I am about to start a campaign that has been perculating in my brain for about 10 years. I live in a roleplaying wasteland so I was LUCKY to scrounge up 3 players. The group consists of a fighter, a cleric, and a wizard.
I am planning on having a rogue NPC. The question is how much of an impact should the rogue have on the group?
Should the pcs be suggesting what the rogue does, or should he be searching for traps, checking doors, etc. on his own? If the group is stuck, should the rogue be "helping" them move on?
Thanks
What he said.
Anyone....
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Patience young Padawan, it will come in time...
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That said, when I run NPCs around with the PCs I often have them hang back until the players actually ask something of them. There are, of course, times when this wouldn't work (when the NPC has ties to another NPC or even a PC)), but for the majority of the time it works nicely.
When it comes to puzzles and whatnot I typically don't have the NPC participate. Though if the PC's are having trouble I may have him give them a hint of some sort.
Welcome to the boards, by the way. :)
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pres man has basically the same question and brought up a good point about rogues. To surmise, if you aren't going to have alot of traps or rogue-centric encounters, your group probably doesn't need the rogue.
If you still want to NPC a character to serve as backup to the group, I suggest going with a hired hand sort of rogue who gets paid by the PCs and only steps in when his skillset is required or his life is in danger. Sort of like a familiar who only pops into existence when the wizard needs a scout.
One of my "DM rules" is to not show the NPC's power or level unless I absolutely have to. The PCs may hear of the reputation and deeds of NPCs, but not in a way that the players could reverse-engineer the NPC's level. That also doesn't let the players armchair-quarterback the NPC ("If it's a level X wizard, why doesn't he simply cast..." "With X Spell and Y item he could do this, and then that, and we do not need to do Z").
In combat, I usually have party-NPCs engage with mooks or keep them otherwise busy, unless the player characters shout some advice, or order.
Generally I found that if PCs can order the NPC around it'll not be seen as much of a problem, if any at all.