NPCs, Allies, Animal Companions & Mounts in 5e Dungeons & Dragons - Web DM

Let's go on an adventure? But who and what to take with you?
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[@WebDM]

Thanks for watching! Want more Web DM in your life? Get our podcast here: www.patreon.com/webdm

[@misomiso8228]

ty for doing the patron q and a. Was very cool to be able to ask questions. If you ARE looking for more spelljammer products, some of the best ones are Under the Dark Fist, Realmspace, and Goblins return (plus the sequal). The Cloakmaster cycle is also great as it gives the big meta plot of the whole setting.

[@maylafont442]

This kinda reminded me of when my party was with a half elven militia going up a mountain to deal with the frost giants attacking the town, they got into a fight with a couple of frost giants and winter wolves. One character was in the back during this encounter sniping, a wolf started running at him taking opportunity attacks from some of the militia men and he asked "how are these guys not stopping the wolf?" so i had a random militia try to grapple the wolf, he succeeded and everyone at the table lost it, they were so amazed with him they were asking his name, I named him Vilnar, and the player who was sniping immediately loved the npc. During this same encounter the player died and he asked me if he could play Vilnar, i gave him my modified veteran/guard stat block and said go ahead, the players were much higher level than the npcs but he was all about it. After they were done with the frost giants I helped him make a character sheet for Vilnar, with a few free feats (grappler and sentinel if i remember correctly). He still plays Vilnar and he's made the character obsessed with killing giants.

[@DanielGomez-fk3on]

I lot it

[@asexypotato2280]

That's so fucking awesome I love you!

[@Pfeifenkraut]

Take this to the top !

[@WisdomThumbs]

Vilnar the Grappler, choker of winter wolves, throttler of ogres, He Who Slaps Fenrir, the giant snapper.

[@CW257866]

"No DM PCs" was one of the first rules I worked out in my RPG life. Back in the earliest days of me playing D&D-- I was about seven-- we didn't even really know the rules. It didn't help that the only one of us who had the Player's Handbook was the DM, and he refused to let us look at it. Anyways, in the game he ran, he had is own character, too. I remember the one time we found what seemed to be a sword encased in some kind of mineral. My character tried to pick it up and it electrocuted him. My character wasn't smart, and I thought maybe there were limited charges to it, so I kept trying to pick it up, and kept getting electrocuted. My character finally passed out. Then the DM's character picked it up and it turned into Excalibur. This was decades ago and I'm still pretty salty about that

[@paulcoy9060]

That guy sounds like a Wang Rod, to borrow a phrase from Matt Colville. I hope your group left him and started your own adventures.

[@thehistorynerd8537]

Bruh they were little kids. Maybe the kid got better with age? (Gotta keep it positive, too many people say “Just leave”, or “I hope they left” to little problems that can be fixed with either experience, a good talk, or compromise

[@Tid55584]

@@thehistorynerd8537 It doesn't mention the age of the DM. The only person whose age we know is the player. The DM could've been older

[@Blandco]

One of my players took a chicken on as a pet. I had no intention of this happening, but they found an egg and took the time to hatch it.

[@WarlockofThorns]

Blandco Battle Chickens are the next big thing. They will rise to the greatest threat in all of D&D.

[@PaperNESS321]

One of my players did a similar thing in that he adopted a stray dog by feeding it over the course of a few days.

[@optimus2200]

Level this chicken as a barbarian XD XD XD

[@toxiccrocattackgaming6145]

One of my players pestered me over and over again about having a pet cat. I relented, eventually despite it being pointless. Little does she know I made the cat a 10th level Tibbit wizard who may or may not turn into an enemy later.

[@yobressik]

Tuffnut!

[@Nerdarchy]

Great episode lads. Lots of DM PC love in the comments. Thanks for the mention. Nerdachist Dave

[@worldwar1flyingace645]

My group is running a Tomb of Annihilation campaign, and my Kobold Ranger who loves animals was chosen by our allied Trade Prince to be his sponsored jockey in the Dinosaur Races. He got first place in his heat and was gifted the Dienonychus (basically the raptors from Jurassic Park) he raced with. The DM allowed her to become my Beast Companion. I named her Clever Girl. Since she's a native animal and I'm a Ranger, I can talk to her and ask if certain things are familiar or frightening to her and I always pay attention when she gets tense. Also, I got a Saddle of the Cavalier, and since she's Medium and I'm Small, I can use her as a mount and ride into battle with my bow like a freakin' raptor-riding Mongol warrior!

[@Sean-ne3gx]

Ogre NPC you say? I can't help but think of Sweetums in Muppet Treasure Island.... "Fight you? Are you kidding, I love you guys! Woh ho ho ho ho."

