GMPC for a Fighter / Cleric party?

[Genetically Modified GM]

Hello all,
I'm a new GM, with 2 new players - none of us had any experience of Pathfinder or D&D until I picked up the Beginner box. My 2 players are a Dwarf warrior, and a human Cleric of Desna, and they got through Black Fang's dungeon pretty well (though I had to cut down an encounter of 5 goblins to just 3, and it still took a while!)

I'm still using the Beginner's Box, with the intention to get the core book when my players reach level 5, and I'm writing my own adventures (so far I've got a crypt-clearing quest, and a werewolf extermination ready for the next games)

My question is, if my players start struggling with only the 2 of them, and I add a GMPC to help out, what class/race would be most complimentary to their PC's? My options are probably limited to Barbarian, Wizard or Rogue, because I'd rather not end up duplicating party roles, and making my PC's feel less useful.

What GMPC would you choose?

[Atarlost]

Of those options it has to be wizard, but don't play him like a wizard. Do an abjurer focused on counterspelling with a bit of buffing on tap. Normally wizards steal all the tactical decision making without even trying so he needs to be played simple and not pick up decisive spells.

Have you read DM of the Rings? Play the exact opposite of Gandalf. Gandalf is a GMPC who sits around doing nothing unless he has to compensate for a badly balanced encounter or move the plot along. A GMPC should be doing minor support all the time, not even have the capacity to pull the party's fat out of the friar if they mess up, and stay out of social situations. Work those knowledge skills as your lore delivery mechanism but otherwise keep him out of noncombat apart from applying necessary magic if you wind up running premade adventures that expect it.

Absent Minded Professor probably works for a theme: he'll talk their ears off about ancient Thassilonian dining arrangements given prompting but won't remember that he has teleport in his spellbook unless prompted. Probably aim to keep some slots open so they can get him to prepare stuff in mid adventure.

[Darigaaz the Igniter]

I usually recommend a bard for gmpcs. A little emergency healing if the cleric goes down. Plenty of knowledge skills for hints if they need it. Buffing via spells and bardic performance in combat. If not casting, use aid another and/or flanking to help the others hit stuff.

Even though bards are Cha based, don't put points into the social interaction skills, let the pcs handle that. Do put points into things like appraise that most pcs wouldn't usually take. Use Magic Device if nobody in the party has it.

[Zhayne]

Don't. Adjust your game to the capabilities of the PCs.

[Blakmane]

Don't use GMPCs. They are one of the cardinal mistakes of new GMs.

[Dave Justus]

I would strongly recommend against a GMPC, especially for a new GM. It is really easy to end up having the GMPC become too important, for the GM to like his PC too much and for the other players to feel they are just witnessing a story.

Before I would run a GMPC, I would have the players play two PCs each, although that can be difficult from a role-playing point of view. If it is a primary character and a subordinate bodyguard/lackey etc character for each of them that can work better. They have 1 PC for any talking stuff, but a second for combat.

The best option I think is to do what you have been doing. Adjust the challenge rating for the encounters. You might also want to give them some emergency escape options of some sort (potions of gaseous form are great a low levels, since with only 2 PCs luck can swing even a balanced encounter quickly.

If you must have a GMPC, I would suggest bard. The can bump up the other characters, have some healing magic for an emergency, get excellent knowledge skills that your PCs might be lacking and can also cover other skills easily. Unless they are really optimized for combat (and this one wouldn't be) they don't tend to steal the show. The biggest downside with a bard is that they are usually the best 'face' characters and you certainly don't want the roleplay out the bard talking to other NPCs while your PCs just look on, so I would find some reason that he can't fulfill this role.

[Tacticslion]

Atarlost and Dargaaz have great ideas.

Ignore the haters: there are many people who are bitter, arrogant, or incensed on these boards (I fit the middle of the three!) with various opinions, and everyone will give you advice based on what they enjoy.

Under your original question and parameters, here is a simple build:

Maximize intelligence, minimize charisma and wisdom.

I don't know what point-buy you use (I don't have the beginner's box), but:

18 Intelligence, 7 Charisma nets you...
* 2 points to play with under a 15 pt buy.
* 7 points to play with under a 20 pt buy.
* 12 points to play with under a 25 pt buy.

I recommend tanking wisdom to 8 (+2 more pts.) and then raising dexterity and constitution to levels you like and can with those points. Lowering wisdom, as I did above, lets you...
* get both to 12 under 15 pt. buy.
* get DEX to 14 and CON to 12 under 20 pt. buy.
* get both DEX and CON to 14, and STR to 12 under 25 pt. buy.

