Advice on handling NPCs
The system: D&D 3.5 - Eberron
The players: 1 first timer, 1 very new, 2 experienced
The Story (In Brief) So Far:
The characters have been hired by House Orien to find a pass though the Endworld mountains to facilitate the shipping of dragonshards from Q'Barra into the rest of Khorvaire. They have met up with 4 NPCs who are fleshing out the rest of the travelling party and have determined that the best place to attempt a crossing is the town of Nightbit. One of the NPCs is the expedition leader.
What Was Going to Happen:
The party was supposed to travel with the NPCs to a promising mountain pass. There would be an ambush in the mountains and the noise of the battle would trigger an avalanche. The avalanche would take them into an ancient abandoned city and kill most of the NPCs. The one surviving NPC would manage to avoid the avalanche and would be a hook for another plotline much later in the campaign. In the abandoned city, the players would discover a demon artifact that would play into the storyline.
The Current Situation:
The campaign is going to be a long running one. However, one of the players just found out he got a job elsewhere and will leaving town in September. He's the one who has never played before so I decided to change the campaign up a bit for his benifit. I'm making a short story arc that will take place in Nightbit and see the characters though until he leaves. Because he's a first timer, I want to make sure that he has the chance to fight a BBEG and be as awesome as possible before he goes.
My Dilemma:
I'm now stuck with 4 NPCs travelling with the party. I've got fully fleshed out characters for all of them but they were really only supposed to be with the group for a part of one session before dying/being separated from the party. This was just a hook the get the ball rolling in a sandbox type game. It's very important to me that the players are the main focus of the game and I'm really worried about having 4 NPCs in the party. I've got a plan in place to keep the NPCs from being able to enter Nightbit, but first they've got to get there.
My Question:
I'm in desperate need of advice on how you GMs out there have handled NPCs travelling with the PCs, especially when it comes to combat. Do you let the NPCs fight or have them hang back? I really don't want to end up playing D&D by myself as my players sit around a watch!
The players: 1 first timer, 1 very new, 2 experienced
The Story (In Brief) So Far:
The characters have been hired by House Orien to find a pass though the Endworld mountains to facilitate the shipping of dragonshards from Q'Barra into the rest of Khorvaire. They have met up with 4 NPCs who are fleshing out the rest of the travelling party and have determined that the best place to attempt a crossing is the town of Nightbit. One of the NPCs is the expedition leader.
What Was Going to Happen:
The party was supposed to travel with the NPCs to a promising mountain pass. There would be an ambush in the mountains and the noise of the battle would trigger an avalanche. The avalanche would take them into an ancient abandoned city and kill most of the NPCs. The one surviving NPC would manage to avoid the avalanche and would be a hook for another plotline much later in the campaign. In the abandoned city, the players would discover a demon artifact that would play into the storyline.
The Current Situation:
The campaign is going to be a long running one. However, one of the players just found out he got a job elsewhere and will leaving town in September. He's the one who has never played before so I decided to change the campaign up a bit for his benifit. I'm making a short story arc that will take place in Nightbit and see the characters though until he leaves. Because he's a first timer, I want to make sure that he has the chance to fight a BBEG and be as awesome as possible before he goes.
My Dilemma:
I'm now stuck with 4 NPCs travelling with the party. I've got fully fleshed out characters for all of them but they were really only supposed to be with the group for a part of one session before dying/being separated from the party. This was just a hook the get the ball rolling in a sandbox type game. It's very important to me that the players are the main focus of the game and I'm really worried about having 4 NPCs in the party. I've got a plan in place to keep the NPCs from being able to enter Nightbit, but first they've got to get there.
My Question:
I'm in desperate need of advice on how you GMs out there have handled NPCs travelling with the PCs, especially when it comes to combat. Do you let the NPCs fight or have them hang back? I really don't want to end up playing D&D by myself as my players sit around a watch!