Sidekicks in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything | Nerd Immersion
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ธ.ค. 2020
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We first saw the Sidekick system for D&D 5e as part of an Unearthed Arcana. We then saw a limited version published in the Essentials Kit. Well Tasha's Cauldron of Everything gives us full blown level 1-20 rules for Sidekicks in D&D 5e. There are a variety of different things that you can do with Sidekicks and I'm excited to truly test them out in my campaign. They're a great way to round out a party that has too few members, to allow someone to try out the game with out overly complicated character choices or as a way to step up a pre-existing NPC to be part of the party!
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Might be fun to make a sidekick only game, where 4 to 6 people play sidekicks.
Maybe even a full non humanoid party, warg warrior, gazer spellcaster, oblex spawn expert, boggle expert, giant frog warrior etc.
I remember Web DM talked about being an bunch of awakened animals and plants that did gorilla war against civilization before their Druid allies came back with reinforcements.
Pretty awesome for this.
Lol, just thought of a cluster of mushrooms casting color spray and hypnotic pattern, and an owl setting up an attack for a killer rabbit.
@Grant Jacobson you are right, but in both cases there are arguments to be made.
The gazer has mimicry, if you dont allow it, then kenkus cant be spellcasters either since they can only speak with mimicry.
And oblexs learn languages as they get older, its not that big of an stretch to give them a language.
I wouldnt be flexible with the cr limitation since its important for balance, but Im not going to be super strict with language since the idea is a non humanoid full party.
Or also allow the crappiest subclass DM's would be able to be more generous with special items if the table isn't minmax soup salad breadsticks appetizer and desert
Oh god oblex spawn characters
@@landonstout3649 It's really cool, right? The only other ooze monster available for sidekick character is the grey ooze (with it's corrode metal ability) and the possibility of being a psychic grey ooze variant (the MM doesn't say anything about raising CR if the monster is a variant).
If you DM is cool with using weirder source books - in tales from the yawning portal (adventure module) there is a sentient grey ooze - meaning you can "steal" a status block of a grey ooze that can speak common.
Honestly sounds like the best way for the DM to add more spice to low CR monsters to use them at higher level play, or to create recurring villains and for flushing out important NPCs that are rivals or more powerful than your average villager.
I didn't even think of that?
Yes! I’ve thought the same thing the first UA of this, I have the example of a dryad you met and maybe helped a awhile back, and you come back and now she is a dryad queen, or a squire becoming a knight.
It is really helpful for assisting CR without over doing it, if you see the party stomp on a section of the dungeon last week, bump the other similar mobs a few classes.
Oh this is a great idea, I know you can add classes to monster stats, but the Sidekicks is simpler and most likely more balanced to be used in such a way.
@@NerdImmersion It's stated under the rules for Sidekicks that a DM can use the rules to customize a monster. Heck, if the wolf shown in the Warrior section is any indication, it's a great way for a non-Beastmaster Ranger (or some other Nature-themed character) to get a decent animal companion (Actually, if one wants to get the Primal Companion, and still keep old Fang, even the Beastmaster Ranger might like it too). Or, what if they were a Merchant, who has a Mule - now that mule becomes an ally - potentially acting as a tank to protect its master.
As it is, got an idea for a Yuan-Ti being a Magic Tattoo Artist, and they have a modified Constrictor Snake and Giant Poisonous Snake who act as guards for the shop, and the snakes (and the Yuan-Ti) have the Barrier Tattoo that acts like Plate Armor. General idea is that this tattoo artist is being harassed by someone - apparently there's some magic-scroll writing wizards who don't like the idea of tattoos containing spells that anyone can use, unlike a scroll that has prerequisites (one has to be a spellcaster, has to be on that spellcaster's spell-casting list, and has to make an appropriate check in order to use the spell if above their level).
everybody gangster until the Osha the sword fighting otter walks in.
Oh man, the sidekick has potential for like a first introduction to dnd for maybe people unsure of dnd and for younger kids like pre 12 - it also seems good for like an adventure where all the pcs are in training like acolytes or would-be monks/wizards etc. Thanks so much for the run down!
Step 1: befriend a Shadow
Step 2: Convince your DM to make it your side kick
Step 3: make it an Expert Sidekick
Congratulations, you're Peter Pan
Also, Pixie would make quite the spellcaster.
Or possibly Dr. Facilier, depending on your alignment. ;)
Does the shadow speak a language? Possible sticking point there.
