How do you feel about DM PCs?

[Sarellion]

I use DMPCs to test some new rules and alternate character builds rarely explored. I also use them to shore up weaknesses.

The majority of groups I played in the last 15 years had DMs who had PCs themselves. All but one were pretty good.

 

[Hammerhead]

While I wouldn't refer to anything I've done as a "DMPC," I have run several characters alongside the party for a significant period of time. Rangers/Horizon Walkers, Hexblade/Fighters, a Favored Soul, a Ranger/Fighter/Dervish, and a Cleric (she lasted the longest, from Level 8 to Level 15). They shore up some party weaknesses and make difficult fights easier. It also helps to reduce "the party versus the world" mentality that seems very prevalent in some groups.

The real reason I use these characters is because otherwise it's very difficult to get anyone to give a damn about an NPC. Otherwise, they're simply people who aren't there when important and dangerous things happen.

 

[Odhanan]

Unfortunately, my expereince with it is universally bad--including when I DM. Either the DMPCs are the focus of the adventure in some way or the players think they are. Either way, it's less fun for the players. So, I just stopped doing it. I'm at the game table to play or DM, not both at the same time.

Yes. The "plot device" thing is a good flaw too. If the DMPC has an important/obligatory part of the adventure attached to it, it's almost always a bad idea, because it means in most cases the spotlight will be stolen from the PCs, which is the one thing that absolutely should not happen. The same way, the DMPC should never, ever do things that would be "required" for the adventure to go on, succeed. It should not become a deux ex machina in any sort of circumstance.

As for the players believing there's something important about the PC, it all depends on how the players trust you as a DM. If they do, then simply explaining that the character is not an important part of the events in the game and making it sort of obvious in-game is quite sufficient, really.

 

[Iron Captain]

On the one hand I think good NPCs are what makes roleplaying really fun. On the other hand when NPCs get into combat they tend to drift into the background until one player finally asks "Hey what happened to NPC?"
DM:"Oh uhmmm he's right here."

In my experience DMs tend to forget about NPCs in combat rather than push them into the spotlight.

 

[Odhanan]

In my experience DMs tend to forget about NPCs in combat rather than push them into the spotlight.

I think that's a question of experience of the DM. If the DM continually forgets about NPCs accompanying the group in the adventure, then that means the DM isn't as experienced as one or the other would like to believe.

 

[ZombieButch]

On the one hand I think good NPCs are what makes roleplaying really fun. On the other hand when NPCs get into combat they tend to drift into the background until one player finally asks "Hey what happened to NPC?"
DM:"Oh uhmmm he's right here."

The last DMPC I had was like that.. but only because he was a complete coward who was just waiting for a chance to screw the party over. If they hadn't needed to keep him around, they'd have whacked him out a dozen times, at least...

And, man, were they BRUTAL when they finally did take him out, after he'd served his purpose. Remember that scene in Casino, when they took Joe Pesci out to the corn field, beat him to a pulp with baseball bats, and then buried him alive? It was like that, only with crowbars and a car crusher.

 

[A'koss]

For years I ran DM PCs with few problems. Most of the time they were filler roles - Clerics, Rogues and the occassional Fighter with all real decisions/party strategies handled by the players. They would get some "Spotlight" time (especially if they were the only ones who could handle a specific task like turning undead or a timely backstab) but overall they would never see the same kind of glory/spotlight time the PCs received.

 

[The Shaman]

I ran a DMPC with one group many years ago - we rotated dungeon masters in the same setting, so when one of us took over behind the screen, that gamer's character became the DMPC.

Other than that, I never found any reason to run a character in a game that I was refereeing.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

On the one hand I think good NPCs are what makes roleplaying really fun. On the other hand when NPCs get into combat they tend to drift into the background until one player finally asks "Hey what happened to NPC?"
DM:"Oh uhmmm he's right here."

In my experience DMs tend to forget about NPCs in combat rather than push them into the spotlight.

Something similar happens to me - I remember their existence, I just make sure they stay out of combat. I never use combative GMPCs.

I've used something that could resemble a GMPC twice.

The first time, the heroes were short on people (a few people couldn't make it) and didn't have a medic. I let them make an Ordinary (think expert) with two fewer levels than them to accompany them. They tried to keep him out of combat, NPCs didn't deliberately target him (they didn't perceive him as a threat), but twice he nearly got killed by traps! (I let the heroes control his actions that time.)

The second time, the PCs were on a jungle trek, and they had a few NPCs going with them. One, Dr. K, turned out to be almost "too good" - statistically he wasn't better than the PCs in any way, but he knew more about the natives than any of the PCs and could speak their language, which meant he ended up doing quite a bit of social interaction that should have been left to the PCs. Whoops. That's something I'll try not to do again. (One of the natives could speak English ... poorly ... but speaking to him took about three times longer than speaking to someone who understood English well.)

I've scrapped every other GMPC concept I came up with, because they always end up being better than the PCs once I've designed them - I'm a good optimizer when I put my mind to it.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I've had bad experiences with them, as player and DM. Many DMs make them Mary Sues, which sucks.

I had one NPC that was supposed to be a plot device but the players refused to take the plot hook and I forced the story rather than letting it die. It was a horrible thing, probably the worst story arc I've ever ran and definitely the only thing close to a railroad. I apologized to the players after the fact and told them I'd learned my lesson.

Recently I was inadvertantly acquiring a DM PC when the party resisted every effort of an NPC to leave. He was really just supposed to tag along until he had adapted to "human" society. The party quite simply liked him and found him a valuable member of the group. I realized I had to retire him when I started cringing when his hitpoints got near death. The party still occassionally asks if "H'orst can come out to play." Obviously I don't need to apologize to the players this time.