D&D General The "DM's PC"

[R_J_K75]

NPCs in my campaign are strictly in the background as plot devices for flavor, random or encounters. If one accompanies the party it is only for a short time, but they are never party members. I ran a Co-op DM campaign once and the player that started and DM'd previously wanted to run his Uber NPC as a PC and I said "NO!" because I saw the problems coming a mile away.

 

[Wasteland Knight]

I never DMPC a character. My party frequently has NPCs in the mix. My campaigns often feature organic recruiting of various NPCs. Usually these are NPCs who share a motivation with the party. When that motivation is satisfied, many times these NPCs go their own way.

Sometimes an NPC will join up for an extended period of time. They may level up and obtain shares of treasure from the party. But, as the GM, I don't maintain any attachment or personal stake in these NPCs. And I decide their actions based on their motivation, and not according to the social contract that governs PCs.

 

[LordEntrails]

No, frankly no, simply because (for myself) the DM runs the game as they see fit, especially during the session, and I as a player will never know what is supposed to be working or how.

That's not really answering my poorly asked question and totally missing my point. But makes your view of the game table perfectly clear. Glad it works for you. Way too narrow minded for my tastes.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Unless I have a good-sized group of players (at least 5), I almost always end up having a PC for myself when I DM. It has never been an issue. shrug

My main gaming partner for the last two years has been my now-almost-7yo. I added a DMPC to the campaign about a year and a half ago at the kid's insistence; they were not happy just being the only hero character.

It's worked out fine.

 

[Cadence]

For smaller groups of players I've throw in a missing support NPC (the cleric who stands at the back). I'll sometimes let a player control them in a combat, but mostly they're ignored until needed.

 

[Lanefan]

We've had full-party-member NPCs since forever and rarely if ever has it been a problem. They come about in one or more of several ways:

--- Someone's hench graduates to full-member status (henches are uncommon but not unheard of)
--- The party realize they're lacking some skills and recruit NPCs to fill those holes (this is the most common party-NPC generator)
--- The adventure gives the party an NPC as part of its story e.g. a rescuee with adventuring skills, and that NPC fits in well enough to stick around after that adventure's done (also fairly common)
--- The NPC is a long-term DM plot device, or a double agent, or a spy, or will eventually reveal itself at some key moment to be part of the opposition (rare, but it's been done; most often the PCs cop to the NPC's real motives early enough to avoid any real headaches)
--- the PCs meet and merge with another adventuring group, each seeking strength in numbers at the time (rare, but it's happened a few times)
--- the party take in tolerable members of a rival adventuring group they just defeated (surprisingly common)

The players do the dice-rolling for the party NPCs, track their hit points etc., and usually determine what they do in combat (though the DM can always veto); the DM does their role-playing, treasury claiming (just like any other party member), and so forth.

I usually try to keep party NPCs at or near the level of the PCs; sometimes below, rarely if ever above unless it's something dropped in my lap by a published module. The one subtle difference is that often party NPCs will come and go from the party more often than PCs will, which tends to slow down their advancement. I also rarely if ever get attached to these NPCs; they have a normal sense of self-preservation but if they die, they die, and I don't lose sleep over it (edit to add - though sometimes the players/PCs will go to great lengths to revive a fallen party-NPC, treating it just as they would a PC party member; which makes sense given that in the fiction there's no 'PC' or 'NPC' labels stuck to the characters' foreheads).

That said, party NPCs have personality and will interact with the PCs based on that: rivalries with PCs, romances with PCs, friendships with PCs, etc. are all in play and - I hope - add to the entertainment.

 

[DND_Reborn]

That's not really answering my poorly asked question and totally missing my point. But makes your view of the game table perfectly clear. Glad it works for you. Way too narrow minded for my tastes.

Actually, it answered your question but I knew what you were trying to do. Sorry that my answer didn't play into your plans.

So, as I said before, when I DM and play a PC, there are no problems. I can easily separate the two roles in the game.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Yeah, as a general rule, I am against DM PC's. Rarely are they done in a way that the PCs don't hate them.

 

[FrozenNorth]

As a general rule, I do not like DM NPCs. It almost never goes well.

I have two exceptions that I have used in the past.

1. The deus ex machina. In a few campaigns, I have included a "DM NPC" that was a specific plot point that would accompany the adventurers in order to accomplish a specific goal.

2. The "retired PC." When PCs get super powerful, they can be retired and become setting NPCs; when they are encountered again, they are "DM NPCs" and can be interacted with on a limited basis.

I don’t use DM NPCs in either of the cases described, but I have a third situation where I will use a DM NOC.

3. The party is too small to do the adventure on its own (less than 4 players) AND the players are too inexperienced to run 2 PCs.

Even in that case, the NPC should participate the least possible, and classes that have a lot of social/utility abilities should be avoided (bards, rogues, wizards).

 

[aco175]

I have been using a DMNPC in 5e mostly since the number of players is small. The core group has been together for years and I feel that it goes fine. Maybe since I tend to play with my father and brother, and now my son.