I read up on sidekicks and understand the basics of sidekicks but from what I understand sidekicks are monster, not PCs? The cards are all of PCs. Also the cards have no stats, I'm guessing I need to make my own if I use them.
I don't think we have the essentials kit. If we do, we haven't opened it in ages. They are basically NPCs used to help fill gaps in your party if you are light on players. However, RPGBot has an article on using Sidekicks. See if that helps.
I don't think we have the essentials kit. If we do, we haven't opened it in ages. They are basically NPCs used to help fill gaps in your party if you are light on players. However, RPGBot has an article on using Sidekicks. See if that helps.
I get how sidekicks work but I was confused why they were all classes of PCs. From what I read a sidekick is a recruited monster.
I don't think we have the essentials kit. If we do, we haven't opened it in ages. They are basically NPCs used to help fill gaps in your party if you are light on players. However, RPGBot has an article on using Sidekicks. See if that helps.
I get how sidekicks work but I was confused why they were all classes of PCs. From what I read a sidekick is a recruited monster.
A sidekick is not, necessarily, a recruited monster. Usually, you use sidekicks if you have a small party, and need to round it out. Like your two PCs are a sorcerer and rogue, so you give one of them a warrior sidekick so there can be someone when the melee starts. The idea is they grow in level with the PCs, and are strong enough to hold their own, but not so strong that they overshadow the PCs. They are also simple enough that a player can run them, essentially having two characters, but they aren’t as complex as a PC, so it’s not overwhelming.
While it could be a recruited monster, it can be anything you like. The warrior above can be a bodyguard hired by the wizard, a tough guy sent by the thief’s guild, or someone’s pet wolf, for example.
There’s three kinds, basically a warrior, a caster, or a skill person. You could use whichever is appropriate for your party, if needed. Details on how to create them are in Tasha’s.
I don't think we have the essentials kit. If we do, we haven't opened it in ages. They are basically NPCs used to help fill gaps in your party if you are light on players. However, RPGBot has an article on using Sidekicks. See if that helps.
I get how sidekicks work but I was confused why they were all classes of PCs. From what I read a sidekick is a recruited monster.
A sidekick is not, necessarily, a recruited monster. Usually, you use sidekicks if you have a small party, and need to round it out. Like your two PCs are a sorcerer and rogue, so you give one of them a warrior sidekick so there can be someone when the melee starts. The idea is they grow in level with the PCs, and are strong enough to hold their own, but not so strong that they overshadow the PCs. They are also simple enough that a player can run them, essentially having two characters, but they aren’t as complex as a PC, so it’s not overwhelming.
While it could be a recruited monster, it can be anything you like. The warrior above can be a bodyguard hired by the wizard, a tough guy sent by the thief’s guild, or someone’s pet wolf, for example.
There’s three kinds, basically a warrior, a caster, or a skill person. You could use whichever is appropriate for your party, if needed. Details on how to create them are in Tasha’s.
So why is it called a sidekick and not just a second PC? Sounds like being called a sidekick doesn't give it any special sidekick abilities.
Sidekicks work somewhat like monster/NPCs and somewhat like PCs. You take a Monster or NPC stat block (with a maximum Challenge Rating of 1/2) and choose one of the three Sidekick classes: Warrior, Expert or Spellcaster. They then gain levels in their Sidekick class in parallel with the rest of the party. So, they gain levels like a PC but the features gained are simpler than those full PCs gain and they tend to be slightly weaker than PCs.
Sidekicks are intended to help round out the numbers in a party when you only have a small number of players. How they’re controlled varies: they could be fully controlled by the DM (as an NPC), fully by the players or the DM could roleplay them out of combat while the players control them in combat.
Examples of sidekicks we’ve used in our games: Goblin Expert, Giant Badger Warrior, Dwarf Thug Warrior, Awakened Black Bear Spellcaster
I don't think we have the essentials kit. If we do, we haven't opened it in ages. They are basically NPCs used to help fill gaps in your party if you are light on players. However, RPGBot has an article on using Sidekicks. See if that helps.
I get how sidekicks work but I was confused why they were all classes of PCs. From what I read a sidekick is a recruited monster.
A sidekick is not, necessarily, a recruited monster. Usually, you use sidekicks if you have a small party, and need to round it out. Like your two PCs are a sorcerer and rogue, so you give one of them a warrior sidekick so there can be someone when the melee starts. The idea is they grow in level with the PCs, and are strong enough to hold their own, but not so strong that they overshadow the PCs. They are also simple enough that a player can run them, essentially having two characters, but they aren’t as complex as a PC, so it’s not overwhelming.
While it could be a recruited monster, it can be anything you like. The warrior above can be a bodyguard hired by the wizard, a tough guy sent by the thief’s guild, or someone’s pet wolf, for example.
There’s three kinds, basically a warrior, a caster, or a skill person. You could use whichever is appropriate for your party, if needed. Details on how to create them are in Tasha’s.
So why is it called a sidekick and not just a second PC? Sounds like being called a sidekick doesn't give it any special sidekick abilities.
