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Not Just Sidekicks - Making & Managing NPC Companions
20 Plays5 days ago
Lots of characters inhabit your game world other than the player characters. Daryl, Nick, & Robert give their thoughts on making and managing the NPCs who end up coming along for the ride alongside the PCs. And Daryl may get a little too stuck on using Stuart from The Big Bang Theory as an example.
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Transcript
Introduction to How We Roll Gaming
00:00:03
Speaker
D20 Radio, at your game is rolled.
00:00:17
Speaker
How We Roll Gaming is dedicated to spreading enjoyment of great role-playing games. We hope to bring you insights into games you may not have played, tips to be a better game master or player, and share stories of momentous events at our tables.
00:00:29
Speaker
Every game is a new story to
Meet the Hosts: Daryl, Nick, and Robert
00:00:31
Speaker
tell. I'm Daryl. I'm Nick. And here's Robert. And this is How We Roll.
Podcast Welcome and Host Check-in
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome back, everyone, to the How We Roll Gaming Podcast. ah It is good to have you back. Robert, Nick, how are you fellas doing? Doing well. I am doing good as well.
Campaign Updates: The Five Rings and Whisper Bass
00:00:55
Speaker
Our group, I just pulled out my latest campaign. Yes. The Five Rings. Just last Saturday, so very from what I heard, people liked it, so we'll keep going from there.
00:01:07
Speaker
Yes, indeed, we absolutely did, and I i have been kind of you in the back of my mind, rolling rolling ideas for from my character around things for him to do.
00:01:22
Speaker
On top of that, I ran part one of the finale of a of a long-running Star Wars campaign that we've been doing, Whisper Bass. Yes, you did.
00:01:33
Speaker
And I designed you a a campaign finale t-shirt for it. I'm definitely going to purchase this one. Very well, sir. Very, very well. I recommend that that's an exclusive link those players in that one.
00:01:49
Speaker
Exclusive to them that so that they can know who the veterans are.
Creative Ideas: Campaign Shirts for Rebel Yell
00:01:54
Speaker
So even though I made ah ah campaign shirt for my Star Wars Rebel Yell campaign, talking to Betsy last night, she had an awesome idea for a campaign shirt for Rebel Yell.
00:02:06
Speaker
I saw the messages, but i didn't read all of them. But she had some like yeah has some cool ideas, I didn't read the whole chat. So the the idea is, since it's about a touring rock band trying to make it big, but also doing jobs for the Rebellion, make the campaign shirt the many Bothans tour shirt and hold off on designing it until yeah we've got a few more
Sister Podcast: Casual Nerdity and Clone Wars Focus
00:02:32
Speaker
sessions under us so that like the tour locations are all of the planets and everything that you've all gone to i'm like oh i love this i love this again i only got the train got the tail end of that which he says he needs sleep yes because it seems to be a thing that all of us are in need of
00:02:55
Speaker
The reason that came about is she messaged me in in the chat for our sister podcast, Casual Nerdity, for the next episode of our Clone Watch series, where we're going over the Mortis arc of the Clone Wars animated series, that Nick, you said you had walls of text in your notes that you've been making for the Mortis episodes. Yeah.
00:03:20
Speaker
Yeah, Betsy's exact words were... I have a problem. I can't stop talking. And she's making walls of text again like she did for the last arc. i'm getting I'm getting scared because I think we might be dueling walls of text because I have a lot to say about this arc. Lauren and I will probably be sitting back and contributing every so often while you two have walls of text.
00:03:47
Speaker
This might end up having to be a two-part episode of Casual Nerdity. yeah know honestly Y'all can just play Duel of the Debates. yeah But honestly, if there was ever one that it' required a whole lot of discussion, it's the Mortis
TV Series Talk: Ahsoka and Actor Changes
00:04:02
Speaker
arc.
00:04:02
Speaker
Yep. that It is dense and rife with theory crafting. dense for three episodes that didn't really get referenced again until Ahsoka.
00:04:15
Speaker
And will probably be playing a big part in season two of Ahsoka. Rest in peace to the original actor of Baelin's skull. But his new actor is actually ah did a voice reveal, and he sounds very similar.
00:04:30
Speaker
Right on. Right on.
Pop Culture Anticipation: Shin Godzilla and Tron Ares
00:04:32
Speaker
And right before we started... Right before we started talking, right before we started recording, um Nick, you and I were talking about ah how we're kind of nerding out because in August, the 2016 Toho Shin Godzilla is being released in theaters in the U.S. in 4K. And we release in 4K.
00:04:59
Speaker
And so, yeah, we'll be seeing... we we're going to be eating good at the movie theater over the next couple of months. Oh yeah. Like just in general, like Godzilla fans, we've been eating very well these past couple, this past year and a half.
00:05:14
Speaker
But it's like, in general, this year is delicious. Yes, yes, yes it is. And unfortunately ah we'll be heading headlong into Tron legacy, but, um, yeah,
00:05:28
Speaker
I'm pretty sure the only way I can get you to see that is if I pay for it and I sort of blindfold you and just drag you into it. well Because I need to see it. I need to see it.
00:05:38
Speaker
I kind of want to see it, but Jared Leto. um They got him for it? Yes. He's the lead. He's the lead in Tron. I'm sorry, not not Tron Legacy, Tron Ares. I'm sorry. yeah But Nine Inch Nails is doing the soundtrack.
00:05:56
Speaker
Oh yeah, everything about it seems awesome. Except Jared Leto. There are instances where a good soundtrack still can't save a movie. yeah Who knows? I mean, nick Nick might end up dragging me to see it.
00:06:11
Speaker
if he If he does, you know I might let him use my Cinemark discount and all of that. Just to repay the kindness. It will it would give you points.
00:06:22
Speaker
It will. It will. But anyway, after that little bit of a downer, what let's say we get into some good stuff.
Network Expansion: Welcoming We Fix Games
00:06:32
Speaker
Yeah, we were excited to join the lineup of great podcasts on the D20 radio network not too long ago. But now we're not the newest show on the network anymore.
00:06:44
Speaker
Join us in welcoming We Fix Games to the network. Welcome. Yes, welcome. On We Fix Games, Laura and Jerrica, your hosts, will dive deep.
