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<blockquote data-quote="Magus_Jerel" data-source="post: 127126" data-attributes="member: 3940">Personally, with four players - there are only two situations in which I would consider running a &quot;sleeper NPC&quot; to help the party. 1. There was a need for a guide or &quot;wilderness survival&quot; - in which case the party usually found a Ranger familiar with the area.2. The party did not have access to healing by magical means, in which case I would consider running a wandering cleric.For My own personal game -If there is only one player, I run highly individualized sessions - tailored to what the player wishes to do.If there are two players - especially now given 3e and depending on their experience at the game, I usually consider letting them each run two charactersIf there are three or more players, I STRONGLY encourage the players to design their characters to work together - considering the following elements.1. Magical Healing2. Magical Firepower3. Survival in the wild4. The ability to stand toe to toe with the &quot;enemy&quot;5. Stealth and subtlety sometimes work better than kicking in the door.6. When it is a matter of kicking in the door - timing is everything.I tell players not to think of themselves as a &quot;one man army&quot; - but rather as members of a &quot;special forces squad&quot;.I once had a partiy of 4 characters sneak up on a fortress - and using a whole lot of sneaking around and dirty tactics - take the entire castle, and kill or capture all 600 defenders.&nbsp; Cloudkill can be a VERY nasty spell, and flaming oil in the right spot can be one heck of a diversion.It has been My experience that the balance between the &quot;kick in the door style&quot; of play and &quot;deep immersion storytelling&quot; is critical to the ultimate mix of the party.&nbsp; A great deal of &quot;modules&quot; rely upon the former, whereas the latter requires much more of a true campaign setting to work.Given the party you have mentioned previously, I would consider running a Ranger type character in &quot;wilderness style&quot; adventures - but not much else, unless the PC's ASKED for a particular character to accompany them on a mission.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Magus_Jerel, post: 127126, member: 3940"] Personally, with four players - there are only two situations in which I would consider running a "sleeper NPC" to help the party. 1. There was a need for a guide or "wilderness survival" - in which case the party usually found a Ranger familiar with the area. 2. The party did not have access to healing by magical means, in which case I would consider running a wandering cleric. For My own personal game - If there is only one player, I run highly individualized sessions - tailored to what the player wishes to do. If there are two players - especially now given 3e and depending on their experience at the game, I usually consider letting them each run two characters If there are three or more players, I STRONGLY encourage the players to design their characters to work together - considering the following elements. 1. Magical Healing 2. Magical Firepower 3. Survival in the wild 4. The ability to stand toe to toe with the "enemy" 5. Stealth and subtlety sometimes work better than kicking in the door. 6. When it is a matter of kicking in the door - timing is everything. I tell players not to think of themselves as a "one man army" - but rather as members of a "special forces squad". I once had a partiy of 4 characters sneak up on a fortress - and using a whole lot of sneaking around and dirty tactics - take the entire castle, and kill or capture all 600 defenders. Cloudkill can be a VERY nasty spell, and flaming oil in the right spot can be one heck of a diversion. It has been My experience that the balance between the "kick in the door style" of play and "deep immersion storytelling" is critical to the ultimate mix of the party. A great deal of "modules" rely upon the former, whereas the latter requires much more of a true campaign setting to work. Given the party you have mentioned previously, I would consider running a Ranger type character in "wilderness style" adventures - but not much else, unless the PC's ASKED for a particular character to accompany them on a mission. [/QUOTE]

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