One of the things I loved about 3.5e was the NPC classes. You could have a very proficient "farmer" (expert) who was very good at what he/she did, but was still only a farmer. The farmer could not go toe-to-toe with a PC, but then they weren't supposed to.
With the 5e design, this isn't possible. Instead, the 5e writers have done a decent job of creating various NPCs to fill the role you might need in a village, but they're pretty static with no accountable way to "advance" them. Could the sidekick class rules in Tasha's be used to advance a normal Priest into someone who could rival your party's Cleric in regard to social and leadership ability, but not as a combatant or even spellcaster?
Sidekick levels are intended to progress monster stat blocks in such a way that they can be used against other monster stat blocks, not against PCs. There's an intentional design asymmetry between monsters and PC revolving around HP, AC and damage.
One of the things I loved about 3.5e was the NPC classes. You could have a very proficient "farmer" (expert) who was very good at what he/she did, but was still only a farmer. The farmer could not go toe-to-toe with a PC, but then they weren't supposed to.
With the 5e design, this isn't possible. Instead, the 5e writers have done a decent job of creating various NPCs to fill the role you might need in a village, but they're pretty static with no accountable way to "advance" them. Could the sidekick class rules in Tasha's be used to advance a normal Priest into someone who could rival your party's Cleric in regard to social and leadership ability, but not as a combatant or even spellcaster?
C. Foster Payne
"If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around."
If you make the Priest an Expert, I guess.
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Extended Signature
Sidekick levels are intended to progress monster stat blocks in such a way that they can be used against other monster stat blocks, not against PCs. There's an intentional design asymmetry between monsters and PC revolving around HP, AC and damage.
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