00:06:57
Speaker
into the story side of video games. What worked, what didn't, how they'd make it better. It's part thoughtful critique, part chaotic brainstorm with plenty of laughs, hot takes, and a fair bit of cussing.
00:07:11
Speaker
So come for the plot holes and stay for the unhinged redesigns and listen to We Fix Games wherever you find your podcasts. Sounds really fun.
00:07:22
Speaker
but um That sounds like something I'd listen to. Welcome to the network, guys. We are glad to have you. And um i I really need to dive in and and catch up on listening to it because I was looking at at some of the episode descriptions and i was like, I don't know these games, but this sounds like an interesting conversation.
00:07:41
Speaker
Oh, I took a put quick peek at it and I definitely added them to my subscription. Let's get into our topic.
NPC Integration and Evolution in Campaigns
00:07:48
Speaker
ah Would you like to use our title? Our title is Not Just Sidekicks, Making and Managing NPC Companions.
00:07:58
Speaker
Yes, sir. Something that every campaign will have a bit of in some way or another. Yep. NPCs. They are just as important to being a GM as it is knowing the rules of the system you're running.
00:08:12
Speaker
We've gone through world building and having NPCs around to fill the streets, the stores, or bump into along the way helps the characters make this game world feel a alive.
00:08:27
Speaker
But sometimes your player characters will either find, build, otherwise obtain NPC that's not just a familiar face or a fearsome foe.
00:08:39
Speaker
Today we're talking about those NPCs that are part of the team. How they work, how they can be naturally integrated, even if not intentional, and managing them going forward.
00:08:53
Speaker
yep we We've all had that NPC that we meant to just be kind of you know like a passing NPC and yeah let me throw a quirk their way to make the NPC fun for me to play for the players while they briefly encounter them.
00:09:12
Speaker
And the players fall in love with that NPC. And they want to know everything about that NPC. They want to take that NPC with them and they want it to stay. They wanted to become a supporting cast member.
00:09:24
Speaker
And then now you have the, okay, I put a quirk down. Guess I got to build a life now. I have to build a character around this quirk. And it it's honestly is as much as like, there's a lot of cliches in the RPG world. This is the, as I say, the adopted, the adopted goblin.
00:09:46
Speaker
Funny. You mentioned that since our D and campaign did something similar. We haven't adopted Hobgoblin. Hobgoblin. but that'scurgado But it is the is's the thing. It's like you never know when a character sort of vibes with the team and they want to bring them along. Or it makes sense that like they' they're given a vassal or a squire.
00:10:11
Speaker
Or after the players have made their characters in session zero, you look at the skill set, you look at what the campaign is about, and you notice, okay, there's a void here.
00:10:25
Speaker
there's There's a role that it's not super important, but it needs to be filled. There's a support role. that needs to be filled. For example, there is my Star Wars campaign Rebel Yell about the rock band.
00:10:42
Speaker
Yeah. Well, there's five players currently. Only two of them are actually members of the band on stage. The other are support staff.
00:10:53
Speaker
There's you know you as as the mechanic and technician and pyro guy. There's Betsy as the manager, and there's Dan as the bouncer and security.
00:11:05
Speaker
So with only two actual musicians, a singer and a bass player, there's an astromech droid that fills in some some of the instrumental tracks and does some light show stuff.
00:11:19
Speaker
That's kind of built in there to fill that empty hole that's in the campaign.
Exploring Unexpected NPC Favorites
00:11:25
Speaker
And that fits well with the genre. It's a Star Wars campaign. A quote-unquote buddy droid is acceptable as an easy NPC to add in.
00:11:36
Speaker
On the flip side of that, there's the NPC that unexpectedly becomes a group favorite. How many times have you put in that NPC that you expect to be a recurring NPC?
00:11:53
Speaker
They're going to be a supporting character throughout the whole thing. And they're just sort of there because the group doesn't really... They they don't dislike that NPC, but they're not super invested in the NPC.
00:12:09
Speaker
There's always a risk. I haven't had that happen yet for me. i Mine have been more the routes of I put someone in there, my players love them, and now I've got to keep them around. I've had that happen at At least twice, maybe more.
00:12:25
Speaker
But as far as an NPC that people don't fully care about, it can be grounded as a supporting cast. I don't think I've hit there yet, but I've definitely seen experiences in other ones. I think i've had a few, but none that were egregious enough to say But that is the risk.
00:12:44
Speaker
and yeah and And we we ran into that in our Far Robot project campaign where we We had a ah murder mystery that is now completed, ran through the first dozen or so sessions as a subplot.
00:13:01
Speaker
And we introduced kind of a ah red herring NPC that the way that we envisioned this character was she was going to. be an NPC that the PCs loved.
00:13:13
Speaker
And she was just sort of there. She's going to be an NPC the that the PCs loved, that hopefully the players loved. And she was going to turn out to be a red herring who was you using the murders that were the mystery to commit a few of her own.
00:13:33
Speaker
and make hers go kind of unnoted, or believed to be part of the larger murders, and and draw suspicion away from herself. But going off of that same campaign, side mission that, long story short, ended up at a sort of ballet studio, added in one of the more popular NPC characters.
00:13:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:01
Speaker
Yes, and as someone who's in that campaign, I know who you're talking about, Nick, but it just proves your point, Daryl, that I have no idea who you're talking about. Yeah, see? it's It was the mechanic. Yeah. the The cute, plucky mechanic.
00:14:15
Speaker
We spent some time on her. Is she a Twi'lek? No. No. no Then I don't remember her. See? but yeah But yeah, I know Baz. I remember Baz.
00:14:27
Speaker
but That's usually where you where i would say, like, Most often, it's not the DMs that are making these characters. It's the players that sort of retro... The DMs have to retroactively make them more character than not. right yeah You can try to engineer one, but then you run the risk of the dreaded dm PC.
00:14:52
Speaker
Yes. yeah None of us have reached that. I find it a good way to put them out there and get the players to choose is just have a one-time interaction and just see how they react. If they and they like them, cool. I can build on them. If not, it's all right. i didn't invest too much of a character build into this and I
NPCs in The Walking Dead and Story Impact
00:15:13
Speaker
can just jump off to the side. Maybe they'll come in like one one time in a blue moon and I'm fine.
00:15:19
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know I've got notes about that. you know, you do want to be conscious about not letting any of these characters a recurring companion NPCs turn into a GMPC.