[@Keyce0013]

Bruz from Shadow of War

[@everybodytogether5532]

Havnt laughed at a comment in ages lol. Love that guy

[@joshuatungate8130]

You really know something matters when you decide “Eh, I don’t really need sleep anyway”. Keep up the great work you guys!

[@JPruinc]

Thanks for your sacrifice and the kind words!

[@stupidtwo]

I'm DM'ing and playing a party member for two reasons: 1. Very small party. My wife and two daughters 2. Very inexperienced players

[@FuelDropforthewin]

Same. if you have only 2 players, you kinda need a third full character to make things happen.

[@redpandaluver8561]

@Ethan Vance Interesting. Any updates?

[@redpandaluver8561]

@Ethan Vance Wow! That sounds like a really cool!

[@larsvanbreems6259]

This episode was interesting, especially the DMPC part. I had no idea that this was actually a problem because in my D&D group, everyone's been the DM at some point and everyone's had a DMPC. Looking at this, I realized we inadvertently circumvented the problem because we make a point of making sure that the DMPC has about the same strengths and weaknesses that the rest of the party has. They're not overpowered (unless we really need a tank in the group), they don't have any knowledge that doesn't make sense or is something that the DM would know, and they have moments of vulnerability like the rest of the characters do that give the other PC's time to shine. The extra layer of difficulty of running a campaign and controlling a PC's still there, but it's a fun added challenge to us instead of an extra chore.

[@cbradiom1716]

My party has a sentient gelatinous cube (found, fell in love), an adolescent basilisk (our monk found an egg and raised it), and a homonculous (mine, saved a wizard who could cast the summon, and bought the components). We had to leave the cube for a bit, so my bard sacrificed a pinky to it as a parting gift.

[@JPruinc]

That's EPIC! Cheers all around!

[@Qamikace]

A pinky? Was your cube part of the yakuza?

[@JoseRS1186]

Who fell in love with a cube? Was it the Bard? Did the hard woo a gelatinous cube through song? This just begs more questions.

[@nathanresendez4034]

I actually made a dwarf with a boar mount he named after a fallen comrade. It was great because the dwarf was very coarse and the boar essentially became a tusked dog.. that's the best way I can describe it lmao

[@theDMLair]

Nathan Resendez Yeah that sounds cool. Mounts are perhaps underutilized in DnD, and when they do get used its usually just horses and everyone forgets they have them until they need to calculate travel time. But having a dwarf with a themed boar mount is a great idea!

[@littlemagicfrog1294]

“You’re drinking all the meat, Coral!”

[@Gh0StF1sHy]

So, I've had the Idea for a Dark Souls themed/ inspired DnD campaign... When you started talking about DMPC's; it hit me: the Summon Sign Mechanic from Dark Souls seems to work perfectly here... If the players choose to do so, they can summon a context (lore) specific DMPC, as a "White Phantom" for temporary assistance... Also opening up their world to invasion. What do y'all think?

[@Bluecho4]

Absolutely amazing, can't get enough of it. What's better, since they need to touch a summon sign to call the NPC over, the DM can always know going in whether they need to adjust the enemy numbers to make it "even". Basically, the DM prepares two sets of enemy stas: one that assumes the PCs go in as-is, and one assuming they summon the NPC. And more stat blocks after that, if the PCs have multiple summon options in one location. It also encourages exploration, if some summon signs are in hidden or out of the way spots. Players be checking under bushes for centuries old summon signs. That brings up another point: if time is convoluted, it presents an excellent chance for exposition if the party summons an NPC for ages prior. Better yet, have them summon an NPC multiple times over a campaign, and slowly reveal that the character was on their journey to becoming the big bad they are currently fighting. The character lived long enough to see himself the villain, and the party is made to watch his descent into villainy.

[@GiaZera]

Bluecho4 yes. All of the yes. Nothing but the yes for you. Please train me, sensei, for I am but a tiny grasshopper.

[@Esproth]

Teryel , Bluecho4, this is a perfect way to work a campaign idea I've been working on! Thank you!

[@Wulven-Hollow]

This is an amazing idea :D I'm slowly working on a campaign idea and this gave me a bunch of ideas as Dark Souls and its lore is one of my favorite series.

[@Gh0StF1sHy]

This is fantastic; It's decided, i'm doing it. Thanks for your response(s) ; ) I really like the idea regarding multiple monster stat blocks; or even changing the encounters entirely based on the summon signs. - iirc the monsters do seem to scale a bit in co-op; bosses certainly do. Gonna have to do some more thinking; but it seems like the applications are many; and seem like they could be fun. I like your idea of watching the summon become the big bad they've been chasing down- Thats some good stuff. I'm thinking secret encounters and maybe side bosses based on summon presence, and location; also it could be a easy way to hide 'quests' in the area itself.

