I recently ran across this article from The Angry GM again about DMPCs, and Tagalongs. I realized that the MOST BELOVED NPCs I've had in campaigns were... the tagalongs. A lot of game masters SWEAR against this, but let's talk about what they are first.

THE DUNGEON MASTER PLAYER CHARACTER (DMPC)

Such a character deserves a huge title to signal them. I'm going to differentiate characters that are essentially like player characters, but are run by the Game Master; DMPCs (as in the title) and Tagalongs. While mechanically, they are the same thing, there's a sort of flavorful difference. 

DMPCs are the term I will use for the less liked kind of character. They typically are min-maxed, or too strong for the party, that they overshadow the players. They lore dump too much, and underservingly take loot, spotlight, and player stuff. They know where the traps are, because the DM knows where they are, and interfere with the story of characters. They already now the answer to the puzzles, because the GM knows the answer to the puzzles. They're opinions and suggestions aren't just words - they are tool used to railroad the players towards a certain direction. Even a levelled down or weaker DMPC can bog down players and frustrate them. Basically, don't make this kinda character. Don't act like this kind of character, even if overall they are beneficial for the party mechanically. This character is the clutch for players - they are who the players fall back to when they don't know what to do. They stop playing the game, and start waiting for the book to be read out loud to them. It doesn't feel good to play like this. Maybe the DM made this character because they don't get to play the game often. If you suspect this is the case, please, get your GM to play some games (with me maybe?). Maybe the DM is more sinister than this, and is using the DMPC as a sort of power play. Be wary if the DMPC feels like this description.

Tagalongs on the other hand are the beloved version of DMPCs. They may still be min-maxed, but in a way that compliments the party. Maybe they fill a role that the rest of the party needs to maintain survival. A frontliner in a party of glass cannons. A healer in an all offence group. Or a crowd controller in a group of single target fighters. Out of combat, they do not hog the limelight, have a deep background connection to the party and a real in-world reason to hang out, with a clear in-world reason to eventually stop hanging out if needed. They don't take more than they deserve, and they don't give beyond what is needed. Tagalongs are HARD to get right. But when you do, they are perfect in-world characters to help players get knowledge they need, progress the story, and provide clarity to the party where needed. Many people say that they should be in the background, but I think this is an overstatement. Tagalongs can be in the foreground too - if the situation allows them to elevate the player characters too. 

Angry goes into great detail talking about tagalongs, so I won't ramble too much about the philosophy of tagalongs, rather I wanted to talk about some of the most successful tagalongs I've had in my campaigns and what made them successful

Flo

Flowing Wit, who the players lovingly renamed Flo, was a lower leveled wizard to a party of a Bard, Barbarian, Rogue, and.. Wizard. I don't recall the exact details, but she had information that the party needed, and she requested for them to bring her to location X safely. The party was level 5, and she was level 3. Relatively fragile. Her spells were less evocation (less offensive) and were more support. She also had skills focusing on History, Arcana, Nature, and knowledge-y things. 

In this campaign, it was based in a homebrew Filipino-inpired setting, and none of the players were Filipino. Flo served as an in-world character to guide characters through the nuances. Reminding players of customs, or as a parallel for a player to act simultaneously with in order to exist in world without having to guess how to act. She also filled the niche of having knowledge about where the players wanted to go. Instead of having to think of question before a quest, players could ask Flo anything throughout their adventure. This would be one of my first successful DMPCs. This party hadn't played for a couple of months, and yet she was still one of the first NPCs that they remembered. It also kinda helped that she missed all her attacks... it was clear that she was no Deus Ex Machina, and she was as fragile as she was presented. It was clear why she needed the party, and her knowledge was an investment for the party. 

Duck and Adeline

In another campaign, Duck and Adeline were a NPCs created by the players. Duck was a rival to a player, and Adeline was one of the PCs lovers. For context, the party had a celestial sorcerer (the primary healer), a rogue, a warlock, and swordmage, and a pugilist (yes, two third party classes). Let's put Duck into context first.

