As part of an ongoing effort to find new ways to make D&D PCs feel heroic and awesome, I recently developed the idea of ally cards. The idea began when, during a recent climactic encounter, I gave the PCs the ability to pick up a bunch of NPCs to help during the fight. Each of the six PCs had an ally that he or she could control during his or her turn. To keep things simple, the NPCs weren’t statted out. Instead, each had only a move action and a standard action, and it had one simple ability it could use that did not require an attack roll.
Dak, githzerai waveshaper
HP: [] [] []
Defenses: AC 31; Fort 29; Will 28; Ref 27
Special Ability: Dak slides one creature within 5 squares of him up to 5 squares. [] []/Encounter
Vale, Human Necromancer
HP: [] [] []
Defenses: AC 29; Fort 27; Will 28; Ref 29
Special Ability: Vale weakens one creature adjacent to him until the end of his next turn. []/Encounter
Mirana, Former Exarch of the Raven Queen
Defenses: AC 30; Fort 28; Will 29; Ref 27
Special Ability: Mirana restores 20 hit points to a creature adjacent to her. [] [] []/Day
Gendar, Drow Merchant
HP: [] []
Defenses: AC 29; Fort 27; Will 28; Ref 29
Special Ability: One creature adjacent to Gendar takes ongoing 10 poison damage (save ends). [] []/Encounter
Quelenna, Daughter of the Summer Queen
HP: [] []
Defenses: AC 30; Fort 29; Will 29; Ref 28
Special Ability: Quelenna teleports one ally within 10 squares of her 5 squares. [] []/Encounter
Marek, Deva Invoker
HP: [] [] []
Defenses: AC 30; Fort 28; Will 29; Ref 27
Special Ability: One enemy within 10 squares of Marek takes 10 damage. [] []/Encounter
Osrik
Defenses: AC 31; Fort 29; Will 27; Ref 28
Special Ability: One enemy adjacent to Osrik takes 10 damage and a –2 penalty until the end of Osrik’s next turn.
Each of these allies ended up playing an important part in combat, allowing for an extra dimension of strategy. In effect, it gave each character an additional power that they could use on their turn. It also added an extra degree of drama, since the PCs were fighting to protect their new allies as well as themselves. Like minions, the allies’ “hit points” were based on being hit rather than the amount of damage is done to them. Whenever the ally took damage, whether from an aura, ongoing damage, or a normal hit, he or she would lose a hit point box. When an ally had no points left, it fell unconscious and was dying. If a character could perform first aid before the end of the next round, they could stabilize the ally and keep him or her from dying.
Each of the allies had significance in the story, so that also incentivized the characters to keep them alive. Ultimately, it paid off for them, because the allies joined them on their airship. Giving the PCs a posse makes them feel badass, especially when the characters joining them are impressive. I took the idea of ally cards a step further, though. After the allies were no longer serving a combat function, I gave them noncombat functions—the ability to craft magic items and potions, perform certain rituals at no cost, and provide bonuses to specific knowledge checks. The PCs are now at maximum capacity in their planar dromond, so if they want to pick up more allies, they’re going to have to find a new ship. I haven’t fully fleshed out the idea, but I think this acquisition of allies is all amount toward some climactic epic encounter. Since some of my players read this blog, though, I can’t give away any more than that. 🙂
Next time I blog, I’ll reveal the cards for the non-combat allies and talk about “faction” cards.
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