00:15:32
Speaker
They're there for support. They're there for flavor. They're not there to become the star of the show. They're Gunther to the Friends. They're Joyce Summers to Buffy and the Scoobies.
00:15:45
Speaker
They're Perry White to Clark Kent and Lois Lane. If your campaign were a TV show, they wouldn't be in the opening credits. Yeah, you don't want to make... Or so, they they're they're like,
00:15:57
Speaker
they don't get a individual like seed of them with a, with a name card. It's like in, it's in the correct opening credits, but like you they don't, they don't sell it with, with in the friends fountain. Well, and yeah one of, ah there's there's an example of a show turning one of these support NPCs into a regular, which lasted for maybe a season.
00:16:24
Speaker
And then they put them back. into supporting PC slot, and that's Big Bang Theory. Yeah. Stewart was a recurring supporting character, and they are and they wanted to lock Kevin Sussman in to be available, so they made Stewart a regular.
00:16:46
Speaker
And Stewart was great as a recurring character who owned the comic book store that they went to, And but he and what was friendly with them, so would sometimes appear outside of the comic store.
00:17:02
Speaker
But, you know, had a whole, he had an NPC vibe that he had this shtick that, you know, he was, know, his business was barely getting by. he was unlucky in love.
00:17:15
Speaker
He was kind of a sad sack. And, you know, he was NPC. He was an NPC. yeah And then they promoted Kevin Sussman to a series regular, and they had to find reasons for Stewart to be in every episode.
00:17:31
Speaker
And that's where you it was tough for them to do. They bumped him back down to recurring. And interestingly enough, he's going to be the focus of the next spinoff, but that's going to be a show that is built around the character. Which makes more sense.
00:17:50
Speaker
rather than being a character that the audience vibed with as an NPC. Yes.
Humorous NPC Combat Moments
00:17:58
Speaker
I bring up Kurgadol is our D&D sort of ah character that fits this bill.
00:18:06
Speaker
He doesn't do a lot story-wise. He's more support in combat or funny comic relief. Yeah, ease usually he's with my character because my character is the one who saved him initially.
00:18:21
Speaker
Because he was an enemy first, but then afterwards it was like, my character's got a good, he wants to redeem himself and others, so he's like, you know, maybe this guy can be good. Come join the whole situation, warriors. And you're right, Kurgadolv has a few lines here and there, but he's not a main fixture, and whenever he's in combat, his entire attack pattern is he throws pebbles, because because we wanted to give him weapon, so we were like, so he's like, Daryl has the magic pebbles,
00:18:50
Speaker
enhancements so we had him do that he got a really good role on it so now we've made that his characteristic of he's the one that throws the magic pebbles right he's he he functions as as a additional long range support it helps which helps in combat with large with either larger groups of enemies or like when we don't have our regular long raids for
NPC Evolution: Harley's Journey
00:19:14
Speaker
play.
00:19:14
Speaker
Similarly, and I give you a lot of credit for this, Robert, but in my Rebel Yell campaign, there's an NPC that was just background flavor in the dive bar that they were playing in in session zero.
00:19:30
Speaker
And even though you're not part of the campaign, you had come by just to hang out. And was like, here, play this NPC. like sure Have some fun. be be the NPCs.
00:19:42
Speaker
And partly because it was played by a care by a player that we all like, but also you play that character in a fun way that we liked. Yeah, he's basically your first roadie slash heckler.
00:19:56
Speaker
Yeah, and he's not even a roadie. He's a heckler. But he follows the... He is Statler and Waldorf combined into one. that you know why Why do we always come here?
00:20:07
Speaker
yeah great Our greatest fan, but also our greatest critic. And your greatest annoyance at times, because it's like, oh, he's back again. Well, he's bad. He's sometimes our greatest fan, sometimes our greatest critic.
00:20:21
Speaker
All the time annoyance. But yeah, I give you full credit for Harley becoming an actual character. ah Thank you. I had pleasure you playing him. And if I ever come back in, not this time, but maybe in the future, I'll be glad to play him again. Yeah, I'll just kind figure out how he found his way back to, well, I mean, you just following the band to play. Because ah they when they got off the wheel, they left him.
00:20:48
Speaker
The beauty about a heckler and the comedic the comedic aspect of him he can always find his way.
Cross-Campaign Characters: Slim Sadie
00:20:55
Speaker
That's a great way, essentially, since you mentioned the sitcom era, was like, you don't have, sometimes a character just appears, like, one character that never anticipated that would sort of exist in a, for lack of a better term, a cosmology of our games is Slim Sadie the Merchant.
00:21:17
Speaker
Yep, and now we've put him in most of our campaign worlds and he even has a buddy now from D&D beyond that he doesn't show up in the ones that just is completely onlyally tonally inappropriate for him but yeah and um because i for lack of a better term I was like I need a shadowy alleyway merchant for one game and well sometimes you just come up with a name Yeah, you just kept using the same name and and we kind of decided that he was the same person across all of these because he started off just in Star Wars campaigns.
00:22:00
Speaker
So it was not unrealistic for him, even if the campaigns weren't in the same continuity, for that character to be in all of the Star Wars campaigns.
00:22:11
Speaker
And then eventually I was like, well, you're going down the alleyway and then one of you made joke of like, oh, which is is he down there? like, you know, why wouldn't he be down here?
00:22:23
Speaker
Sure, sure, he's down here. And in a mechanical and playing sense, I know I'm always apt to see him because he usually has some some good gear or goods that he might be willing to part with. Exactly. It's a yeah like that sort of like, okay, if I need to either tempt them to lose money on like expensive gear or give them something that they might be useful later on without having a good way of giving it. Like, he's the merchant guy that you find in the alleyway that has a conveniently, like, a flickering light, be it a a a flickering lantern or an unscrewed bulb in the street lamp.
00:23:05
Speaker
And you know it's a good NPC when someone gives you an actual mini of said NPC. yeah Yes. Yes. Yes, I found a ah mini that the pose and everything worked, and we had never established what Star Wars species he was, because that's what the mini was. He's now a Duros.
00:23:25
Speaker
Yep. And now that he has it, Nick has to use him. One thing that I do to try to avoid making one of these recurring companion NPCs a GMPC is...
00:23:40
Speaker
I try to make them very limited and very specialized in what they can do. So if they're, for instance, a mechanic, they're competent, but they're not the greatest mechanic that there is.
