Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sieobahn" data-source="post: 2089374" data-attributes="member: 21068">One DM I know likes to run an NPC with the group, however this character is more powerful than the rest of us. The DM tends to use him when he realises we are in danger of all getting killed off, so only then does he step in (usually stands around and watches). That is only a small group, with three players.As a player I don't like that approach, as it takes the risk off the PC's, we know the NPC will step in and save us. And it is made worse because he is so much more powerful that the rest of the group.Another DM normally includes an NPC or two, they are typically similar or lower powered  than us. The problem there is they are usually forgotten about until halfway through the battle. I joined halfway through that campaign, and didn't even know about these NPC's until the second session! They were just window dressing and didn't add any value to the game.When I DM, I don't run characters. If I do, I tend to forget about them like the second DM above. In a recent campaign I did run a character, but I killed him off in the first session in a nasty accident. He was only there as the story hook, and I wanted the players to think for themselves. They didn't figure out I had done that on purpose until the end of the game and I had told them!One option I have used is having a player create a secondary character. Often in a bodyguard or support role, maybe even as a cohort. Running two PC's is difficult, but if you design a character to be the quiet type, there is not much roleplaying needed, it can sit around in the background until its skills are needed. And if your primary character gets killed off, you have something to play!</blockquote>

Verification