NPCs as Party Members

[Shiner]

I really like NPCs going around with the pcs. They offer a good chance for the DM to interact with the pcs more directly, and they provide many interesting moments. I don't think there is any problems for them to help the pcs when they are stuck, depending of course what they know in the world.

In my present campaign, i have use them a LOT. In fact, when my 3 pcs began, they took along.... 9 NPCs, all detailed and some of them quite helpful in combat. They were all slaves who tried to escape, and they succeed. After that, these 12 pcs and npcs start a little village deep into the woods. After that, they decided to free their ancient captive town, and also succeed to bring... 60 more people with them

They now are in charge of 70 npcs, and they are all enjoying it!! Of course, some NPCs are better than them, but they usually are working in the small refuge, doing work that the players would feel boring. Also, these friends provide good source of adventure for the pcs, giving them the spotlight by giving them spying missions, explorations, etc...

The pcs have the choice to ask any NPCs to help them with their current job. So if they ask a ranger to help them discover a new region, it is expected that this ranger will steal the show on some occasions, and it is quite normal also, since the players are 2 sorcerers and 1 cleric.

All in all, i think that you are doing just fine, and if the pcs enjoy it, continue that way. If they found that they always help them at the most desperate times, for once, make the NPC be totally wrong!!! It will certainly surprise them! Or if you think the npc is inner, just have him leave, and bring another some time later!!!

Shiner

 

[Umbran]

Like most things in gaming, it can be done well, andit can be done poorly. The end question is perhaps best put to your players. Do they like it? If yes, cool. If no, uncool. Simple, really.

 

[Drawmack]

In my last campaign I had an NPC named the elvin story teller. He showed up at random intervals, gave the party very cryptic and sometimes contradictory advise and then went off on his way. Anyone know where I got that idea?

 

[Airwolf]

I try to avoid using an NPC when I DM. I think the players, for the most part, have more fun without the NPC.

That being said, I will probably have to break that guideline during our session this weekend. The group decided to tackle an adventure without preparing for it at all.

 

[Fenes 2]

I almost always have an NPC in the party. In my Shadowrun campaign, a NPC is even party leader. That way I can circumvent the one hour planning discussion, which none of our group enjoy, and bring the party back on track if they are stuck somewhere.

If your players do not have fun solving a puzzle, or planning an assault, then a suggestor NPC may be the right thing - I for one would rather roleplay than spend hours planning and metagaming, and most of my PCs are not exactly tactical geniuses. As a DM I won't force players to play "smart" PCs in order to make their planning in-character, or even to make elaborate plans at all, if they have no fun doing so.

Then there is the fun of the DM - often a party NPC is the best way to have some character interaction as a DM, especially in wilderness or dungeon crawl adventures.

I aim to place PCs in the spotlight as a DM, but as a player I have no objections to an NPC saving the bacon of the party - it makes playing the "wild" or "dumb" PC easier if there is a voice of reason in the party, a foil for the harebrained schemes.

Using NPCs also avoids forcing players to play "neccessary" classes (healing f.e.) in order to survive.

I can say that if I could not have an NPC as a party member, then I would not have as much fun DMing as I do now, and would probably not DM at all.

 

[WayneLigon]

It depends on the party mix. Usually if they take an NPC along, it's to fill a niche they are missing. It's especially important if they have no cleric or arcane caster.

The current campaign, they picked up a local teenager as a guide to the area, and to show them where the likely bandit hiding spots would be. Because he related the story of climbing a tree to escape the evil 'Demon Boar' that was terrorizing the area, the half-orc ranger in the party named him 'Rith'; orcish for Climber. He was a 1st level commoner who became a mascot to them, then the half-orc began to train him as a ranger. He was a pretty terrible combatant due to my poor die rolls, but he was good to have around to give aid on tracking checks and the whole lot.