00:23:56
Speaker
They're not as good as a PC mechanic would be. And that's pretty much all that they can do. They're no good in a fight. They're no good in a social situation.
00:24:09
Speaker
Nothing. They can me fix and make go.
Beloved NPCs: Grecor's Story
00:24:14
Speaker
Again, going back to the Kurglel example, I just gave the bare minimum Hobgoblin stats.
00:24:21
Speaker
He just happens to be really lucky when he rolls with that sling shot. Yes, and in my own Star Wars campaign that's not a hiatus now, I had my The players had their own NPC. He was a Gamorrean named Grecor.
00:24:39
Speaker
Per Gamorrean stereotype, he is only good in a fight. He has a really good axe. One of our players is busy with lies, so he hasn't shown up for the past few months for this.
00:24:54
Speaker
and He was their melee person. Grecor fit right in there as someone who can tank the hits and do the melee stuff while everyone's sitting in the back and shooting their guns.
00:25:05
Speaker
And other than that... like i never i remember Gruk-Kor, because like I believe you told me like I was there just to sort of observe and roll for NPCs, mostly enemy NPCs.
00:25:17
Speaker
Yeah, for session zero, and I totally revealed that had Gruk-Kor on the ship, because it's a prison ship, so sure, you can see Gamori in there, and I lifted entirely... wanted him to die! No, I left it entirely up to the characters what they wanted to happen with this Gamorrean. And then they pulled him up and they took him with them and they loved the guy. And then I killed him off and now they hate me.
00:25:43
Speaker
And in some systems... The system itself might give you a little help in coming up with these NPCs. ah For instance, the Walking Dead system. but As part of the built-in campaign setup of Walking Dead, you have a group of additional NPCs that are part of the PC's group of survivors.
00:26:07
Speaker
And you can create them from whole cloth. ah Or there are, there's a table. Robert loves him some tables. There's a table in the core rule book that you can roll a D six and it corresponds to a group of survivor NPCs.
00:26:27
Speaker
And when we did session zero for my walking dead campaign, had you guys roll on the table and the group of NPCs with the setting that we were building and the history that we we're just starting to build for the PCs as a group, I was able to look at those NPCs that they, they were like two sentence descriptions of them if at that.
Creating Impactful NPCs in The Walking Dead
00:26:54
Speaker
Yeah. If that there were two cents descriptions, minor NPC stats. And I was able to look at those and say, aha, I have a lot to work with.
00:27:07
Speaker
So there's a politician. was like, Oh, well, given that they're going into a very politically fraught area, which is the basis of the campaign, there's a lot to work with here.
00:27:22
Speaker
Oh, another NPC is a soldier that is undyingly loyal to the politician. This will work too, because any one of the PCs that she sees a threat to the politician, you know they're a threat to her too, and she's sizing them up.
00:27:41
Speaker
There's an older woman who... I don't remember if this was in the capsule description or if it's what we came up with fleshing everything out. She used to be the leader of the Haven that the characters had to leave. I think we fleshed that out. We also fleshed out that she doesn't take any BS from the politician either. She's yeah basically on the other side like, no, I don't know. I think the rivalry came from the capsule.
00:28:07
Speaker
Yeah, the rivalry came from the capsule. But but like the ah the the flavoring came from us. Yeah. And theyre just they're a great group of NPCs. And as you've gone on, you've bumped into other NPCs that I'm not saying that they will show up later, but I'm not saying that they won't.
00:28:31
Speaker
but yeah i mean Well, yeah. My character in that Walking Dead one just like in the far over one adopted another child on top of BC child that he already has since we just, Betsy and I decided they're related. So he's taking care of the little girl JJ as well.
00:28:52
Speaker
Well, you're the painter, you're the painter, but scale of the group. And I, I played him like that cause he's a homemaker. So he's the he's the Dale of the group. There's also the family that you met as soon as you got into town when you were going through the restaurant.
00:29:09
Speaker
Made a gumbo. Gumbo. And there's there's others floating around that you haven't met yet, but you've crossed their paths.
00:29:21
Speaker
Mm-hmm. He says cryptically. Similar to a system that and that allows you to sort of build in characters like
Animal Companions in Fallout Campaigns
00:29:33
Speaker
Like this. ah We recently started the the Fallout campaign that we're doing.
00:29:38
Speaker
And one of the perks is dog meat. It's where you get a dog. you A player can just take that perk and they will find a dog. Dog companion.
00:29:49
Speaker
There's stats for it. And where you can customize the dog, obviously. Yes, and when we did the one-shot, I actually... Either I did or you gave it to me. I actually took the dog meat.
00:30:02
Speaker
talent and had a little dog I had a little golden retriever and we just took him with us yeah it's again you can pick it up whenever it's one of the earliest ones but think can only only one person in the group can pick it up so it would be the group's dog but it would be specifically one character's dog yes you say that only only one character can take that in the group Nick but what's the first rule of every RPG?
00:30:32
Speaker
The rules are just guidelines? Yep. what What if we want to have the Legion of of Fallout pets?
00:30:41
Speaker
I just broke Nick. Yeah, I want a i want to mutate mole as my pet. I mean, there's... We all want pets, Nick. Damn it, have to look at those those rules, but this you're not entirely wrong. There's there's ways to tame animals.
00:30:57
Speaker
um Yeah, and even in my new Legacy of the Five Rings campaign, there's actually what's called a passion in the book that does give you an animal companion, and I think two people chose it. I mean, one has a fox, and I think another has a hawk. I think you're the one with the hawk. I got the hawk.
00:31:15
Speaker
yeah You didn't want a snake, Nick? I don't think it was in there. wasn't in there. he And now he sounds crestfallen. It wasn't in there.
00:31:27
Speaker
Birds are good, too. I mean, they eat snakes, so... It fits the character because it's because Hawks can be messengers if my character is a courier. Yep. ah you know Nick more wants to play snakes than be a snake.
00:31:41
Speaker
Well, it's a good thing you can't play a Naga in this one. what? Forget he said anything. He said nothing. Forget it. So?
00:31:53
Speaker
Yeah, there's plenty of systems that have like built-in mechanics for... NPCs to be brought in as even D&D. There's like the night class.
00:32:06
Speaker
You have a squire. There's specific rules in the Star Wars campaign to have you have a Padawan or learner under you.
