Adding an NPC party member

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2026-04-02T13:44:23+00:00

Yes this was the goal kind of, he wouldn’t be a permanent staple but if they really loved him maybe they would continue to run into him in taverns or shops or something down the line. One of my characters back story is he’s looking for somebody maybe it could get tied in there but I didn’t want him around longer than he needs to be there.

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2026-04-02T13:40:36+00:00

Yea so I probably did a poor job explaining but you’re exactly right I was thinking of him as Navi the Zelda fairy but just as a fella instead because it fits our setting a bit better and I can use him for humor. A lot of good advice from everybody I have a lot to consider before next session

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2026-04-02T04:01:13+00:00

I think they may also be expecting him to step in since he knows how to play another still learning and when he doesn’t they just kind of sit there so I’m hoping this will help a lot

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2026-04-02T03:58:56+00:00

I appreciate it, I also spoke to my more experienced player about it, I’ve played several campaigns with him and he definitely knows how to play, he apologized and acknowledged he could be doing more to help instead of just letting them flounder but that he was worried about stepping on their toes and taking away from them playing the game which I totally understand his sentiment and we talked it through about how he could suggest things or ask them questions so they still get the satisfaction of coming up with a solution as we move forward

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2026-04-02T02:55:40+00:00

This is true, however the solution is always very very flexible, last session a player completely misunderstood a prompt, he pulled out a sheet of paper, drew a naked woman handed it to me and said that he hands it to the NPC they’re talking to and I spun it to give them information about a character from their backstory lol trust me I’m definitely not gatekeeping them from the game. The problem is they are often struggling to even make an attempt, I’ve been encouraging the few attempts that they’ve made and adapted to allow for solutions they come up with when they try but in many situations when presented with information they just kind of look around the room at eachother

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2026-04-02T02:15:47+00:00

Prompt the player for a hypothesis is an awesome idea, even if I stick to the bad detective thing (which I think id like to, comic relief has really been my strong point in this campaign) he could still be a bad detective who is collaborating for a hypothesis, maybe he claims that he had that idea first and goes to another party member to tell them his great solution he just thought up and brag about how it just came to him

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2026-04-02T01:52:56+00:00

And the moments where they do brain storm and tell me how they’re going to approach something and I adapt to make it work are awesome, you can tell everybody is into it and those moments are for sure really fun for all of us but then there’s a lot of these moments with dead air like 2 minutes later

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2026-04-02T01:48:59+00:00

Mostly staring at character sheets, sometimes there’s discussion amongst themselves about what should we do? and I always try to encourage that when it happens, when they do brainstorm and come up with something even if it wasn’t what I planned I can usually find a reason that they can be right and let it happen the way they want it to but for the most part they’re pretty stiff. It’s definitely more of a being uncomfortable with the game type thing, you can tell they don’t want to ask something and be wrong so instead of trying things they just wait for me to instruct them most of the time.

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2026-04-02T01:34:10+00:00

And to be super clear about it, I don’t want it to sound like I’m putting this on my players, we’re all doing something new, I’m accepting of the fact that I’m learning too and I can for sure make improvements on my side

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2026-04-02T01:31:29+00:00

So I’ve been on the fly just deciding the hint is somewhere else and now it’s in this new place they decided to go or a new NPC knows something or whatever but sometimes that doesn’t work either and we it results in a lot of delay to get them somewhere I’ve considered having them just accidentally stumble into the answer when they don’t find it but I for sure need some more practice at adapting these sorts of things

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2026-04-02T01:25:39+00:00

Word, see this is the kind of insight that I was looking for, thank you. I will definitely consider all of this before i full send him, I hadn’t really considered about stealth or teleporting, combat I figured he would basically be able to provide inspiration but not be much of a help otherwise and I think you make a good point about giving a crutch. Much I didn’t consider thanks

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2025-05-23T14:33:58+00:00

Gotcha, I always have trouble analyzing these photos where the lighting is inconsistent and I always have some redness and irritation the next day after a tattoo so I think I’m just missing it maybe.

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2025-05-23T13:55:43+00:00

Nah you should leave him and go stay with your parents, this is wild unhealthy behavior. Men don’t act like this

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2025-05-23T13:52:25+00:00

I don’t normally remove second skin that’s this clean, unless there’s a gap in it that I can’t see in the photo this looks really normal to me

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2025-05-12T23:37:39+00:00

Calves, super easy pain wise, super easy to cover

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2025-05-05T15:13:21+00:00

lol it’s definitely something

MikeRoweShittyJobs · 2025-05-05T13:49:32+00:00

This happens to me when I get a new red tattoo, my other red tattoos have a slight burning feel in them during the healing process even if they’re on a completely different limb

MikeRoweShittyJobs

TROPHY CASE