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<blockquote data-quote="Wolv0rine" data-source="post: 3180520" data-attributes="member: 9045">Through all my years of playing, two DMs spring to mind who fit this thread.The first I gamed with nearly a decade ago, and I'm almost surprised the character's name wasn't actually Mary Sue, it was that bad.&nbsp; Oh neat, he's young, he's pretty, he's the most powerful wizard in the universe, and he's our boss.&nbsp; Did I say Neat?&nbsp; We canned him from the group after half a dozen sessions (would have been sooner, but we enjoyed tearing down his little excuse for a campaign first, because he'd just ticked us off that much).&nbsp; If this guy had been my only experience, I'd still be in the group that says DMPC=teh suxxors.Then I gamed with Ralts.&nbsp; A lot can be said about playing in a game Ralts runs, but the most brief is &quot;If you can, do it.&nbsp; If you can't, damn I'm sorry&quot;.&nbsp; Ralts ran a DMPC through nearly the entire length of the YotZ playtest game on IRC.&nbsp; The character was originally a normal PC, but his player started missing games (Ralts typically NPC'ed PCs whose player was abscent).&nbsp; He group noted that the character (Greg) was pretty friggin' cool as Ralts played him more and more.&nbsp; Eventually the player just had to drop from the game, but the group en masse decided we wanted Greg to stick around, and that we liked the way Ralts RPed the character so much that we wanted him to become Ralts' PC (even though he was the GM).Greg was a vital, loved, and involved fully-fledged member of the party.&nbsp; He was in no way an NPC, he was a PC as much as our characters were.&nbsp; We risked the entire party to save his life more than once, he had an ongoing romance with one PC, friendships and conflicts, a role in the group.&nbsp; If Ralts ever used Greg as a plot device, he did so well enough that it was never observable.&nbsp; Greg was completely indestinguishable from any of the other PCs.&nbsp; Ralts actually tried to give the character up once, and we wouldn't allow him to.That was the experience that put me firmly in the position that DMPCs can be done right, and are thus a viable option.&nbsp; If your DM can multitask his brain well enough to treat his DMPC AS a PC and not an NPC, then you welcome that character with open arms.The short version is that it depends on the skill and creativity of your DM.&nbsp; But really, without a good, concrete example (above) that's a cop out response.&nbsp; It's true, but doesn't mean anything unless you can show how it works.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Wolv0rine, post: 3180520, member: 9045"] Through all my years of playing, two DMs spring to mind who fit this thread. The first I gamed with nearly a decade ago, and I'm almost surprised the character's name wasn't [b]actually[/b] Mary Sue, it was that bad. Oh neat, he's young, he's pretty, he's the most powerful wizard in the universe, and he's our boss. Did I say Neat? We canned him from the group after half a dozen sessions (would have been sooner, but we enjoyed tearing down his little excuse for a campaign first, because he'd just ticked us off that much). If this guy had been my only experience, I'd still be in the group that says DMPC=teh suxxors. Then I gamed with Ralts. A lot can be said about playing in a game Ralts runs, but the most brief is "If you can, do it. If you can't, damn I'm sorry". Ralts ran a DMPC through nearly the entire length of the YotZ playtest game on IRC. The character was originally a normal PC, but his player started missing games (Ralts typically NPC'ed PCs whose player was abscent). He group noted that the character (Greg) was pretty friggin' cool as Ralts played him more and more. Eventually the player just had to drop from the game, but the group en masse decided we wanted Greg to stick around, and that we liked the way Ralts RPed the character so much that we wanted him to become Ralts' PC (even though he was the GM). Greg was a vital, loved, and involved fully-fledged member of the party. He was in no way an NPC, he was a PC as much as our characters were. We risked the entire party to save his life more than once, he had an ongoing romance with one PC, friendships and conflicts, a role in the group. If Ralts ever used Greg as a plot device, he did so well enough that it was never observable. Greg was completely indestinguishable from any of the other PCs. Ralts actually tried to give the character up once, and we wouldn't allow him to. That was the experience that put me firmly in the position that DMPCs can be done right, and are thus a viable option. If your DM can multitask his brain well enough to treat his DMPC AS a PC and not an NPC, then you welcome that character with open arms. The short version is that it depends on the skill and creativity of your DM. But really, without a good, concrete example (above) that's a cop out response. It's true, but doesn't mean anything unless you can show how it works. [/QUOTE]

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