Balancing out a party - kids play dnd.

[KyleG]

My kids are about to embark on a new adventure I've been planning and their current thoughts on characters are:
1. A gunslinger or possibly artificer. Not sure whether to reflavour crossbows or just use mm gunslinger.
2. Psi knife rogue although he might be swayed to psi fighter for a jedi like build.
3. My daughter wants a flying character who blasts. Given her temperament a standard castor class might be too much so I'm thinking warlock on a flying race.

As you can see there's an inclination to ranged combat. I've got three thoughts on this
A) run a dmpc. Did that last time and killed him off, felt they relied on him too much and their story was so much better without my involvement i thought.
B) side kicks each.
C) battlepets. Always a winner. The boys were jealous of their sisters (beast master) last campaign. Basically give them all beast spirits or a cr1 beast x times per day.

Pros? Cons? Suggestions?
In less worried about a lack of spellcasting than i am about the less melee options this gives them.
How many pcs does a pet, sidekick equate to for the purpose of balancing combats?

Side note, we are starting at level 3.
The adventures of Master chief, Obiwan, and Captain Marvel. it would seem pop culture is the flavour this time.

[Kane0]

I'm a fan of sidekicks, especially since you can use any pets or friends you provide to them as templates to build them from.

[Ogre Mage]

1. At 3rd level the Battle Smith artificer gets a steel defender companion and proficiency in martial weapons. While not a true tank, the Battle Smith is reasonably sturdy and I bet your son would love the steel defender.

2. Not sure, I rarely play rogues.

3. For your daughter's character I would recommend a winged tiefling warlock. The +2 charisma will be powerful on such a character. While a fiend patron would be the most obvious choice, if she is a hexblade she can wear medium armor and carry a shield. That would help make the party sturdier. If she wants a pet too she could be a pact of the chain warlock.

[Sorinth]

For young kids I don't think you can go wrong with just giving them all pets no matter the subclass. So basically gesalt them and give each of them either a Primal Companion/Steel Defender/Wildfire Spirit. If one of them goes for a companion based class I'd just gesalt them with another subclass that fits.

For encounter balance it's tough for anyone to say as tactically it's going to vary wildly. I would suggest going in a bit on the low side (So normal CRs assuming no pets), it's easier too add difficulty by either having additional encounters in the day or reinforcements in an existing encounter then it is too lower difficulty.

[KyleG]

1. At 3rd level the Battle Smith artificer gets a steel defender companion and proficiency in martial weapons. While not a true tank, the Battle Smith is reasonably sturdy and I bet your son would love the steel defender.

2. Not sure, I rarely play rogues.

3. For your daughter's character I would recommend a winged tiefling warlock. The +2 charisma will be powerful on such a character. While a fiend patron would be the most obvious choice, if she is a hexblade she can wear medium armor and carry a shield. That would help make the party sturdier. If she wants a pet too she could be a pact of the chain warlock.

I had thought battlesmith too but he wants to lean into the gun type theme. Tiefling was where my head was at for my daughter, wingless but still flight capable. Pact of the chain seems a certainty with a pseudo dragon on the cards.


I'm a fan of sidekicks, especially since you can use any pets or friends you provide to them as templates to build them from.

Big power boost for encounters i imagine.


For young kids I don't think you can go wrong with just giving them all pets no matter the subclass. So basically gesalt them and give each of them either a Primal Companion/Steel Defender/Wildfire Spirit. If one of them goes for a companion based class I'd just gesalt them with another subclass that fits.

For encounter balance it's tough for anyone to say as tactically it's going to vary wildly. I would suggest going in a bit on the low side (So normal CRs assuming no pets), it's easier too add difficulty by either having additional encounters in the day or reinforcements in an existing encounter then it is too lower difficulty.

Good advice. Thanks

[Catullus64]

The real question that impacts some of these decisions is what level Children you have. Level 8-12 Children might struggle with something that Level 13+ Children can handle quite easily.

(I'm not knocking single-classed Children, BTW. I'm about to take my 26th level in Child, even though everybody keeps telling me to multiclass into Adult.)

[KyleG]

The real question that impacts some of these decisions is what level Children you have. Level 8-12 Children might struggle with something that Level 13+ Children can handle quite easily.

(I'm not knocking single-classed Children, BTW. I'm about to take my 26th level in Child, even though everybody keeps telling me to multiclass into Adult.)

10-12th level. I'm playing dnd at 40th level child.

[ImmanuelRant]

10-12th level. I'm playing dnd at 40th level child.

I am running my kids through a campaign - I had them rescue a sprite early on that declared both of them to be her fiances for their heroic efforts. She is 43rd in line for the throne.

Old school rules allowed her to use a tiny bow (1 pt dmg) that had a chance to put opponents to sleep for 1 round.

