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In a high level campaign I ran, I took the design philosophy that the villains were supernatural (e.g, dragon or lich), the average npc was weak (level 3 or less), and the characters were once-in-a-1000-years heros (level 10-20).
Every now and then they would have an obstacle involving regular humanoids or the local government and they had the option of just steamrolling everything (even whole platoons). It provided a great contrast to the magic-boss death matches and let the characters really feel special.
It also drove home that they were the only ones who could save the day.
I'm generally not big on that approach. But then again, I rarely play at levels where the PCs can really take that superhero approach. Could be interesting to roll with that some time.