[@miles6283]

One of my players has a Psuedodragon familiar named Backpack. Just wanted to say that

[@TheCodemasterc]

Is it purple and speak in Spanish?

[@jsizzlesaurusrex]

I had a cat named corn dog

[@AdraTheGhost]

Honestly that sounds adorable

[@s4phirio]

I once had a player BE a sentient backpack

[@jakegoodrich6520]

I named a kobold npc backpack. He was a kobold inventor and lived in the backpack of a hill giant

[@VechsDavion]

My DMPC's most frequent line of dialogue: "I'm not sure what to do, but I'll support you in combat." I have 2 other co-DMs and the planet we're on has many continents, and different players take over as DM when we move to different continents. There was one session where I was DMing, the party went to a specific building and another DM took over, and then a Religion check was made on a pantheon from another continent, and a 3rd DM resolved that Religion check. It all went smoothly, too. It's just a switch over of who is narrating.

[@atomicash2475]

:V

[@combsmsb]

wow, didnt not expect a vetches on my webDM video

[@5-Volt]

I have a habit of having DMPCs.. In my defense, the parties I DM for are small. Usually 2-3 players. I always make them bards, druids or clerics and they are just there to heal and provide utility for the other players. I also try to make the players tell them what to do. It works well for us and none of my players have ever really had a problem with it.

[@irontemplar6222]

There is a difference between a DMPC and a DM NPC who happens to be a member of the party.

[@DwylerA]

Everytime in zooms in on Pruitt's face, i think thats a bong in the background on the shelves .

[@UnhallowedEssence]

Here's the situation: -Party of 5 at this point (plus 2 characters that don't attend sessions regularly due to work and other reasons) -fighter (one of the players who rarely attends sessions) is gradually falling behind in levels due to absences -created a ranger named Fenthris to fill in the spot on an adventure, basically just a sharpshooter for the party -Fenthris is basically a "DMPC" but I treat him more or less just as an ally for the party to go to whenever they need a sharpshooter or tracker -Although he has a proper personality and regularly interacts with the party, usually just making a smartass comment -Player character (the party bard) develops a massive crush on Fenthris because of a side adventure involving killing worgs -Just treating Fenthris as a side character lead to him becoming a full blown party member, despite the fact that the party doesn't trust him -Decided to move away from Fenthris, leading to a wolf he befriended bringing the bard a note telling him to quit worrying so much TL;DR Fenthris became a party member, much to my dismay, and now he has a J'rai sense

[@curtishammer748]

Sounds to me like you missed a perfect opportunity for a climactic betrayal scene, where the Big Bad reveals that Fenthris was "WORKING FOR ME THE WHOLE TIME!" Fenthris: "Sorry kid, nothing personal. It's just business..."

[@UnhallowedEssence]

I mean, I ended up canceling that campaign, I genuinely grew to hate running that game because the players wanted a game that I simply wasn't running

[@zephyr9750]

I was a DMPC at one point, the only reason I did it was because I only had 2 other people who wanted to play with me. And they both agreed that they didn't want a party size of only 2. I made a specific effort to avoid being the too powerful, and made sure my character didn't hog the spotlight.

[@turkeyherder9456]

It seems fine to me, I would gimp my stats a bit to make sure that my pcs were stronger

[@abrown1301]

This makes me feel a lot better about my players befriending a trio of abused wolves, and about how they can use them in game. Thanks, guys!

[@kadegainey5123]

My DM played a pc and it worked out well. I think it just depends on the group and the trust you have in your DM

[@goefffrey8619]

I made myself a DMPC mainly because I want to play, but also because otherwise the party consists of two people. After watching this video I may nudge my PCs towards getting some lackeys to take some weight off of me.

[@jimdavis141]

gorf some lackeys and henchmen could help fill out the party. Also, consider rotating the DMs seat.

[@Bluecho4]

You could alternatively have each player run two PCs simultaneously. Or have each one control one full PC and one hireling or companion. Even a character that just uses the Help action during fights can be of, well, help. That Advantage can be swell, let me tell you.

[@caseyhudson4929]

Do you not count what the DM does as playing? To me, D&D is a group of friends playing together, not a group of friends playing together and the DM. Wanting to be committed to a singular character is another thing entirely, because even if you have a DMPC, you still have to play as everyone and everything else.

