Sidekick Rules

This article gives you a straightforward way to play and level up a sidekick. The rules presented here take a creature and give it levels as you gain levels. On your adventures, you sometimes meet a townsperson, an animal, or another creature and forge a special relationship with them. That creature might even join you on your adventures, which usually sparks this question: how does this sidekick get better as you gain levels? As you become more powerful, the foes you face are likely to become too dangerous for Vera the guard, Biscuit the mastiff, or another companion you befriended in the early days of your adventuring career. This article answers the question, giving your sidekick a clear path of advancement.

Number of Sidekicks

A PC can have any number of sidekicks associated with them. However, they can only have one accompany them during their adventures. This means that the player will need to declare which sidekick is going along on the adventure and which is remaining home. Each side kick will still level up along with the PC as it is assumed that they are training.

Handling Challenge Rating

Any creature that has a challenge rating less than 1 is considered to be a level 1 sidekick and can progress through the sidekick levels without penalty. This means that the creature would take its first level of sidekick as soon as it joins the party. A challenge rating of 1 or more requires a level adjustment of the same amount. This means that a CR 3 creature has a level adjustment of 3. A creature can only begin to take levels in the sidekick after they have met their level adjustment criteria. This means that a CR 3 creature can gain its first level in sidekick when it reaches level 4.
A sidekick cannot be a higher level then the PC that it is accompanying. This means that if a PC manages to befriend a CR 2 creature while the PC is level 1, that creature cannot join them in adventures until the PC is level 2. The creature does not gain sidekick levels until the PC is of an equal level with it. In this example, the CR 2 creature would begin gaining sidekick levels after it can join the PC in adventures so that it would gain its first sidekick level when the PC reaches level 3.

Ability Scores

Upon gaining 1 level in any sidekick class, the creature gains a Sanity and Vigor ability score of 10. If they already have the score, then this does not apply. If they take a level in Spellcaster, their Vigor becomes 12 instead.

Bonds

Each character that has become a sidekick is considered to be bonded to the PC that it is joining. A sidekick can only be bonded to a single PC at a time. If the PC that the sidekick is bonded to leaves the party, the sidekick will leave the party with that PC. Should the PC die, the other PCs in the party can attempt to establish a bond with the sidekick. Failing to do so means that the creature leaves the party. If a new bond is formed, the sidekick will begin leveling based on the new bond. This means that if the sidekick is a higher level than the newly bonded PC, the sidekick cannot travel with the PC or gain additional sidekick levels until the PC has caught up with the sidekick. If the PC is a higher level, the sidekick is leveled up to match the newly bonded PC's level.

Sidekick Stats

In these rules, a sidekick is a creature who is your friend and who accompanies you on adventures. It’s essentially a second character you play. The sidekick can be any type of creature with a stat block in the Monster Manual or another D&D book or Ultra Modern book, but it must meet these prerequisites:

• The two of you must be friends.
• They cannot be hostile enemies with any of your party members

Ultra Max Conversion

Once a creature becomes a sidekick, you need to ensure that its stat block has been converted to the Ultra Max rules. This involves adjustments in the hit points, armor class and damage.

Gaining a Sidekick Class

When you create a sidekick, you choose the class it will have for the rest of its career: Expert, Spellcaster, or Warrior, each of which is detailed below. A sidekick cannot multiclass in these classes. It is considered multiclassed only if it has a level adjustment due to its CR, in which case the sidekick is considered to have levels in the Monster class. A sidekick starts at the same level as the PC it is bonded to.

Leveling Up

Whenever you gain a level, your sidekick also gains a level. It doesn’t matter how much of your recent adventures the sidekick experienced; the sidekick levels up because of a combination of the adventures it shares with you and its own training.

Hit Points

Whenever the sidekick gains a level, it gains one Hit Die, and its hit point maximum increases by 1. This point is added to the first wound tier of a lower value.
Example: if a side kick currently has 6 hit points, its wound tiers would be 2/2/1/1. Upon gaining an additional hit point, the 3rd tier would increase to 2.

Proficiency Bonus

The sidekick's proficiency bonus is determined by its level in that class as shown in the class's table. Whenever the sidekick's proficiency bonus increases by 1, add 1 to the to-hit modifier of all the attacks in its stat block and increase the DCs in the stat block by 1.

Ability Score Increases

Whenever the sidekick gains the ability score improvement (ASI) class feature, remember to adjust anything in its stat block that relies on an ability modifier that you increase with the feature. For example, if the sidekick has an attack that uses strength, increase the attack's modifiers to hit and damage if the sidekick's strength modifier increases. If it is unclear whether a melee attack in the stat block uses strength or dexterity, the attack can use either.

Multi Attack vs Extra Attack

Your sidekick might have the Multiattack action in its stat block. If it does and it gains the Extra Attack class feature, remember that Extra Attack works with the Attack action, not the Multiattack action. In short, you can’t use Extra Attack with Multiattack, but rather would need to decide which of the two the sidekick would use that turn.

Equipment

Sidekicks can be given gear. They must have the physical ability to use the gear in order to benefit from the item. If it is a humanoid or has a simple or martial weapon in its stat block, it can be assumed that the creature has the functional ability to manipulate objects in the same manner that a human uses their hands. Additionally, the equipment must be size appropriate. All equipment is assumed to have been built for a medium creature. Thus, other sized creatures would need to have items created specifically for their use.