Gandalf - Patient Zero of Bad DMPC Epidemic?

[Knight Otu]

Wasn't gandalf a half-celestial sorcerer8 last time we talked about it?

For all we know, he might have been so far into epic territory that he cast silent, stilled, quickened, persistent mass animal buffs on the whole Fellowship each morning without anyone noticing (in 3.0, add intensified). I mean, why else would the Fellowship break apart after his death?

I can certainly agree with the sentiment that many DMPCs may be modeled after Gandalf in some fashion. Obviously, he wasn't one himself.

 

[RedShirtNo5]

Does someone have the stats for the Rings of Powah!?!?

Would You Let a Halfling Rog1 Have this Magic Item?

 

[Numion]

..snip..

No he is clearly a PC in a game with characters with varying power levels. Gandalf's player was a bit of a powergamer and drama queen. You brought up him coming back from the dead in a later post. That is hardly unheard of for a PC in D&D.

Good arguments, Rykion. Well played.

I agree that singularly any of those qualities can be present in a PC. But if they all exist within a single character, that has to be a DMPC that's forced upon the PCs. No player would stand gaming with another player running such a character - but when the DM forces the situation, players going into 'us vs. him' mentality can keep the game going.

BTW, nice avatar

 

[Trickstergod]

What do you think? Is Gandalf the stereotypical bad DMPC, an annoyance to boot?

Is he the stereotypical bad DM PC? No.

Is he their inspiration? Oh, most definitely. Vis-a-vis, Elminster.

 

[rkwoodard]

of course they are books

Hi,
Of course they are books...books that were written well before the advent of RPGs, it is still fun to talk about them like RPGs. We are not called geeks for no reason. With that in mind, here is how I would shake out the party:

Gandalf: BAD DMPC

Aragorn: Munchkin, tries to get every mechanical advantage he can (race/class combos)

Boromir: Jumper, he never stays satisfied with one character so kills them off and jumps to another one. He plays Faramir in the second set of adventures and Eowyn in the third

Merry/Pippin: The girlfriends of aragorn and Boromir

Legolas/gimili: Standard players/cliche roleplayers

Frodo/Sam: The ROLEPLAYERs. They don't need any stinkin combat abilites.

Gee that was fun.

RK