So I am running a group through a Homebrew campaign I created and I am pretty sure they will soon be facing some encounters where they will need a hand. I have a couple ideas of how to throw an NPC who would potentially join them and offer this extra hand, but I am wondering what, if any, tricks, hints and such folks use to kind of let the group know that asking this NPC to join them MIGHT be a really good idea. I am trying to not railroad TOO much, (the overall arc of the campaign HAS to be railroad, but HOW they follow the path I want as open as possible)
Any ideas out there? I am thinking of having the NPC say something about being sent by their God to aid the strangers, or maybe a destiny thing where aiding the foreigners is in their fate. I want the players to make the choice or suggestion that the NPC join them though, without TOO much nudging. Might be impossible though, without some kind of hint.
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
Align the NPC's goals with the party, then they can meet the npc and talk about said goals. One side can offer to join forces for the time being. Or let the party jump into action and find the npc already trekking the same objective.
I know you're not running a 1:1 game, but his advice on how to use a sidekick character(s) to support, and hint, without making the Player(s) dependent on the NPC might be applicable here.
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First up, create the NPC to be the NPC, not to be a combat aid (which is what it sounds like to me).
If you are giving them assistance from this NPC, who has not appeared in the game before, purely because they'll need an additional healer or whatever s/he has in a fight, then don't do that. Lower the CR of the encounter and make them fight something else. The party should be able to overcome whatever they face without an NPC's help - if they do need help then that's really you, the DM (not an NPC), just giving them boosts in encounters.
NPCs following the party around and contributing to fights ONLY works if the players respect, care about and want the NPC to be there. An interloper into the group is no fun, especially if they feel the game is balanced around that NPC's arrival.
Things NPCs will do in combats that really mess with player fun:
Roll crits on every attack
Always get the last hit on monsters
Get used as a healbot
I have one NPC travelling with the party in my campaign, whom the players weren't meant to take with them. But they liked her and invited her to go. She said she couldn't because she had a club foot and would slow them down, so the goliath barbarian offered to carry her on his shoulders. She now rides around that way, and kind of fights on top of his shoulders in combat sometimes. The players seem to really like her - she has a funny way of talking, gently mocks them, and is quite comic, but they like her as a character, not as a stat block to help them in combat. In a fight with a Gorgon she got smacked down to 1 hit point when the party was nearly out of spells and they genuinely tried to save her. With all that, I still feel bad when she gets the last hit on a creature and deprives the party of it!
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So I am running a group through a Homebrew campaign I created and I am pretty sure they will soon be facing some encounters where they will need a hand. I have a couple ideas of how to throw an NPC who would potentially join them and offer this extra hand, but I am wondering what, if any, tricks, hints and such folks use to kind of let the group know that asking this NPC to join them MIGHT be a really good idea. I am trying to not railroad TOO much, (the overall arc of the campaign HAS to be railroad, but HOW they follow the path I want as open as possible)
Any ideas out there? I am thinking of having the NPC say something about being sent by their God to aid the strangers, or maybe a destiny thing where aiding the foreigners is in their fate. I want the players to make the choice or suggestion that the NPC join them though, without TOO much nudging. Might be impossible though, without some kind of hint.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
Align the NPC's goals with the party, then they can meet the npc and talk about said goals. One side can offer to join forces for the time being. Or let the party jump into action and find the npc already trekking the same objective.
I'd recommend checking out Matt Coleville's Running the Game #89: One-on-One.
I know you're not running a 1:1 game, but his advice on how to use a sidekick character(s) to support, and hint, without making the Player(s) dependent on the NPC might be applicable here.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
First up, create the NPC to be the NPC, not to be a combat aid (which is what it sounds like to me).
If you are giving them assistance from this NPC, who has not appeared in the game before, purely because they'll need an additional healer or whatever s/he has in a fight, then don't do that. Lower the CR of the encounter and make them fight something else. The party should be able to overcome whatever they face without an NPC's help - if they do need help then that's really you, the DM (not an NPC), just giving them boosts in encounters.
NPCs following the party around and contributing to fights ONLY works if the players respect, care about and want the NPC to be there. An interloper into the group is no fun, especially if they feel the game is balanced around that NPC's arrival.
Things NPCs will do in combats that really mess with player fun:
I have one NPC travelling with the party in my campaign, whom the players weren't meant to take with them. But they liked her and invited her to go. She said she couldn't because she had a club foot and would slow them down, so the goliath barbarian offered to carry her on his shoulders. She now rides around that way, and kind of fights on top of his shoulders in combat sometimes. The players seem to really like her - she has a funny way of talking, gently mocks them, and is quite comic, but they like her as a character, not as a stat block to help them in combat. In a fight with a Gorgon she got smacked down to 1 hit point when the party was nearly out of spells and they genuinely tried to save her. With all that, I still feel bad when she gets the last hit on a creature and deprives the party of it!