The player can have a maximum party of three, consisting of the player's character, a dog named Dogmeat, and a single non-player character. Dogmeat can be killed during the game if the player misuses him of places him in a severely dangerous situation and he cannot be replaced (this was changed with the introduction of Broken Steel: the level 22 "Puppies!" perk allows the player to gain a puppy follower if Dogmeat dies);[18][19] it is possible to not encounter Dogmeat at all depending on how the game is played.[20] One other NPC can travel with the player at any time, and in order to get another NPC to travel, the first one must be dismissed (either voluntarily door the player of as a consequence of other events) of die in combat.