Children as "Companion" NPCS

[chronoplasm]

Interesting idea about comparing them to familiars.

I haven't read The Black Company yet. How do Darling's latent powers work?

Do you plan on reading the book? If so, I don't want to spoil it for you.

 

[Quickleaf]

Do you plan on reading the book? If so, I don't want to spoil it for you.

I'd be interested to know, yeah. It'll be a while before I get around to the book since I'm working on my doctorate and don't have the free reading time I used to.

If they aren't apprentices, let them guide the plot. Bad guys are after them. They get into trouble. They want to do something, the PC's say no, they do it anyway. etc.

That's where it's tricky. No, they didn't begin as apprentices. Yes I see them becoming something like that. The boy-heir began as a plot device, but there have been a couple mentoring comments made toward him. The girl-sorceress was a minor NPC who two of the players became intensely interested in and asked to "guide" her (in part to keep her safe from her prejudiced community & neighboring wizards who have a penchant for kidnapping kids with latent magic).

Another option, if you want the kids to be low-level but useful, would be to set them up as level 1 but use the Making Things Level rules on page 34 of the DMG2 to effectively bring them up to (or near) the PCs' level provided their mentors are nearby to assist and advise.

Good point, I'll re-read that part of my DMG2, maybe some ideas there. Thanks.

 

[Rel]

I agree with chronoplasm and would probably shoot for somewhere between Familiar and Plot Device. Sometimes they set up flanking or perform a skill roll of some sort. Most of the time they run around yelling, "No time for love, Dr. Jones!!"

 

[chronoplasm]

I'd be interested to know, yeah. It'll be a while before I get around to the book since I'm working on my doctorate and don't have the free reading time I used to.

If you really want to know, I put it in spoiler tags here.

[sblock=Spoiler]
Darling has an anti-magic aura, sort of like the ones Paladins used to have in the OD&D Supplement I. Spells don't work around her.
[/sblock]

 

[Quickleaf]

I agree with chronoplasm and would probably shoot for somewhere between Familiar and Plot Device. Sometimes they set up flanking or perform a skill roll of some sort. Most of the time they run around yelling, "No time for love, Dr. Jones!!"

Hah! Well, I don't have Arcane Power so what I know about familiars is through friends and dragon. My understanding is that when in "passive mode" they give a lesser passive benefit but aren't targeted by enemies, but they can go into "active mode" giving a greater benefit/taking actions but they become targets. And that you need to spend a move action to move them.

If you really want to know, I put it in spoiler tags here. [/sblock]

Wow, that's uncanny. Sort of what I was envisioning for the NPC girl in our campaign - she is a weihon, descendant of the witch queens. I was thinking when she makes a save vs. an arcane power it rebounds or becomes a zone around her instead.

 

[The Shaman]

Still, I'd like some mechanics which show the interaction between PC and NPC, the mentoring, the protection, etc. I've been thinking about house-ruling some feats and letting players get a bonus one of their choice, sort of a multi-class. I've also debated just leaving it to role-playing and giving the kids "plot protection".

I'd go with leaving it to roleplaying if it was my game.

 

[Starfox]

I like cinematic role play, and two thing that is generally hard to do in films are animals and children. Thus, both animals and children, when they do occur, almost always have impressive abilities and a kind of script immunity. Of course, they should not upstage the players, but having plot-related abilities works very well.

For a child, I'd give it plot abilities like being immune to damage (and thus never being attacked) and perhaps a daily ability to cause a setback to opponents. No at-wills and possibly some annoying but mostly harmless encounter power as a recurring joke. Naturally, I'd not tell the players the kid was immune.

This is a very storyteller-ish to handle children, of course.

 

[chronoplasm]

Hah! Well, I don't have Arcane Power so what I know about familiars is through friends and dragon. My understanding is that when in "passive mode" they give a lesser passive benefit but aren't targeted by enemies, but they can go into "active mode" giving a greater benefit/taking actions but they become targets. And that you need to spend a move action to move them.

That's pretty much about the gist of it.
Sometimes the players might need the children to get out of the way and just disappear for a while so that the adult adventurers can get things done. I think it might be a good idea to let them.

 

[Quickleaf]

I'd go with leaving it to roleplaying if it was my game.

Hmm, I definitely have been doing it that way so far. What I need now is a way to handle children in combat situations & show the children are learning from the PCs over time. Still I understand with your point.

I like cinematic role play, and two thing that is generally hard to do in films are animals and children. Thus, both animals and children, when they do occur, almost always have impressive abilities and a kind of script immunity. Of course, they should not upstage the players, but having plot-related abilities works very well.

For a child, I'd give it plot abilities like being immune to damage (and thus never being attacked) and perhaps a daily ability to cause a setback to opponents. No at-wills and possibly some annoying but mostly harmless encounter power as a recurring joke. Naturally, I'd not tell the players the kid was immune.

This is a very storyteller-ish to handle children, of course.

Actually, I think it's a nice compromise between statting them up as NPCs and the shaman's view on leaving it entirely to roleplaying.

That's pretty much about the gist of it.
Sometimes the players might need the children to get out of the way and just disappear for a while so that the adult adventurers can get things done. I think it might be a good idea to let them.

<edited> I took a stab at designing the sorceress girl as a familiar...

Gwynn (Apprentice)

Constant Benefit
You gain a +2 bonus to ritual checks for one category of your choice.
You understand and speak Witchspeak (through Gwynn translating).

Active Benefits
Magic Unleashed: Once per encounter you can determine range, line of sight, and line of effect for one burst arcane power from Gwynn. On a natural 20 the targets are pushed 1 square and knocked prone, but on a natural 1 everyone is pushed 1 square and knocked prone.
Protected: Gwynn gains +2 to defenses while adjacent to an ally, and gains any defense benefit from your second wind or total defense.
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