and not all of it is level appropriate. Plus there's a lot of stuff happening in the world at any one time. The PCs are the stars of THEIR show, but there are other things happening elsewhere that they're not a direct part of.>>93405023Pfft, reminded me of this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB1xjb_e4Y0>Doctor: "Why are you killing these people?">Dalek: "Wh...bu...you have met us before, yes? But I do admit that we have my favorite kind of motive...ULTERIOR!!!"
>>93404141Even if we assume the "5e" as a system, you still need to provide more details and context.
>>93404141I just put the NPC in the world and let the PC's deal with them however they want. The PC's aren't the protagonists of the world, they're the protagonists of their adventures. Encountering stronger NPC's (good and bad) is expected. If your players grow resentful of this, tell them to grow up.So long as you're not doing it just to be a dick and your players aren't retards, you'll be fine.>examplesGandalf, Yoda, every instance of "the local wizard" in many RPG games, Chick Hicks from Cars.>>93405172>>93405289Also these.
>>93406533>ask the players for backup characters in case their characters die>make the backups into NPC's so it doesn't feel like they came out of nowhere if they need to join the party
Usually there are warning sings, for example expensive equipment or noble house symbols, military ranks, etc. Clothes make the man If your players belong to the "I attack the King" school of courtly etiquette I give them the "Are you sure?" treatment, but only once, and if they insist they wilk get what they asked for.
