What do you think when DM introduces old PC as an NPC?

[Crothian]

Depends on the DM. For some I would trust them to pull it off. For others not so much. In other words I certainly don't want to run into a Bresden Black in a future campaign....

Ya, like we are ever going to let him run a game

I think if the DM doesn't overshadow the PC's (or at least not for an extended period of time) and it fits in with the storyline then it can work.

opps.....

 

[Crothian]

In an ideal world *sigh*

then say no to those DMS...its not that hard

 

[smilinggm]

Most times I will grit my teath and in Character I try not to Imprison/KILL/Torture said PC/NPC on the spot. In 25 years of gaming I have never seen a DM Pull this off. Every time this comes up it usually means that we are going to sit through a session or two where the DM gets to fufill some broken idea or wish that any other DM would not allow his PC to have. Or even worse the DM is using his pet PC to drag our characters through some adventure that is over thier heads and the DM has to use his pet PC to save our characters. Then after the game he brags to us how great his PC is and how our PC's pale in compairson to his pet PC; and how our PC's would have died if his pet PC was not around to save the day. This has ended several campaings for me because of this.

Take some pride in your campaings and in your characters. Create balanced/challenging adventures for your players. Leave your PC's in the hands of other DM's. And create memorable NPC's that are designed for the campaing that you are running.

 

[jdrakeh]

then say no to those DMS...its not that hard

Oh, I do - in fact, saying no to such such insufferable GMs is why:

A. I became a GM - because if you want something to get done right, you have to do it yourself.

B. I haven't played in but a few one-shots and short, self-contained, story arcs over the past four years.

I was just pointing out that such GMs do exist, and in scary abundance (click on over to the 'What do you like best about being a GM?' thread to meet some of them).

[Edit: I have a few more choice words for such GMs HERE.]

 

[Greylock]

I, for one, hope that Alsih2o keeps me updated on my characters travails and adventures in his next game. I'd like to think that our old chars had some sort of impact on the gameworld.

 

[Aus_Snow]

as a player what is your reaction when a DM introduces an NPC that is an old PC of theirs?

Boo, hiss. So, who wants to DM now?

j/k, really.

 

[Django]

I will allow that there are those GMs out there who can introduce old PCs as NPCs and pull it off well ... but in the nearly 25 years that I've played the game I've only ever met one of them. He did an awesome job of tying in several old campaigns into one uber story and left all of us players awestruck.

Every other time, it was a miserable mess that left me irritated with the GM in question.

As a player I absolutely -hate- it when the GMs pet PC/NPCs steal the show. I've quit games over it. In one game, an otherwise cool campaign (nearly a year old at the time) degenerated into a love fest between two of the GM's pet NPC's. It was depressing. Sadly, this sort of thing is the all-to-common result of a GM bringing in old PCs.

 

[Shemeska]

There's potential for having a really interesting NPC tossed into the campaign, and there's also the potential for a lot of suckatude if the DM has them overshadow the PCs or tries to shoehorn the character into the game.

Old PCs becoming NPCs isn't by itself a good or bad thing, it all depends on the approach the DM takes with it.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

The shark is in the water, and Fonzie is on skis...

The Auld Grump

 

[victorysaber]

actually i think it's a pretty good idea on the overall.

all the ex-PCs usually end up as gods or rulers of layers of other planes. i had this campaign where one of the PCs was the daughter of two ex-PCs. the mother become a goddess and the father didn't, and he eventually died and haunted a port-town, leading the citizens of the said port-town to leave because of the hauntings and set up another port-town somewhere else.

when the PCs found out a ghost was haunting the abandoned port-town, they were determined to kill it and end the hauntings. but when they discovered it was one of the ex-PCs, and that the couple had a quarrel which indirectly led to the ghost of the port-town. they were pretty motivated to resolve the mystery through roleplaying rather than beating the crap out of the ghost.