phoffman
Explorer
I DMed a similar situation to yours. In the 5e Adventure "Out of the Abyss" as a DM you have lots of NPCs to help the party along early in the game. My party didn't have a rogue, so I decided to empower a few of the NPCs to make them last a little longer.
I had the NPC only gain a Hit Dice ever other level of the PCs, once he reached 4 Hit Dice I gave him +2 to his prime statistic. But I also gave the NPC an ability from the start that made him relevant as the PCs began to outstrip his power. I then turned over the combat decisions to one of the PCs for this NPC.
BONUS ACTIONS
Help. Gnome can use his bonus action to use the Help action. In addition he can use the help action to aid an ally within 30ft in attacking a creature, the target of the attack must be within 30ft of him (Normally 5ft) and able to hear or see him.
NPCs don't have to level as PCs. My players seem to like it when the NPC companions or henchmen do not outshine them. But they adore NPCs that empower them in combat, or social situations.
For an Elven Knight from MM347 I would give her Fey Ancestry (The elf has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put the elf to sleep.) and Darkvision 60ft to start. Then I would swap the Heavy Crossbow for a Longbow.
The Knight is already 8 Hit dice, and the party is level 13. I could probably safely change the proficiency bonus to equal to a PC of her HD (She would have (this will increase the MM347 saving throws she has listed and allow her to hit more often) Because the PCs are already 5 levels above the HD of the NPC, if i wanted her to be a henchman that grows with them I would just give her 1 HD every time the PCs leveled (and increase her proficiency bonus to match a PC with her HD).
The knight already has some interesting abilities, but as she levels I would add some traits or abilities that empower the PCs, to keep her mechanically interesting. Since I let my Players control the NPC in combat (ofcourse i always reserve the right to override choices, some times an NPC will do things more inline with the NPC personality than is tactically what the player wants), adding abilities to NPC doesn't take away from the Monster NPCs i am controlling.
I would consider some of the following, perhaps they will give you inspiration.
If she is a High Elf, perhaps a Wizard Cantrip, or Misty Step 1/day.
Increasing her crit range is nice, but I did that for an NPC and my players were not impressed as much.
Abilities like the Protection Fighting Style could be interesting.
Second Wind would add longevity to the NPC
I would want to have Players have a reason to keep the Knight in Melee combat, perhaps granting her the ability. "Your friends have advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature within 5 feet of you that is hostile to you."
If you end up adding HD to the Knight every time the PC levels , she will always be 5 HD behind them, you don't need to add class levels to keep them relevant in my opinion. In my games I would just give them abilities that seem to make sense based on gameplay or PC interaction with the NPC and use existing PC abilities for inspiration.
I had the NPC only gain a Hit Dice ever other level of the PCs, once he reached 4 Hit Dice I gave him +2 to his prime statistic. But I also gave the NPC an ability from the start that made him relevant as the PCs began to outstrip his power. I then turned over the combat decisions to one of the PCs for this NPC.
BONUS ACTIONS
Help. Gnome can use his bonus action to use the Help action. In addition he can use the help action to aid an ally within 30ft in attacking a creature, the target of the attack must be within 30ft of him (Normally 5ft) and able to hear or see him.
NPCs don't have to level as PCs. My players seem to like it when the NPC companions or henchmen do not outshine them. But they adore NPCs that empower them in combat, or social situations.
For an Elven Knight from MM347 I would give her Fey Ancestry (The elf has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put the elf to sleep.) and Darkvision 60ft to start. Then I would swap the Heavy Crossbow for a Longbow.
The Knight is already 8 Hit dice, and the party is level 13. I could probably safely change the proficiency bonus to equal to a PC of her HD (She would have (this will increase the MM347 saving throws she has listed and allow her to hit more often) Because the PCs are already 5 levels above the HD of the NPC, if i wanted her to be a henchman that grows with them I would just give her 1 HD every time the PCs leveled (and increase her proficiency bonus to match a PC with her HD).
The knight already has some interesting abilities, but as she levels I would add some traits or abilities that empower the PCs, to keep her mechanically interesting. Since I let my Players control the NPC in combat (ofcourse i always reserve the right to override choices, some times an NPC will do things more inline with the NPC personality than is tactically what the player wants), adding abilities to NPC doesn't take away from the Monster NPCs i am controlling.
I would consider some of the following, perhaps they will give you inspiration.
If she is a High Elf, perhaps a Wizard Cantrip, or Misty Step 1/day.
Increasing her crit range is nice, but I did that for an NPC and my players were not impressed as much.
Abilities like the Protection Fighting Style could be interesting.
Second Wind would add longevity to the NPC
I would want to have Players have a reason to keep the Knight in Melee combat, perhaps granting her the ability. "Your friends have advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature within 5 feet of you that is hostile to you."
If you end up adding HD to the Knight every time the PC levels , she will always be 5 HD behind them, you don't need to add class levels to keep them relevant in my opinion. In my games I would just give them abilities that seem to make sense based on gameplay or PC interaction with the NPC and use existing PC abilities for inspiration.
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