@@williamwalton9154 If they get ability score improvements, and your dm's cool with it, you could get the Linguist feat for 3 languages xD
I do not think* sidekicks can have feats?
Warhorse: Play Maximus from Tangled.
This has lots of potential. I think of Roy Rodgers and his horse Trigger. The horse was basically a character.
Too OP 🤣
"Why does that horse have a longsword"
"Hes a kickass horse that's why"
I’d be ok with a smaller game with a cavalier with horse side kick, and Druid and ranger have beast companions.
It would make sense and beef up a small party enough.
Just before Tasha's came out, my group played a session where we were fighting a beholder. My cleric pulled a baboon out of a bag of tricks, hoping to use it as bait to take one or two eye rays for us. Well this cheeky baboon survived three different eye rays and ended up surviving the combat altogether. I'm super happy that I can make him into an official sidekick now that there are rules for it!
This is exactly the thing I’m glad they put these rules out for. Those crazy moments that make a legend out of a random creature, and giving them a status to allow them not to die after slipping on a banana after the fact.
This sort of thing was what made a henchmen become a sidekick then became a character, then became a legend.
Truly: d&d
Sidekick?
We prefer the term "Hero Support."
SIIIIIIIIDDDDDEEEEEE KICKKKKKKKKKK!
Thanks for being out there helping folks on Christmas man.
Choose a bear
Be an expert
Charisma saving throws
Stealth, History, Animal Handling, Deception and Performance
Expertise in Deception and Performance
You are now Sir Bearington.
Life is good.
@Jett Lucas HayesIt is interesting because there are some creatures that get languages. You can make a Giant Owl Mage since it can speak Giant Owl, thus it can pick the Spellcaster role, or a Blink Dog Expert since it can speak Blink Dog.
@@apweaver3498 YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am running a game for my wife and step daughter. Originally they had made two full PCs to fill out the group but we quickly found that they drastically favored one of their PCs over the other. When Tasha’s came out we decided to retire their extra characters in favor of the simpler sidekicks. When we play I role play the sidekicks and they each take control of the sidekick during combat. It works very well for us. I will offer this advice to those using monster state blocks that under the CR 1/2. When building the sidekick calculate the hit points as if the creature was a CR 1/2. My wife has a Mastiff warrior. This is a CR 1/8. If we had used the hit points in the state block this would have made him unsurvivable. I wonder how other groups handle a lower CR creature?
"No love for the sorcerer apparently..."
Feels like that since I started playing 5e :(
if WotC hadn't listened to the crowds & kept the Warlock an INT caster (as she was in D&DNext), the Warlock would be another mage & the Sorcerer would be listed with the Bard.
Or the Monk :(
@@jcdenton2187 Ranger used to as well but they fixed the Ranger quite a bit in Tasha’s (except the Beastmaster but we have this now and u can even make your beast your sidekick to double up on what your beast can do). But Monk they gave no love to in Tasha’s. Monk is by far the weakest class.
Given the sorcerer has a grand total of 1 unique spell, I'm personally not too cut up about it
I could see folks who aren't as into playing, such as a friend who is there at the game night through a player's invitation.
So you are sharing my fate of working on christmas. You ain't alone Ted! Merry Christmas!
Sidekicks could be great for when you need a quick stat block for a random city guard who your party convinced to help in the fight. You joked about having a companion being better than a beast master, but what about allowing an actual beast master to use one. Probably have to tweak some of the abilities, but would feel like more of what every beast master wanted when they chose the class.
It honestly feels more real to have the sidekick wolf than the new one, I can understand not wanting your puppy to die, but it feel cheep to basically summon a spirit drone and just fling it Willy nilly as the variant BM can now.
My sidekick btw was a pixy - sorcerer ( now a prodigy) she flies around invisible causing mischief rather than being a dmg dealer. She's basically tinkerbell/navi to my half elf green clad bard/rogue.
I know I’m responding to an old video, so unlikely anyone will see this comment. Anyway, I’m a new player (5 months) and I just discovered the sidekick mechanics about three weeks ago. For a new campaign starting in two weeks, I am making a gloomstalker ranger. With my DMs approval, I added a sidekick to be the disembodied spirit of my dead father who occasionally acts on my behalf if I am in danger. I took the stat block of the Shadow monster and dropped it from a CR 1/2 to CR 1/8 so it wouldn’t too powerful. It has a weak version of its standard melee attack which also saps strength from the target, and I added a limited darkness spell (it can diffuse its substance in a 10 ft cube to help hide me). It adds a little extra feature to my character but nothing game breaking. However it adds a huge potential for the role playing aspect. Since it can’t speak, it can only use the warrior class , but the sidekick mechanics allow me to level up my dead father with the group all within the rules. I think it’s awesome.
