Do you think it's a good idea to provide NPCs as potential "role models" for player characters - or this overly heavy handed and/or the DM attempting to impose a personal standard of behavior on players?
Example - I have a Bard character who is essentially playing as a combat rogue - really not plumbing any any of the nuance of the class. That's totally their choice, but it's possible that they really just haven't thought of the possibilities; The player doesn't have a lot of RPG experience.
I'm contemplating dropping in a flamboyant Bard NPC to act as party guide for a short time, who really embraces all aspects of the class - as a demonstration/reminder of the class possibilities - and then going off on their own way once it makes narrative sense for them to do so.
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NPCs are a great way to get players invested into your world and make it feel like they're part of something larger. It's also a nice change of pace for the players. The key to NPC helpers is to give them a memorable personality, their own goals, and not making them too redundant with other party members. Since you're deliberately making the NPC bard play differently from the PC bard, that won't be an issue.
Another alternative is to introduce a rival instead of an adventuring companion.
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I also lean more heavily toward placing such "example" NPCs within the world to provide examples. Members of guilds, sacred orders, forces in a ruler's army or advisors/trusted champions. Perhaps defenders for a city should it be attacked by monsters. Or rival adventurers competing in the same tournament or competition. This can help to show different ways/styles of the same classes, especially if you make their personality/behaviour different from what one usually assumes the class would behave.
One risk with including them in the party as a temporary party member for an extended period of time is it can make it feel like you as DM are stepping on the player's toes, since if the characters are similar they might feel that they have to share their time in the spotlight with the NPC which can risk resentment. If you want the NPC to be an ally of the party and serve as an example I would recommend having them be able to have plenty of social interaction and perhaps fight on the same side of a single battle, while requiring the NPC to stay behind (protecting the city in case of other attacks, duty bound to their guild or sacred order etc.) unless all the players, especially the one sharing class with the NPC, really wants them to come along and can figure our a good way to still protect the NPC's duty.
One risk with including them in the party as a temporary party member for an extended period of time is it can make it feel like you as DM are stepping on the player's toes, since if the characters are similar they might feel that they have to share their time in the spotlight with the NPC which can risk resentment. If you want the NPC to be an ally of the party and serve as an example I would recommend having them be able to have plenty of social interaction and perhaps fight on the same side of a single battle, while requiring the NPC to stay behind (protecting the city in case of other attacks, duty bound to their guild or sacred order etc.) unless all the players, especially the one sharing class with the NPC, really wants them to come along and can figure our a good way to still protect the NPC's duty.
Stepping on players toes, and the dread DMPC ( insert controversy here ) was exactly what I was trying to avoid.
That's why I think the rival idea was a cool one; have the NPC as an example, but not compete with the party members, but against.
Your suggestion of having the Bard be "geographically specific" is also a good one. In my head, they would be running into this "example Bard" in a specific culture/settlement; makes sense that they wouldn't wish to leave that region.
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Bard class is tricky to rp as it requires much more acting from player. You should always talk with players what and why they have chosen in character creation process.
It looks that rogue-arcane trickster class will be much better for your player
The Rival Party can be very fun. I just dropped something like this on my (relatively) new Party, at the point where they were able to start deciding what sort of group they want to be. Essentially, you can hold up a mirror to them and ask your characters if they like what they see.
If, for instance, your party is at risk of becoming murder-hobos, bring in a gang of actual murder-hobos and show them how NPCs react to this; they might witness this other group being refused service in a tavern, or unable to sell off their loot at local shops because they have a reputation as little more than organised bandits. You can save a town from a Wyvern, but if you go about it by bullying the townsfolk for information and threatening anyone in your path, they're not going to like you for it!
This essentially allows you to challenge your players' ideals and make them question the habits they might not even realise they had. If your group is finding themselves lacking direction and just wandering from town to town killing stuff, show them a former adventuring party that ended up as washed-out has-beens because eventually, all the monsters had been killed and all the bounties claimed and they never found a better calling.
If your party has a habit of disregarding the law (not necessarily acting criminally, but, for instance, ignoring orders from local guardsmen to leave official matters to them, or interfering in legal proceedings without any reason or permission), have them enter a town to see a group of would-be adventurers in the stocks, thus illustrating that there are consequences to ignoring the law without having to actually try and arrest the party (which 9/10 times will never work, you'll just end up with a LOT of dead guards...)
The trick is to not be too obvious about the message, while still leaving the players able to infer it from how you describe and depict certain things. It helps to avoid just creating a mirror-match party as that gives the game away too easily. If you have a Fighter, Rogue, Bard and Sorcerer, perhaps use a group consisting of a Barbarian, Ranger, Monk and Wizard (or just ignore classes entirely, they are after all just mechanical constructs for players, rather than in-game professions in most cases).
But try and subtly match a PC to an NPC. If your Bard isn't doing much with their skills at music or performance, rather than just using a more Bard-y Bard, have an NPC who wishes they had those skills ask the character they don't make better use of their gifts. If you have a player who always runs in and endangers their PC and NPC allies, show them an NPC who made that mistake and lost someone they were close to so as to remind them that actions have consequences.