[@lunargamer5261]

casey hudson That's a nice way to think about it. Do you really not see any difference between playing the game as a DM and playing it as a PC, though? Those are very different experiences. You lose a lot of the adventure and discovery aspects of the game as the DM, because you know the threats the party is about to face; you know what logic will sway the Duke's opinion in your favor; you know that the guy who has only fired some magic missiles in this fight is holding on to a fireball for the right moment. Yes, you play the same game as a DM, but you play it in a very different way.

[@caseyhudson4929]

They're certainly different, that was part of my point. Having a DMPC doesn't really solve wanting to be committed to one character, well, for the reasons you pointed out. I didn't want to reiterate what Jim said about rotating the DM, either. It just sounded like he was getting sick of DMing / no one else stepping up, of which I can certainly understand the frustration there.

[@CaronDriel]

My kobold DD sorcerer has a giant weasel he hand-raised that he rides. The sorcerer is LE and mistrusts EVERYONE and would happily do evil things if he thinks he can get away with it, but he adores this weasel. Knowing that he has power because of the dragon blood, he's fed it small amounts of his blood since birth and it now has these bright crimson (Red dragon disciple, obviously) streaks of fur. My DM is allowing it to level with me, getting bonus HP and proficiency bonuses, but no other bonuses. After getting trapped in a geas and nearly killing it (along with the rest of the party) my kobold swallowed his (significant amount of) pride and begged the dragonborn archdruid to grant a boon to it. I didn't expect much, but my DM rolled a d12 to determine how much its max hp increased. That was a good day. Eventually I'm going to try and train it to become proficient in medium armour so I can buy it a breastplate and boost it's AC to respectable levels. I already found a saddle of the cavalier and since I'm a sorcerer he's pretty survivable. In some ways I care more about my mount than I do about my character.

[@professordruid4495]

I understand. My Druid has a silver dragon wyrmling he saved from captivity and my DM allowed my PC to train him (I rolled a 23 animal handling and already spoke Draconic) and she implemented a homebrew dragon rider class so he is training the dragon to be a mount and lifelong companion. (They actually have more of a father son relationship with my druid wild shaping into a hawk and hunting with his adopted dragon son) Lucem is one of two characters my PC would gladly die for.

[@IShallCallHimTaders]

We found a red egg in a previous campaign, which turned into a young dragon whelp. It then found our Cleric's traveling chest, which he carried instead of a backpack, burned the lock off of it and made it into its permanent hoard. On top of nipping at anyone who tried to touch it, it constantly ate every ration he had.

[@logansackey8638]

When I first got into D&D all my friends were also new to the hobby. My group did the new group DM PC thing like they talked about. It was more to allow us to switch DM's from session to session. It was good for learning the game and feeling out what we liked to do, and if you are fine with the greatest depth of a campaign being a string of unconnected adventures, I think its fine (also the DM has to not be a jerk and have there PC take a support role for that session)

[@jimdavis141]

Logan Sackey I recall doing the same thing when I first started playing

[@lordneraxis8051]

I once had a sorcerer in 3rd edition that summoned a fiendish dire rat, at the end of the combat it was still alive and the party decided to keep it. So I decided to have some fun with it as the DM and made a bit of background for it, it was once a humanoid but was "cursed" into this form, and fell in love with the party ranger and kept trying to kill her other suitors, it was amusing to say the least.

[@dizzykincade7831]

Watching thru all ur old content and loving it. Miss Save or Dice. You guys were great there!

[@robinruddock4638]

Well done guys! You've almost hit your Patreon goal of 500. For DMs, your series is a boon. Informed, funny, excellent production. Much appreciated and keep up the great work.

[@kyubii972]

Thank you for the comment about dogs.

[@verdragon5591]

Our party in Tomb of Annihilation has pet velociraptor for our Forest Gnome rogue, a giant badger animal companion for our Forest Gnome ranger, and a macaw for me, the Dragonborn Druid

[@mr.flibble3190]

"Storm King's Thunder" even gives tips on how not to DMPC Harshnag (the frost giant) - Harshnag likes to stay in the background when he can so he doesn't show up the PCs.

[@misterbrocoli]

Thanks guys! This is one of my favorites

[@ArcticAlpaca275]

I live for the 2-3 minutes after the outro

[@jonathon8234]

In one campaign I had a faerie dragon called Twinkles that would mess with the party any time they came through his forest. The party hate-loved it and Twinkles is still my favourite

[@MidKnightFapper]

"We talk about the PC's, and they're all hot shit..." hahaha I have never smashed the like button so fast. Stay awesome Web DM!