00:32:17
Speaker
My apprentice. Do it. Do it. Yeah, do it. But mainly the fact there is like In the cases of like mechanically wise, that's where it's a conversation between the player and the GM rather than the group adopting the character into the party.
00:32:38
Speaker
And now another way that you can keep that character from becoming a GMPC is let the players decide what this companion NPC is doing.
00:32:53
Speaker
Exactly. Exactly. That's sort of how I've handled roughly Kurgidol with you all. Back in that example. And back in my example, Brooker would always be there, but unless they brought him up, I would just say, oh, him, he's a he's stuffing his face with food over there.
00:33:10
Speaker
Oh, yeah. that's said Similar to how I use... like If there's a combat encounter that you guys are handily dealing with, it like unless it's funny that Kurgidol strikes the final blow with...
00:33:21
Speaker
It's sometimes very funny. it was hilarious. He killed a ghost with a pebble. It can indeed be funny for the ah plucky sidekick to get the final blow.
00:33:37
Speaker
But usually, like unless it's like it's a big combat encounter, is like I don't say like, And here's Kurgadol's roll initiative. him If he's around, everyone's like, oh yeah, Kurgadol could do something. it's like, usually at the very end, and that is usually a funny thing if he gets a really high roll.
00:33:56
Speaker
Yeah, usually I'm the one that rolls his initiative, and he just is somewhere on my card, and I just roll for him when I remember, oh yeah, he's in here too. Usually at the funniest bit, where it's like, it just sort of happens that way.
00:34:11
Speaker
And we love him for it. And so what other tricks do you have up your sleeve? I know that Nick will also occasionally in, in ah we keep going back to Star Wars, but in some of our Star Wars games, um like in the Clone Wars game, when there would be a lot of NPC clone troopers, even if they weren't specifically tied to our PCs, he would hand me the clone trooper NPC card and say, Here, you're rolling for the NPCs.
00:34:42
Speaker
That's more in the case of the, whether it's a subclass of the sidekick, of the large scale just minion rolls.
00:34:54
Speaker
Basically, the idea is like, these are the grunts. They're below a sidekick and they don't have really a name. But they're part of the scene.
00:35:06
Speaker
I mentioned you know one of the things that I do when putting together NPCs. I try to make them specialized and not crazy powerful.
00:35:20
Speaker
when When I want them for a powerful NPC, that's when I'm talking about named and or specialized adversaries. But that's a whole other episode that we've talked about. no yeah Yeah, new one.
00:35:31
Speaker
What do you guys do when you're making your companion NPCs?
Tips for Creating Companion NPCs
00:35:37
Speaker
How do you prevent them from becoming, kind of like we were talking about with rewards last week, an I win button, but still make them interesting and the players like having them around?
00:35:49
Speaker
What I've done first... Yeah, you can start, Nick. I'll start first because mainly it's what we've sort of been hinting at with both ah like what we described with what you described as like me handing over a minion level card for large scale battles of minions. And what we described about Kurgadol, I gave you a basic bare bones, hobgoblin, goblin, no fluff or anything, a stat block.
00:36:19
Speaker
We modified it by what weapon we gave him. And that's about it. And sometimes that's all it requires. Like take a stat block of an average average,
00:36:30
Speaker
NPC and then be like, okay, what if the end players gave him ah great sword instead a knife? Well, yes it's just it could be as simple as that.
00:36:45
Speaker
It could be as simple that. It's like, as you mentioned, like what if they they need a healer? Pull up like a generic druid or generic priest of a religion.
00:36:58
Speaker
in a D and D campaign and just sort of put them there. It's like he has, he's squishy. He probably will have at least some sort of melee weapon, but his main thing is like, he's keeping the party up.
00:37:10
Speaker
He's not main thing is he's, he's hanging in the back. Say, you know, yelling, not in the face, not in the face and keeping the party up. And no way is he, no way is he as good as a player character would be.
00:37:24
Speaker
Because he doesn't advance. Because he doesn't advance, or if he does advance, it's slower than a player could ever do. Exactly. But it's still like, okay, we just recognize that we need someone to keep the players up because this encounter is going to be rough, just in case.
00:37:45
Speaker
And you can in a situation like that, it can even be you you don't have that NPC... there from the beginning, like, let's say, using D&D as an example, as they're going through the dungeon, the mission, whatever it is that they're doing, they encounter that NPC when they first really start to need them.
00:38:12
Speaker
He was part of a previous part of the oh previous party if for them, or the advanced guard that he's the last survivor of, and he's like, Bad to survive.
00:38:24
Speaker
i still have some spell slots able to keep you guys ah provides health potions and rejuvenates them and joins them for the next leg. And once that's done, thank you for helping me. Fare thee well, travelers.
00:38:39
Speaker
I'm back to my comic store, says Stuart the Cleric. Honestly, that brings back to that really ah there's a the really great Dungeons & Dragons movie, Autumn of Thieves, where there is a quote-unquote DMMC, but they use it correctly, and they're and I'm leaving now.
00:39:01
Speaker
I showed up, I got you to the important part, I got you to this MacGuffin, and I'm gone. Yep, and they played it up, and they even had him come back at the ending be like, oh, ivan I have have apprehended the villain.
00:39:16
Speaker
Oh, they even played it up where it's like, oh is he going to go around that rock? No, no, he's going to just climb over that rock. Yep. Because sometimes you, and we can probably discuss that, bring up more about that type of character when we do talk. like There is a benefit to DM PCs, but they need to be used sparingly.
00:39:37
Speaker
Very sparingly. and Definitely not reoccurring and with the group all the time. But I will say, like, we could probably do an episode about proper uses of DM PCs in the future.
Dungeon Master Player Characters: Sparing Use
00:39:50
Speaker
Because there's...
00:39:51
Speaker
As much as it has a more horror stories and glory stories related to them, there's a time and a place and a proper way to use them. But it definitely a requires nuance. Yeah, it requires nuance and awareness on the Game Master's part. It requires nuance, awareness, and restraint. Oh, wait, we're about to wander back into a Spanish Inquisition bit.
00:40:14
Speaker
Well, no one ever expects it.
00:40:19
Speaker
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Yeah, the NPCs have their place. and We could discuss that and in another longer correct phrase.
