Prior to the sidekick rules coming out, my players had an NPC that's been following their group. To add him to the group, I essentially created a player and added it to the campaign. It's not optimal, but I've been giving him classes with level ups that makes the most sense for him. Now, with Tasha, there's sidekick rules and I can see him fitting into one of those roles instead to be more functional.
My question is how is the best way to go about this? Are the sidekick rules working on D&DBeyond? I know you can add a sidekick to extras, but maybe I'm not getting it or doing it right because it seems bare bones and I can't add details. Also, that only seems to apply to one character at a time, so they would all have to synchronize their extras. Is there any way, at this time, to add a sidekick to a campaign?
It is still pretty barebones on Sidekicks. Currently they only go up to about level 10 (working off of memory, cause it's Friday afternoon and I'm lazy) and there are some things they can and cannot do. As for sharing it with the group... I'm not sure they will make Group Sidekicks, though, I'm not sure why not. Currently it would be easy enough to add a basic Sidekick to each of the characters, but over time, I would expect if there were items involved or things like that it would get messy. Most of the time one person is really running them for the group, so it isn't a big deal and would likely take a lot of custom code to make it work as a shareable resource. In some cases, adding another Player Sheet is still the best way to go for this for long term engagement. That way any of them can pull up the sheet and at least make the dice rolls to a VTT and see what equipment the Sidekick has.
Alright, thanks for the answer. At the time, it looks like what I've been doing is still the best course of action until D&DBeyond improves the sidekick functionality.
Keep in mind that the current sidekicks available on DDB are those from Dragon of Ice Spire Peak and the follow up adventures. This is important for two reasons 1) you won't have access to them if you haven't purchased those adventures (or aren't in a campaign with sharing turned on where someone else has them) and 2) the Dragon of IceSpire Peak sidekicks do not follow the newer sidekick rules in Tasha's. There are plans to develop a system to create sidekicks per Tasha's rules, although there is no word on how high a priority creating that system is. What I have done for a player in one of my campaigns who has a worf/warrior sidekick is that I created a homebrew monster statblock for the sidekick, which I will have to update every time the sidekick levels up.
I'm far from ready to use the sidekick system, I've been running sidekicks at 1/2 the level of the PCs.
A game I ran the rogue had her own band of bards as sidekicks as the other PCs between them had a +1 sword, a vestige cape and a modified figurine of wondrous power.
Her husband more often than ran her character so he eventually got tired of handling her personal posse and wanted them gone.
Actually hoped to run a spin off game where the players run one of those bards now on a separate mission of their own as important as the main party but heading a different direction to explore the setting more.
Best wishes with your campaign!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Prior to the sidekick rules coming out, my players had an NPC that's been following their group. To add him to the group, I essentially created a player and added it to the campaign. It's not optimal, but I've been giving him classes with level ups that makes the most sense for him. Now, with Tasha, there's sidekick rules and I can see him fitting into one of those roles instead to be more functional.
My question is how is the best way to go about this? Are the sidekick rules working on D&DBeyond? I know you can add a sidekick to extras, but maybe I'm not getting it or doing it right because it seems bare bones and I can't add details. Also, that only seems to apply to one character at a time, so they would all have to synchronize their extras. Is there any way, at this time, to add a sidekick to a campaign?
Thanks for any help and explanation.
It is still pretty barebones on Sidekicks. Currently they only go up to about level 10 (working off of memory, cause it's Friday afternoon and I'm lazy) and there are some things they can and cannot do. As for sharing it with the group... I'm not sure they will make Group Sidekicks, though, I'm not sure why not. Currently it would be easy enough to add a basic Sidekick to each of the characters, but over time, I would expect if there were items involved or things like that it would get messy. Most of the time one person is really running them for the group, so it isn't a big deal and would likely take a lot of custom code to make it work as a shareable resource. In some cases, adding another Player Sheet is still the best way to go for this for long term engagement. That way any of them can pull up the sheet and at least make the dice rolls to a VTT and see what equipment the Sidekick has.
Alright, thanks for the answer. At the time, it looks like what I've been doing is still the best course of action until D&DBeyond improves the sidekick functionality.
Probably better off giving individual sidekicks to individual players, if you're going that route
Keep in mind that the current sidekicks available on DDB are those from Dragon of Ice Spire Peak and the follow up adventures. This is important for two reasons 1) you won't have access to them if you haven't purchased those adventures (or aren't in a campaign with sharing turned on where someone else has them) and 2) the Dragon of IceSpire Peak sidekicks do not follow the newer sidekick rules in Tasha's. There are plans to develop a system to create sidekicks per Tasha's rules, although there is no word on how high a priority creating that system is. What I have done for a player in one of my campaigns who has a worf/warrior sidekick is that I created a homebrew monster statblock for the sidekick, which I will have to update every time the sidekick levels up.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
Check your entitlements here. | Support Ticket LInk
I'm far from ready to use the sidekick system, I've been running sidekicks at 1/2 the level of the PCs.
A game I ran the rogue had her own band of bards as sidekicks as the other PCs between them had a +1 sword, a vestige cape and a modified figurine of wondrous power.
Her husband more often than ran her character so he eventually got tired of handling her personal posse and wanted them gone.
Actually hoped to run a spin off game where the players run one of those bards now on a separate mission of their own as important as the main party but heading a different direction to explore the setting more.
Best wishes with your campaign!