[@andrewreynolds674]

I think this has been the most useful episode I've watched as a new dm. I am an actor, both stage and improv, and this gave me some fantastic ideas to create and populate npcs in a variety of roles and functions, and as I have all new players, this also was excellent advice on how to use npcs to tutor and guide the characters through the learning curve. THANK YOU!!!

[@curtisbrown547]

I think having "dmpc's" is fine. just so long as they aren't there simply to stroke your ego. optimally you just run a game where the dm can enjoy being a player character though

[@Indianbutler]

Great topic and great inputs! Thanks for doing this. Helps me out alot!

[@alexreese614]

I introduced an npc to the group and because this was the first time I was DMing a game that I intended to plan, so I created a character sheet sorcerer and just made sure to not make it optimized. Not useless (far from it), just has stats that fit the character (low strength and constitution, high intelligence and charisma). Her name is Charlie and at first she was made to be a challenge, keep this girl that was assigned to you alive, she's got 15ish hp. I played her as someone who wants to be an adventurer and is somewhat naive. She joined the party of mostly neutral mercenaries and basically became an apprentice of the eldritch knight half orc on the team. The whole party loves her and she's become a staple of the party in her own right.

[@wesleyrobinson4532]

I dm’d a group of three once. The players seemed to feel very not well rounded as a group so they asked one of my npcs to join the party. I thought, sure, they can have a companion. He could heal and shield, but wasn’t very offensive. Fine right? Well then one day, they gave the npc a magic item. Then they leveled up and asked what new skills the npc got. So basically I had a dmpc. One of the best things we’ve ever done. He sacrificed himself to protect the rogue from a lightning bolt. They felt the pain as if they lost an actually party member without the butthurt of actually losing one. This made them hate my villain. Was fantastic.

[@YaboiMuggy]

I've never been this close to upload. good episode!

[@JPruinc]

Thanks!

[@evelynace388]

I have an awakened skeleton that has to communicate with the party via sherades

[@paulcoy9060]

Hang a sheet of blackboard around his neck, give him a piece of chalk, and write his part of the story. At the table, get a small whiteboard and a dry erase marker to stand in for your skeleton's version. Look forward to dealing with a problem character, as skeleton writes, "You Suck" on the whiteboard.

[@TaylorHam]

When I DMPC I only do it for two PC parties. They just need more roles filled at that point. I have unconsciously imposed rules on my DMPCs though, they never offer up ideas for puzzles, they don't try to take over or railroad the players (just once but that was because one of the PCs hated their character and wanted to die and roll a new one, so I brought them to the Feywyld to peace out in an epic druid way.) and my characters DO NOT steal the spotlight. I have also had DMPCs that were mute. One of the ones I created the party found in a chaotic maze. He was a young hobbit boy whose psycho mother used dark magic to bind a powerful demon to. He was completely mute, but eventually the demon took over when the players figured out what was wrong with the kid, and spoke through him. So I guess I had two DMPCs that time hahaha.

[@gabenorwood3943]

I just ran my first session every last Monday. It went great. When I saw everyone again a few days later they told me that they couldn't stop talking about it! Thanks for all your help. :)

[@TheNerdySimulation]

It has been some time since I have heard a reference to Synergy Bonuses, damn! Keep up the great work guys, and can I just say you're still rolling 20s in my heart!

[@jabeck03]

Great video dudes!

[@Golden_Raijin]

In one of my first sessions of running Pathfinder, one of my players was a Dhampir who could speak with rats, bats, and wolves. When the party encountered a pair of dire rats who started attacking them, the Dhampir said, “Can I try to calm them down?” and then proceeded to roll a mat 20 on Diplomacy. And being an Oracle (Charisma caster) his bonus wound up netting him a 33. Next turn, the negotiations continued, and I watched in awe as he rolled another bat 20. Those rats were then named Remy and Emile, after the main characters in Ratatouille, and they were the first of many pets collected during that campaign. Strangely, despite never leveling up, they got enough high rolls and crits that they remained relevant up until level 5

[@TheGreyProphet]

Hey thanks for putting out such an awesome show and thanks for all the ideas you provide. A while back you mentioned wanting to run a fern gully type campaign and I stole the idea for a one-shot and it was super fun.

[@bristolindiana1]

love this episode!

[@Bluecho4]

Here's an idea: the party finds a mimic chest in a dungeon. Instead of killing it, they feed it meat (like, if they're dungeon crawling, they've probably left monster corpses behind that aren't doing anything). Maybe the mimic decides to follow them, sees them as a good source of food. The party warms up to the guy, lets it sit by the fire. It starts contributing the fights, since it's now loyal to the PCs (and wants to protect its meal ticket). Gets some experience. Boost it's intelligence enough, it eventually decides to transform into a humanoid. Really, I just want to be able to run a Greater Mimic as a player character. Make it a Rogue, since mimics are all about subterfuge and stealth.

