Give control of enemy NPC to player

[Weissrolf]

Hello.

I know how to share a CT based NPC record with a player and that the player can double click the NPC token on the map to open its sheet, but only if the NPC is friendly. What is the best way to give control of an enemy NPC to a player?

[Marquis_de_Taigeis]

is the npc actually an enemy or can they just have the enemy status changed to friendly?

or is this more for a second connected client to act as secondary GM?

depending on the ruleset you are using there might be an item within the forge capable of meeting your needs.

[Weissrolf]

True enemy. If one of my players' character dies mid-combat I would like to hand over the enemy NPC(s) to them.

[Marquis_de_Taigeis]

i had a quick look in the forge and this might be what your looking for https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/153/view

[celestian]

True enemy. If one of my players' character dies mid-combat I would like to hand over the enemy NPC(s) to them.

Have you tried to drag/drop the npc onto the player's icon? One of these:
https://i.imgur.com/aH8Keb9.png

I've not tried with "nonfriendly" so maybe it's blocked.

[Weissrolf]

i had a quick look in the forge and this might be what your looking for https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/153/view

Thanks for the hint. Unfortunately it seems to be 5E only, while we play Pathfinder. But I will keep it in mind.

[Weissrolf]

Have you tried to drag/drop the npc onto the player's icon? One of these:
https://i.imgur.com/aH8Keb9.png

I've not tried with "nonfriendly" so maybe it's blocked.

This works, but then only the character sheet is readable, tokens cannot be moved and sole control remains with the GM.

[MostTornBrain]

If you are using Pathfinder 1E, you could use the Cohorts and Companions extension. That lets you assign ownership of NPCs to a PC. After you load the extension it adds a section to the Notes tab for NPC ownership - just drag and drop the NPC there and then drag that NPC to the Combat tracker. The owned NPC becomes a unique instance of the original NPC at that point as part of the PC character sheet. Controlling an enemy NPC wasn't really the intent of the extension, but it should work, even if the PC is dead. You'll actually be creating a copy of the NPC that the PC owns, but that's just a quick edit of removing the original enemy NPC token from the combat tracker and adding the PC owned one back.

It's free on the Forge and works with 2E, 3.5/PFRPG, 4E and OSE: https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/518/view

I could likely add support for Pathfinder 2, if there is interest. I hadn't since no one asked for it. I did this originally because I needed it for PFRPG, and then a few people asked for support for some other rulesets.
This is all branched from a subset of the Friend Zone extension for 5E that MeAndUnique created. My extension just does the NPC ownership/control functionality, none of the adding of attribute and skill bonuses and the like.

Cheers,
Brian

[Weissrolf]

Thanks for pointing me to the extension and for making it available. Unfortunately I indeed left out that we play Pathfinder 2, not 1. Sorry for the confusion.

[MostTornBrain]

Thanks for pointing me to the extension and for making it available. Unfortunately I indeed left out that we play Pathfinder 2, not 1. Sorry for the confusion.

If you don't find another option, maybe I can get PF2 support working. I did a quick check and the PF2 code seems very similar in changes needed that I did for other rulesets already. I might be able to get something working later tonight if you think it would be helpful.

Cheers,
Brian

[MostTornBrain]

If you don't find another option, maybe I can get PF2 support working. I did a quick check and the PF2 code seems very similar in changes needed that I did for other rulesets already. I might be able to get something working later tonight if you think it would be helpful.

I got the Cohorts and Companions extension working with Pathfinder 2. I don't own any material for this ruleset, so I had to create some NPCs and PCs from scratch to test. If you end up trying it, please let me know if you see any issues. One caveat with this - since this was designed for controlling "friendly" NPCs, the default state when the NPC is dropped onto the Combat Tracker is Friendly. You can then change the NPC to "Hostile", however, depending on the HP view you have for the campaign the controlling player may no longer see the wounds assigned.

I'll update the Forge version shortly, but that usually takes a day or two to get approved. In the meantime, you can grab it from here: https://github.com/MostTornBrain/CohortsAndCompanions/releases/download/v1.0.7c/CohortsAndCompanions.ext

Cheers,
Brian

[Weissrolf]

Handing NPCs over to player with dead chars or when the map is full of stuff is a good way to keep players in the game. If your extension would enable that then I would very much appreciate that. But only if it is not too much work, because then it should rather become part of the core. Thanks again.

Edit: I just saw the new post. Good stuff, I will test it and return with feedback.