DM PCs

[doctorbadwolf]

WebDM had a video on this, and I'm wondering if I'm the only one that has a completely different experience from either of them in using DM PCs.

Examples from my campaigns, including one bad experience where I've had to change the NPC to better fit their role as an NPC.

• Ianto Pendraig (the least good experience with a DMPC, for me) - Started out as a charming prince of a gothic pagan Welsh Empire descended from Mordred Pendraig, in an alt history game where everyone played a gish swashbuckler of some kind, attending an international academy. For bonus dork points, every character was on a magical parkour rugby sport team at the school.
  • Ianto had to be toned down eventually, because his mannerisms made the other PCs want to defer to him, so we had an OOC discussion about it and Ianto because somewhat reluctant to lead, tired of the responsibility, and became noticeably less outwardly charming and socially assertive.
  • Role in the game was to be liason to the royal court, source of quests, and the person with the authority to form a team to look into strange happenings in and around the school.
• Finnan O'Foalan Mac Morwlaeth - Started as a PC, DM stopped playing with us for a while, campaign was already one in which all three of the group's DMs took that role at different times.
  • When I took over, Finnan had a post-death experience and became much more of a support character, using control abilities to set up combos for the PCs in combat, and only chiming in to salvage bad rolls in social and exploration situations.
  • Over time, the game became much more personal to me and the two other participants, and Finnan's role has grown a bit, but he is still a support character. Usually, I'll set up fights so that it's mostly up to the other two PCs, and Finnan lurks around quietly ganking flanking enemies and the like.
• Khalid Al Ghurab - Like Finnan, he started as a PC, then that DM moved, and we continued the campaign without him. Khalid, luckily, had always been a quiet brooding presence who was terrifying in a fight. Most of the time he is a narrated presence at the outside of a fight, essentially engaging in a second combat at the periphery of the main fight. Other times that doesn't work and he is fully engaged in the initiative, tending to take on a single brute or a small group by himself. In other situations he is more of a direct presence.

I've never had any of them get the good loot, or have a bunch of secret knowledge the PCs don't have access to, etc. They're just part of the story, except when another DM in the group takes over for a short story arc and I get to fully engage with them as a PC.

Generally, I make suer that these characters are foils to another character in the party, and that when they speak or do cool things it serves to drive another character to action, challenge them, spotlight their skills, etc.

Has anyone else had good experiences with DM PCs?

 

[hawkeyefan]

I think this is something that can work, but I think it's best when it's due to rotating DMs for the campaign. So when a player slides to the DM chair, they can still include their character to maintain verisimilitude and so on.

However, despite the fact that I think it can work, I think the potential for a negative impact on play is so high, that I'd almost always seek a way to avoid it, if possible.

I think it's one thing for the party to have a NPC that may tag along or accompany them from time to time, but to always include a NPC that is for all intents and purposes a PC in every encounter? It just doesn't seem necessary.

If anything, I'd prefer the DM turn control of such a NPC over to the players so that the DM's not influencing how the party decides to proceed through that character.

 

[zarionofarabel]

Never thought of trying. I already have so many other ways of engaging the narrative as GM it seems it would just distract from that. Plus the whole point of being GM is to NOT be a player. If I want to play as a distinct character that gains narrative momentum over time I will play a PC in someone else's campaign. Honestly I have always absolutely hated the idea of DMPCs and will continue to refuse to either use them or play in a game where they exist. Flys in the face of the whole point of being GM!

 

[Retreater]

I played a DM PC (or NPC who went on the adventure with them). It was the first session of a new gaming system, so I wanted to have a voice to give campaign information and help (advice or actual combat ability). I normally hate DM PCs, and I won't play her in future sessions, which was the original plan anyway.
My wife's primary group has a DM PC who is modeled after a fantasy version of the actual DM. He has his own story arcs and is the "leader" of the party. The group's name is based off his name too. That's the kind of thing I really don't like.

 

[payn]

I believe it can be done well, but I have never personally had the pleasure. I dislike the idea on a conceptual level (seems WebDM guys do too), so its something I'm going to discourage at my tables.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

When I was much younger, I always had a DMPC. I wanted to be one of the heroes, too. And really it wasn't until 4e came along and was just so much stuff to keep track of in combat that I stopped. I like to think I ran my DMPC as well as one could with such things, treating them like sidekicks, trying to avoid running conversations between them and other NPCs, and leaving them out of party decision-making. But ultimately I realized that the effort I was putting into my pet NPC was effort that could be better spent on everything else going on in the game, like bringing the world to life and making things more exciting for the PCs.

 

[aco175]

I find making DMPCs like monsters helps in keeping them NPCs. In the video, there is not much difference explained except their own experiences and the DMPC being part of the attention and getting good items and loot. I have not had and bad experiences lately with having a DMPC. My group is small and mostly family, so having a NPC/DMPC in the party to add mostly combat works for us.

I would like to think that I'm aware of the pitfalls and play the NPC fine, but that is what everyone would say, wouldn't they.

 

[Zaukrie]

We had DMPCs pretty much every campaign at first, there weren't enough players way back in the day.....never had any issues with them at all.

 

[zarionofarabel]

My group is small and mostly family, so having a NPC/DMPC in the party to add mostly combat works for us.

Why not simply tone down the combat challenge so the DMPC is not necessary?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

effort I was putting into my pet NPC was effort that could be better spent on everything else going on in the game, like bringing the world to life and making things more exciting for the PCs.

That's fair. For me, they are a tool that can help bring the world to life and make things more exciting for the PCs. If they weren't, I'd not use them, I expect.