They are NPCs. You don't hire a Rogue to tag along with you, you hire an Expert. You don't hire a cleric, you hire a Spellcaster. Sidekicks are characters/creatures created with a simplified class to result in stats that are simpler to run than a full player character and by extension have less of the spotlight than the player character.
I don't think we have the essentials kit. If we do, we haven't opened it in ages. They are basically NPCs used to help fill gaps in your party if you are light on players. However, RPGBot has an article on using Sidekicks. See if that helps.
I get how sidekicks work but I was confused why they were all classes of PCs. From what I read a sidekick is a recruited monster.
A sidekick is not, necessarily, a recruited monster. Usually, you use sidekicks if you have a small party, and need to round it out. Like your two PCs are a sorcerer and rogue, so you give one of them a warrior sidekick so there can be someone when the melee starts. The idea is they grow in level with the PCs, and are strong enough to hold their own, but not so strong that they overshadow the PCs. They are also simple enough that a player can run them, essentially having two characters, but they aren’t as complex as a PC, so it’s not overwhelming.
While it could be a recruited monster, it can be anything you like. The warrior above can be a bodyguard hired by the wizard, a tough guy sent by the thief’s guild, or someone’s pet wolf, for example.
There’s three kinds, basically a warrior, a caster, or a skill person. You could use whichever is appropriate for your party, if needed. Details on how to create them are in Tasha’s.
So why is it called a sidekick and not just a second PC? Sounds like being called a sidekick doesn't give it any special sidekick abilities.
They are NPCs. You don't hire a Rogue to tag along with you, you hire an Expert. You don't hire a cleric, you hire a Spellcaster. Sidekicks are characters/creatures created with a simplified class to result in stats that are simpler to run than a full player character and by extension have less of the spotlight than the player character.
I am not entirely sure what you are looking at. I don't know if we have the same box that you have.
However, it is my understanding that the sidekick classes are simplified (Spellcasters never prepare spells, they are limited to spells known), their class features are focused around helping the group. You should not see a sidekick with Sneak Attack, prepared spells. Wildshape, Rage, Bardic Music, or other signature abilities of a PC Class. If you do, I would assume you are looking at a Pregenerated PC instead.
I am not entirely sure what you are looking at. I don't know if we have the same box that you have.
However, it is my understanding that the sidekick classes are simplified (Spellcasters never prepare spells, they are limited to spells known), their class features are focused around helping the group. You should not see a sidekick with Sneak Attack, prepared spells. Wildshape, Rage, Bardic Music, or other signature abilities of a PC Class. If you do, I would assume you are looking at a Pregenerated PC instead.
I'm 100% new to DnD so when you say you don't hire a Cleric you hire a spellcaster that's where I got lost. What would a simplified stat sheet look like?
If you could tell us what is on the cards you’re looking at, we might be able to clarify things for you.
If somewhere near the top of the card it has the name of a PC class (I.e. Barbarian, Bard. Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock or Wizard), then it’s probably a PC. If it has “Sidekick”, and one of the Sodekick variants (Expert, Spellcaster or Warrior), then it’s probably a Sidekick.
If you could tell us what is on the cards you’re looking at, we might be able to clarify things for you.
If somewhere near the top of the card it has the name of a PC class (I.e. Barbarian, Bard. Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock or Wizard), then it’s probably a PC. If it has “Sidekick”, and one of the Sodekick variants (Expert, Spellcaster or Warrior), then it’s probably a Sidekick.
A photo of them, their name, race and class and a background story. That's all. No stats. That's why I'm asking what their stats would be. And it literally says sidekick on the cards, otherwise I wouldn't be calling them sidekicks. I'm not questioning if they're sidekicks.
If you could tell us what is on the cards you’re looking at, we might be able to clarify things for you.
If somewhere near the top of the card it has the name of a PC class (I.e. Barbarian, Bard. Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock or Wizard), then it’s probably a PC. If it has “Sidekick”, and one of the Sodekick variants (Expert, Spellcaster or Warrior), then it’s probably a Sidekick.
A photo of them, their name, race and class and a background story. That's all. No stats. That's why I'm asking what their stats would be. And it literally says sidekick on the cards, otherwise I wouldn't be calling them sidekicks. I'm not questioning if they're sidekicks.
Okay. I am guessing this is just a player handout. There is probably a book that includes a section on sidekicks and probably has statistic blocks rather than a full class level. It probably has statistics for Spellcaster, Expert, and Warrior. It looks like the actual sidekick statistics might be in an appendix at the back of Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure/rulebook
For example, the card for Pickled Pete (that's one of them, right?) says that they are a Human Expert (this is a sidekick class, not a PC class). Then it has bonds, ideals, personality, and flaw descriptions to assist in roleplaying Picked Pete.
If you could tell us what is on the cards you’re looking at, we might be able to clarify things for you.
If somewhere near the top of the card it has the name of a PC class (I.e. Barbarian, Bard. Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock or Wizard), then it’s probably a PC. If it has “Sidekick”, and one of the Sodekick variants (Expert, Spellcaster or Warrior), then it’s probably a Sidekick.
