Good ideas for permanent party-NPCs

[Talya]

I'm running a PbP game involving high-seas piracy (Yes, to forestall the inevitable suggestion, I'm using Stormwrack to varying degrees.) While I have a few too many players for comfort, I still have too few to really man a pirate ship. So I've been creating various NPCs to tag along with them. Most of these do not accompany the PC party off the ship (although exceptions have occurred), but they need to be available.

Any DM knows there are pitfalls for permanent NPCs, so most of them function as "redshirts." If I'm ever forced to name or identify them, they'll meet a horrible end shortly afterward. They also tend to be on the elite array. Once again, there are exceptions. Sometimes an NPC needs to be on par with the PCs...but in those cases I do not want them to overshadow the PCs, ever. As an example:

Early on, the party lacked divine spellcasting. I created a favored soul with whip proficiency, and (on a 40 point buy) a stat array of 14/14/14/14/14/16. (although, she's lesser aasimar, so she ends up being a reasonably good favored soul). Good at everything, but great at nothing. Then I gave her mostly healing/cure spells, minor buffs, and her deity's favored weapon is the whip, so she's not going to ever overshadow them.

The ship's cook? I wanted a cook that could surprise everyone with some combat proficiency one day, so i wasn't making him an Expert on the elite array. No, cookie has PC ability scores and is a goliath monk. Nobody is ever going to accuse a monk of overshadowing my party melee types, but for a capable NPC class, they're quite good.

Both of these characters are standard PC classes, but merely lack optimization (or are very low tier). This prevents DMNPC syndrome where the characters start to look like our own MarySues. What flavorful yet unspectacular NPCs have you created for recurring or regular characters in your games?

[Zaranthan]

My current campaign has only two players: a rogue and a monk. I created a cleric with the domains knowledge (so they can ask me stuff in-character) and travel (so I can keep up in my heavy armor), and filled his spell slots with buff spells (to act as a force multiplier and compensate for the lack of a wizard). So far, they've enjoyed being able to face down several encounters in a single day.

[gbprime]

I always have an NPC in with the PC's, as it gives the ability for the DM to interact in character. But the NPCs come and go. Allies, employers, hirelings, family members... whatever is needed for the scenario at hand. What I don't let them do is save the day. the DM NPC will always be useful, but probably in a niche way. The knowledge skills, the contacts, or whatever, but lackluster in all other respects.

But I don't feel that the job of an NPC is to shore up a hole in the party roles. You want one of those, take a henchman healbot or something. if the party has no healer (or no wizard, no locks/traps guy, etc), I just tailor the encounters differently.

[Zeikstraal]

I just had my first session in a year as DM, and trew in some NPCs to see how far I could go with the Party in Combat. Cause they realy realy suck. We have Elric the Paladin, he is the only one who is able to hit and do some damage. We have Biondill the 2 weapon fighting Dwarf with Dwarven Waraxes his BAB is +0/+0. Nargar the Ranger Dwarf. Who instead of taking precise shot took Weapon Focus. Falco Halfling Bard, only thing he does is Inspire Courage. And Rose the Halfling Rogue, only thing she can do good is Sleight of Hand. She put away Trap Spotting for some lame abbility. And put her only negative score an Int -_-...

The Npcs are dead by now, but i Realy have to throw in a Cleric. Cause the Paladin is Dps, Tank and Healer. Im also planning on a Dwarven Gunslinger. I realy like that character.

[Thurbane]

I once had a tracker for hire who instead of the usual Ranger, was an Expert with points in the right skills. The party were quite surprised when he didn't cast spells or fight with two weapons...

[Gamer Girl]

I have always used tons and tons of NPC's like this in my games. Very often a group has along 3-5 NPC's, plus 5-10 somewhat close by, plus another 5-10 in the area.

They are not exactly on par with the players, of course:


1.The first big thing is personality. For the most part they are simply not cut out to be adventurer types. They get confused easily, they are slow to react, they don't plan ahead, they don't think things through and so forth. They often have handicaps like cowardice or beliefs like they don't kill. And plenty are just goofy or silly as I like that type.

2.They have bad, bad ability scores. Like their highest score is a 12. I do like the fun of say a Strength 8 fighter. Even the more 'average' ones only have slightly above average ability scores.

3.They are not even close to optimized. They often take feats and spells and such at random. Plus they take lots of non combat ones. They put lots of skill points in profession and such.

4.Even the 'good build' ones have personality problems. Such as the blaster mage. He has a good blasting build, but that is all he does. He blows stuff up, friend or foe. And he never learns.

[visigani]

Apprentices and other "youngster" types make GREAT permanent npcs. You can be rather ambivalent about their abilities, put them into dangerous situations that anders to the PCs natural protective instincts, and have them be terribly handy in a pinch.

Because they're younger it won't be a big deal if you make a point to give them NPC classes.


For example, you might have a 15 year old girl on board who plays as a zero level "Spellcaster", who sneaks magic when she's able... she might be a fledgling sorcerer... Cleric... or even beguiler.



Another good form of "NPC" is the "object" npc. For example... "The Sphere of Kwytchyrgrypyng".. which contains the spirit of a long past halfling cleric imprisoned in the Sphere for infuriating some power or another. The sphere can float, occupy a square, casts spells as a Cleric X number of levels below the PCS... it can never fight (it can make melee touch attacks but it's very dangerous) and has a hard time healing (same reason), but it can buff, be put in a pocket, etc etc... sometimes provides inaccurate information as it hasn't been in these parts in over three hundred years.



Finally, the bound servant. This isn't a cohort so much as someone who has sworn the equivalent of a blood oath to serve one of the PCs and is restricted only by their own honor... which makes it especially interesting when they book... or betray the PCs.. after they come to rely on them. Just because you're lawful good doesn't make you a paragon of virtue. You can be both lawful Good and Cowardly.

[Godskook]

A marshal dip + skill monkey gives you an NPC with strong skills for their particular role, but they can afford to be exceedingly low leveled and still do their job, so you can optimize a level 4 sentry with spot checks that would outperform most of the level 10 party, but his level prevents him from even being capable of stealing the overall spotlight. He's just there as the guy that goes "OMG they're coming!".