D&D 5E Running NPC allies

Ovinomancer said:

It was a poorly built finale in SKT. The BBEG is far outside the capabilities of the expected party, so they add up to 5 storm giants to aid. 5 storm giants who can easily handle the fight on ther own, mind. I paired it down to 3, and that was about 3 to many. With the foreknowledge and prep available to my players (free potions of giant size, frex), they were a match for the BBEG without aid, a mistake I made in assuming the potions just made you big.

Click to expand...

Yeah - I went with 4 Storm Giants (I think my players have forgotten to use the potions in the heat of battle fortunately!). I was lucky that a couple of giants failed their checks to withstand the Frightening Presence so they're out for the moment.

One of the PCs went down (0 HP) right at the end of the last session so there's at least some tension in the battle for which I'm glad. I didn't want them to dispatch Iymrith without getting a scratch!

I use this companion system available on DMs guild for NPC interactions. It essentially abstracts NPCs, and has them work as a special ability players are able to use. They also get benefits for well done interactions, so it sort of gives the game a Bioware RPG vibe. Both me and my players are huge fans of this approach.

http://www.dmsguild.com/product/192283/Companion-System

What I've done in the past is one of two options.

First is that I just hand the NPC to a player. I still control motivations and if the player has the NPC do something suicidal (and it's out of character for the NPC) I overrule it. Otherwise the NPC is totally controlled by the player.

The second option is that I just kind of take a swag at what the NPCs can handle, and they go off into a corner to do their own thing pulling off enemies with them. Basically reduce the number of opponents the PCs face while another simultaneous battle happens off screen. Ideally the NPC/monster fight happens nearby but not close enough for spells to be effective against both groups. So probably within hearing distance so I can narrate a little bit of the combat but not in line of sight.

jimmytheccomic said:

I use this companion system available on DMs guild for NPC interactions. It essentially abstracts NPCs, and has them work as a special ability players are able to use. They also get benefits for well done interactions, so it sort of gives the game a Bioware RPG vibe. Both me and my players are huge fans of this approach.

http://www.dmsguild.com/product/192283/Companion-System

Click to expand...

Nice - and the best part, I already own it! (Must have been in a bundle?)

I'd say it depends on your preference. In the games I've run, I've given the player a card with the NPC's statistics and let them manage the NPC. This puts the burden of determining the NPCs fate to the player; plus you as DM have a great opportunity to demonstrate to the players how serious their situation has become by utterly destroying a NPC to begin combat (I'm really fond of that).

Often the best solution is to have the NPC allies off screen fighting some other monsters offscreen. I often have them guard the rear.

This is more common at high levels. Low level 5e is fast enough I find NPCs can take part in combat without slowing things down.

My current campaign has a lot of npc allies, and even entire allied ships. So I often hand control of them to the players. I also try to limit the number of allies they bring along with sometimes contrived story reasons (the npc is busy, somewhere else, wounded, keeping watch).

If the NPCs in question are meant to be important to the PCs, then I think the best thing to do is to have the players run the NPCs in battle. For example, in Curse of Strahd, I had my players run both Ireena and Ismark during the encounters they had on their way to Vallaki. I provided the stats and a few notes about playing them (“Ireena is desperate to prove she is not merely a damsel in distress, so she will sometimes take foolish risks if the potential reward is significant” and “Ismark will do anything to protect Ireena”).

The players grew much more attached to the characters than they would have otherwise, and that really factored into things as the adventure went on.

On the other hand, if the NPCs are meant to simply be cannon fodder or reinforcements for the PCs, then I think it’s best to keep it simple. I usually try and have some portion of the enemy forces “handled” by the NPCs, meaning that I remove them all from the actual play and simply narrate what happens (“the dwarven squadron that you befriended seems to be keeping the orc reinforcements from the area, leaving you free to deal with the chieftan and his men”).

I don’t think you should have one answer for this question. I think it should vary depending on the situation and the role the NPCs are meant to play.

Its a very interesting and important concern.

It can certainly add something to the game if they PCs can have allies that sometimes fight alongside them. But it should be done sparingly.

Take the end of SKT, at least as described here. This works if the players think "Cool, we have storm giant allies!". Then the DM runs them very unobtrusively. Still it would be much easier with like 1 instead of 4 or 5.

My only real solution is to just mix up the various kinds of allies, along with having long periods with none at all: Sidekicks or followers that are clearly under the PCs control (and can sometimes be more regular helpers). Rescued prisoners, friendly monsters, and others encountered in a adventure environment whose aid enriches the story and acts as a reward for the party, and the powerful types that should be scene as something cool by the party, not something overshadowing them.

As noted, NPCs and monsters in 5E can be pretty simple, and 5E can be played fast. If the ally is more involved, use the same approach I use for more involved villains. Picks a few obvious default actions, and don't worry about all the little things they might be able to do. (and again, 5E is better about this then some past editions).

In an extreme case, just calculate average damages (taking into account AC) and briefly narrate their action each turn. You can even roll some die or invoke some power they have but again you just use the pre calculated damage.

TerraDave said:

In an extreme case, just calculate average damages (taking into account AC) and briefly narrate their action each turn. You can even roll some die or invoke some power they have but again you just use the pre calculated damage.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback - good stuff. And yes while I've been rolling attacks I've been going with average damage to keep things moving. It's helped a lot!