NPC design?

[Mindartis]

So, I just recently became a DM. My first adventure was successful, even if it was a little Grimdark (PC's got blamed for the assassination of the king, are now on the run from the law as they try to find answers.) Anyways, they came across a secret organization, the Order of Light, who are dedicated to restoring Law and Order to the continent. The second in command, an Eladrin Mage, is going to be a rather important NPC to the campaign, as she provides them with filler adventures to gain the trust of the OOL, and whatnot. My question, should I design her with a Character Creator, making her a PC like player, or should I just keep her with a backstory, but no major contributation to the party? I want her to be a big part of the Final adventure, but I'm wary to make her a DMPC, in a sense. What should I do?

[Emongnome777]

Personally, I wouldn't stat her at all. Don't let her be directly involved with the PCs in the sense that she adventures with them. Instead, have her do things behind the scenes (but visible). So long as the players see that she's doing other things to support her group's mission while the characters are off on an adventure, then it'll have a more "living" feel to it. Better than having her still sitting in the same spot when they get back from a quest, ready to spew out the next mission.

As for the final adventure, have her do something important in parallel with the characters' actions, but never overlap (except if they have to rescue her at some point or something similar).

[Doug Lampert]

Personally, I wouldn't stat her at all. Don't let her be directly involved with the PCs in the sense that she adventures with them. Instead, have her do things behind the scenes (but visible). So long as the players see that she's doing other things to support her group's mission while the characters are off on an adventure, then it'll have a more "living" feel to it. Better than having her still sitting in the same spot when they get back from a quest, ready to spew out the next mission.

As for the final adventure, have her do something important in parallel with the characters' actions, but never overlap (except if they have to rescue her at some point or something similar).

By the final adventure an NPC ally should be less powerful than the PCs (even when I advance such a character it's never with PC speed). And presumably the final adventure has the PCs doing the key events for something important to her, so she SHOULD be there if at all possible.

Just hand an NPC sheet for an equal level standard to one of the players and let him play her. Do not make her as a PC, PCs, especially at level, are complcated to play. I let my players accumulate as many NPC allies as they want, but I rarely run one in combat.

NPCs are typically simple to run as compared to PCs, and the smaller number of healing surges makes them less durable. There's no real ballance problem with even an equal level powerful elite as an ally as long as you scale back how many HP each healing power gives them (NPCs aren't designed to be used with someone feeding them healing words).

The companion rules in the DMG2 would also work, and I believe an upcoming book will have even more NPC allies, but to be honest I don't see the point. Montster design is already well tested, you don't need special rules for a monster type ally.

I agree that the character's PATRON shouldn't be going on adventures with them, the patron is the boss and the PCs get to run their own story. Serious problem. But an ally or subordinate works fine, and by the final adventure she should be an ally at best.

[Mando Knight]

If she never actually fights, then you don't need to stat her at all.

If she only fights like once, then stat her as either an NPC or monster, depending on which side she's on at the time.

If she needs to fight alongside the party for a relatively large number of fights (i.e. extended escort mission, filling a gap in the PCs' abilities), then you stat her as a PC.

[Mindartis]

If she needs to fight alongside the party for a relatively large number of fights (i.e. extended escort mission, filling a gap in the PCs' abilities), then you stat her as a PC. Im thinking this is what I'll do, for the final adventure at least. Its going to be alot of fighting, pretty much an all-out war.

As for the other times,

Don't let her be directly involved with the PCs in the sense that she adventures with them. Instead, have her do things behind the scenes (but visible). So long as the players see that she's doing other things to support her group's mission while the characters are off on an adventure, then it'll have a more "living" feel to it. Better than having her still sitting in the same spot when they get back from a quest, ready to spew out the next mission.


This seems like the best course of action. Thank you all for the ideas, and I'm still willing to take more, since its going to be a while before I can DM again.

[Yourshallowpal]

I generally just find a level-appropriate monster and use those stats.

The big reason to even give her stats, though, is so if the PCs want to bluff her/betray her, they can and the difficulty/encounter won't feel like something you pulled out of your rear.

If you have to improvise her stats, and end up making her impossibly hard to beat, it feels a lot like railroading as a response to an unexpected twist.

Example: one of my PCs has a stone that reveals an enemy's lowest DEF stat, and their vulnerabilities. Since he uses it so frequently, so I know I need those numbers ahead of time.