so in the campaign I'm currently running I had an npc that gave my PC's advice every now and then to help them on their journey. The problem is that I ended up liking him so much that I basically made him omnipotent. Now my players, for some reason, feel like he's a suspicious character and the next time he shows up they need to try and catch/kill him so they can get more info out of him. (he seems to know a lot about their quest but he won't share all of it)
Should I A)never have him show up again
B)have him show up and put a light smack down on the players to keep them in line
C)let them try and fight him, getting their asses kicked in the process
D)some other option
Side note: The characters know little to nothing about him, although they have brought up the fact that he almost seems like a Deity that took interest in their quest and decided to offer some words of advice every now and then.
The bigger question is "why did you think it was necessary to introduce a near-omnipotent NPC as the party benefactor in the first place?"
If he's so powerful, then he has been pulled away from whatever the characters are doing to go deal with an earth-shaking crisis (like Gandalf leaving Bilbo and the Dwarves at the entrance to Mirkwood). Then have a level-appropriate underling take over the role of NPC-with-critical-info.
Then if they want to capture/kill the NPC, let them do it and deal with the consequences.
I know it was bad dming on my part.
but thank you for the suggestion, seems reasonable
I say make him a high level expert in various fields of knowledge with some mix of caster levels for some divination spells that would have helped him ferret some information. Let your PCs trounce the dude and deal with the roleplaying fallout and conflict that occurs.
Reminds me of the Dungeon Master form the old D&D cartoon.
He himself could turn out to be relatively harmless and mundane, but simply a messenger for a "real" more powerful force - good or evil, depending on how you want this to go. He's just acting as a mouthpeice for a god or a powerful genie or a demon or an angelic power or something. Beating up on him may or may not yield more information, and it may or may not anger the being he's working for.
allow the PCs to damage him and reveal he was under a curse where he would be omnipotent provided his blood was never spilled. He had the party do his dirty work so he could protect his power ... now that they damaged him, his power is gone ... thanks alot guys.
Have him disappear for a while and then turn out to be the BBEG who was secretly manipulating the party all along...
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You might have the NPC experience a fall from grace or be a victim of an enemy. Amnesia is a little cheesy, but as a punishment or ailment for a know-it-all, it is appropriate. You can essentially rewrite the character while the amnesia keeps hold.
If the players opt to kill him, they will gain nothing. If an enemy left the NPC in this state, they may be very angry to learn that the PCs interrupted his sentance of a lifetime of ignorance.
If the players decide to help, you could give them the opportunity to learn more about the PC, allowing you to give more insight into the NPC. Even if the PCs help cure his amnesia, it perhaps his godlike knowlegde is still lost (to his enemy?)
Why do they need to be 'kept in line' or have their 'asses kicked'? Sure, there should be consequences to the PCs actions, but you put this one on them. You admitted you invested too much in him. He deserves the same fate as any other NPC, to be overcome by the PCs.
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If you ghost the NPC, the party is likely to become even more suspicious of him and that could lead them to veering away from the actual plot while they try to track the guy down.
I don't know enough about this NPC or the game you're running. Is he a casty-type or a roguey-type dude? You could say he's well-connected or has access to divinatory spells like Commune. Either way, I think he should die, in full view of the party if possible. It'll be a lesson for you about not getting too attached to NPCs and good for the party to have closure on the issue. Maybe your BBEG finds out he knows too much and an assassin shoots the NPC or he dies mid-sentence from the poisoned sprinkles on his cupcake? After his very public and irreversible death, explain to your players what you did wrong and why you've taken these steps to remove the problem.
Whatever you do, don't let the NPC "smack down" the party. That's bad DMPCing, and your players will probably hate you for it (they'll definitely hate the NPC.) If you can help it, don't even let there be a fight between the party and this guy. If it comes to that, just have the NPC surrender or flee...only to die moments later, perhaps to an allergic reaction to a bee sting or peanut butter or something like that.
I don't know how powerfull you planned him to be, but i will go against the masses and say that, if they want to challenge something out of they budget, let them bite the dust. As long as you have made perfectly clear to them that he is out of their league and/or that they are not supposed to fight him, it's their choice to gamble or not in a confrontation with him.
I have a similar NPC in my campaign, that is a very powerfull individual on his own personal schedule who appened to cross path unintendedly with the PC and in this occasions he dispensed some knowledge and insigt (and once also a lesson of how to not make trouble while he is drinking, cleaning the floor with one of the PC) NPC like this help the PC remember that they are not the top end of the scale of power, and that they should trade lightly with what they don't know about.
It all depends on the world in witch they move. If you are the tipe who handle god-sended quest to second level PC, then you probably don't want remainded that exist something greater outside of your sight. If you instead play a normal adventuring party, fact like this helps remind them that there is a whole word outside that waits to be explored and understanded.
How about having the NPC be a competing-evil-guy using the PCs to foil his arch nemesis so he can enact his own Nefarious Scheme™? To get rid of him, have him be captured and dragged off by the BBEG's lackeys at some point. This should only reinforce the PCs desire to get back on-story for the BBEG showdown instead of haring off in completely the opposite direction. Heck, you can even have the BBEG deliver your PCs a letter or speech taunting them for a) not knowing who the NPC was and b) delivering the NPC into his clutches to suffer a fate worse than death.