How do I make an NPC traveling companion that the party will actually care about and value?

How do I make an NPC traveling companion that the party will actually care about and value?

You can guess what's going to happen to them.

GURRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIFFFFFFFFFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSU

Well it's the spoils of war innit?

Make them useful, but unobtrusive.

Make them supportive, but not fawning.

Make them brave, but not leaders.

Play with their personality such that they're amusing to the party, and cut down their activity to a minimum where they remain effective in their role and as a person. Ideally, you want the players seeking to engage this person on their own.

Here's the trick- Don't make an NPC and assume the players will care about them.

Make a lot of NPC's, with a basic name, concept and quirk, and just scatter them around. And just wait. Because sooner or later, there will be one your group get attached to, and you can flesh them out and make them a full character who people are already invested in.

Designing a character for people to care about is incredibly unreliable. If you know your group you can pander to them, but even then there's a decent chance they'll completely ignore your crafted bait for the random cynical barmaid whose snide comments were just a spur of the moment decision on your part.

The above example happened early on in my gaming career, and it's influenced how I do NPC's ever since.

For NPCs in general, give them strong opinions about stuff in the setting and in the current plot that they could feasibly know about. Also make them useful to the party in some way.

A trustworthy fence would be a good example. He isn't the biggest fan of the current mayor of the town as he's had a few too many run ins with the law. However, he likes the party and will give them good deals when buying goods, out of a belief of "honor among thieves"

As for a travelling companion? That's a lot harder. Essentially make them silent until spoken to, and have them good at something no one else in the party is any good at.

Introduce several over time, as you would any other NPC (because ultimately they *are* another NPC). Continue to develop the one(s) they like.

>You can guess what's going to happen to them.
your PC"s will never care, because they know you're a faggot

If you have to ask dumb shit like this, you can't pull it off.

Oh, missed that last part.

Don't. Letting players get invested in characters entirely for the purpose of cheap drama through killing them off is garbage tier GMing.

>You can guess what's going to happen to them.
They're going to survive and have a long and happy life after the campaign and possibly marry one of the PCs.
I'm not guessing, I'm fucking telling you you little faggot of an OP.

As a GM, you aren't a story TELLER. You're a story SUPPORTER. Sure, have people that they like be threatened, but the players should also be able to defend the lives of that NPC in some way.

And if you are going to turn GMing into storytelling, you better be real fucking fucking good at it. So good at it that you probably shouldn't have to ask random autists how to effectively create a likable character.

This, 1000 times this.

Absolutely no other advice in this thread will reach this post's value.

Listen to this man OP. Don't ever assume your players will care about any specific NPC. And definitely don't think you can make them care. That's the easiest way to get them resenting not only the NPC but you as well.

You have zero control over how your players perceive your characters. The more GMs who can accept this, the better.

>You can guess what's going to happen to them.
Not today.

is pretty much right. The only thing I would add is give them a good sense of humor and make them outgoing when the PCs engage him or her.

Killing them is pretty cheap. Put them in danger, and give the PCs a chance to mount a rescue instead. Make sure the danger is real and thanks to the NPC's own flaws. If the NPC is punished for associating with the PCs they will stop caring about other characters.

Main rule is don't make them a combat unit. Players will see them as a dmpc,competition or secret traitor. Make them a fucking cook or something.

casca doesn't die you fucktards

Not necessarily true. You can have scenarios where the NPC tagalong is an absolute beast in a fight and the players will love him for it, but have zero patience for the healslut waifu.

I always stress against GMs pushing NPCs onto the players because they think the party needs a role filled. The common advice I see on this board regarding traveler companions is making them a healer or something. It's worth pointing out if the party was concerned about having a healer then a player would be filling that role in the first place. They aren't going to appreciate you pushing an NPC onto them just because you decided their party is sub-optimal.

If the players feel they need a service, they'll seek that service out. Don't assume they want it just because they don't have it at the moment.

Those kind of companions are hard to MAKE. Just make a variety of NPCs you think the party will like and wait patiently for the them to REALLY bond with a character.

Making the character useful helps a lot; a good example would be the NPC veterans in my Only War game. They not only show the rest of us a thing or two on a regular basis, they also routinely save the party's ass. Whenever ANY of them are in danger of dying, the entire squad goes into fucking overdrive to save them.

When the party's become accustomed to the character's presence and been lulled into a false sense of security (this can take a long, long time to properly pull off), axe the character. Unless your party's a bunch of heartless murderhobos, it'll happen eventually. Patience is key.

I think it depends mostly on how the players latch onto the character, like how and when they are introduced.
The most beloved NPC we ever had in one of our games was a talking rat who was also a wizard. He was supposed to only be a one off NPC, but the way he was presented and personality led us to adopting him into the party. he stayed with us for most of the game.

Like, Speedwagon is the perfect embodiment of a NPC companion, he stays on the sidelines, helps when absolutely necessary in whatever little he can do, and is a mouthpiece to explain certain facets to the players.

OP did nothing wrong

Even he's afraid.

In the old days this was the expected method. And when your character became renowned enough he could select NPCs that he liked to be his henchmen.

Did you actively try to dodge the point?

Theres a prefect story for this but I can't find it. Does anyone have a screengrab of the story where the party has an elf NPC who does pretty much everything for them and they don't even realize it until she dies to a random stray AoE?

Finally found it, no thanks to any of you

>You can guess what's going to happen to them.

please shove a cactus up your urethra.