After the party reached 5th level, she started taking levels in Druid so that she has helpful things to do (entangle, faerie fire), but always remains a couple levels behind the PCs. Because she can go invisible when convenient, she is not a burden in most cases, while offering support that never overshadows what the PCs do.

[Ogre Mage]

I had thought battlesmith too but he wants to lean into the gun type theme. Tiefling was where my head was at for my daughter, wingless but still flight capable. Pact of the chain seems a certainty with a pseudo dragon on the cards.


The artillerist artificier also gets a pet (eldritch cannon) though it is not quite as cool as the steel defender. But if your son is into gun types maybe he might like it.

If you wanted to delay you daughter's flight powers until a bit later, at 6th level the genie warlock gets 30 foot flight for 10 minutes. This can be done a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus every day. Maybe the genie patron decides to give it to her a bit earlier than usual, lol.

[Kane0]

Gun artificer makes sense as Artillerist (force cannon), or Armorer (lightning launcher) if you want a variant. Artificers can get humunculi as well as subclass-specific iron defender or turret which are a built-in pet option you can improve on as DM.

Soulknife/Psi Knight is a perfectly reasonable combo, especially if you throw in Telekinetic or Telepathic on top. Their pet could potentially be an extension of their psychic powers like an animated object or midpoint between mage hand and bigby's hand.

Winged Tiefling is fun, Fiendlock is a natural fit and has pact of the chain for a built in pet you can give bonuses to as DM, but Sun Monk is a hilarious alternative, especially if you give them something like the wildfire spirit as a pet.

[KyleG]

Pet is at this stage just an idea (that they would take if offered) the question is, is it a viable option to give some melee cover if they choose the above ranged character ideas? Maybe im over thinking it and should just let them run their three characters and see what happens is not like i don't control the encounters lol.

As a side note the last game ended over a year ago cos they all playee loners. Im marketing this story to them like a spartan squad so hopefully a little more cooperation.

[Damon_Tor]

Sunsoul monk is a great choice for a simple blaster, if she doesn't have an interest in managing a growing spell list. If she doesn't want to be a bird person of half-devil just use a custom lineage with "30 foot flight speed" replacing the feat.

For a tank, I would give the party a sidekick, a dumb animal of some sort that they befriend on an early adventure. He would be nominally yours to control, but in practice his actions would be heavily influenced by what the kids tell him to do.

[Catullus64]

For children of that age, I would be sure to give them combat that plays to the strengths of a ranged-centric party. Open spaces, few mobile enemies, high ground, that sort of thing. Take some of the tactical burden off.

[RogueJK]

3. My daughter wants a flying character who blasts. Given her temperament a standard castor class might be too much so I'm thinking warlock on a flying race.

I can't imagine a little girl who wouldn't want to play a Fairy who shoots laser beams. :smallbiggrin:

[Nidgit]

Warlock might be a bit too simple of a blaster in my opinion, since their casting options are rather limited. Personally I'd lean more towards Sorcerer or Wizard since they provide a lot more versatility. Sorcerer might be good so your whole party isn't Int-focused.

As for flying, there are other racial options available too, like Protector Aasimar or the Dragon Wings feat for Dragonborn. In case the two obvious options aren't appealing for her.

[KorvinStarmast]

I'm about to take my 26th level in Child, even though everybody keeps telling me to multiclass into Adult.) My experience suggests against an MC at this time. :smallbiggrin:

Soulknife/Psi Knight is a perfectly reasonable combo, especially if you throw in Telekinetic or Telepathic on top. Their pet could potentially be an extension of their psychic powers like an animated object or midpoint between mage hand and bigby's hand. Am using telekinetic on a paladin; nice feat. :smallsmile:

Sun Monk is a hilarious alternative, especially if you give them something like the wildfire spirit as a pet. I enjoyed all of the Sun Monk's I played. (My default choice in one shots when I wasn't a Shadow monk).

[Zhorn]

1. A gunslinger or possibly artificer. Not sure whether to reflavour crossbows or just use mm gunslinger.
On this one, I'd suggest Battle Master with the Gunner feat instead of mercer's Gunslinger. Mostly the same flavour with none of the frustrating misfire mechanics, plus superiority dice are more user friendly than grit. Some folks are into that, but I wouldn't push that drawback on a kid.
Less MAD also

[KyleG]

On this one, I'd suggest Battle Master with the Gunner feat instead of mercer's Gunslinger. Mostly the same flavour with none of the frustrating misfire mechanics, plus superiority dice are more user friendly than grit. Some folks are into that, but I wouldn't push that drawback on a kid.
Less MAD also

Yeah I've revisited gunslinger and agree. I'm not quite sure battle Master will achieve the image he has but i think one of the artificers will. Flavour a few spells as grenades or special weapons i think is within his ability.

[Sigreid]

You could just have your opponents choose ranged options as well.

Also, artificers from societies with guns are called out as having proficiency with guns. I'd just use the flint lock pistol in the DMG and encourage the player to get the repeating shot infusion.