Introducing a "shared" character

[bento]

I currently am running a game with four players who have the following characters:

* Half-Elf bard (4th level)
* Human Fighter (4th)
* Human Ranger (4th) - taking wildshape at 5th and giving up several class feats to do so
* Half-Ogre Ranger (2nd level)

I'd like the group to have a better rounded set of classes, but rather than introducing a DM-PC, I was thinking of a new tactic.

What if I created an additional character, most likely a divine spellcaster, and having the players take turns playing the extra character?

Has anyone done this and what's been your experience?

Does the additional character help round things out, or are they always the "Zeppo" of the party, only brought out when someone needs to heal the party, open the occasional locked chest or cast magic missle?

 

[blargney the second]

What's the problem with the group? I think as long as they have a happystick (CLW wand), they'll be good to go!

 

[Matafuego]

We had a "shared" PC for quite a while but it worked quite differently. It was a Monk and it was used by "special guests" at the table (the campaign had been going for quite some years and besides the main players, playing the main characters, we had lots of friends who would come and play for a couple of sessions and then drop because of college or work or whatever).
It was FUN, everyone added to the concept of the character and it ended up pretty good.

 

[Mallus]

We have a shared NPC kicking around my game currently. It's usually run by committee, unless someone is using it as a replacement PC because their primary character is off doing something time-consuming and best not played out, say like learning an entirely new school of magic.

The shared character is really an 'it', a sentient construct that was half built/half-salvaged by the parties resident mad scientist/alchemist, Burne.

We call it the M.O.D.O.S.S unit. It's basically an animated armor suit, which is 'piloted' be a smaller, lemur-shaped magical automaton, which started out as an enemy alchemist's construct familiar. The lemur sits in a 'cockpit' in the helmet and pilot the suit as if it were a man-sized giant robot. We liked to picture him in the heat of combat wearing a visor, smoking a cigarette, with his tiny arms furiously manipulating an array of control levers... for some reason I can't adequately explain.