I played as the Ranger’s companion. He played a hunter ranger. I played a pixie spell caster. We were Link and Navi. LOVED IT.
Yup... this is how I will handle all future Beast Masters... FINALLY THEY FIXED THE BM and it Was An ACCIDENT! LOL
There are no accidents
-Oogway, Kung Fu Panda
I think these will be really fun to play for one shots because they're somewhat simple compared to characters, and playing as monsters is always fun
vid idea: best creature/sidekick class combinations
I'm imagining a one-shot where the players are all sidekicks who have to keep the stupid paladin alive as he charges into battle shouting "for justice!"
There is over 300+ creatures with cr 1/2 or less. Lots of options.
I also see the Sidekicks as a means to come up with foes to do battle with the players - useful if running a high level campaign that has little to no magic.
I mean, let's say a Level 10 Thief decides "Hey, I'm going to rob the Merchant, because no one can stop me!" Next thing they know, they encounter a Guard, who has 10 levels on the Warrior Sidekick Class. Oh, and to really sell the point, the horse the guard rode up on, is also a Level 10 Warrior Sidekick. Even scarier, guard and horse have magic armor, the guard has a magic weapon, and the horse has magic horseshoes. Start calculating the odds of winning the fight, Thief. (Also useful in the event of Murderhobos)
I can finally play a circus gnome with a bear companion, thanks Tasha!
Ha I had a great campaign idea - Vegetales - 4 to 6 players as sidekick vegepygmies, they all start the story by being sent out into the world, with a leaf bag filled with russet mold spores and the quest of their lives by the elder vegepygmy chief, to travel far away and settle down, stablish a new vegepygmy village.
Merry Christmas Ted! happy holidays no matter how you celebrate this winter. Thank you for sharing yourself will us all.
As someone who has ran/is continuing the essentials kit I can say the sidekicks do their job really well in that they’re not meant to outshine the player. They have their knacks that make them unique, and make for great support. But they never outshine the characters, and their strongest strength (from how I’ve ran them) is in their roleplaying. Plus is a character has invested a lot of time into their sidekick, I would have them eventually “graduate” into an office class becoming a more prominent character to their story. But I would a. Have the new class make sense for what their roll was before. And b. Still continue to play them in a way as to not outshine the PCs.
Overall, I really enjoyed them. I think the mage got nerfed a bit in the number of spells from UA to publish, but in the end it makes sense as to the point I’ve been stressing above.
Me: "GM, can I have a Tarrasque sidekick?"
GM: "NO!"
Ted, you're a superhero. I'm sure your kids agree. Merry Christmas!
I’d say if you have an extra smart dog, they should be an expert.
Boom: lassie as a sidekick.
Now picture a dog expertly picking a lock. Perfect D&D IMO
Awakened anything can serve as an expert.
Merry Christmas!
The Experts help action is like a Criminal mastermind Rouge.
My group befriended a enemy Kenku with a nat 20 persuasion roll and some role playing, and now he's our side kick named Kenni.
I gave my players a pet bee. They kept hyping this bee up until I started leveling him up. After listening here I realize the bee is a fighter sidekick.
Merry Christmas Ted! Hope you and your family had a good holiday.
I’d actually like to play a expert as a class in a game. at 6th level you actually feel like a scout commander.
It’s also pretty ok if you just want a sheet to jump into a game with.
I’d say frontline medic and solider, from Ravnica are pretty alright for warrior, or the classic bear or wolf.
And go with scout, noble, or draw for expert.
Thanks for the Xmas video Ted! Regarding sidekicks, personally I kinda prefer the Followers rule developed by Matt Colville, though honestly if I ran it in a game for 1-3 players, I'd probably use some hybrid of the two systems.
Can't wait to play a CR 0 sidekick that is the Giant Tree from Storm Kings Thunder.
I'm joking although some vetting of choice would be needed.
My group likes one-shots and the side kicks are simple enough for them to not confuse with existing characters. They love the few times we got back to basics
There's two uses for sidekicks not listed in the book that make this rules set essential.