00:40:30
Speaker
But the main factor for a sidekick or player companion is that they need to complement either ah player's playstyle or the or philine that the group has.
00:40:44
Speaker
But more often than not, if it's a group group psychic, it's better that they sort of find them interesting. If it's an individual character, then that's usually more a mechanic function.
00:40:56
Speaker
Yes, and I definitely agree with that. Because what I do with my NPCs is, some of them I won't even stat out because I'm not going use them that way. I just make them part or a mechanic of the story. For example, in our so in the Cyberpunk one that I'm running,
00:41:13
Speaker
I have my fixer, Marcos, and then my news reporter, ah believe, I think I named him Max. But basically, they're not there to actually roll any dice or stat out anything. They're there as people you might run into in the city or your quest givers or the one that gives you the rewards.
00:41:34
Speaker
So they they reoccur in the story, but they have a part in the story that doesn't take away from the NPCs. In fact, they're more the people that either talk to or award your characters once they're done with whatever quest or gig they're on They're more narrative tools than they are companions.
00:41:53
Speaker
Yes. yeah Yeah. Marcus, I'm never going to stat out Marcus. He's your fixer, quest giver, reward giver person. And then another thing we've done with NPCs, especially if when we stat them out is I've done this in my campaign and Nick and I did this in legacy of the force.
00:42:10
Speaker
We'll give you a companion NPC for a while. Might even have them do some cool stuff. But because we're building on it, as well as with story bits, that they're going to do a 180 and become your villain later.
00:42:23
Speaker
We did this with Allegria in Legacy of the Force. She was with you guys for a while. She had the hilarious beats everybody with chairs and stools, only to have her turn around and become that act one big bad that you had to face.
00:42:37
Speaker
i still love i absolutely I still don't think Betsy's over that. Sometimes you do too good of a job making the players like those ah NPCs. and when we We made it pretty cool.
00:42:49
Speaker
when When the heel turn happens, you have the players riot. it's just that But that's how we know we made it work. Yes, and... We'll have plenty more where that came from. It's Nick's time to shine in that corridor o corner right now.
00:43:06
Speaker
I'm trying to think what ah any other little little things that I do there. Something else that I will do to try to help with player buy-in of these companion NPCs is if I'm introducing them, if they're not just an NPC that the characters pick up along the way...
NPCs as Player Anchors in Walking Dead
00:43:28
Speaker
i I try to bake in a connection yeah to at least one of the characters. oh Yeah. you And backstory here really helps in that regards, as long as you get better permission about it.
00:43:40
Speaker
And honestly, like, this if I had to say there's only one bad example of it, it's like, don't make the character seem too useful. that's every Everyone will just say that you like are going into an adventure, it's like, oh, you've run into this guy, and he's He's just loaded with posts.
00:43:58
Speaker
I got all these signs of posts. Everyone's going to say that that's a trap. yeah Come into my shop. I've got all you need. Everyone's going to be at me like, no.
00:44:09
Speaker
I found what I've liked in, at least you're Walking Dead, Daryl, especially with how they made it. They made the NPCs, the people in the group, but they also both didn't describe them a lot.
00:44:22
Speaker
which allows us as players to flesh out their personalities, maybe their story a little bit along with how we feel about them. And they, it's more of the discussion.
00:44:33
Speaker
And they also said, and the developers also said, okay, your character has a PC anchor, but also an NPC anchor. so now you have to choose. Okay.
00:44:44
Speaker
Who do I choose? And now as a player, I have to ask, okay, why? Because I chose the one-eyed mechanic guy and I chose him. Peter because I had my guy be like a handyman, do it himself because he was single all of his life. He coached Little League in school.
00:45:03
Speaker
So he had to do a lot of his own dode do it yourself around the house, plumbing and stuff like that. And Peter is a plumber. So they bonded over that. And I said like, or I'm thinking in my backstory, like he got along with Peter a lot because he kind of learned from Peter and like how to do plumbing, how to rewire stuff, how to be a better plumber mechanic. And then once everything got, went to, went to crap, then when we were on the road, looked to Peter as the fixer in case any cars broke down, or we had a problem with, with plumbing on the, on the big, on the big car, the big ambibus that we were trotting around.
00:45:44
Speaker
And they just bonded over that. And now whenever he has to go anywhere with an NPC, he's like, I want to take, and want to take Peter. I can trust him. And that concept of the game mechanics, the game system, forcing you to pick an NPC anchor is exactly what I was about to mention and then told you to go ahead. So I'm glad I told you to go ahead.
00:46:07
Speaker
Yay. Great minds. Great minds. Yeah, because i I really like that because... Just stay out of my mind. and It's not a great mind. it It is a frightening place in there.
00:46:18
Speaker
I don't go there. Don't go Lucky you. Lucky you. that's this That's a strength of that particular system, but it's also a way that that particular system draws from the source material.
00:46:33
Speaker
Because you have, again, in both the Walking Dead comic and the TV show, when the TV show is more what the RPG is based on, you have your Opening credits named regular cast.
00:46:48
Speaker
And then you have a bunch of supporting characters surrounding them. You have your companion NPCs who surround them and complement them. And you this being Walking Dead, either the NPCs or the PCs can end up becoming Walker Chow.
00:47:08
Speaker
And it's easy to find out if they're if they're included in the previously on The Walking Dead. If they're included in the previously on The Walking Dead and or they suddenly get a big moment where you learn a lot about their backstory.
00:47:23
Speaker
or both. Or both. or both They're about to die. they yeah They're about to get the arrow through their eye and just... Yes, they're about to be Denise'd. and That's exactly what I was thinking of.
00:47:37
Speaker
That she and goes out on a mission and tells us her backstory and gets it cross mobile through the eye. And probably focus was was given focus where it's like, oh yeah, she's a character. Wait.
00:47:53
Speaker
Oh no, she's doomed. Yep, it's when you know, like, hmm, that flag's looking mighty red. I'm not going to say that I'm planning doing this, but you i I have been kind of consciously giving everybody a little bit of plot armor since Nick's first PC died in Session Zero.
Plot Armor's Role in Campaigns
00:48:22
Speaker
And his other one is now in prison.
00:48:25
Speaker
And... you know it It occurs to me that you on Fear the Walking Dead, that that character's name was Nick. Coincidentally, Nick had some plot armor on him. he did.
