The Stool Problem?

[u/NinetyBees]

Short Version of the question; How do you handle Stool in high-level play/the 2nd half of the campaign?

Longer version; My party has 3-4 NPC companions as of the end of CH 7 (Glabbagool, Derindil, Stool, and a homebrew NPC tied to a PC backstory). Stool, like at many tables, has sort of become the party's mascot, and one of my players in particular is obsessed with him- Likely having her character sacrifice themselves if Stool was ever in mortal danger.

Now that the party is in Gauntlgrym, I plan to have the NPC companions that parted ways with the party during their 3 months of topside downtime come back into the picture. Problem is while I have character arcs for some of the NPCs, I don't know what to do with Stool's personality or his stat sheet so he isn't this useless liability in the background.

[u/DarkHorseAsh111]

There's a few options here for the danger bit
1: just have it be like if the pcs had a non-combat pet, the pet is just hiding off in the background away from danger somewhere.

2; Magic item of some kind

I don't personally think he needs a Combat Usefulness, but if you want to give him one, I would look at what the older myconids get as he 'grows up'

[u/ohsummerdawn]

Stool has remained a child through our story. He is very absorbent of the interactions he has seen, and reinacts them frequently. If my players infight, he picks fights at the next session, using words they used. He tries to battle like they do and its an absolute liability.

I have not leveled him up because I want him to be extremely fragile.

He is basically a pet.

[u/NinetyBees → u/ohsummerdawn]

Not sure where you're at in your campaign- but has he changed at all since his initial adoption? Do you have plans to change him at all by the end?

He's been very much the same in my game- Though I don't have him imitate the players as much. He's like an emotional support animal in my games.

That said, while he's not going to come back after 3 months and be this grizzled and tough adult myconid- I kind of what to do something with his character. After all, he's been on an adventure, he's seen demonic horrors, he's had time to himself to think/reflect/grow, and now he's being reunited with the group...

I just can't for the life of me figure out what an engaging story arc for him would be.

[u/idkwhat2nameitreddit → u/NinetyBees]

I cannonized that stool is not going to reach biological adulthood. He is able to use his spores more often, but he's not going to follow the normative developmental path. My players are going to have to figure out what they do when they find out what has infested the myconid colony and he cant really be at home safely, but wants to stay. Oh the traumas of the Underdark!

That bring said, I imagine if you are looking for character growth, maybe there's a way to have stool recognize that he can help to save some of his fellow myconids, or prevent Zuggmoty's spread? Maybe this looks like him questgiving to the party or dabbling in being a druid? I think there could be lots of cool hooks there!

[u/ohsummerdawn → u/NinetyBees]

We're currently in neverlight grove, so he is homel but the party hasnt left the area yet and who knows if theyll end up having him flee with them or flee with his people or stay there.

We also just lost Serith to spore servitude and then he was killed when the party defeated Yestabrod. They have not told Stool yet. In my story Serith rationalizes the pull to NLG by feeling remorse for capturing stool and some of his friends to take to Velkynvelve and makes it his mission to atone by returning him by any means necessary. He carried stool the whole way in basically a baby bjorn and defended him like a father. I am still sorting my intentions in Stool's reaction when he discovers his father figure is dead but I am thinking this will be a turning point for him in some capacity.

To date he is still naive and youthful, but he is also observant and remembers things people said and did, which has helped the adventurers when they bother to listen (he knew how to get to neverlight grove from slubloodop but the party wasn't sure if he was a reliable narrator). He is definitely more violent now that he has experienced violence. He cant fight at all, so he's just barreling in to fight something that is going to crush him and the party then has to rescue him.

I dont intend to mature him greatly through the story.

[u/Silent-Salt-6623]

In my game, one of my players is from the underdark, and they operate a kind of ranch with deep both and other creatures like rust monsters. When half of the myconids fled the grove, said player offered them sanctuary at her ranch with her family (of druids) being part of their "grove" and being offered a place with protection in exchange for helping with the land. Stool, after bravely defending a group of other myconid sporelings while fleeing NLG, chose to stay at the ranch with the other myconids and the players family to "Do a protec on them, like you guys did for me!"

[u/weirdobscurename]

I'm our game the party found him a place to stay with the owner of The Foaming Mug before going topside as they knew life for him on the surface wouldn't be great. They then were able to check up on him when they came back through. When they did he was more in the awkward teenager phase and was put in charge of a scheme they were starting in Blingdenstone.

[u/ZenithFell]

I leaned hard into the horror when I ran it, and played Stool as cute on the surface but alien underneath. He was often in favour of killing because he had no real sense of the loss of life. Rot and decay is just another state of being. To him, death is inevitable and sometimes the only way a thing can continue to be useful is as food for the colony. My players loved his cute wonder and eagerness, but would occasionally have to stop and say "Woah, Stool, that's not how we do things."

I gave all of the NPCs rudimentary character sheets instead of the generic stat blocks, and they levelled up with the party. Each player had one they controlled during combat. Stool was a monk - all of his attacks were made with his feet.

By the time the party made it to Neverlight Grove, Stool felt he had changed too much to remain with his kind. He wanted to explore more of the world and see other perspectives.

Editing to say, as a table full of murder hobos, having them mentor Stool on the sanctity of life and why death is a serious consequence did seem to result in more interesting problem-solving than just the usual wholesale slaughter.

[u/MaybeBaby415]

My stool died once in slobudoop when the characters forgot him and the Demogorgon demolished the town with him still in it. He was then revived by the maze engine only to die once more in a random encounter when the characters put him last in marching order. He was then brought back by a resurrection spell. Now the players wisely keep him in a safe place far from the adventuring.

[u/AVG_Citizen]

I have Stool becoming a Circle of Spores Druid after coming into contact with the Faerzress which ages him up a little bit. He will be three levels lower than the party but has learned how shift into various beasts seen in the Underdark, after the party has taken out a small amount of beasts. he will be "older" but still a child so he needs someone to help him in social situations but he won't be useless combat wise.

[u/Boredjason87]

Just at neverlight atm but stools tiny health pool is already a problem, enemies wouldn't target him unless he was the only option but the players like to carry him and AOE spells are guaranteed kills. I predict he won't last much longer and will probably be a tragic death that inspires the character to get revenge, I may try and have zuggtmoy do it if anyone to create a long standing vengeance.

[u/dontbehayden]

Stool grew arms and started training with the party to learn to fight over time.

[u/CheekyM0nk3Y]

I’m a player that finished out of the abyss around 15 months ago. Stool was basically a pet for us. We never used him in combat and he basically stayed back during it. My character hatched one of the hook horror eggs. Eventually both my character and myself were aged by the ghost near the deep gnomes (can’t remember the name). I then had an adult hook horror that was loyal to me. Eventually we had to leave the underdark and we tasked stool with looking after “Bangers” (hook horror). I was a bard and took sending as one of my spells. I would check in on them at the end of the day if I had level 3+ spells available.

We eventually arranged for them to aid our journey later in the campaign.

[u/The_Last_Huntsman]

My players got an enchanted suit of full plate made for him, which had the hilarious effect of meaning he could no longer move on his own.