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<blockquote data-quote="kenmarable" data-source="post: 4788449" data-attributes="member: 40359">Wow, I guess I'm seriously in the minority here. Just about every campaign I've been in from basic D&amp;D, AD&amp;D, 2e, 3.x, and now 4e, with probably 4 or entirely different groups of players - we've had DM PC's. Typically it's been because we have rotating DMs and it just flowed better having the DM PCs there with everyone else and not disappearing depending on who was behind the screen. The 2nd reason we've done it is when I've had a 1 DM, 1 player group (did that a lot when I first started out in the 80's and then more recently with my wife and I when kids kept us from our regular groups).It has never been a problem for us. As long as everyone is fine with it, and the DM realizes that they are DM first and player second, I don't see any problem at all. Have the DM PC act within their own knowledge (which is easier to do than you would think), and there's no reason to do random dungeons or any of that.I'm sure it could go bad - especially if you have a prima donna DM PC that becomes overly indulged. And if you use a lot of puzzles and mysteries, then the DM PC is just a dumb bystander (definitely don't use the DM PC as a &quot;hint-giver&quot;, that leads to more problems than the PC just sitting it out and not contributing). But as long as the DM(s) are mindful of things and everyone in the group is fine with it, I say go for it.If others have had actual bad experiences with it, I'd like to hear what went wrong. But from all of my experience with using DM PCs (both as someone playing a DM PC and as just a player in other groups), it has has never been a problem.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="kenmarable, post: 4788449, member: 40359"] Wow, I guess I'm seriously in the minority here. Just about every campaign I've been in from basic D&D, AD&D, 2e, 3.x, and now 4e, with probably 4 or entirely different groups of players - we've had DM PC's. Typically it's been because we have rotating DMs and it just flowed better having the DM PCs there with everyone else and not disappearing depending on who was behind the screen. The 2nd reason we've done it is when I've had a 1 DM, 1 player group (did that a lot when I first started out in the 80's and then more recently with my wife and I when kids kept us from our regular groups). It has never been a problem for us. As long as everyone is fine with it, and the DM realizes that they are DM first and player second, I don't see any problem at all. Have the DM PC act within their own knowledge (which is easier to do than you would think), and there's no reason to do random dungeons or any of that. I'm sure it could go bad - especially if you have a prima donna DM PC that becomes overly indulged. And if you use a lot of puzzles and mysteries, then the DM PC is just a dumb bystander (definitely don't use the DM PC as a "hint-giver", that leads to more problems than the PC just sitting it out and not contributing). But as long as the DM(s) are mindful of things and everyone in the group is fine with it, I say go for it. If others have had actual bad experiences with it, I'd like to hear what went wrong. But from all of my experience with using DM PCs (both as someone playing a DM PC and as just a player in other groups), it has has never been a problem. [/QUOTE]

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