The first, and I forget which youtuber I first heard this from, is to tack these levels onto an enemy to make rivals to the party that level with the group.
The second, and my favorite, is to use sidekicks with Guildmaster's guide to Ravnica. Of the ten guild/faction backgrounds and renown groups in Ravnica more than half give the player between 1 and 50 CR 1/4 to CR 1 npc's that do anything you tell them. But when you get a CR 1 dire wolf at whatever level you build up 25 renown their usefulness is either limited or a joke. That pet dire wolf needs warrior levels to get some baseline functionality. If you play in Ravnica or just rename the guilds for use in other settings then giving sidekick levels to one or two of your "lieutenants" helps ensure you can give them a task without sending them to their deaths.
I’ve been a big advocate of these as well, giving your sub commanders the ability to actually function.
Also it’s not bad for a change of pace to do a side mission as your lieutenants and some competent soldiers, when there is enough time, it can give a campaign a broader view and still feel tight cause it still through your players crew and faction.
Having a frontline medic eventually become a important leader and save and higher ranking angels as they leveled with the PC’s as their close friend, then retinue, then partner was pretty epic.
BTW frontline medic is one of the best sidekick statblocks if your party does not have enough support classes.
@@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648 The main Ravnica character I've been plotting out for the last month or so is a Loxodon Evangel and Emissary for the Selesnya. He'll start with a few levels of Archfey warlock before diving into Eloquence bard. He won't be a singing or musical instrument playing bard. Instead he'll focus on spreading the word of Mat'Selesnya. And when combat breaks out the word of Mat'Selesnya will look an awful lot like repeated castings of thunderclap, booming blade staff strikes, and healing word.
At 25 renown he'll join the Ledev Guards and get a pet dire wolf because that's the only perk option at 25 renown for Selesnya. My main plan is to haggle with my DM. As soon as I can I'll be casting Awaken on the dire wolf, giving him Warrior levels, and adding a series of nameless CR 1/4 wood elf soldier wolf riders as the party redshirt. The wolf will get the warrior levels, and the endless rotation of CR 1/4 elves will be an infinite source or expendable cannon fodder or slapstick comedic death scenes.
And if the bard ever dies I'll just hop over to the wolf, swap out all his warrior levels with fighter levels and pick a subclass that doesn't depend of weapons or gear. I'm thinking Echo Knight. Reflavor the echos as uses of the populate ability, name the echo Ghost Dog, and have all Ghost Dog's lines be recordings of Forrest Whitaker reading "The Way of the Samurai" from the movie Ghost Dog.
@@CitanulsPumpkin you got a clear idea for your dire wolf contingency, if not for the movie reference, I was think ‘spirit wolf’
if I could play a dire wolf, I’d probably consider barbarian, path of the beast would allow you to eat your victim, claw the hell out of them, and I’d re-flavor the tail as them being cunning and defensive. Having them do super jumps is also pretty sweet later on.
@@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648 path of the beast barbarian was a close contender, but then the idea came to me that the echo is literally the wolf's shadow that he thinks is another dog. Instead of barking at his own shadow or reflection he summons it to fight for him.
Then I tried thinking up their names and how they would talk. The wolf obviously needed a deep voice, loud "Sir, yes Sir!" responses to everything, and a goofy name given to him by the goofy elephant bard.
"I am Muffin, and I am a very good boy, and this is my best friend Ghost Dog!"
"The way of the Samurai is the way of death. One should meditate daily on the prospect of dying for one's master."
Perfect feature for the bard to learn about the lovely people they met the night before.
Different sidekick every time the bard wakes up after a night of drinking.
This + strongholds and followers makes for a really good pc light game
I think this sounds great for some of those solo campaigns where it’s just 1 or 2 people and the dm. They can have the protagonist and then fill out the party with side kicks
I have NOT had a chance to play with the new sidekick rules, but I must say, it's nice to have Henchmen back!! :D
And you're right; EVERY party's ranger, druid or rogue scout needs to acquire a wolf, worg or black bear warrior sidekick! Or possibly a panther, or a warhorse, or a GIANT FRIKKIN' OWL ...
Been waiting for this video... Merry Christmas
For anyone looking for a challenge OR someone who wants a simpler, smaller, digestible progression, playing a sidekick would be right up the alley. PLUS, you can opt to play as any CR 1/2 or less creature. This provides tons of playable species; like Blink Dog who can be any one of the three sidekick classes.
