How have other people handled Sial & Laori in Scarwall? Do they just tag along with the party, hanging back, until the big encounter? Do you turn them over to the players and let them run them? Does the DM actively run them in each fight? Do they not tag along with the party - instead maybe showing up at different places along the way?
Adding in these three (plus Trinia if she makes it that far), seems like a big group to manage (6 PCs, a couple animal companions, 3 NPCs).
They stayed out of the way. I'm already running a GMNPC to support the party (no one wanted to play a cleric for some reason - not even the resident powergame. I guess PF did its job right in toning down clerics)
In my game, after the clearing out of the orc barbican, the Shadowcount Sial decided to stay behind and use the place as a base in order to observe Laori and the party inside of Castle Scarwall. And, with his scrying, he's been witnessing Laori being helpful and kind, increasing his resentment of her and sewing the seeds for him to turn on them...
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So far, I'm having a hard time handling Sial (with Asyra) and Laori. The PCs welcomed the two into their party, so now I have 4 PCs and 3 NPCs to deal with. I, personally, am finding it very frustrating to have to prep spells and roll attacks and such for the NPCs when they're fighting the undead in the castle; it essentially ends up being me rolling dice against myself, which can get pretty boring, especially for the players. When I'm rolling Sial's and Laori's attacks/spells against some random undead, and vice versa, it's time that none of the PCs are doing anything, which means they get bored pretty quickly.
Unfortunately, I haven't found any other way to avoid this because the two Kuthites are there to genuinely help the PCs (mostly), and they need to be there for the event that happens near the end. I'm hoping that as I continue with more sessions, I'll get more familiar with some of their stats so I won't have to keep looking back and flipping through pages and books. Most of the time, if I can, I try and make the undead attack the PCs instead of Laori/Sial/Asyra. I did consider having some of the players control them, but I decided against this, because I wanted to actually role-play how they react to certain things, as well as having Sial "accidentally" cast an area-effect spell that also hits the PCs ("Oops! Sorry about that channel negative energy... *snicker*").
I'm also curious to know how other DMs handled this...
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My party is not as far yet, they are in Escape from Old Korvosa and only just had Laori help them play blood pig and 'deal' with the emporer. That being said, I'll throw how I handle NPC's out here for you all.
I run the NPC, decide what they do etc. But if there is only one or two NPC's I have the PC's roll the dice for the character. For instance, I stated that Laori will attack using her chain, and one of the PC's (usually someone on the other end of the initiative order) rolled the dice for the attack, then I added her bonus and declared hit or miss, then someone would roll damage if needed.
It still slows the game somewhat, while I decide what to do versus minions under my control, but the dice rolling part helps keep the Players Engaged through that.
If I have a larger number of NPC's, I often develop a script for their attacks. I will put on their sheet somewhere a line of attack rolls, roll the D20's before hand, add the attack bonus' and write it down such as...
BattleAxe +2 atk: 15, 18, 3(AF), 17, 12, 15, 14
Dmg 1d8+2: 6, 4, 8, 5, 3, 5, 10
Spells are what I find slow down an NPC turn. You can never remember all the spells in your arsenal it seems when you are trying to run the monsters as well. But I do like to look at the NPC and look at the adventure and see if I can figure out ahead of time what the NPC is most likely to cast. If it is pretty cut and dried I may write an order of attack (obviously circumstances may require changes).
Laori: Aura of Destruction, Bless, Bull's str, Bear's Endurance, etc...
These are just examples not really thought out in detail versus any set piece of adventure.
That's what I do, but then my Players have accused me of being a bit OCD in my prep work to. (I have a File Folder Box of info at my disposal about the PC's, the NPC's the players have met as well as those traveling with them, The world, the names of locations and such.
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Long story short, they tricked Laori into staying at a different location because they didn't want her along. And they pretty much did the same with Sial later on. I agreed on both points, because the last thing I wanted was to have combats where the players sat around and watched me role dice for NPCs. :-)
They soon both figured it out and were waiting outside Scarwall with a suitable ambush (and taken the Zelara harrow deck hostage) and a wonderful fight ensued!
-DM Jeff
I had them help. They were much more apt to fight against those few things that actually bled in Scarwall. The point was building some trust, but more importantly to give the party some type of obligation to them for their help.
In the end, it was to the group's overall benefit. I didn't have enough time to develop the whole friend & enemy angle to its ultimate fruition. Sial ended up being the new occupant of the Star Tower, saving the party from losing one of their own, or facing a nasty fight. Laori ended up single-handedly saving the party from a potential TPK. In the end, at least some of them felt obligated to turn the fangs over to her so that she could return the relics to her church.
Of course, the best thing about it is that I have even more options for continuing the campaign later, considering how things turned out.
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When my players have access to more than one allied NPC (especially henchmen), I just ask "who wants to play an extra character" and hand them the statblock. I encourage them to use appropriate tactics, and step in if there's something the NPC needs to do.
It works pretty well. But then, I like making a sort of "other party" of henchmen/friends for the group to draw upon. Laori and Sial are a bit different
And what about after Scarwall and into Crown of Fangs? Maybe we lose one NPC to the Star Tower but the other is still around and the goals of the PCs and the NPC are still in line? I see no mention of either Sial or Laori in Crown of Fangs but it seems reasonable they would still be around?
And what about after Scarwall and into Crown of Fangs? Maybe we lose one NPC to the Star Tower but the other is still around and the goals of the PCs and the NPC are still in line? I see no mention of either Sial or Laori in Crown of Fangs but it seems reasonable they would still be around?
Seems reasonable, if the PCs need the extra help. I just had her part ways with the PCs after Scarwall, to meet them at a later date to take the fangs into her possession.