How do YOU define a DMPC? What's the difference between a major NPC and a DMPC?
@olis2073
Жыл бұрын
Whether the DM constantly forgets to roll initiative for them in combat or that they are even there at all! :,)
@tibot4228
Жыл бұрын
I'd offer a rather limited definition: a DMPC is an NPC that allows the DM to also be a player. This means that an NPC that sticks with the party every single session doesn't have to be a DMPC. To prevent a regular NPC from being a DMPC, a DM can: 1. ensure that it doesn't solve puzzles or social encounters (much easier if they don't speak and terrible Int and Cha); 2. let the party control it in combat, unless they specifically ask you to do so; 3. target the DMPC if a party member has to die, especially as a result of a social encounter (e.g. Xanathar must disintegrate someone, or a hostage needs to be taken). In other words: a tool, not a character.
@harrywhiteley89
Жыл бұрын
A DMPC is an NPC the players want to be brought along on the adventure and ran by the DM in combat... Tasha's actually has a system called sidekicks which is an interesting way to make a DMPC as other than the Warrior I think they are all flat weaker than a PC of their level (after about level 3 as some of the available monsters have a lot of HP)
@rcschmidt668
Жыл бұрын
One measuring stick can be an escort mission. The party escorts the NPC, and the DMPC escorts the party.
@elizabethlestrad5282
Жыл бұрын
@@harrywhiteley89 You make a good point about that. Sidekicks ARE part of an official rulebook. Agree with companions/henchmen/DMPCs (whatever you want to call them) or not, there's obviously demand for not only being able to have major NPCs play more of a role, having more personality and development, and more importantly to have structured rules regarding when and how they can be implemented. If they're not railroading the party (or otherwise carrying the party), I don't see what the big issue is. Should a DM just not roleplay any of the NPCs then? It's one thing to give examples of good and bad implementation, but I think it's a bit much saying that the mechanic ITSELF will "destroy your DnD". @RC Schmidt Exactly. They shouldn't be carrying the party. If DM's want to make NPCs feel heroic (example: wanting to portray a King or Queen as someone who "leads from the front lines, rather than cowers in their fortresses"), I generally like the "off camera method". Outnumbered in forces, the NPC knight commander asks the players to aid in a strategy they hope will turn the tide of an ongoing conflict. The players are tasked with luring the enemy to a specific location and holding so that the knight commander's forces can attempt to encircle and route the enemy. Whether this succeeds (or not) is reliant soley on the performance of the party. They have their own smaller conflict, but it's given added weight by the stakes involved. Everything else happens off camera, but the NPC is never actually involved in the players fight (because they're somewhere else). The NPC might not die themselves, but how many troops they lose could be how you RP the overall results of the encounter.
@wurutana
Жыл бұрын
I am a father who DMs for my two sons. They like for me to have a character so we can all get gear and level up together. I let the boys choose all important decisions but I pitch in when it makes sense or the story stalls without diminishing their leadership of the story. Using your analogies, my DMPC is more like Gandalf. I give some guidance on where to go, I might block the big bad on the bridge, but I mostly step away when the party is in the thick of it.
@trevorclapham5571
Жыл бұрын
I have a similar experience. My wife and kids wanted me to DM them but after they made their characters they (mostly my wife) wanted me to make up a character also. Because they were only three characters I asked my wife and son to role up two characters each and my daughter only being 8 at the time I just thought one character is enough for her. I hear people say players should never play two characters and just use one. I have never experienced any issue with multiple characters for a player. I play Ad&d 1e and death can come from around any corner, so having a proper size party is very helpful. None of the them chose a cleric so I just riled up a cleric and she just sticks close to my sons wizard. Kind of like a glorified henchman.
@Sheuto
10 ай бұрын
Omg the secret ingredient to DMPC i love!
@tylerdurden7965
Ай бұрын
Im about to do this as well, i have a young daughter that i want to introduce to the D&D starter sets. Unfortunately those games require around 4 players to be balanced properly. so i plan on putting my "DMPC" in the party, maybe a sidekick and a pet, to fill out the group, But still letting her make all the important choices.
@Novagats
Жыл бұрын
My players have literally dragged like 6 of my NPCs into their party and they love having them around because of the separate personalities I gave them. They each have a story that can be explored (one of them is actually being explored atm thanks to the party taking a huge interest in it) and the party likes that potential
@heartsickruben
Жыл бұрын
These are the best kind of dmnpc's. Bless you based DM
@TheAciddragon069
Жыл бұрын
same, every campaign i end up playing a dmpc because the players fall in love with them and won't let them leave
@hbpattskyn
Жыл бұрын
I love the DNPCs in in our game too! Our DM is the BEST. They are all seperate people with individual personalities and backstories. I honestly don't know how he does that, handles all of our storylines, the overall story arc of his world, AND work a full time job! I've GM'd games and had GMNPC's -- and never had any complaints either (although, seriously, I've never tried to handle as many as my current DM). I would be very sad if all of our DMNPCs went away.... several are romantic interests, others are just good friends of the party.