Also, it was glossed over but Expert & Spellcasting Sidekicks have a prerequisite: one language. Blink Dog knows the language, Blink Dog.
This also makes me want to do that storm giant epic level campaign.
I made one of NPC in the campaign run into a warrior side kick - Hobgoblin Chief, first encountered Sunless Citadel module I used then became a recurring NPC. The party was lacking a tank and I thought it might be a fun way for them to get a taste of different class. Role play I would do but in a battle of if that character need to roll for checks, one of the players do. I think I'm going to have other NPCs be a sidekick for other players to control in future too. One of the players got baby rust monster as a pet, which becoming a sidekick warrior would be interesting. In general, I love this.
Also, for the Eladrin Wild magic Sorcerer in my party, I created something similar to what Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul gets, the list of freebie spells called Chaos Spells. They just leveled up to Level 5 so we shall see how it goes.
I like the sidekick rules, they do a good job of giving DMs guidance on adding someone of an appropriate power level to a party. It's also great when the party really wants to pull someone/thing strong along to do all the work for them.
Party: Nat 20 Persuasion!!! Now we get a War Priest to carry us! GG DM
DM: Sorry, best I can give you is a level appropriate sidekick. ;)
I’ll be using this to help quickly template out important NPCs and villains as a DM. And to help fill in small parties, etc.
Expert 7:33
Spellcaster 10:50
Warrior 14:00
I joined a party of 9 players last minute, and I could see the dm was a bit overwhelmed. So I just grabbed the spellcaster side kick stats, and had a 2 sentence backstory. I was Ghat, a lab grown humanoid bug that desired to bring fear into the deamons of the world.
I could totally see doing a 1-3 player party where some or all of the players has a sidekick if I didnt have a bigger group. Druid or ranger with an animal warrior sidekick would be totally cool in that situation.
Also dude stop posting and get some sleep its christmas
I absolutely love the realism of your intro
Thank you for your service
My first "optimized" build combined the urchin mouse with the forest gnome's speak with small beasts to have a unique scout option for the beastmaster (before tcoe). I just learned about sidekicks and want to turn that mouse into a warrior sidekick. It would still be just a scout, but then it gets proficiencies, and some support options in combat
Ok so backstory: Worg, belonged to goblin horde, felt they didn't respect me, left, encountered fey, tried to fight it to prove my ability, beaten, fey healed me with a magic seed, gained magic (Healer), Became local scourge known as immortal worg (because of healing magic xD), That's when rest of party shows up and I join to become the ultimate predator. What do you all think?
I first introduced a Kobold sidekick to my party at around Lv. 4 using the UA rules rather than the essential rules, as I wanted the Spellcaster to have more options than what the essential rules provided. He became one of those characters that the party just got attached to super easily. Tasha's rules over sidekicks are a far better improvement over what is provided in the essentials kit for sure. I think Sidekicks are a great option. Kind of makes me wonder why you would want to play Beastmaster Ranger if you could easily be a Fighter and get an animal sidekick instead. Feels super awkward tbh.
Character is a Merchant. Merchant has a mule. Wait - let's make that Mule one Bad Ass! Lol!
Got a friend who has a buddy that wants to join a D&D group, and they picked a Loxodon Druid Merchant. They've been mentioning wanting an animal companion. Well, they have a mule, and thanks to Tasha's, we could make that mule a Warrior Sidekick. Granted, it only has its hoof attack, but I think I could whip something up at like Level 4, that lets them do 2d4 plus the strength mod, and that +2 for being an Attacker.
Annoyingly, current events being what they are, among other things, that mule will have to stay in the stalls for a while.
Would love to see a fixing the Sorcerer 3, I need a decent wild magic sorcerer in my life
A barbarian style wolf pet with animal handling would be awesome to make a pack following it. :) Also, happy new year!
My next chatacter has a flying sword sidekick.
What an absolute trooper. Respect to the man
What if you allowed a player to choose 2 sidekicks instead of a standard PC. Seems like that could be a lot of fun
Unfortunately, I don’t see how to add a sidekick in DnD Beyond. As a paladin with the “find familiar” magic initiate feat, I cannot create my familiar or my warhorse as a sidekick...
hope you slept well!
I'm rocking one as an artificer. Playing a battle smith with a steel defender and its given after I gave it the headband of intellect. Basically making life. Its funs
Ted, You're awesome, Merry christmas man. Just thinking a Pixie sidekick would be the most OP thing in the game.