Last session, they finally met a greater servant of the dragon cult they'd been unknowingly opposing, along with her bodyguards. She proceeds to kill everyone in the party except for the dwarf thief.. and Rith, who went to -4... before she herself is killed. When that happens, everyone in a 20' radius of her teleports back to the dragon temple far to the north, hundreds of miles from civilization. Dolen revives Rith with a potion, then they strip the bodies of everything they can find and hide like rats.

They watch in horror as cultists appear after dark and drag the bodies away to underground chambers. The next morning, they run out of the ruins and begin the long journey home. Because Rith was with him, Dolen the thief makes it make to civilization because Rith knows how to live in the wilds, how to find his way, all that.

Dolen was certainly glad they'd made the decision to train him, so long ago!

 

[Terraism]

Personally, I hate it when DM's bring their personal PC/NPC along for the ride with a party. In my experience, it detracts from the game, as the DM is trying to run the game (and monsters, and NPCs ...) as well as be a player. To much metagaming occurs.

I don't mind the occasional NPC that joins a party for a short period, for something adventure-specific, or as a hired hand, but definitely not long-term. When I DM, the NPCs are secondary to the players, and I refuse to play one as an additional PC.

I tend to agree with you, Olgar - however, I generally have a small number (2-3) of players, and they often as "hey, could you take along a...?" It gets on my nerves, not because I don't enjoy playing, but because I don't want to fall into the trap of having a full PC with the party run by the DM. That said, this time through I feel a little better about it, because they needed a mage... and so I took a utility-based guy, without things like fireball. They're kinda annoyed, but they're also learning that things like Bull's Strength have just as much use as an Acid Arrow. And, I don't feel like I'm stealing the spotlight.

 

[Berk]

I ran an NPC for over a year with a group that I was dming. The first reason I did this was because the group didn't have a cleric and they needed one on their first adventure. But as roleplaying goes the PC's made friends with the NPC and he stuck around. He eventually became my PC as me and my brother would switch off DMing the same world that we created. He also became one of the more powerful characters in the group, mostly because he was eventually put in charge of a major temple during one of the times my brother was DMing and he actually sat out a bunch of adventure's taking care of religious business. Think he sat out a total of around 6 months game time which was a lot of adventuring he missed out on. The main reason I did this with this character was because the other players came to rely upon the cleric for healing and support, I was never one to actually say "I know the answer to this riddle!!". But after the cleric kinda left the group for half a year to take care of the temple for a bit after he first earned his position in it the rest of the group found that they can do just as good if not better without him around, although at sometimes a slightly higher cost and slower pace since there wasn't a walking red cross with them. =op

 

[Kilmore]

In my gaming group, I'm the only one that commonly plays a cleric. So when I DM or play a character other than a cleric, a cleric NPC is usually drafted in short order.

Also, since my group is comprised of mostly dateless males. I find that female NPC's add a lot of flavor to games, giving the boys something to fight for / fight over / fight with / fight against / make woo with / etc. BTW, the ones that are the least available are the ones they are the craziest about.

 

[Sanackranib]

I've been Dming for about ten years, and in that time I have gotten into the habit of having an NPC along for the ride in the campaign. My players took to calling them Suggestors, partially in jest. At first hey were usually of somewhat higher level, though never used as a means of saving the gruop, and almost never used to show off that the DM (me) had a kewler character. They got the name Suggestor because now and then they would propose an idea when the group got stuck, and an hour of debate had passed. This habit really began because I usually had pretty small groups, and the NPC filled a niche the players could not.

I guess my question is, is this a bad habit, and one I should break? I am looking for a new gaming group, and would like some opinions before I start a new campaign.

thanks,
Skade

IMO youshould pnly run NPC's with the group when the group has recruited them because of rollplaying situations or to fill an obvious hole ie the party needs a 2nd fighter, priest etc. It's a bad Idea for the NPC's to be higher level then the party (If they are higher level why arn't the party members working for them instead of the other way around.) Also its a bad Idea to have them "save the party". Personally I think the occasional obvios suggestion is ok, esp. if it has already beensuggested by someone else and they are just seconding the opinion.