![]() ![]() The rules presented on p.142 of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything are really simple. If the party wants the sidekick to go off and do something on their own, let that happen the exact same way as if a PC was doing it. If you want to do that, you want an NPC, not a sidekick. Make sure they don't steal or act against them. If you are going to run it (assuming that you, dear reader, are the DM of course) then keep in mind what I said earlier. Again, have a discussion about how everyone wants to see this work at your table to make sure it's still fun for everyone. With double the actions and roleplay opportunity, this is a real concern. If the sidekick will belong to a certain player, make sure that player doesn't hog the spotlight from the rest of the group or overshadow everyone else, both in and out of combat. Additionally, you can use a small token (glass bead, special mug, feather, whatever you want) to indicate who has the responsibility of running it at any given time. You might want to consider passing the responsibility of running the sidekick around after a certain amount of time or session by session. Who is going to get the loot that the sidekick finds? Who is going to roleplay for them? Who gets to decide what they're going to do if there's a disagreement? Having these conversations up front is going to save you tons of time at the table when the situation comes up. If the players are going to run it collectively, make sure you have a conversation about how that will work. You can always hand it over to them to play once they gain more confidence. If they are already having a hard time keeping track of their own character, that might be a signal that you should run the sidekick. The decision will be largely dependent on what your players want to do and their level of experience with the game. You have three options here: you, the DM, can run it, you can have a player run it, or you can have the party run it collectively. These rules present a simplified set of options that will allow the party to augment their collective skillset, but without adding the additional complexity of running a full character. They first created playtest material in Unearthed Arcana and most recently made the ruleset official in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Wizards of the Coast has been courting the rules for implementing this idea for several years now. All of this can amount to a lot of extra work on both the players and the DM and lots of newer DMs and players wanted simplified methods to deal with this common problem. The concept of a sidekick is not a new one, and DMs have been solving these particular problems on their own, either by creating an NPC, letting players run multiple characters or even a, somewhat controversial, DM PC (a regular PC that the DM plays). (An NPC that the party thinks is good but turns out the be bad however. ![]() Having a sidekick turn out to be the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) would be a pretty shady move. That doesn't mean that if they are treated badly by the PCs they have to blindly follow along with no matter what, but generally speaking, they are always good guys. They probably have other motivations and their own life things to deal with, but as far as the story and mechanics go, they are there for the PC's benefit. The difference being that the sidekick exists solely to help the PCs out. There is an important difference between an NPC and a Sidekick. There are multiple ways to handle this, so let's dive into it shall we? What's a Sidekick? (If you need some help there, check out last weeks article How to Balance a D&D Encounter). You could also be having a hard time finding enough players to play regularly and you are having a hard time balancing your encounters to fit. Maybe there is a subplot that needs some exposition and you don't want to just read a wall of text to your players. Perhaps the party composition is lacking in a specific skill that they will need to rely on in an upcoming adventure. There are many reasons why you might want to add in some sidekicks to your party. So, why not add one to your D&D game? This week's article will be focusing on just that, how to use a sidekick in D&D! These great partnerships always add a dynamic to the story that wouldn't have existed otherwise and they often create some of the most memorable moments. Iconic partnerships are common throughout many of the greatest stories we know Batman and Robin, Xena and Gabrielle, Jay and Silent Bob, and Han Solo and Chewbacca. How To Use Sidekicks in D&D - An Introduction to the New Rules Who Wouldn't Want a sidekick? Sidekicks - Why You Want One and How to Run Them ![]()
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