Given that their innate spellcasting is actively replaced, probably not. It would be cool as shit though.
@@xSilentStrangerx No it does not replace Innate Spellcasting, it does replace Spellcasting which are two different things. You can tell the difference by the name, and because Spellcasting lists their level as a spellcasters. So a Pixie would keep their Innate spellcasting but an Acolyte would lose theirs. Otherwise you couldn't make a Drow Spellcaster without losing their Cantrip which is Innate Spellcasting.
I think it would be balanced by the VERY low HP stat. They start with 1 HP at level 1. Then you roll 1d4-1 to get their HP each level. So at level 20 they could have only 20 HP.
@@apweaver3498 From what I recall the innate spellcasting gets replaced when the sidekick takes a spellcaster class. Or did they change that sentence in TCOE?
@@xSilentStrangerx I do not have the book on me, but I assume dndbeyond is worded the same as the book. It says "If the creature already has the Spellcasting trait, this feature replaces that trait." The Spellcasting trait is not the same as Innate Spellcasting trait. They are two different things. A Pixie has the Innate Spellcasting trait, whereas an Acolyte has the Spellcasting trait. The Spellcasting trait lists the spellcaster level IE: "The acolyte is a 1st-level spellcaster.". The Innate Spellcasting trait does not list a spellcaster level, it just lists the spellcasting ability modifier and that they can cast the listed spells without or without specific components. IE: "The pixie’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 12). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring only its pixie dust as a component.".
I currently run a game with two players, both rogues, next session I’m giving them a healer sidekick. They’ll need it!
I have an idea for a rooster that have a hate for goblins after losing his coup to them. He joins the party on the incentive to find another group of chickens, becoming the parties defender.
The 1/2+1 HP thing probably would work fine for a sidekick. It would make things simpler there.
I'm now considering taking these and applying them to Find Familiar and Find Steed familiars and mounts. Not sure if it would be full progression or half for it there...I've always seen both as things that have massive weak points for what they represent, especially for those who played other editions.
Might also work well to have a few sidekick options for various NPCs tied to adventures that could be temporary replacements for characters.
I’ve run side kicks ever since I got the essentials kit. The games I run tend to be 2-4 players and having a back up character is great to fill out a role they might need. I love these new rules and can’t wait to get Tasha’s to let my players use this.
I have one group that always wants to run 2 characters but I never let them run 2 full PCs but I think this would work and my other group constantly wants pets but hates that they die in combat but if they can level with the characters I think it will be more fair.
When it comes to some of the animals, I wouldn’t be opposed to allowing you to switch the stat block of a regular wolf to a dire wolf, or crocodile too a giant crocodile, i’d say do it once they hit points match the hit points of the dire or giant animal, you want it to become.
Sort of like a Pokémon thing,
Or it turns out you had a Juvenile version this whole time.
I can see doing this for other types with an analog or progression, like a guard or a solider to a knight, eventually, but there aren’t many others I could think of that would work like this, so I’d just stick to the normal rules for the most part.
I hope you find time to rest and spend time with your family.
Also I like using sidekicks for parties with fewer than 3 players. I've let players control them while I roleplay them. Or have just taken full control. The most important thing to remember there is to never try to outshine the player characters. They should instead be taking actions to help the player characters pull off really cool things.
You know what could be an interesting sidekick for a Wizard School of Necromancy or any other dark summoner in tier 1 ? A zombie or a skeleton, maybe related to the Character's backstory to have it since level 1. It cannot be a Spellcaster and skillwise they are the worst, but at least the skeleton could be good for both Expert and Dex Warrior. Of course an undead sidekick cannot be healed, but it can still recuperate on short rests, or revived, but after level 5 the DM could agree to not make him lose any sidekick feature if the Player uses Animate Dead on it, but at least you could get a small necromancer vibe on early levels.
Hey Ted, what's your ruling on an awakened animal taking the expert role?
I'd allow it! Makes sense to me
And now I'm getting some Narnia nostalgia... noggin is jogging. My thought was just to play "guard 🐺" for my wife's Gnome Druid but now one shot ideas are flowing.
As long as it’s a polar bear with plate armor.
@@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648 another nice thought, but I was thinking more Of the comic with big scared war dog and the cute kitten.
The hit dice of the side kick depends on hit die of the creature. Consider the Worg: it has a d10 hit die and can speak a language, thus it can be a spellcasting mount.
Thank you.