00:48:42
Speaker
And then all of a sudden, they ripped his plot armor off and killed him. they... Honestly, he was... Not just because it was... Because I had the same name, but like, they did dirty! I all All of a sudden, the plot armor came off.
00:48:59
Speaker
And it just was like, okay, you are in the main cast. And then the next episode was like, um... About that.
00:49:11
Speaker
And I think, actually, the Telltale Walking Games, at least season two, also had a Nick. But he was the opposite of, oh, I just want this guy to die. Well, that that's... Honestly...
00:49:22
Speaker
honestly That's also something we talk about. NPCs that are made to be disliked. And there's plenty of... like We have plenty to talk about NPCs. And and i think it is so I think that category definitely ties into when we talked about making a memorable villain those that you characters love to hate. Yeah.
00:49:42
Speaker
Yeah, I think that that goes over in that episode. And and we're we're holding off on doing that one because that one's going to be a good one. And we don't want to you throw it right out of the gate in our first few months of being on. Because there's plenty to talk about if NPCs, as they are, like as I sort of mentioned earlier, that they're just as important as understanding the mechanics of your world and system that you're running.
00:50:11
Speaker
They help ah they the the population of the world. the The NPCs give it flavor and give the world life. Just like in real life, there's going to be people that you pass on the street or encounter out and about at a store whatever that you're like, yeah, yeah, whatever.
00:50:27
Speaker
But in your back of your mind, you're like, oh they're dressed like that. So this is like a fancy part of town or they're dressed in, there's a different demographic there that that's a sort of like ah where they like to hang out.
00:50:40
Speaker
And then on the flip side, there is the NPC that you run into out and about. you you You run into someone else who is a fellow player at Gamer Nation Con and you're like, I like this person.
00:50:54
Speaker
you know you You run into a Brev or a Darren or a Steve. and like Sometimes you see a guy with an excellent support over their head and they like they have a quest for you and you need to be the whole but beat up a whole bunch of rats in the in the back alley for an XP.
00:51:08
Speaker
Or just MMORPGs. Yes, that's different kinds of RPGs, Nick. Or there's the person that, after you've talked to them, you know, they might have some work for me or they might be someone good to know.
00:51:22
Speaker
like Maybe they're good at dealing information, and if you need something, you can go get to them for it. Or if they know people, maybe they can find you someone who can sell you or get you that object you're trying to seek.
00:51:33
Speaker
Just like form connections are out. And we've we've kind of touched on it. you know you You have your narrative NPCs and your actual companion NPCs. You want both of them to be as engaging as they're meant to be, because some of them aren't meant to be very engaging.
00:51:51
Speaker
but For like your narrative NPCs, like your your job giver and fixer and all of that. instead of Instead of statting them out, you want them to have that flavor. You want them to have a personality. You want them to have a flavor.
00:52:07
Speaker
But you don't want to give them numbers. Because what's the first rule about giving a character stat?
Narrative NPCs: Keeping Them Off the Target List
00:52:15
Speaker
If it's stat, you can kill it. if Yep, if it's stat, you can kill it.
00:52:19
Speaker
And if they're just meant for flavor, i mean, you might end up wanting to kill that character off later on for dramatic set sake. Because the players don't know what numbers are behind that DM screen.
00:52:34
Speaker
Now, the the problem comes where, you know, if... you're running that fixer and one of the, one of the PCs isn't getting along with the fixer and decides that they want to fight him.
00:52:48
Speaker
Now you have to come up with either a reason why the fight doesn't happen or make up numbers on the fly. Yeah. Make up numbers or say, okay, you kill the fixture you've been working with. Cool.
00:53:02
Speaker
A lot more fixtures are probably not going to talk to you anymore because you've basically killed one. it kind Or bodyguards come in. Or what have Bodyguards come in before the fight even starts and like, out of here.
00:53:18
Speaker
ye Or the whole smoke bomb. Smoke bomb, always a classic. Pocket center. yeah So yeah, you pull the Batman with the smoke bomb, but canonically, Batman keeps lollipops in his utility belt in case he comes across a scared kid.
00:53:37
Speaker
And canonically, he kept them in the pouch next to the smoke bombs. And Superman was very concerned about that. He was like, you know, i don't know what troubles me more, that you might actually accidentally give a kid a smoke bomb, or that you might throw a lollipop on the ground thinking you're going to disappear when fighting the Joker.
00:53:58
Speaker
Well, honestly, if he in that specific situation, i think that would distract the Joker enough for him to disappear. Or it'd be funny enough that he'd laugh himself into a detraction. This is canon. hit It occurred in...
00:54:13
Speaker
An issue of Nightwing. Of course it was a Nightwing issue. It was a Tom Taylor Nightwing issue. ke Classic.
Inspiration for NPCs from Fiction
00:54:21
Speaker
But yeah, I think i think we we've touched on it, but this is part of, like, maybe not a part one, but a, of a, but it's like, the discussion of NPCs is probably something we're going to be talking about for a long time in this series. Yeah.
00:54:37
Speaker
Yeah, and also we we've got a lot of stuff to talk about with adversary NPCs. Yeah, and I'd say... But like it's a good start to be like at least conceptualizing concepts.
00:54:49
Speaker
Because again, these are... And we probably could revisit this in the future. Especially sure if ah viewers have like specific questions comments.
00:55:01
Speaker
yeah Wait, my Nick, are are you trying to give me a segue? But Robert has more stuff to say, so we can't segue yet. I just have and i i just have a final thought for those aspiring DMs and GMs out there.
00:55:15
Speaker
Hit us. you want to know how If you want a good baseline or something to research on how to make a good NPC companion... Heck, just pick up a story at your local bookstore, read through it, see, okay, this is the main character, now who's surrounding the main character.
00:55:33
Speaker
then ask yourself, just you as a person reading this story, okay, which characters do I like? Which companions do I not like? And why? What about them gains my attention, my admiration, or which ones kind of repel me?
00:55:46
Speaker
And you can kind of use that as just a simple personal baseline to see, okay, now that I'm making my own story with my own players and we're all in there, what mp What NPCs could I make? i like my My favorite sidekick in fantasy is Frodo Baggins to the real main character, Samwise Gamzee.
00:56:05
Speaker
yeah Yeah, just a book, movies, TV, comics, wherever. There are quote-unquote NPCs in every work of fiction out there.
