How Do You Feel About NPC Party Members (A Poll)

[GrahamWills]

I guess it seems odd to me to work out how you DON'T have GMPCs. Do the players just never make relationships, or is there some kind of artificial game-thing they do? If they need a skill and someone joins them to help, do they then just forget they needed the skill and ditch the guy?

I mean, it's not like in the real world the exact same group stays around, repelling all new members as it grows and adapts. Is this just a gamist thing that groups do to keep things easier?

 

[Puddles]

The party in my current campaign has 2 NPCs with them. The reason I added them to the party was for immersion and world building. Both Dwarves, 1 is the son of a Forgelord from the Dwarven hold they are helping. The other is an old Dwarf that's there to look after the pack donkey and help set up camp.

The son of the Forgelord was added so the players felt like the Dwarves were taking an active role and not just leaving it all up to the PCs, I invented my own rules for him that are simple, rather than creating an NPC with a real class etc. As he is a tank, it's also quite useful to use him as a punchbag. If anyone in the party dies, it'll be him!

The second NPC is there as a comic relief character and likely won't fight. The party have already had a lot of fun interacting with him.

Neither of them make any decisions or solve any puzzles of course. Once we are back in civilisation, they will likely wonder off and find something to keep them busy.

 

[Imaculata]

One of the clever ways I've used npc's, is by telling my players that the npc's involved in a particular battle take care of 'the rest' of the enemies that they don't see. They are off screen for the purpose of actually playing out the battle, but I told them to imagine a battle between many more individuals happening all around them.

 

[Puddles]

One of the clever ways I've used npc's, is by telling my players that the npc's involved in a particular battle take care of 'the rest' of the enemies that they don't see. They are off screen for the purpose of actually playing out the battle, but I told them to imagine a battle between many more individuals happening all around them.

Yes I have done something similar. There was a battle in the Dwarven Hold against an army of Gnolls. The party was being escorted to safety by a Forgelord and his Honour Guard when they were attacked on both sides of the alley. The party held the rear, while the Honour Guard fought those in front. I quickly created some Warhammer Age of Sigmar style stat lines for the Honour Guard and the Gnolls, so at the end of each round I could roll a few dice and tell them how many of the Gnolls were slain and how many of the Honour Guard fell. It was super quick but helped simulate a much bigger fight.

 

[Blue]

NPCs traveling companions? Sure. DMPCs? No way.

If the party need not bring them along, can expel them at any time, and they are explicitly not the DM's proxy, just an NPC with NPC goals and motivations, sure. Then it's up to the party if they want them around.

 

[Blue]

I have a GMPC, because it is the only way that we can have enough PCs. Only one of my players is at the point where she can take on two PCs. The other tried, but he didn't do too well at it. Even then, we sometimes have to drag my husband in if we are getting slaughtered.

Stop a second - there are plenty of ways without having a GMPC. Have an NPC. Use the sidekick rules and have the DM run them in combat. Have beasts and others that have no voice or say in what the party does go with them.

 

[Blue]

If the GM is concentrating on making combat survivable, what is the point? The GM is just handing out participation trophies.

Isn't this equally as true if the GM is concentrating on making combat survivable by running allies with the party? Can't have it both ways.

 

[Blue]

I guess it seems odd to me to work out how you DON'T have GMPCs. Do the players just never make relationships, or is there some kind of artificial game-thing they do? If they need a skill and someone joins them to help, do they then just forget they needed the skill and ditch the guy?

I mean, it's not like in the real world the exact same group stays around, repelling all new members as it grows and adapts. Is this just a gamist thing that groups do to keep things easier?

A GMPC is not an NPC. It's a Player Character run by the DM. It is the DM's personal mouthpiece and proxy, just like the characters are for the players. The party has no choice but to incorperate the GMPC, just like it does any other PC.

None of those apply to an NPC.

 

[Lanefan]

A GMPC is not an NPC. It's a Player Character run by the DM. It is the DM's personal mouthpiece and proxy, just like the characters are for the players. The party has no choice but to incorperate the GMPC, just like it does any other PC.

None of those apply to an NPC.

To me they're the same thing. An adventuring NPC in the party is every bit as much a part of it as are each of the PCs - if for no other reason than people in the game world don't go around with little stickers on their foreheads that say PC or NPC and thus the PCs have no reason to treat the NPC any differently - and thus is allowed to have character, opinions, preferences, etc. and maybe even the occasional bright idea.

The party have every bit as much choice on incorporating a party NPC as they do a PC.

====================

Just for kicks, after posting my earlier thoughts above as to why NPCs end up in the party, I went back through my game logs and started running the numbers. Still in progress, but early returns indicate that over time by far the biggest driver behind having NPC adventurers in the party has been the players-as-PCs themselves!

Straight-up proactive recruitment of new full members is the greatest cause of party NPCs, and it's not even close.
A significant subset of this is recruitment of henches who, quite often, later get promoted to full members.
Another big NPC generator is rescued friendly prisoners who join the party to help finish the adventure and then sometimes stick around.
Charmed or captured enemies who join the party not of their own volition is another (usually short-term) NPC generator.
Other less-common party NPC generators include module-driven plot devices, local guides, field observers, PC companions, merging with another entire party in the field, ex-foes switching sides, etc.

Of all of these, only the plot devices and the field observers can really be seen as DM-forced. All the others are either directly player-driven or due to the players' in-character choice(s) and-or action(s).

 

[Blue]

To me they're the same thing. An adventuring NPC in the party is every bit as much a part of it as are each of the PCs - if for no other reason than people in the game world don't go around with little stickers on their foreheads that say PC or NPC and thus the PCs have no reason to treat the NPC any differently - and thus is allowed to have character, opinions, preferences, etc. and maybe even the occasional bright idea.

The party have every bit as much choice on incorporating a party NPC as they do a PC.

====================

Just for kicks, after posting my earlier thoughts above as to why NPCs end up in the party, I went back through my game logs and started running the numbers. Still in progress, but early returns indicate that over time by far the biggest driver behind having NPC adventurers in the party has been the players-as-PCs themselves!

Straight-up proactive recruitment of new full members is the greatest cause of party NPCs, and it's not even close.
A significant subset of this is recruitment of henches who, quite often, later get promoted to full members.
Another big NPC generator is rescued friendly prisoners who join the party to help finish the adventure and then sometimes stick around.
Charmed or captured enemies who join the party not of their own volition is another (usually short-term) NPC generator.
Other less-common party NPC generators include module-driven plot devices, local guides, field observers, PC companions, merging with another entire party in the field, ex-foes switching sides, etc.

Of all of these, only the plot devices and the field observers can really be seen as DM-forced. All the others are either directly player-driven or due to the players' in-character choice(s) and-or action(s).

These are commonly defined terms. It's fairly irrelevant if you treat them as the same thing.

Also, you ignore a huge part of the definition - the difference between a GMPC beign the DM's proxy like a PC is for a player. A DM runs NPCs according to their in-world goals, not as his private character.

But to get back to your claims, how many PCs were created by players and never got to adventure with the group because they weren't accepted? Checking your claim that they don't wear PC t-shirts.