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A Non-Party PC is essentially a character that doesn't show up in the party roster and never takes to the battlefield but is still "part of the party" and takes part in cutscenes and such (and may have some sort of effect on the battle). A good example of this is Gig from Soul Nomad or that fairy in Bravely Default (I can't remember her name offhand). Generally the reason is because they either don't have a body or are too small to actually fight... though they could also be a noncombatant.


Now... what about using this technique for a character who CAN fight? What would be some things to look out for?

As for the reason I'd like to use this technique: The character in question is a veteran fighter, really high level... to the point where having him on the actual battlefield would ruin the story. However, he sells out his skills as a mercenary... a "you pay, I cast spells" type of deal.

So his character actually works better as a skill for the main character (there are also times you can just pay him to bypass an obstacle instead of taking the circuitous route. For example: Big metal door blocks your path. you can a) search for the key or b) pay this guy to disintegrate the door). Also, if you die to a boss, you'll see this character walking away (he makes it pretty clear early on that he doesn't care about your quest and doesn't even really like you all that much)

So I'm interested in what you guys think about the pros and cons of using a character like this and what kinds of story elements would be good to have there to avoid the fridge logic of "why doesn't he just do X?"