00:56:19
Speaker
And you know i I rattled off some in the intro. If you're reading, watching, listening, what have you, think about those supporting characters.
00:56:31
Speaker
What makes you like that supporting character and want to see them come back some more? And recognizes what makes them, what helps them contrast and compare with the quote-unquote main character.
00:56:47
Speaker
Exactly. I was mentioning Stuart a lot because Stuart's a great example. Yeah. Because they tried to make him... A PC. And he wasn't designed to be a PC.
00:56:58
Speaker
in the story they had. For the campaign that was the Big Bang Theory. Stewart made a contrast because by the time they started coming back to Stewart, after just one or two one-off appearances where he was just generic comic store guy, the main characters were starting to be... They were still...
00:57:21
Speaker
quote-unquote, nerds. They were still stereotypical nerds. They still were not fully socially well-adjusted, for want of a better term.
00:57:34
Speaker
Like us. Right. Exactly like us. And take take the way that we phrase that how you wish, dear listener.
00:57:45
Speaker
But Stuart, by contrast, you the the main characters were becoming more successful, for want of a better term. you know Leonard and Penny were finally dating.
00:57:58
Speaker
Not too long after that, they introduced Bernadette as yeah love interest for Howard. yeah Sheldon had a girlfriend, for God's sake.
00:58:11
Speaker
And that's something. Poor Rasheed. So Stuart what was more a reflection of what they had been. Stuart was the sad sack. Stuart you know had trouble finding a girlfriend. Stuart was you spent every waking hour in his comic store and for a time lived in the back.
00:58:36
Speaker
Because he lost his apartment. But that's still a contrasting character that exactly helps make a point to the character. So I always think, think yeah that going back to like the classic Shakespeare quote, all the world's a stage.
00:58:54
Speaker
and these Some of us are like the background guy of someone else's story. Yeah. um And there's nothing wrong with Little Comic Relief. yeah have your Have your cabbage merchant.
00:59:04
Speaker
in the avatar obviously and you know some of us aren't just the background characters in some people some of us are the villains in some people's stories let's be real and some of us are are are are the protagonists and the villains of their own stories antagonist and villain are not synonyms nick that's true protagonist and hero are not synonyms that could be another episode and making an antagonist not a villain Hmm.
00:59:33
Speaker
Rivals. That could fall under the same that same umbrella. we'll We'll have to flesh that one out more when we get to it. yeah I mentioned friends early on.
00:59:45
Speaker
ah hu So Janice was a recurring character. I don't think Janice made more than 12 appearances over the course of the 10 seasons.
00:59:57
Speaker
She's a memorable recurring supporting character.
Memorable NPCs: Janice from Friends
01:00:01
Speaker
Because that character stood out because she was a contrast to the Friends.
01:00:08
Speaker
Yeah. you know the The moment you heard, oh my god. You knew things were going on. Yeah. so Yeah, it looks like she was in 19 episodes. So I lowballed it, but still 19 200 and something. Yeah.
01:00:26
Speaker
ten sees out of two hundred in something yeah yeah And so, like, but i even with your... can still hear it in my in my head, that bad voice. It's like, whenever I i did rewatch a couple years ago, was like, the man was like, oh, this is an episode that's going to be... She's going to cause some trouble in What? Janice caused trouble?
01:00:51
Speaker
Nah. But yeah, just you you can find that kind of inspiration for those those different dynamics between the NPCs and your PCs everywhere. And they're not all going to land.
01:01:08
Speaker
And again, that's why I say like usually if they adopt a sidekick or find an NPC they like, it's usually a group decision. And That's usually not something you can force.
01:01:21
Speaker
Yeah. Definitely do not force it. It's all organic. maybe If you force it, that's how you... They're they're going to throw that NPC in the trash. If you force it, you're going into that bad DMPC territory.
01:01:35
Speaker
Those successful NPCs are... You'll never know when it hits, but when you see it hit, roll it. Embrace the bit. Hey! it's a oh Oh.
01:01:50
Speaker
Are you segueing us, nick nick is se Nick? Nick's going to go with segue. we're We're not going to pick on Nick. No. Because Nick gave us such a good segue. You are clear this time, Nick.
01:02:02
Speaker
Yes. yeah Well, I mean, well we did kind of throw him and under the bus earlier.
Podcast Conclusion and Plugs
01:02:07
Speaker
live another But I think we've hit everything we wanted to say about um companion NPCs.
01:02:16
Speaker
So... We're not going to pick on Nick. We're just going to jump straight to the part where I say, check out our website at howwerollgaming.com. And there you'll find links to all of our socials and information about our current campaigns.
01:02:32
Speaker
Yep. And you can also directly support the show through Patreon. Just go to patreon.com slash howwerollgaming. And you'll see our different membership tiers starting at just $2 a month. With special recognition on our Discord server and higher tiers giving you on-air credits.
01:02:46
Speaker
and discounts on our new merch store. Our new merch store. Woo! Speaking of our new merch store, as we record this on June 3rd, 2025, we just launched the new merch store three days ago June 1st. So head on over to merch.howwerollgaming.com and during the month of June 2025, you can take 15% off your total order with the promo code promo code re-roll, or take 20% off of our Roll with Pride collection, including some limited edition items.
01:03:25
Speaker
Finally, if you have any questions you'd like us to answer, topics you'd like us to cover, or even submit your own RPG Glory story, shoot us an email at podcast at howwerollgaming.com.
01:03:39
Speaker
Woo! And that will wrap it up for this episode. We will see everyone next time. um and while we're doing all of those plugs, if you happen to be watching or listening to the podcast on our YouTube channel, ah please do us a favor and do the whole stereotypical YouTube stuff, like, and subscribe, and let the whole thing play in the background. not forget Don't forget the bell.
01:04:08
Speaker
Because we we we have to feed the algorithm. So it can feed us. It's hungry. The algorithm is hungry. Feed the algorithm. But until that next time we come around, as always, I'm Daryl.
01:04:23
Speaker
I'm Nick. And I'm Robert. And this is how we roll.
01:04:31
Speaker
This episode of the How We Roll Gaming podcast is copyright 2025, How We Roll Gaming, LLC. All games and associated intellectual properties are copyrighted their respective owners, and How We Roll Gaming makes no claim of ownership by discussing them here.