Make him a dwarf. Now:
- his speed is 20, but it's never slowed beyond that, no matter how much you load him up with.
- his CON is 2 points higher, and his WIS is 10. His charisma is 5.
- he's got a good resistance to magical effects, and a bonus to fortitude saves (usually a wizard's bane) that're pretty respectable at low levels, for most things that he'd need them for.

His charisma is a role-playing too: he does nothing unless asked to do so, and he's highly forgettable. He tends to be annoying in terms of how much he rambles on and on about stuff (a GM's ability to wax loquacious), but exceedingly intelligent.

The high intelligence, while not, strictly speaking, necessary, does help with extra spells per day.

I recommend the bonded object plus be a specialist in either Abjuration or Divination. Have Conjuration and Necromancy as your Opposition schools.

Ignore enchantment, evocation (except for light), and illusion spells.

Load up on Abjuration and Divination effects, and a few "buff my friends" transmutation effects (nothing that focuses on targeting enemies). You can also nab a few "you don't have the skill, but you can do it anyway" kind of spells.

I recommend making him a craftsman (giving him Craft skill and various craft magical item feats), but with a curious (role-play-only) hitch: he needs inspiration for his crafts, and thus needs to travel, adventure, and see sights. Otherwise, he just sits there, frustrated. With adventures, however, he manages to divine inspiration, and create unique gear and items for his comrades that somehow reflect their adventures together.

("This wand is made from bone, but you can see the scrimshaw across it that reflects that one time we fought that skeletal horde! Let me tell you about skeletal hordes, now, as they're quite fascinating...")

That said, if you want to keep magical treasure special and unique (thus you don't want to have someone craft magical items) that's fine, and entirely understandable. In that case, you might want to find a way of maximizing your spells per day. Taking up Thassilonian Specialist the magical school of "Envy" (really just Abjuration by a different name) might be a good idea.

Most importantly, don't get too attached to your wizard: as a GMPC he's the most expendable character in the party.

(You can still totally treat him like an actual player character - I do mine - but he's still more expendable than the others, as he's yours and you're the GM.)

Otherwise: enjoy!

:D

EDIT: for all the ninja's 'round here.

[Genetically Modified GM]

Very grateful for all the advice, thanks very much everyone!

I had considered giving my players 2 characters each, but seeing as neither of them has (or can afford to get) the Hero's handbook, I'm leery of making things overly-complicated for them.

As Zhayne suggests, I'm trying to write encounters that are party-appropriate, so I may have this GMPC (if I do have one) only come along on the ones I'm not sure they'll survive alone!

My plan is to have a GMPC who is definitely NOT a scene-stealer - I've read the horror stories on these boards about self-love for GM characters, and I definitely don't want that. Ideally he'd only be there to add an extra body, or act as an ablative character.

Incidentally, has anyone ever tried a GMPC animal? Like a Dog or something? That way I might be able to give hints lassie-style if they're missing a vital clue/treasure, but take a backseat most of the time...

[Tacticslion]

Here and here are, I think, some of my better posts on GMPCs. The entire thread is an interesting read.

The idea of an extra animal companion is interesting. I'm not certain you'd get the utility you want out of it for this particular game, but it might well be quite interesting! Let us know if you try it out!

[Dracovar]

How about a pseudo GMPC?

Build a support character you think your group needs. Hand it to them. Tell them the character is just like a 3rd PC, but let both of the players help manage that character - giving them an opportunity to learn about another class without the burden being totally on one or another person. Have them take turns each session being the decision maker/die roller for the GMPC. Help them out a bit as needed, exerting a bit of GM persona as needed, but leave most of the decisions to the players.

Sort of like a common property cohort, in a way. Just don't let them turn the character into a sacrificial lamb in order to save their own hides, eg/ the wizard holds off the troll for a round or two while we run for our lives...

EDIT - read TacticsLion's two linky's above. He makes lots of good observations. If you are new to the game, you'll hear stories both good and bad about DMPC's. Try avoiding pitfalls that others have encountered, and you may have a better experience, as will your players. If you fall into one of the pitfalls - learn and move forward. You'll never know if you are good or bad with a GMPC unless you go down that road for yourself.

[Dave Justus]

The animal is a pretty interesting idea. Unlikely to steal the show, but could provide some very memorable role-playing experiences. I'm picturing a Saint Bernard with a healing potion keg on its collar.

[Calybos1]

The animal is an interesting idea, but they're covered for purely physical combat ability... and you can't easily work up an animal to handle arcane casting or skills. Well, maybe a literal "skill monkey"....

[NobodysHome]

Interestingly enough, my most "successful" was a CHA 8 barbarian. He dominated combat but was utterly forgettable (other than his social faux pas antics) outside of combat.

