What books are companion characters in?

[Wednesday Boy]

The DMG2 explains companion characters but I thought some of the books had premade examples of them. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[TerraDave]

Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium has hirelings, which is close.

Various monster books and the compendium can also be a good source, though obviously you want to watch out for powers that might be imbalanced for a recurring character.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Good point, maybe I was thinking of the hireling stat blocks. Thanks for the help!

 

[mcmillan]

There's also companion characters in DMG2 on page 27

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

An issue of Dragon Magazine has some example hirelings and companions. I believe every companion I've seen effectively uses a PC class, and I've yet to see any official "monster" companions.

Edit: Turns out they're identical to what's in Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium.

 

[aco175]

A basic companion character is a basic monster stat block for the pc's level. The book recomends 1 basic power and 1 encounter, (2 at 11th level iirc). I played with a few of these as dm and they do fill a role in making it easier to have more characters and not take anything from the players and their characters. They are intended to hand to a player for combat and not overburden the player.

I tend to give these that stay around for a few levels a boost in power to make them a bit more cool, although not in league as the pc characters. At 7th level I give another encounter power, or I'll change another power to boost it a bit. At 11th level I gave one a recharge power for his only cool attack. I gave a few a magic item or two, but they do not count towards attack and defence. A magic weapon so he can throw it and it returns. A necklace that gives protection 5 fire, and such.

I also find that I can have regular fights without scalling back because these characters only have 1/2 or 3/4 the power as a regular character. It seems the other players in my group have more power gamer in them and can cary the slack.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Just out of curiosity, is MME pre or post Essentials/MM3? A companion based around a PC class seems to do less damage than one based around a monster, not that we've seen any monster companions.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

The Monster Vault was released in November 16, 2010 and MME was released in September 20, 2011. So presumably---Actually I don't know what to presume. But those are the release dates.

 

[aco175]

I know they give a guide depending on the role of the character, controller, artillery, etc. Attacks are 4+level, slightly below MM3, but you add weapon proficincy. You do not get magic or armor bonus, but you get +1 each level. It all mostly works out. The biggest point is that it is easy and doesn't use too much brain power when you play.

This could be something 5E uses. Where one character is very easy to set up and play, but still works and is fun.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I know those rules, but I think the damage companions deal is lower, if they were NPCs, compared to the damage dealt by companion monsters.