el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
I have had them in the past to varying degrees of effectiveness. In my "Out of the Frying Pan" game there was one NPC who was there from day one and that they came to love - so when he was killed by the future BBEG in session #17, it provided a great come together moment for the party and a group motivation.
In my current two-person (plus me as DM) "Revenants of Saltmarsh" game, the PCs have various NPC allies in town that they can sometimes convince to come out and help them on an adventure: a ranger, a cleric, a wizard, a rogue. This allows them to choose who they think they'll need, persuade them, and not feel like supporting characters in their own game. Coincidentally, none of these allies seem available at the same time.
The "healbot" / "meatshield" thing is what I think of as poor play and not something that has happened in my games in decades.
In my current two-person (plus me as DM) "Revenants of Saltmarsh" game, the PCs have various NPC allies in town that they can sometimes convince to come out and help them on an adventure: a ranger, a cleric, a wizard, a rogue. This allows them to choose who they think they'll need, persuade them, and not feel like supporting characters in their own game. Coincidentally, none of these allies seem available at the same time.
The "healbot" / "meatshield" thing is what I think of as poor play and not something that has happened in my games in decades.