My least "successful" are absolutely, positively prepared casters. As the GM, you know what the party will be facing that day. So if your GMPC just "happens to have" the right spells available, the players think you're playing "teacher's pet". If you intentionally avoid preparing that spell, the players ask, "You prepare that EVERY day! Why didn't you prepare it today!?!?!"

So I told my players, "You need to choose my GMPC's spell list each day."
They REALLY don't like that option, either.

So I would suggest a sorcerer over a wizard to preclude, "How did you just happen to have that prepared?" questions, and as others have said, put NO points into social interaction skills like Diplomacy and Sense Motive so the PCs have to deal with PC/NPC interactions.

So to answer your direct question:
#1: A sorcerer to boost their arcane casting. Avoid buying social skills.
#2: A bard. Everything everyone here has said about bards is true: They're awesome buffers, they provide great support, and they're NEVER at the forefront of a fight. And they can give the party ALL of the knowledge skills, allowing the PCs to focus on skills they find more fun to roleplay. The *only* two reasons I put a bard behind a sorcerer is that it's really hard to build a bard with no social skills, and there are arcane spells bards just don't get that are very handy. (Teleport, anyone?)

I'm not going to go with a #3. I think those are two solid choices.

[Tacticslion]

You can also make an INT based sorcerer - likely your best option, if you wish to got the sorcerous us route; you can still dump the CHA, and pretty much everything non-class-specific from my previous build applies, if you liked it.

I recommend dwarf, because it's survivable, solid, and not really an optimized Mage of any sort: hence, it's harder to make him appear uber, and easier for you, as the GM, to rationalize any recalcitrance on his part.

Good ideas all-around, everyone. :)

[Lincoln Hills]

I don't have Blakmane and Dave Justus' absolute horror of GMPC use, but I admit that their statements come from a solid foundation of experience: many GMs misuse the ability to have a 'voice' in the party, either from a frustrated desire to play, a desire to 'move the plot along' that slowly devolves into the GM 'leading' the party, a miscalculation on the amount of usefulness that makes an NPC helpful rather than annoyihg, or some other reason.

Use the 'in-party NPC' (I dislike 'GMPC' both for its connotations and its paradoxical phrasing) extremely gingerly. Run them according to their personalities - don't let yourself 'become' the character, even if you like that particular NPC. And don't be afraid to kill her/him, without mercy, as the situation warrants. I've included in-party NPCs (native guides, sea captains, rescued prisoners, etc.) many times, and they have about a 30% death rate at my hands. This helps keep them temporary, keep them from stealing the spotlight, and - as a side benefit - emphasizes that the PCs are special; skilled enough to survive their insanely dangerous lifestyle, while others (despite courage and skill) come to tragic ends.

Others have already recommended a wizard with an emphasis on support spells, which is pretty valid. But I think I'd advise a rogue instead, since the PC cleric is 'the spellcaster'. Somebody who can scout ahead to provide tactical information, appraise treasures, handle locks and so forth.

[Corvino]

I do like Dracovar's suggestion of a cohort-style third party member rather than a GMPC, or just gifting one of the PCs with the Leadership feat as a reward. You can still provide the character's "voice" within the party, but allow the players to make their own mistakes.

Bard is a very solid third member of this group with the mixture of arcane magic, support, skills and combat ability without pulling focus. It also shores up a significant weakness - both PCs chose 2-skillpoint-per-level classes.

[Gregory Connolly]

I have had some bad experiences with GMPCs in the past, that being said here is what I would do. I would give them a rogue. Not even a very combat capable one. Maybe give him a light crossbow and Point Blank and Precise shot, teach the players about lines of fire and how cover works. Give him lots of skills at less than maximum rating to let the players learn which skills tend to have high DCs and which ones have low DCs. Don't be afraid to have him fail at things or even die. Take Minor Magic and Major Magic as rogue talents and grab Chill Touch for some nice touch attacks. They just need an extra body to cover the stuff they can't do, don't feel the need to be as good as either of them.

[MacFetus]

(I know you said you're all new but I'm going to suggest it anyway...)

You could try the Gestalt rules. It gives the characters a slight increase in power and a massive increase in flexibility.

I'd recommend sticking to a max. of one spellcasting class per character.

In your situation, have the fighter add cleric and the cleric add rogue. This gives combat endurance (armour, buffs and healing) and non-combat flexibility (skills and spells). However, this way might mean that the cleric/rogue is doing a lot of the non-combat stuff so just give them both rogue to keep things simple.

Note: this to be done once you're using the full rules.