Hello again, guys. DM chkflip here again. I spoke with you guys about making a dmpc and you guys mentioned allowing my two-man cleric/falconer group hire on and ask npcs for help. So, in the first leg of my campaign, I've adapted the free We Be Goblins AP to run with their characters and a hired on Goblin. The thing is I've tricked this Goblin out instead of rollingwith the APs pre-gens. He's a mix of an Arcane Duelist and a Sound Striker. Without the levels, it isn't going to make a difference until lvl 3 (they're starting at lvl 1) but I want to know if combining those two Bard archetypes make it OP at any point? I planned on dropping the Duelist's lvl 6 ability (bladethirst) to keep the sound striker's ability (weird words) and was also going to drop obtaining Combat Casting to keep his first and only versatile performance. Does this sound okay? Or should I just keep him an Arcane Duelist?
Well by the rules they can't combine both. Replace suggestion. Obviously as dm you can override that but I don't recomend it.
That was why I was dropping bladethirst for weird words. Would it work better the other way around since he would still eventually get mass bladethirst? I want it to be balanced, not just say lolmygamemyrules hastagdmlife, ha.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I really don't recommend tricking out NPCs. Using the pregens would've been better. That advice is a bit late now though I guess.
The whole point of using NPC companions is that they are *weaker* than the main cast, level slower if kept around, and take up *less* creative screentime. I know as DM you have that itch to make fancy characters and unleash your various ideas.... but it's not your place and your players will resent your fancy-pants 'npcs' which are basically just DMPCs. Applying multiple archetypes, especially when RAW they can't be combined, rings multiple warning bells for me and will also for your players.
As an aside, did your two players actually ask for help? A cleric/ranger combo is probably capable of handling CR-1 encounters without too much trouble, with CR= encounters being difficult but possible. If they didn't ask for an NPC you shouldn't force one on them -- that's a DMPC, not an NPC.
Additionally, I find if you design NPCs without the explicit intention to have them as tagalongs, the PCs will end up adopting the interesting ones anyway and things will be much less artificial.
As a general rule I'd suggest against "tricking out" dmnpc. Make hime strong enough to support the pc but no more.
You have already called out some of the issues if you drop blade thirst it eventually doesn't matter. I have no idea On blance just saying from experience altering rules for dmnpc is a rocky road.
Fair enough. I'll have them choose from the rogue, fighter, or alchemist instead. Are you guys familiar with vthe loot in the AP? Because, even with them just splitting the loot, it seems a bit under par for where I'd like them to be by the next meet.
Agree with the others. You're spending too much time on this NPC if you're trying to find amazing combinations for him. Pick something rather plain and boring for the NPC. You don't want them to be more interesting than the PCs.
Well I assume it follows. Normal guidelines but the story isn't really a continue on on I remember Lot of consumables.
I'd tally up their wbl prior to the witch and add any items to her chest.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The DMPC probably shouldn't be a glass cannon (takes away from PC glory). I would suggest a more normal bard, perhaps arcane duelist archer bard or similar, focused on buffing.