[@toxiccrocattackgaming6145]

I laughed my ass off at that Nine-Fingers bit. Great video guys!

[@xinlo]

Left nerd talks like a DM. He always repeats the last couple words right nerd says, but confident and unsurprised, like he's agreeing/confirming what he said while continuing his own flow. I do this as a DM when I have to assume control of the table while I describe something. I don't think Jim can turn it off though.

[@patrickhenry6695]

xinlo born to DM

[@theDMLair]

That's interesting. I wonder if I do this. I'll need to start paying attention at my next games. Lol

[@friendlytalbot4050]

I do this in general when discussing things, much to the annoyance of those I talk to

[@atomicNoodle]

Holy shit so I noticed Jim doing this like ten episodes ago and it's been kind of bothering me! Didn't think anyone noticed. Pruitt doesn't seem to mind though, so he either accepted it or knows Jim can't help it. Either way, who am I to judge. Great content like always guys.

[@samringwald]

Jim can't turn it off. Not only that, I think he took an improve class.

[@MrSidonis]

In a recent campaign I played in, everyone decided that instead of getting two horses and a cart it was more effective to get an elephant with saddlebags. His name was Michael, and the totem Barbarian would talk to him frequently. Eventually we put Horseshoes of the Zephyr on Michael, so we had an elephant floating 4 inches off the ground. At one point we couldn't get him to board a boat, so we threw a rope around him and he floated alongside us across the ocean.

[@ZenodudeMC]

My campaign had a dm character that was basically a wandering warforged warrior who was enlisted to assist them when they first started and at the end when the hydra was dead, he slowly sat on the ground and powered down for (what they thought) was the last time

[@hammerhiem75]

One of my favourite NPC's is an Ogre Ranger by the name of Blerg. He's a happy soul who likes Dwarves, Beer and fightin', not necessarily in that order. He's in various campaigns attached himself to a Dwarven Cleric of Hanseath (Beer AND Fighting? hell yeah), a Human Barbarian and was for a while the bodyguard of a elven wizard. He's adorable and NEVER gets anyone's name right out of general principle and overlarge jaw.

[@MauroDraco]

Awesome show!

[@Ratt611]

I said it once I'll say it again. You guys have such great production value. Noticed and appreciated.

[@jimdavis141]

Ryan F thanks! We keep working hard to up our game

[@justinharris7181]

Happy Valentine's day Jim and Pruitt!

[@ijimedia]

oh boy, it's my favorite dads!

[@JPruinc]

Hope you enjoyed the show, son.

[@ijimedia]

JPruInc sure did, papa Pruitt! I recently introduced a masochistic goblin chef to my party and they've been eating him up!

[@TheGrue129]

My group has a tendency to collect monsters like Pokemon, a goblin, a carrion claw, wolves, the list goes on. Lol

[@blahlbinoa]

When we got the Frost Giant NPC in Storm King's, he threw my dwarf barbarian fighter at a fire giant

[@flibbernodgets7018]

When our group only had 4 players, our GM had a GMPC that was basically just a healbot. We gained more players, and that character has since lost a leg and now shuffles around our base like a combination Alfred/Dr. Nefario/goofy uncle, and everyone loves him. My point is, if it has to happen it's best to have the GMPC take on a supporting role that allows the party to shine brighter, not one that hogs the spotlight.

[@MrDmitriRavenoff]

We ran a ship in a pirate campaign. We needed crew. We hired a motley assortment of random guys and paid them very well (3 times-ish normal rates). They were always loyal and even helped defend the ship a few times. We have also had a town guardsman help us out in combat and he actually levelled up at the end of combat and was promptly given a name. :)

[@SomeJustice19k]

'You're drinking all the mead Coral!'..... Fucking hilarious!

[@gstaff1234]

I was crying with that Monster Resume!!

[@williamwalton9154]

Best NPC I've encountered came by the will of the dice. It was during a caravan trip that featured a lot of encounters. There were the normal guards along with the PCs but one stood out from the rest. We affectionately began to call gaurd #3 Bob after he got three killing blows with his bow in the first encounter. To make a 7 session caravan trip short it was determined in retcon fashion that he was actually Robert of (I forget) and a 2nd level fighter by the end.