Duck

Duck is literally a chickenfolk (Chikenku? Aracoken? Doesn't matter for this story) paladin. The pugilist felt that they weren't able to tank all of the damage, and hence when he joined the group, he was a great secondary frontliner. The Swordmage in this case was more of a ranged fighter, and needed a few levels to transition into a more frontliner role. Mechanically provided the pugilist with some breathing space. The aura also helped the party with some of their saves, providing a slight passive boost to saving throws. 

Duck's origins were that he was the Swordmages rival. Not necessarily an antagonist, but someone who wanted to compete. After they beat him in combat, he gave up, and for story reasons, picked the celestial sorcerer as his new rival. Rival in a we're-competitive-friends kinda way, and not in a I-wanna-take-you-down way. They had a relationship with him, and it was on the players prompts that he should follow the group to fulfill their goals. They aligned and had in-world reasons to follow, and once they're individual goals were completed, there was a clear in-game reason for him to leave. The players enjoyed his excessively competitive banter, and his inability to recall anything important (due to low intelligence). Other players had more intelligence and knowledge mechanically, and hence we didn't need a character who knew things. He was there to smite and be hit.

Adeline

Adeline on the other hand, was created as an in-world person who could push the Warlock's character development forward. He was the wife and the strongest supporter to the warlock, and was also a warlock herself, albeit leveled down a bit. She quite literally did the same thing that the Warlock could do. I didn't even carry the sheet of this character - the player did. I simply acted as she would, and was a voice of reason for the Warlock. The Warlock's character was initially a relatively sleazy person with some questionable morals and an even more questionable past. She acted as a reason for him to gain a conscience. Not just to potentially be a good person, but also to be the best warlock that he could be.

Mechanically, it was like the player was able to cast double the number of eldritch blasts. This player is quite experienced, and it was discussed beforehand that they can handle double the work. If this player was new, or if he didn't have the dedication to learn both characters sheets, this definitely would not have worked. Warlocks are also typically not the most tanky, so he had reasons to keep her alive and away from danger.

The whole party feel in love with her, and she was integral in helping the party defeat the BBEG. So much so, that she died in the campaign. It was very emotional (and emotional really depends on the group, so have good session 0 first okay!) in a good way, and her death was meaningful. Felt like a fellow PC had died. 

Dima

My latest tagalong is Dima. Initially, I had thought of him as a one or two sessioner, but the party found him hot. Too hot, if I do say so myself, and hence he stuck around...

...oh, you want to know more?

Okay okay, he stuck around not only because he was hot. Like Adeline above, he's the partner to one of the PCs, and story-wise had some issues to resolve. This group wanted drama and plot twists and emotions so this was a good McGuffin that would stir feelings. He, like Flo, was an in-world character who knew customs and how to act. He also served as a co-frontliner with the fighter, before our barbarian joined in the party. He took the best parts of Flo, Duck, and Adeline from my previous campaigns and... we made him hot too. But seriously speaking, the hotness is just icing on the cake. 

I initially introduced him in the very first session to help ease in another player who was joining the group for the first time. He had connections directly with the bard, and he had a personal hatred for a common enemy - the aswang, a type of undead monster from the Philippines - and some of the players felt the same way. Gave him a backstory that could potentially relate to the warlock. It stuck, and I am also extremely fond of him as a character. He has a reason to leave the party eventually, and has his own goals. 

What Did I Learn?

A good tagalong, to be honest, is kind of a luck thing. The players are gonna meet so many NPCs, and at least handful of them are going to be pretty strong. Even fewer are going to be aligned enough to the party. The one true common factor between these four (and there are so many more from the other various campaigns I've run) are that they stuck around not because I, as the game master, wanted them to, but because the players wanted to keep them around. All this rambling and how these characters worked because x, y, and z, but in reality, it all boils down to the players and how they fall in love with characters. 

You know that meme, where the players get overly invested in that unnamed NPC whom the DM had picked a name from a random name list? That's gonna happen. The players are gonna fall in love with a character, and they are going to want that character to stick around for awhile. All those examples above? Just tools for what to do with your tagalongs so that they don't outstay their welcome, and remain memorable to your players. 

TL;DR: When the players fall in love with an NPC and want them to follow, consider making them a tagalong. Give them a good goal that aligns with the party, a reason to eventually leave, and mechanics that don't outshine the rest of the party, or better yet help synergise with the party.

Don't forget, who's awesome? You're awesome.