I want to know if you folks ever ran a competition NPC party for the same goal(s) as the PCs have.
E.g. it I s a race for clues with optionally different paths to go or only the quicker party gets the goal.
Especially if you did that in 5e, how did you build that competition party?
Did you take NPC stats and skills or did u make something up out of the Monster manual?
If you played in such a campaign:
was it fun?
How did your PCs keep up themselves versus your NPC party?
Was there frustration if the NPCs resolved something first?
I've done this as a DM in 5e, actually two different times...
The first time, the PCs were 5th level in my homebrewed Tomb of Annihilation campaign, were sick of dealing with zombies that kept coming back (i.e. Undead Fortitude), and were following a lead on a mythical magic gem that supposedly had the power to weaken zombies throughout the land. Atop a waterfall, they found a NPC party aligned with druids outside the entrance to the ancient temple said to hold the gem. This NPC party included a
druid (and his "familiar"
vegepygmy), 4
scouts, and a
gladiator (stats from the MM).
The initial meeting was tense for two reasons. First, the gladiator was the brother-in-law of one of the PCs and they had bad blood. Second, the PCs found two scouts from this NPC party who died of ingested poison in the jungle, so they were a bit suspicious; the druid agreed to a
zone of truth casting, but the results were inconclusive. With the tensions resolved for the moment, the druid NPC proposed they work together to access the temple and its inner shrine. Neither side fully trusted the other, but players agreed.
The PCs entered the temple with 2 scouts and the gladiator, while the druid and 2 scouts held back along with two companion NPCs who'd been traveling with the players. Within the temple was a puzzle-trap, which if performed incorrectly triggered an
eidolon – this was insanely deadly for their level, and I foreshadowed that fact strongly, so players were on edge. Once PCs triggered the eidolon, the gladiator wrests the gem from the paladin PC and runs for the exit. As the eidolon slaughters the two scouts and knocks out (almost killing) one of the PCs, the paladin PC and the gladiator NPC have a running battle, the rest of the party is running for the stone door entrance which is slowly closing.
Everyone finally gets clear, the paladin PC topples through swinging and clutching the gladiator NPC by the throat while wresting the gem away, and it looks like there's going to be a throw down. However, the druid NPC intervenes and begs them to consider a peaceful solution – proposing he and the PC druid would listen to everyone's positions on what to do with the magic gem and together make a "druid's judgment." Begrudgingly, the gladiator NPC and the paladin PC agree.
I think players had a good experience. Several agreed it felt very "Indiana Jones."
The second time, the PCs were 10th level (same campaign) and exploring the ruined Forbidden City, trying to gather puzzle cubes from various shrines which they needed in order to open a door to a tomb. There was a group of Red Wizards who were also working to acquire these puzzle cubes. For the Red Wizard's stats I used slightly modified VGtM spellcasters (e.g.
abjurer, diviner, evoker, and a
mage "apprentice"); they were supported by a group of
thugs and a
veteran captain. The PCs had an initial run-in with one of the Red Wizards (the
evoker) and a few
thugs while leaving one of the shrines with a puzzle cube, and the PCs curb stomped that guy. However there was a twist... The Red Wizards were in contact with one another telepathically and had
contingencies which alerted the diviner should any die. The diviner immediately responded by
teleporting a
delayed blast fireball to the dead evoker's position while the PCs were about to loot the body. That set the tone for the ongoing rivalry with a bang.
Their next encounters with the Red Wizards were by proxy via evidence of Red Wizards torturing vegepygmies for information & cunning "spell traps" the Red Wizards set up on various shrines (some previously explored/looted, others they couldn't solve) just to thwart the PCs. This was quite frustrating for them and definitely raised the players' ire toward the Red Wizards. Some highlights...
- Wizards replaced a cube with a magnetic decoy which had a false puzzle unleashing a forcecage, also trapping ghasts inside the shrine, and setting up two glyph of wardings to trigger when creatures entered the shrine, casting arcane lock on door & magic mouth to taunt them and offer an end to the "spell traps" if the PCs came to the Red Wizard camp to parlay.
- Wizards cast mass suggestion on a bunch of grungs who claimed a shrine – to slaughter anyone attempting to access a shrine's inner sanctum (since "clearly" that meant they were greedy and out to deprive the grung of their rightful treasure). This could have been very dangerous, but PCs saw something was amiss and wisely cast detect magic, realizing the grungs were enchanted. Careful roleplay got the grung chief to open the inner sanctum himself, thereby circumventing the mass suggestion. One of the treasures of the grung ("tribute from the Red Wizards") had an engraving taunting PCs to come meet them at their camp to make restitution for killing one of the Wizards or the "spell traps" would continue.
- Wizards set up a symbol of insanity in a shrine that was guarded by su monsters and traps, trapping a PC who nearly got killed by mind blasting and various traps, but PCs managed to tough it out. A little card offered the PCs tea at the Red Wizards' camp to discuss an alliance.
Finally, the PCs did strike a tenuous alliance with the Red Wizards, finishing the last shrine with their support and then going to the tomb's entrance. Both sides expected betrayal, it was just a question of when. During a massive 4-way battle at the tomb's entrance, the Red Wizard leader - the
diviner - told PCs to run toward the tomb entrance (which she realized was the false trapped entrance) and she'd cover them. So far, the Red Wizards were fighting on the PCs side. Two PCs enter the outdoor/indoor rock-cut hallway with the trapped entrance, triggering the trap and poison gas spews into hallway, then Red Wizards launch a
delayed blast fireball inside the hallway and cover entrance with a
wall of force, trapping the two PCs inside! It looks really bad for the PCs!
However, they manage to escape by deliberately triggering the
delayed blast fireball prematurely, and casting
mold earth to dig under the wall and escape the poison gas, but they're badly hurt. During the battle, the PCs kill all the thugs and two more Red Wizards until their
diviner leader (along with
veteran captain) teleports away. They seriously contemplated tracking her down out of sheer spite, but kept their eye on the prize and entered the tomb.
I wouldn't say the players had a "good experience", but they definitely had a newfound hatred for the Red Wizards after all the spiteful "spell traps" and patronizing messages culminating in a crafty betrayal. Maybe it would be fair to say they "loved to hate" the Red Wizards.