RPGaDay 2019
Including an NPC in a party usually means having that NPC act as a guide for the PCs, in case they stray too far from the adventure path.
Not that it works all the time. If ever.
Rarely did our parties stray far from a story line, and in most cases we the GMs managed to improvise our way back to the main story.
So the NPCs we created ended up being an extra target for the bad guys, or an additional attack for the players.
The best name I came up with for an NPC?
Nikki Paula Chambers. Ex-Starfleet security, IIRC, and based on Shelley Long from Cheers. But with combat proficiency.