First in a series of belated posts deals with the patron prompt.
I skimmed a few answers already, and like most, my mind is also drawn to the broader, in game, role of a patron to the characters.
The evolution of the patron, the quest giving wizard, the Mr Jonson … is interesting to me. Going from a need to somehow engage the characters and push them along their merry way; to a more formal even mechanized part of the game is interesting. Where we started with these characters as pure fiction, in modern game design they are recognized as a driving or binding element of the game.
The modern patron is part in-fiction focus of the party, informing us on the direction of the game we want to participate in. They are also a mechanical interaction with a game handing out bonuses.
i would also argue that patron as a RPG artifact is broader than the strict definition. No one would argue that the fellowship’s patron in The One Ring, or the completely non-optional patron of Imperium Maledictum are patrons. But I would go further and say that the crew in Blades in the Dark is also a sort of a patron, as is the agency in your Delta Green campaign.