A photo of them, their name, race and class and a background story. That's all. No stats. That's why I'm asking what their stats would be. And it literally says sidekick on the cards, otherwise I wouldn't be calling them sidekicks. I'm not questioning if they're sidekicks.
Ah: that makes more sense now. I think SmiteMakesRight is probably correct: the full details are likely to be in the adventure that comes with the Essentials Kit. (If it’s similar to Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, the appendix will tell you what features they gain at each level.)
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I read up on sidekicks and understand the basics of sidekicks but from what I understand sidekicks are monster, not PCs? The cards are all of PCs. Also the cards have no stats, I'm guessing I need to make my own if I use them.
I don't think we have the essentials kit. If we do, we haven't opened it in ages. They are basically NPCs used to help fill gaps in your party if you are light on players. However, RPGBot has an article on using Sidekicks. See if that helps.
How to add Tooltips.
I get how sidekicks work but I was confused why they were all classes of PCs. From what I read a sidekick is a recruited monster.
A sidekick is not, necessarily, a recruited monster. Usually, you use sidekicks if you have a small party, and need to round it out. Like your two PCs are a sorcerer and rogue, so you give one of them a warrior sidekick so there can be someone when the melee starts.
The idea is they grow in level with the PCs, and are strong enough to hold their own, but not so strong that they overshadow the PCs. They are also simple enough that a player can run them, essentially having two characters, but they aren’t as complex as a PC, so it’s not overwhelming.
While it could be a recruited monster, it can be anything you like. The warrior above can be a bodyguard hired by the wizard, a tough guy sent by the thief’s guild, or someone’s pet wolf, for example.
There’s three kinds, basically a warrior, a caster, or a skill person. You could use whichever is appropriate for your party, if needed. Details on how to create them are in Tasha’s.
So why is it called a sidekick and not just a second PC? Sounds like being called a sidekick doesn't give it any special sidekick abilities.
Sidekicks work somewhat like monster/NPCs and somewhat like PCs. You take a Monster or NPC stat block (with a maximum Challenge Rating of 1/2) and choose one of the three Sidekick classes: Warrior, Expert or Spellcaster. They then gain levels in their Sidekick class in parallel with the rest of the party. So, they gain levels like a PC but the features gained are simpler than those full PCs gain and they tend to be slightly weaker than PCs.
Sidekicks are intended to help round out the numbers in a party when you only have a small number of players. How they’re controlled varies: they could be fully controlled by the DM (as an NPC), fully by the players or the DM could roleplay them out of combat while the players control them in combat.
Examples of sidekicks we’ve used in our games: Goblin Expert, Giant Badger Warrior, Dwarf Thug Warrior, Awakened Black Bear Spellcaster
They are NPCs. You don't hire a Rogue to tag along with you, you hire an Expert. You don't hire a cleric, you hire a Spellcaster. Sidekicks are characters/creatures created with a simplified class to result in stats that are simpler to run than a full player character and by extension have less of the spotlight than the player character.
How to add Tooltips.
So their stats and class is different? How so?
I am not entirely sure what you are looking at. I don't know if we have the same box that you have.
However, it is my understanding that the sidekick classes are simplified (Spellcasters never prepare spells, they are limited to spells known), their class features are focused around helping the group. You should not see a sidekick with Sneak Attack, prepared spells. Wildshape, Rage, Bardic Music, or other signature abilities of a PC Class. If you do, I would assume you are looking at a Pregenerated PC instead.
How to add Tooltips.
I'm 100% new to DnD so when you say you don't hire a Cleric you hire a spellcaster that's where I got lost. What would a simplified stat sheet look like?
If you could tell us what is on the cards you’re looking at, we might be able to clarify things for you.
If somewhere near the top of the card it has the name of a PC class (I.e. Barbarian, Bard. Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock or Wizard), then it’s probably a PC. If it has “Sidekick”, and one of the Sodekick variants (Expert, Spellcaster or Warrior), then it’s probably a Sidekick.
A photo of them, their name, race and class and a background story. That's all. No stats. That's why I'm asking what their stats would be. And it literally says sidekick on the cards, otherwise I wouldn't be calling them sidekicks. I'm not questioning if they're sidekicks.
Okay. I am guessing this is just a player handout. There is probably a book that includes a section on sidekicks and probably has statistic blocks rather than a full class level. It probably has statistics for Spellcaster, Expert, and Warrior. It looks like the actual sidekick statistics might be in an appendix at the back of Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure/rulebook
For example, the card for Pickled Pete (that's one of them, right?) says that they are a Human Expert (this is a sidekick class, not a PC class). Then it has bonds, ideals, personality, and flaw descriptions to assist in roleplaying Picked Pete.
How to add Tooltips.
Ah: that makes more sense now. I think SmiteMakesRight is probably correct: the full details are likely to be in the adventure that comes with the Essentials Kit. (If it’s similar to Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, the appendix will tell you what features they gain at each level.)