THIS is how I run NPC allies and companions in D&D 

Jesus dude you are a beast. This video was so practical from the first to the last second I am implementing the loyalty system immediately.

Ah, yes, the glorious sidekick. A good ally can really make the party feel more rounded out, both mechanically and role-play-wise. I will admit that I feel more involved with my players, almost as if I'm also a player. Of course, I'm careful to not make a DM-PC and keep the players in focus. Great video as usual, mate! Keep up the good work! :D

The party I'm DMing for is only 2 players, so they almost always have had some kind of NPC follower that has helped round out the party. The way I balance it is that I control the NPC character outside of combat, and I let the players control the NPC during combat.

This video was great. I created a new NPC after watching this. We played a couple of nights ago and the party loved her. I made a really simplified stat block for her so the party can run her. The abilities are all things that just assist the party. They were headed somewhere quite dangerous and were saying she must be protected at all costs. So they told her to wait and will pick her up on the way back.

This is a great practical video!!! During combat i have sometimes found it helpful to have the NPC just use a stat block and give this to one of the players to run. That way it doesnt feel like they steal the show.

Suddenly realising that most of my NPCs are either static quest givers or highly likely to die heroic and/or cinematic deaths for the sake of game drama. Maybe I need to broaden my scope here?

I love this so much! Will apply loyalty points from now on in my game. Thanks Malcolm!

I love the npc sidekicks and the help that they offer to the party after battles or in hard battles with many enemies.

Love all the current videos, my man! great work, great inspiration✨ keep up the good work🙌🏽

Session 2 my players got to see the BBEG and fight his right hand man (a bumbling idiot i had plans to make a gradually larger threat) they fell in love with the right hand man and, with permission, he got incorporated into one player's back story as that character's best friend that had been led astray. It changed the course of the entire campaign in a few ways, it was early on so no big deal, and now that guy is traveling with thr party and working on redeeming himself. Legitimately, my and everyone else's favorite character and way better than the original plan. Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow.

Great ideas!

Excellent 😊

Just put a companion in the way of my players as a way to make backtracking through a familiar area more interesting. They're an aspiring chemist with a lot to learn. The party can imbibe their experimental potions, getting a random effect when they do so. If they get into combat and the NPC is present, they're going to approach the nearest party member, hand them a vial of liquid and say "throw this!" Incidentally, this is also an experimental, but potentially harmful, potion. Or maybe it'll do nothing, who knows?

In the first campaign I ever played, the DM had one or two overpowered NPCs that did WAY too much, dealing huge damage in combat. The final critical battle with the bad guys was like watching a movie where the NPC hero defeated the big bad. I decided then that when I DM, the players will be the heroes. If the bad guy is way too much for the players to handle (and if they're world conquering bad guys, they'd almost have to be!), NPCs or magic items can buff the players. But it's got to be the PCs who win or lose the day.

.players choose them .good impresion with something useful .