Post/Author/DateTime	Post
curan69 08-11-06, 07:29 PM	Legend APC = Ally/Player Character. ( just to avoid the semantics of DMPC ) Definition - This "Character" is an Ally when played by the DM and when the DM takes a break and is a player this "Character" becomes a Player Character. For those DM's who use APC's which classes do you prefer to play? Our DM is currently playing a Bard and it has been working out extremely well. we never seem outshined by the APC, and he seems to be able to contribute a lot to the group. I think because a Bard is a jack of all trades and master of none it is an excellent choice for an APC. What other classes have worked well? Which ones have not worked?
WCH 08-11-06, 07:33 PM	Any Chaotic is good for the entering and leaving the party as needed thing... Bards and Rogues especially. Wizards do well at that, too... "I must go off to study." Aside from that, whatever the party doesn't have on its own. None of the players want to play the healbot? DM can. They all think casting is teh bomb? Fighter it is. As the DM, we have the ability to play whatever character we want whenever we want to, in the form of NPCs... so there's no point in us being all "I've always wanted to play a ___," and we should instead simply play whatever is missing.
curan69 08-11-06, 07:36 PM	yeah that makes a lot of sense. If there is already a tank you wouldnt want the APC to be a tank as well.
darcdante 08-11-06, 07:40 PM	Mine's a cleric of Torm named Draythen. I've actually been trying to remove him somewhat from the group so he's not stealing thunder, but the group kinda likes having him around since he's the only cleric they really know.
Atirakis 08-11-06, 07:45 PM	What other classes have worked well? Which ones have not worked? You play whatever you need to play to complete the party or further the story. Remember DMs you get every NPC in the entire world... Dont make 1 NPC special by calling it "your" character. Its just another NPC there to do what you need it to do. No more no less.
curan69 08-11-06, 09:02 PM	You play whatever you need to play to complete the party or further the story. Remember DMs you get every NPC in the entire world... Dont make 1 NPC special by calling it "your" character. Its just another NPC there to do what you need it to do. No more no less. Or you could stay on topic for the thread and post what classes worked or didnt for "your" APC's......
Vaalingrade Ashland 08-11-06, 09:04 PM	A well played bard can actually be a liability. Thier ability is control, deciding when or if a fight starts, and who has the advantage. They would normally act first, so you should have a good reason why the bard isn't just breaking the will of thier enemy and forcing them to do his bidding in the round before initiative against any foe that can understand his Bardic Suggestions. Knowledge Bard, or Combat Bard type characters can actually just ignore this ability, provided they don't display the fact they have it outside of combat. ------------------- Personally, I prefer rogues. A rogue doesn't have any natural, overt 'stunting' abilities that can end a combat before it begins, but does have plenty of delicious skill points with which to flesh them out. UMD also lets them fill the role of any caster class for a few encounters as needed. -------------------- Fighters, Rangers and Barbarians are also clear favorites for this technique, as they are customizable and kick in useful damage and defense. -------------------- Sorcerers are an over looked class, but work well for the concept. Thier pathetic spell selection keeps them from being the multi-tool Wizards, Clerics and Druids become.
Norsesmithy 08-11-06, 10:02 PM	Paladins can work, Not as good at fighting as the fighter, decent saves, can contribute healing but not so much as to overshadow the cleric, helps to influence the rest of the group to stay heroic.
Atirakis 08-12-06, 12:09 AM	Or you could stay on topic for the thread and post what classes worked or didnt for "your" APC's...... I was staying on topic. As I stated I write up what the party needs and it always works just fine. Its when you start writting up what you want to play rather then caring about the over all good of the party and the story that it turns into a disaster.
KJW 08-12-06, 07:41 AM	My party hires the NPCs and usually pick characters to shore up their weaknesses, but sometimes they strengthen their strengths. They usually have a large party with 5-6 PCs and 2-3 NPCs. They do not hire bards for some reason. Last campaign we had a Cleric/Combat Medic (HoB), Paladin/Cleric/War Priest (CD), and a Favored Soul (CD), in other words they wanted an insane amount of healing magic, which made sense as most of the party was mostly fighters, rangers, and paladins. Sadly, all three died as the campaign wound down, which was tragic as they were all very popular with the players. Some of my favorite Ally NPCs over the years have been... Gnome Evoker who hated illusion magic and was an advocate of little person supremacy (I mean seriously gnomes and halflings are superior to the tall people), she was a hoot, but the party fired her after a few adventures with her. It is rare, but every now and then I can slip a real gem through the interview process. :) An old Human Diviner/Loremaster who was my conduit for information and flavor text, I would have him ramble on pointless historical lectures till the party told him to be quiet and get to the point. He had no offensive spells and was a true scholar, and while he started the campaign at a higher level than the PCs he was utterly worthless in combat. Still he was beloved by the players, one even dragged him along on a long-running solo campaign. A halfling paladin, actually I have used several halfling paladins in various campaigns. They are awesome fun, while they don't outshine the PCs they are a blast to roleplay. They all assume that Mithras (my god of paladins in my campaign) is just an avatar of Arvoreen, and the funny thing is that the Church of Mithras neither confirms or denies this position. They are pillars of lawful good and tremendously reliable. Warrior NPCs are also great for support members of the party, a young man who follows the party around, a footman hired to guard the horses, and so forth. These are always fun to run, they have no special abilities to worry about, but are competent enough to become somewhat useful for the party. Still the end decision is the players, I will give them lots of diverse choices and then they will make the decision who to hire. It works very well and every now and them I get to draw up some really freaky race-class combination.