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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 4851706" data-attributes="member: 22779">I'm thinking guide in the very basic sense - a local who knows the customs and whatnot and can impart that knowledge to the PC's.  It's simply a tool with which to get your setting notes to the players in a way that is not breaking the 4th wall.  Instead of directly telling them something, or trying to rely on character backgrounds, you have an NPC with the party that does not really do anything other than offer information.The skull guy in Planescape: Torment is a great example of this.  He doesn't really do anything too much, other than fill you, the player, in on the idiosyncrasies of the setting.  Is this the only way?  Oh no of course not.  I would hope that there are other ways.  This is just a really handy way.  The Greek Choir type NPC who can fill in the details when appropriate or just give lots of local color.Again, the guide is not leading the party.  The guide should not be filling in all the blanks, particularly if it basically unlocks the adventure for the players.  That's not the guide's role.  Another example I can think of is the Neelix character from Star Trek Voyager.  Very much not going to overshadow any PC <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> .  But he can fill in the setting and local color very well and very realistically.Note, on a totally different tangent, if you have the guide character as a PC in your group, make sure you don't step on his toes with a guide NPC.  If one of your players has a bard with umpteen knowledge skills, then he becomes your go to guy for getting information to the party.  I'd advise making a cheat sheet up before a session, with eight or ten points of local color and hand it to the player.  Make it his responsibility to get this information to the party.And, this can work well to solve log jams as well.  For example, I'm playing a Binder in a Shackled City campaign.  I've got lots of knowledge skills and the vestiges give me a perfect (if unreliable) source of information.  We had a draconic paladin in the group who refused to go on a particular quest because it did not relate to anything draconic.  When I made my knowledge checks, the DM handed me all sorts of background information.  I took that information, erm... embellished a few points... and now the draconic paladin has a very good reason for joining our quest.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Turns out that there really was a link to dragonkind after all.... heh.</blockquote>

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