What to do with a DM's PC?

[Merkuri]

We're going to start a round-robin style 4e campaign after our current one is over, where people take turns as the DM, and we're trying to decide what to do with the current DM's PC.

My personal preference is to have the PC sit out the sessions when his player's DMing, but others in our group feel differently. One good argument for the PC to stick around is that we've got a fairly small group (5 people, including DM) so in most cases if we're down a PC we'll also be missing a combat role and will no longer be a balanced party.

One of the things I suggested was to limit the DM PC's powers somehow, since the number of choices is one of the things that makes a PC hard to run when you're DMing. Maybe at-wills only, or any at-wills and pick 1 each of encounter and daily to use while you're DMing.

What have others done in this situation? What works well for your party?

 

[Fanaelialae]

We're going to start a round-robin style 4e campaign after our current one is over, where people take turns as the DM, and we're trying to decide what to do with the current DM's PC.

My personal preference is to have the PC sit out the sessions when his player's DMing, but others in our group feel differently. One good argument for the PC to stick around is that we've got a fairly small group (5 people, including DM) so in most cases if we're down a PC we'll also be missing a combat role and will no longer be a balanced party.

One of the things I suggested was to limit the DM PC's powers somehow, since the number of choices is one of the things that makes a PC hard to run when you're DMing. Maybe at-wills only, or any at-wills and pick 1 each of encounter and daily to use while you're DMing.

What have others done in this situation? What works well for your party?

We don't usually have DMPCs, but it seems like the companion character rules (DMG2) could be useful in this case. Just have each player write up a companion character version of their PC and use that while DMing.

 

[Taed]

If the person who is currently DMing doesn't have a PC, then that person could play the PC of whoever is the temporary DM for each session. That is, I think your current group has 4 players (each with a PC) and a DM with no PC. So, when one of the players becomes the new DM, the current DM can then take over their character. Of course that only works if the current DM doesn't have or want a character to call their own and would like playing other people's characters.

 

[Merkuri]

If the person who is currently DMing doesn't have a PC, then that person could play the PC of whoever is the temporary DM for each session.

We're continuing the round-robin campaign from a mini-campaign that I started, so I'm the one without a PC right now, and I wanna have my own PC. I've DM'd 4e before, but never actually been on the PC side of it. Not only do I want to play it, but I feel like having my own PC would give me a better understanding of the game and would make me a better DM for when it's my turn in the chair again.

 

[ValhallaGH]

What have others done in this situation? What works well for your party?

I'm currently running a campaign (I'm the main DM, but we switch up when one of the others has a plot they'd like to run) where I have a PC in the party. He's screwed up my plots on a few occasions because the bad guys "didn't know he could do that" and he kept stuff from escaping / happening by being present and able to detect it / deal with it. Which is fine, everyone needs a moment to shine (even the DM PC).
On the other hand, he's a valued member of the group (it ain't his story, it's the team's story, but he's a member) so I'm not going to just have him killed off or walk away (unless it somehow comes up in the story).

Oddly, I don't have any trouble running him. He's complicated and can be really, really encounter-busting but no more than any of the other PCs (and less than some); I know him well enough that I can run him mostly from memory.
It's the villains that I have trouble with, since I rarely get to use one for more than two sessions. They always have something that I forgot about, or could have done better, or should have used instead of how I did do things. But, that's a DM's lot.

In my experience, you don't need any hard rules for what the current DM does with his PC. Each one has their own style, and many of them will sideline their character (either with other adventures, character life getting in the way, or something else), but it can also be a great way to learn to juggle NPCs better, and a fun RP opportunity.
I say, let each figure out their own solutions. Just make sure no one uses their DM time to turn their character into the "star" of the game. That's just narcissistic and boring.

Good luck.

 

[fba827]

from most my past experiences, I had to suggest: if at all possible, find a way for the DMPC to sit out for the session (maybe he's always back outside the city tending the horses and guarding the camp spot, maybe he's always back at the inn just hanging out and resting for the day, and so on).

Having said that, if your players don't like the idea (be it for story flow reasons, player numbers, etc) then keep your DMPC's main stats (defenses, attack, etc) don't worry about situation stuff (nothing about +X if target bloodied, the main stat is all there is) and then pick one atwill at power, one encounter attack power, and one daily attack power, and one utility power (or misc type power that is just so defining it would be remiss not to have it like a sneak attack feature, or something).

 

[Cross]

We too play with a round robin DM (4 players, 1 DM). The way we run it is that one player volunteers to take on the DM's PC, running it as if it was his own, with the only DM input being leveling decisions and commenting if an action is VASTLY out of character for his PC. So far, this has worked nicely; if anything the DMs are harder on their own characters than anyone else!

Pros: Keeps the same characters throughout the adventure, makes for consistent story flow

Cons: One player manages two characters, DMs could theoretically show favoritism/antagonism toward their PC.

-Cross

 

[Ebylon]

I'm our group's primary DM, but whenever we finish a major adventure, I let one of the other guys run a 1 or 2 session adventure. We usually just say that their character is doing (insert roleplaying BS here). Training with a Master, running long patrols with the local military, taking a trip home, on a spirit journey, etc. Them going out and doing something lets you explain why they might have leveled up while everyone else that was playing the adventure did as well.

 

[Insight]

Here's what we did in our "round robin" style DM-ing situation. Each DM had a PC, but only played that PC when they were strictly a player; no DM had a PC that was actively in the adventure. To "compensate" the DM's PC when he returned, that PC was essentially "remade" using the "creating characters of high level" guidelines and given the same XP as the highest total in the party. We felt like those were good rewards for having run the game for a time.

As for what the DM's PC was doing while away from the party, we were lucky enough that the setting supported each of the PCs having their own side-quests, so it was perfectly reasonable that the DM's PC was off doing that while not adventuring with the rest of the group.

 

[Mallus]

Our 4e campaign is on it's 4th DM and whenever someone starts running, their PC's become inactive/go offscreen.