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<blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 6032513" data-attributes="member: 1165"><p>DMPCs, as such characters are called, have a bad reputation. It's very difficult for a DM to "properly" play such a character or even notice if they're not playing them "properly". The reputation is made even worse because some DMs have been abusive with said DMPCs, having them overshadow the PCs, and so the players are "anti-charmed" and see everything said DMPC does in the worst possible light (even if the DM in question <strong>isn't</strong> being abusive).</p><p></p><p>One time I introduced a DMPC in my d20 Modern game (set in Ancient China). The PCs needed a doctor badly, as we only had two to three players at a time. Instead of directly controlling the doctor NPC, I let them build him. He used the Ordinary class rules rather than the PC class rules (if you play 4e, picture said NPC as a "companion" rather than a full-fledged PC) and was two levels lower than the PCs to boot.</p><p></p><p>I had the players design and control him, so I couldn't accidentally make him better or worse at various things. Naturally, they tried to keep him out of trouble, but close enough that he couldn't get murdered when they looked the other way. In one session, they stormed a bandit hideout, and told him to hide behind a pillar and shoot arrows at the bad guys. Unfortunately, the bandits figured something like this would happen (I had the traps set up before the PCs announced their plans) and the doctor had a bunch of logs fall on his head. He lived though! Had I been playing the doctor, I don't know if that would have happened. (Would I have put him there anyway, hoping to scare the PCs by dropping logs on him? Or would I have had him avoid that area for whatever reason? Unfortunately, analyzing one's own thinking is not easy, as there's always subconscious influences.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(Psi)SeveredHead, post: 6032513, member: 1165"] DMPCs, as such characters are called, have a bad reputation. It's very difficult for a DM to "properly" play such a character or even notice if they're not playing them "properly". The reputation is made even worse because some DMs have been abusive with said DMPCs, having them overshadow the PCs, and so the players are "anti-charmed" and see everything said DMPC does in the worst possible light (even if the DM in question [b]isn't[/b] being abusive). One time I introduced a DMPC in my d20 Modern game (set in Ancient China). The PCs needed a doctor badly, as we only had two to three players at a time. Instead of directly controlling the doctor NPC, I let them build him. He used the Ordinary class rules rather than the PC class rules (if you play 4e, picture said NPC as a "companion" rather than a full-fledged PC) and was two levels lower than the PCs to boot. I had the players design and control him, so I couldn't accidentally make him better or worse at various things. Naturally, they tried to keep him out of trouble, but close enough that he couldn't get murdered when they looked the other way. In one session, they stormed a bandit hideout, and told him to hide behind a pillar and shoot arrows at the bad guys. Unfortunately, the bandits figured something like this would happen (I had the traps set up before the PCs announced their plans) and the doctor had a bunch of logs fall on his head. He lived though! Had I been playing the doctor, I don't know if that would have happened. (Would I have put him there anyway, hoping to scare the PCs by dropping logs on him? Or would I have had him avoid that area for whatever reason? Unfortunately, analyzing one's own thinking is not easy, as there's always subconscious influences.) [/QUOTE]
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