Friendly NPC Ability Scores

From: SARAH <sarah.newton5_at_...>
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:59:49 -0000

Hi everyone,

I'm now happily using the pass/fail cycle for setting resistances in my HQ2 games, but am wondering what to do about friendly NPCs.

We're playing Return to Apple Lane, and the PCs are about to face Erianda and Darsten's assault on the pawn shop. I'm wondering about how to model Gringle nd Eighty-Eyes' role in the conflict. I can see Eighty-Eyes bolstering the pawn shop's resistance to attack, performing assists, Gringle shouting encouragement and bashing heads, etc.

Now, I could just assign arbitrary bonuses for the PCs to represent this assistance, but I'm wondering how people assign scores to NPC allies in their games. I could stat out Gringle and Eighty-Eyes as full-blown characters with ability scores, but somehow that feels contrary to the HQ2 ethos of 'everything is a resistance'. However, simply assigning NPCs resistances based on the pass/fail cycle initially feels inappropriate, as they aren't adversaries. But maybe that's what the RAW envisage?

Any thoughts? How do you model NPCs assisting PCs in your games?

Cheers!

Sarah