[Starfinder] NPC Allies

[Lord Fyre]

When creating an NPC who is intended to join the heroes for a time, which way should they be created?

• Should the GM use the standard rules for NPCs?
• Should the NPC be created as if they were a PC?

[JetSetRadio]

Depends on the purpose. If the NPC is going to die or not be important fast why spend a lot of time creating it?

[Lord Fyre]

JetSetRadio wrote:

Depends on the purpose. If the NPC is going to die or not be important fast why spend a lot of time creating it?

Because there have been numerous reports that when Clara-247 joined the party, it created problems.

[JetSetRadio]

You lost me. I said basically create the NPC depending on the importance of its role in the game. Add extra spice to it if it is important but if it is a grunt use NPC graphs.

Does that make more sense now?

[LankyOgre]

I think the concern can be that you don’t know which it’s going to be until the PCs show up. PCs have a remarkable tendency to befriend things they are supposed to kill and kill things that they should befriend.

The problem arises in that NPCs made with monster rules and NPCs made with PC rules can have pretty different abilities. It can lead to some confusion if an enemy can all of a sudden do something that an ally couldn’t or vice versa.

[Lord Fyre]

JetSetRadio wrote:

You lost me. I said basically create the NPC depending on the importance of its role in the game. Add extra spice to it if it is important but if it is a grunt use NPC graphs.

Does that make more sense now?

This is what cause me to be concerned.

[Metaphysician]

Why not just use the NPC rules for both, since either way they will still be an NPC?

[Greydoch]

I would probably use the npc rules but take special care to make sure that their CR would be several levels behind the PC's since an NPC of similar CR should be able to take on the whole party, right?
-Beta

[Black Lamb]

What happened in my game is the DM took the NPC's we have keep along and eventually made them real sheets at 3 levels lower than us, they are the goblins we rescued. We don't really bring them out in a fight but in ship combat they can kind of help with crew roles if the dice are not with us and we talk them into helping. They also are kind of a money sink to us as they want to be supplied with stuff to tinker with. Mostly they are the comic relief and security that nothing will happen to our ship without at least some notice.

[Losobal]

I'd say use NPC route with the provided quicker-gen rules. In the event the NPC survives/participates long enough that they actually require a bit more thought, then you can stat them as a PC.

[LankyOgre]

This doesn't actually solve the problem though. While there may be some small difference in time to create an NPC NPC and a PC NPC, time is not the major concern.
PCs and NPCs operate under such wildly different assumptions that they have a strong likelihood of wrecking encounters if made the "wrong" way. The design assumptions behind AC, to-hit, and hit points make them entirely not interchangeable.

[Lord Fyre]

LankyOgre wrote:

This doesn't actually solve the problem though. While there may be some small difference in time to create an NPC NPC and a PC NPC, time is not the major concern.

PCs and NPCs operate under such wildly different assumptions that they have a strong likelihood of wrecking encounters if made the "wrong" way. The design assumptions behind AC, to-hit, and hit points make them entirely not interchangeable.

And that is part of the problem. An NPC ally should not outshine the PCs but if build as an NPC they are likely to do exactly that if the CR/level is even close to the same as the PCs.

[Metaphysician]

There is an easy solution: don't build them at the same level as the PCs. An APL -3 NPC is roughly equal to one PC, so go with that.

[The Ragi]

In this specific situation, just have the NPC underperform, always trying to find an edge to betray the PCs - they were her original target.