What role does the DMPC need to fill?

[Desdichado]

I can totally respect the people who don't like using DMPCs at all, but frankly it IS necessary to have a healer.

:shrug: Nobody in my group likes being the healer. That's what we tend to end up without the most.

So, I 100% guarantee that it is NOT necessary to have a healer. We've done without one many, many times.

Plus, many other games/systems don't even have a healer option available. They all work fine.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I'll go with Leader, too. They feel more like enablers. That can be very rewarding to play, but I think it would be strange if the players would feel as if it was them setting up the enemy so the DMPC can come rescue them.

Defender is always in the face of the enemy and taking hits. A DMPC would give me the impression that the PCs aren't really in danger. A Controller just takes too much spotlight when he is changing the battlefield and popping Minions right and left. And the Striker is dealing the most damage - I wouldn't want to give that job to a DMNPC.

---

In my group, we're currently often having only 3 players (plus DM), so we decided to play 4-group parties where one player sometimes has to control two characters. Its an imperfect solution, but it works. In a way, we already started this in 3E, by many PCs picking up Leadership to get a cohort, but it was sometimes a little of a headache to control two characters (especially if you picked two spellcasters)

 

[frankthedm]

The DMPC needs to fill the role of the first to die. Forcing the players to run multiple characters in 4E is not that burdensome and a far better solution IMHO.

 

[Asmor]

:shrug: Nobody in my group likes being the healer. That's what we tend to end up without the most.

So, I 100% guarantee that it is NOT necessary to have a healer. We've done without one many, many times.

Even with a healer, the combats I've run tend to have been close calls that use up all the available healing and usually end with several characters close to 0, if not already there.

So what I'm saying is that my mileage varies very much.

Plus, many other games/systems don't even have a healer option available. They all work fine.

That's like saying the space shuttle flies fine even though it doesn't have an outboard motor. What's necessary in one system need not be necessary in another.

 

[Remathilis]

I'll go with Leader, too. They feel more like enablers. That can be very rewarding to play, but I think it would be strange if the players would feel as if it was them setting up the enemy so the DMPC can come rescue them.

Defender is always in the face of the enemy and taking hits. A DMPC would give me the impression that the PCs aren't really in danger. A Controller just takes too much spotlight when he is changing the battlefield and popping Minions right and left. And the Striker is dealing the most damage - I wouldn't want to give that job to a DMNPC.

My experience with DMPCs lead me to that too. Defender/Tank warrior feel like I'm fighting myself (and thus, I rarely feel the need to be fair). Controllers/nukers and expert/strikers take away alot from the fight by overshaodwing it (true story, I had a striker NPC for a while who "killed" 90% of the monsters they fought. Eventually, she would "kill them" but the monster would stand, miss on any attack it made (no matter die roll) until the next PC did 1 point of damage to them, just so that the NPC didn't get all the killing blows).

Leaders (clerics, bards, etc) work well since I can auto-pilot them and I don't feel they need to be "active" like a regular PC does, they can hold their action and play supportive roles without me being bored.

 

[justanobody]

Well I just screwed up the pole..... darn checkboxes vs radio buttons....

I don't think DMPCs should exist, but in the event of a tag along NPC to aid in the course of the plot, they should do nothing to little, and only fill in for healing and let all things be done by the actual players.

Preferably letting the players use it during combat situations for anything it may need to do, and it is mostly silent observer in other situation unless it has some function of the plot.

This is edition neutral.

I would much prefer the players to have an extra PC if one is needed that one player runs two characters or something than have to mess with anything I already don't need to.

 

[Klaus]

Other:

- Administering Healing Potions and triggering Second Winds on unconscious characters;
- Picking up dropped weapons;
- Mapping.

So I guess it's a medic/secretary role.

 

[diaglo]

Other. DMPCs should be slain. They are wrongbadfun.

 

[exile]

First, I am not a fan of DMPCs (I am however a fan of quality NPCs that might adventure with the party, specifically the plucky, but largely ineffective sidekick mentioned above).

Second, sometimes a DMPC is needed to help survive the challenges of particular adventures, especially ones not designed by the DM for the group in question. It seemed in previous editions, the role that the DMPC most often had to fill was that of healer. I think with 4E we are seeing or will see a paradigm shift, and teh DMPC will most often be a defender.

Chad

 

[Blair Goatsblood]

The role of the DMPC is to die in some humourous-yet-horrible fashion 5 minutes into the adventure.