[@smoothitalianleathereater6045]

I love the rule "always buff, never nerf". In your case with the frost giant, give him his own arc that ends In an epic 1v1 with a mighty storm giant. Or have there be a ton of enemies under the bbeg where frost-giant bro (or chick) can say "you go on ahead, ill catch up". Put them up against something where even having a frost giant they are still at a disadvantage.

[@kmerritt09]

shout out to my dude Trinket!!! #CriticalRole

[@jackmyers8687]

Best NPC was my warlocks Imp familiar who called himself "Doom Bringer!" We got him drunk, invented a drinking game with the imp hiding in a random pint and attacking whoever drinks it. Used him to learn Infernal. Skinned a rat and made him a cloak. Gave him a crossbow bolt to use as a spear. Going through hell we had to pretend to be his minions. Eventually died for real when he was killed by another higher fiend. I cried.

[@CrazyConnor2]

HELL YEAH HALF HOUR OF WEBDM!

[@PadraicSmith]

My friend was playing a character in a level 20 oneshot (which ended up being 3 sessions long) which was called Dr. D. [stage whisper] the D stands for dinosaur. And he brought around with him an awakened tyrannosaurus, called Smidley, who was more intelligent than he was, and was the actual Player Character who did all the talking.

[@walteringle2258]

13:30--The game started to transition into the party going on proper quests as opposed to a dungeon crawl with Dragonlance. TSR was already working in that direction, but Dragonlance had a group of 8 main characters per module that all had a place in the story being told in the modules and novels. If you had fewer than 8 players, the DM was urged to either run the others as NPCs or allow people to play more than one character. DL, in its hardcover tome, also introduced spell spheres for clerics (Healing, Protection, Animal, etc.) and Major and Minor access to them, something later included in 2nd Ed.

[@powerhouse04330]

I loved henchmen & 3.5 it was great for world building an ongoing campaigns, your retiring characters built strongholds, households and small armies and kingdoms. Leaving their mark on the campaign world.

[@_Lazy_bones]

I played a fighter that had a younger sister that was in the service of lord from their hometown. He always sent her some gold anytime he made any, and she ended up getting caught up in court politics and he had to go rescue her and then she became a party follower. It became a really good integration of character backstory into a significant NPC

[@rickeymariu1]

Yay WEB DM is back!

[@AuntieHauntieGames]

Having the players roll the dice and handle the NPC character sheet in combat is how I have always run NPC companions, since AD&D Second Edition. Always surprised at how many DMs I have met do NOT run in this way, so it was real nice to hear that this is how you run it. Hecka yeah.

[@ZakRoks487]

Love the shoutout to Vex and Trinket from CR

[@mordiveer5957]

So much inspiration!

[@aleksanderk6765]

live for these endings man!

[@Matt-md5yt]

Been wondering about pets and animal companions in games

[@wreckemdaileas8647]

I’ve added DMPCs to add comedic relief or help players through difficult encounters to prevent party wipes. They often are very willing to sacrifice for the party.

[@maxpointing8138]

I remember our party casting haste and bless on the frost giant and giving the DM that "your fucked now" look.

[@jimdavis141]

Max Pointing Harshnag?

[@maxpointing8138]

Jim Davis of course. Until he was beheaded by the jarl while fighting a mated pair of dragons that we may have released as a distraction.

[@KirbytronicWouldLiketoBattle]

One of my favorite NPCs is an NPC Turducken. She's a human Innkeeper/tavern owner/amateur musician. But She's actually a Yuan-Ti hiding her lower half under a long dress and ignores/avoids questions about her eyes. Who's a retired assassin. Who's actually a Marilith hiding from her people because reasons. Playing with alignment a bit, she's a good catch all for the position the party wants to put her in. Antagonist, ally, barely present npc they get rooms from occasionally....

[@mauriciomonsalvespino2214]

Awesome work, guys, as always. Could you do one about constructing the story and "show, don't tell" for GM's?

[@jimdavis141]

Mauricio Monsalves Pino great ideas!

[@paulcoy9060]

One of my players is an Elf Cleric and rolled on a homebrew First Level Benefits Table, and got a Faithful Family Retainer, which I imagined as a sarcastic Halfling butler/shield bearer (kinda like Alfred for Batman), which leads to much fun, but also RP potentials because he's gotten protective of the little guy.

[@knightdrako]

I like looking at the different models you guys have on the table. Looks like you added a Tzeetch one opposite to the watch tower of Gandalf(?).