All that said, the role model can be just as effective as a positive influence, encouraging rather than deterring players. If you have a Paladin whose faith is wavering, or who doesn't really fulfil their religious obligations, throw in a high-level Paladin NPC and make a point of using all their cool abilities, giving the player an ideal to strive for. The character can even take on the role of a mentor then, staying with the Party for a while and maybe even rewarding the PC with some training and tutelage (represented by giving them an extra spell choice, or a minor ability a level 'early' ect.)
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Do you think it's a good idea to provide NPCs as potential "role models" for player characters - or this overly heavy handed and/or the DM attempting to impose a personal standard of behavior on players?
Example - I have a Bard character who is essentially playing as a combat rogue - really not plumbing any any of the nuance of the class. That's totally their choice, but it's possible that they really just haven't thought of the possibilities; The player doesn't have a lot of RPG experience.
I'm contemplating dropping in a flamboyant Bard NPC to act as party guide for a short time, who really embraces all aspects of the class - as a demonstration/reminder of the class possibilities - and then going off on their own way once it makes narrative sense for them to do so.
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.
NPCs are a great way to get players invested into your world and make it feel like they're part of something larger. It's also a nice change of pace for the players. The key to NPC helpers is to give them a memorable personality, their own goals, and not making them too redundant with other party members. Since you're deliberately making the NPC bard play differently from the PC bard, that won't be an issue.
Another alternative is to introduce a rival instead of an adventuring companion.
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I do like the rival idea!
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.
Rival party in case you want to do this for everyone else too.
I also lean more heavily toward placing such "example" NPCs within the world to provide examples. Members of guilds, sacred orders, forces in a ruler's army or advisors/trusted champions. Perhaps defenders for a city should it be attacked by monsters. Or rival adventurers competing in the same tournament or competition. This can help to show different ways/styles of the same classes, especially if you make their personality/behaviour different from what one usually assumes the class would behave.
One risk with including them in the party as a temporary party member for an extended period of time is it can make it feel like you as DM are stepping on the player's toes, since if the characters are similar they might feel that they have to share their time in the spotlight with the NPC which can risk resentment. If you want the NPC to be an ally of the party and serve as an example I would recommend having them be able to have plenty of social interaction and perhaps fight on the same side of a single battle, while requiring the NPC to stay behind (protecting the city in case of other attacks, duty bound to their guild or sacred order etc.) unless all the players, especially the one sharing class with the NPC, really wants them to come along and can figure our a good way to still protect the NPC's duty.
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.
The rival idea is nice.
Bard class is tricky to rp as it requires much more acting from player. You should always talk with players what and why they have chosen in character creation process.
It looks that rogue-arcane trickster class will be much better for your player
The Rival Party can be very fun. I just dropped something like this on my (relatively) new Party, at the point where they were able to start deciding what sort of group they want to be. Essentially, you can hold up a mirror to them and ask your characters if they like what they see.
If, for instance, your party is at risk of becoming murder-hobos, bring in a gang of actual murder-hobos and show them how NPCs react to this; they might witness this other group being refused service in a tavern, or unable to sell off their loot at local shops because they have a reputation as little more than organised bandits. You can save a town from a Wyvern, but if you go about it by bullying the townsfolk for information and threatening anyone in your path, they're not going to like you for it!
This essentially allows you to challenge your players' ideals and make them question the habits they might not even realise they had. If your group is finding themselves lacking direction and just wandering from town to town killing stuff, show them a former adventuring party that ended up as washed-out has-beens because eventually, all the monsters had been killed and all the bounties claimed and they never found a better calling.
If your party has a habit of disregarding the law (not necessarily acting criminally, but, for instance, ignoring orders from local guardsmen to leave official matters to them, or interfering in legal proceedings without any reason or permission), have them enter a town to see a group of would-be adventurers in the stocks, thus illustrating that there are consequences to ignoring the law without having to actually try and arrest the party (which 9/10 times will never work, you'll just end up with a LOT of dead guards...)
The trick is to not be too obvious about the message, while still leaving the players able to infer it from how you describe and depict certain things. It helps to avoid just creating a mirror-match party as that gives the game away too easily. If you have a Fighter, Rogue, Bard and Sorcerer, perhaps use a group consisting of a Barbarian, Ranger, Monk and Wizard (or just ignore classes entirely, they are after all just mechanical constructs for players, rather than in-game professions in most cases).
But try and subtly match a PC to an NPC. If your Bard isn't doing much with their skills at music or performance, rather than just using a more Bard-y Bard, have an NPC who wishes they had those skills ask the character they don't make better use of their gifts. If you have a player who always runs in and endangers their PC and NPC allies, show them an NPC who made that mistake and lost someone they were close to so as to remind them that actions have consequences.
All that said, the role model can be just as effective as a positive influence, encouraging rather than deterring players. If you have a Paladin whose faith is wavering, or who doesn't really fulfil their religious obligations, throw in a high-level Paladin NPC and make a point of using all their cool abilities, giving the player an ideal to strive for. The character can even take on the role of a mentor then, staying with the Party for a while and maybe even rewarding the PC with some training and tutelage (represented by giving them an extra spell choice, or a minor ability a level 'early' ect.)