Bro can I just play as a side kick? Like damn bro they sound like a lot of fun
I'm wondering what the balance should be on a group with a sidekick. Do I design encounters as if it's a full extra player?
Depending if it’s a spell caster and at what level, I’d say 3/4 or 1/2 a party member.
If it’s a spell caster with multiple level 3 spells and if any sidekick class that they gave a bunch of ok-good magic items too, than a full party member.
In my group, I play a monk and am in the process of acquiring a mastiff puppy to train as a guard dog for the group, looking to eventually have our druid cast Awaken (using a Staff of the Woodlands -- he's already awakened two trees) on him. Now I'm thinking of having my awakened mastiff become a warrior sidekick, if my DM allows it. Could be fun. I haven't decided on a name for the puppy yet.
I do think playing as a Spellcaster and picking prodigy so you can play as a warlock with a slightly more spell focus is a neat idea.
Hey DM, can side kicks take feats in place of an ASI assuming feats are available?
I could see my bard of lore having a sidekick or my druid maybe an owl bear warrior😍
The 2000s are about to be old enough to drink. Buckle up, buttercup. This is about to get Really Really Interesting
I had a warlock player's patron get a deathlock out of the closet and dust it off to send along, to make up for a small party. This was before I got TCoE, but now that I have it I'll probably change a couple things to be consistent with it.
Timestamps for Sidekicks:
2:25 - Creating a Sidekick
7:34 - Expert
10:50 - Spellcaster
14:01 - Warrior
17:22 - Remarks
"No love for the sorcerer (spell list)" ah yes, the one unique sorc spell
I'm so confused about how the hit point progression works. it's based on hit dice, as in the creatures hit dice, so the spell caster and the warrior get the same?
I'm playing calvin and hobbes. Calvin is
3 lvls warlock/3 levels wizard illusionist now. Hobbes is the bag of tricks tiger. Making him a sidekick will be great.
My current group currently has two actually... One started as a joke of a character being so bad at cooking her attempt at breakfast came to life and it somehow just stuck as a sidekick (spellcaster btw). The other is basically uh... Well kind of a hostage situation. Or rather we found a group of bandits and before they could attack we just... Burned all of them in a wildfire save one who we "hired" and lo amd behold we have an Expert with us now.
I kind of like the idea of having a sidekick that thinks theyre the main hero, and roleplaying your actual character as a 'sidekick', even tho you'll be infinitely better at everything...and have the sidekick take credit for winning battles he had very little to do with, furthering his/her own fame and glory.
My destiny calls and I goooooo!
Poking at expert, the hobgoblin stat block and the knight stat block, I think I’ll just make a commander class, some fighter/battle master subclass some rogue/mastermind subclass and some expert.
Feel you can be a none magic bard that just pumps your party up and then do a few big attacks.
If these are just “rogue fighter or spell caster but weaker” how do I balance an encounter around the presence of side kicks? Sure a party of 5 getting 1 for story reason is why not, but if I have a party of 3 pick up two because the Druid wants a wolf and the party otherwise couldn’t pick locks so here’s an expert. How would I balance encounters around that?
Sidekicks could be useful for people not big on combat, but want to do the RP social interaction part.
This would probably be to much but I'm imagining a familiar with sidekick levels
Since sidekicks start off the same level as the party regardless of when they join I can’t help but imagine what would happen if the party adopted a random commoner. Suddenly the local farmer becomes a level 8 adventurer overnight.
The DM can work with the players to make an appropriate character. The farmer makes the most sense as an Expert, so the DM and party decides they have proficiency in the animal handling, nature and survival skills; they have proficiency with cooks utensils and tinkers tools as well. They aren't the best in combat but they can cook, drive the mule card, gather food and mend simple items. When a fight breaks out they can help in combat but not through sheer brute force, instead by distracting the enemy and encouraging their allies.
The DM determines if the story and relationship makes sense for an NPC to become a sidekick, so if the farmer is weak and frail then the DM wouldn't let the NPC join the group as a sidekick.
I wish that was accessible through a feat or in some other way.
Do you think a beastmastet ranger companion could work along side this? 🤔
Problem is so many of the beastmaster abilities are about letting the companion do things. When they're their own character, I feel it detracts from it
Woot 64k subs
Wolf with sword in mouth or sprite knight
The Sidekick classes are from 3.0's Unearthed Arcana hardback. TBH, a lot of Tasha's is from that 3.0 book.