NPC as a character

[aco175]

I'm looking for ideas on converting my character to a npc. Right now as the DM I have a lev6 cleric that I'm thinking of converting to a NPC. I have looked at the DMG and are thinking of making the conversion a bit more powerful that what they would suggest.

I was thinking of taking away both dalies and making something like a recharge6 power. I haven't thought if I should have it recharge every fight or roll at the start of each fight if I used it. May make thinking about it more than it is worth.

I'm also wondering if making the npc more powerful than a normal npc would take away some of the spotlight from the players. Right now I have a full character that I want to have less bookwork with, but still feel that the other 3 characters in the party need an almost full character. Thank you

 

[Tai]

NPC leaders actually work pretty well, at least in DMG1 - their more limited set of actions is offset by their generally bigger numbers. The DMG2 ones I believe are supposed to be more on a par with PCs in terms of power level. At this stage I'd say to run them straight out of the book, and see if they need a tweak down the line - better to have him be a little less powerful and have the PCs have to fight hard than to have him be too good and dominate the table.

 

[aco175]

My only thoughts on making him a bit more powerful than a basic npc is there are only 4 characters in the party, with one being my cleric. I will have to check out the DMG2 to see if it is worth buying and if it has some better ideas on npcs.

Anyone have ideas if it is too powerful to make dalies a recharge6. I was thinking of taking the two utilities being cure light and cure mod wounds and make something along the lines of a cure light but a range 5 or 10. I wonder if I make it use one of my surges to do it. Although npcs only get one surge per fight, right? eh..

 

[Mahali]

We had an NPC as a teammate in a small group that worked really well. Biggest problem was his lack of healing surges though (1 per tier). We'd use healing that didn't spend his surge to do multiple encounters between extended rests.

Also as an NPC he had a better to hit and AC than the part as they advance faster.

 

[Tai]

As I said, give him a whirl as written. The last thing you want is for the most powerful party member to be controlled by the DM...

 

[Blackbrrd]

Why do you want an NPC with the party? To do the healing? I would rather have houseruled it so that one of the players gets to use the healing word 2x per encounter like the cleric would have done.

 

[The_Gneech]

By a strange coincidence, the DMG II has a pretty helpful section on just this issue.

Short answer -- pick a role and build the NPC like you would a monster, with just a few simple powers that fill the hole in the party, then hand it off to one of the players to take care of.

-The Gneech

 

[Dr_Sage]

By a strange coincidence, the DMG II has a pretty helpful section on just this issue.

Short answer -- pick a role and build the NPC like you would a monster, with just a few simple powers that fill the hole in the party, then hand it off to one of the players to take care of.

-The Gneech

If he is leaving the party yes. But I am under the impression that he wants to keep on playing.

If I am mistaken its all good.

But if I am not I would recommend against, becuse npcs were designed to have simplified combat stat blocks, thats it. Monsters are IMHO like wooden and pper fake scenarios, designed only to "fool" and amaze us for a short time, but we cant live in fake scenarions can we? ^^

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

If he is leaving the party yes. But I am under the impression that he wants to keep on playing.

If I am mistaken its all good.

But if I am not I would recommend against, becuse npcs were designed to have simplified combat stat blocks, thats it. Monsters are IMHO like wooden and pper fake scenarios, designed only to "fool" and amaze us for a short time, but we cant live in fake scenarions can we? ^^

I'll disagree with this view. NPCs and monsters ARE more limited than PCs obviously, but they are also not heroes. I've had an NPC attached to the party I've been running for for quite a while (3 levels now). It has its limited powers and that's fine because that way it performs its function and never upstages the PCs. I did modify it so it has some extra healing surges simply because at first it was proving to be an albatross with only one HS.

In the case of an NPC support cleric I'd be tempted to give him one at-will melee attack power an encounter power, a utility power, and maybe a daily, plus the CD healing word. That way he's got a full suite of healing abilities, a way to attack and give some kind of buff, and that's about it. You may even want to simplify the powers some to make it easier to run. For example instead of him having healing word x2 and CLW and healing strike instead give him 3 HWs per encounter and Righteous Brand, and maybe Turn Undead. Nice and simple, but he'll help out the party and you can always load a few healing items on him if they are available.

 

[DracoSuave]

Right now I have a full character that I want to have less bookwork with, but still feel that the other 3 characters in the party need an almost full character. Thank you

No, you need to make encounters that are geared towards 3 characters. That way their victories are theirs and the credit doesn't go to the healbot run by a DM.

If they need healing so bad, slap them down some Healing Potions and be done with it.