[@evilallensmithee]

Horror of horrors, we were all new, we tried to alternate who was DM, because no one wanted to, but everyone else seemed “to want to DM less than I”, and soon enough no one would play if they had to DM but I still had this character in the group. To this day, my brother can’t stand to hear the name “Illedan Aasdahlen” or anything like it and I can’t play a high elf. Played one Drow since then, but he was no hero, really the opposite from the paladin of freedom (3.5 unearthed arcana) Illedan had been. The drow was a cleric/ranger/fighter into black guard (nope, not a fallen paladin), hellbent on conquering the Nine Hells for himself, until the DM had him captured by a Great wyrm Gold Dragon who gave the character the choice of be good or be lunch😑. Didn’t play a character again until this earlier this month. So yeah DMs who push too much with their characters hurt the game for everyone even themselves.

[@GiaZera]

Yeaaaaah. If the DM wants to force your character to be a specific alignment or into alignment with the other players, unless you're clearly doing a terrible job of making your character work, then it's time to go. One had best let goods be goods and evils be evils, as long as players play respectfully.

[@ReverendRover]

They touch on a point very briefly about handing over an NPC to a player that has gone down in combat to keep them involved, and I have to see this is a cracking way to endear NPCs to your group. In my game, the party had an unfortunate battle against a Medusa. One dead and two Petrified and a loooong journey back to anyone that could turn them back again. Rather than have them sit out for a session of journeying, I created NPCs that had come to arrest the players for a previous misadventure and ensure they returned safely for trial, even if they were turned to stone. Now, months on, they see those NPCs and remember everything about them, treat them as if they were old friends even though they only rarely bump into them and trust them far and above other NPCs they have had more interaction with. Really works!

[@NikkyElso]

Oh my God, I played a Ranger named Carl with an affinity for all things fermented. How'd you know?!

[@Bodeeem]

Wow that was helpful. Thank you

[@zephyr5321]

This post reminds me of the time my dm allowed me to attempt an awaken ritual on a Purple Wyrm we incapacitated. One nat 20 later we found that tunnelling plus Pass without a Trace ends up with horrifying encounters.

[@ryanstoyan8980]

When I was running storm kings thunder Harshnag legit did fastball special the barbarian at a remorhaze. It was fantastic. When the remorhaze then bit the barbarian and tried to engulf him, he failed his save to stay outside of it's stomach on purpose so he could Drax his way out of it because "it's skin is to thick on the outside I will kill it from within" Easily one of my favorite combats I've ever run.

[@RoverStorm]

The rule of our group is that if your character has a twin (see Xanathar's Guide to Everything), you MUST make a sheet for them and they DO accompany you. We don't usually have them participate in combat simultaneously, but it gives the party a back-up character immediately and also gives the party another character should some people fail to show up that day.

[@SirFishii]

The first thing my players took as a pet was a wind elemental.... while fighting it the bard took a jar, and simply moved it into the elemental and closed the jar, when they defeated it I just let him have a bit in the jar, which formed into a tiny elemental.... he bonded with it over the next month, named it Breezy and taught it to play a Ocarina. Oh and a completely separate game, I had a bowl of Cavelight Moss. Which eats people. She didn't care and took the moss with her as a pet and fed it pieces of monsters she killed. While the game didn't last long she sure loved her moss, and the tingling on her fingers when she held it definitely wasn't it digesting her.

[@fhuber7507]

I've been in a campaign that did tag team DMing. we all always had a PC. But took turns being DM. Each session was run similar to a one-shot and the DM for the night's PC was mostly controlled by whoever had been DM last time. It works because the DM isn't making the important decisions for the party.

[@irontemplar6222]

I orginally made a DM NPC for my game, but after a time he kind of just became an NPC. He had his own goals and reasons for doing things. I almost never had to ask myself what I wanted to do. It was about what the NPC wanted to do, and I just gradually paid less and less attention to him as I focused on the parties shenanigans. I actually had him leave for a period of 5 months. The group was in the Feywild for 5 days and when they came back they found him desperately trying to defend there land aginst ork invaders, and he had taken up necromancy and magic to help defend aginst the seemingly endless hoard

[@TheKrucifix12]

During one of my campaigns, one of my players a ranger, found an injured owl bear, named her dawn and nursed her back to health, she ended up getting two because dawn had lost her baby, which she immediately hunted down and brought them both back to their head quarters

[@monty2732]

I love your show, im not sure where to submit questions, so ill do it here. ive heard you reference some old tricks like mixing copper in materials to give it magic resistance, or basilisk blood to prevent teleportation. could you do a full episode of these nifty tricks? maybe give a source book where I can find some of these ideas?

[@An34syT4rg3t]

My PC's met an old character of mine and ended up liking her so much they took her with them on their adventure without my prompting. Wrote up a character sheet that night.

[@theredrighthandproductions]

Hah. Oh that's such a mood.