@cyberpunk-2O77
Жыл бұрын
So your players have made a dating sim game
@SilverionX
4 ай бұрын
@@cyberpunk-2O77 Love doesn't have to be romantic.
@christophersieh4818
Жыл бұрын
My intention was never to have a DMPC, but my party would drag a random npc everywhere until he was basically a part of it. Though I did keep him 2 levels behind everyone else and really only spoke when spoken to. It was organic and really filled in the missing roles in the party without taking anything away. The party's love for this guy is what is keeping him on board.
@JarieSuicune
Жыл бұрын
YES! I love it! I have a similar character, but instead of being kept weaker than the party she is Lv. 20 with total and irrecoverable amnesia (beyond even a Wish. It makes sense in-setting). So she "levels up" by the party discovering or teaching her things. So far, they have taught her to defend herself with a staff and found that she can float in place but has no control over it (which terrified her). She is no more involved than the party makes her. They are welcome to drop her off at any time, they literally revived and requited her themselves. And hoo boy, they love trying to figure out what secrets she might have! (Not much, really. Like I said, total amnesia). Kinda like if you took Samus in Metroid Other M, but without any memories whatsoever or even knowledge of what a Power Suit is.
@IIIGioGioStarIII
Жыл бұрын
When I was running CoS, there were three NPCs in particular that my party fell in love with. Ireena, Doru, and a homebrew add on (a dog. In r/CurseofStrahd, people call the dog Lancelot, but I named them Ryaba after a Russian Fairytale). My party, when I had to bring up the ally to them decided that they wanted the dog. Mind you, the youngest player was 17, turning 18 and my oldest player is in their 40s. And they all got excited like 12 year old children at the thought that Strahd's enemy was a recently awakened dog with Paladin and Warlock classes that was always excited and loved belly rubs.
@tscoff
Жыл бұрын
I’ve done something similar but I kept the key NPC half of the level,that the PC’s were, not 2 levels lower.
@johnbabylon7626
Жыл бұрын
That was my experience too except I tried to control them during combat too. Way too much work. This time, I'm only doing the personality side of the NPCs. I'll let my players do the rest and they can decide if it's worth it or not. 😅
@johnbabylon7626
Жыл бұрын
@@JarieSuicune This is an automated notification informing you that your idea has been marked and stolen for use elsewhere.
@travisdacon9480
Жыл бұрын
I definitely think Gandalf in LOTR could be considered an NPC to the fellowship. He gives exposition and dialogue. He leaves, gets imprisoned, and then comes back. He "dies" in order to give everyone more motivation. He's a deus ex machina for the fight at helms deep, faramir at minas tirith, and frodo and sam at the volcano.
@minnesotanose
Жыл бұрын
galadriel, golem, tree beard, elrond, witch king are all npcs also.
@Lupostehgreat
9 ай бұрын
Yeah, Gandalf is the DMPC, and for narrative games he, and possibly even Frodo (at least in the movies, not the books) are the perfect examples of DMPCs that could work in a narrative tabletop. They either exposit and save people's asses, or they are there to have the shittiest job.
@travisdacon9480
9 ай бұрын
@@LupostehgreatI suppose you're right. He's a lot more involved with directly helping the party, but he acts a lot more like a DMPC would than a normal PC. It's hard to say I guess.
@Lupostehgreat
9 ай бұрын
@@travisdacon9480 so I could see an argument for DMPC; the boundaries between essential NPC and DMPC have to involve the DM's investment in the character. A capable DM can absolutely have a DMPC, and the party would never know they are that. They would just assume they are an essential NPC. So much of this stuff is subjective as all hell, and varies table to table (some tables despise any and all story elements being introduced, whereas other tables can have massive parties of DMPCs and suck it all up and love it), but I think a solid argument could be made for both Frodo and potentially Gandalf being a DMPC, just 2 different flavors that can be made to work. The dude who knows everything and fucks off when the party needs to stand on its own, and the dude who does the job of basically being a plot device the other characters have to make decisions around and doesn't get to do a ton of cool stuff but provides weight to the story.
@Thagomizer
3 ай бұрын
LoTR isn't a good analogue for D&D at all. Try Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. I would have said Conan, except he's definitely a DMPC.
@OrUptotheStars
Жыл бұрын
Kelly and Monty: you can be totally fine without a healer Wilhelm with 2hp, running away from a contaminated monster: I am not fine, guys! Meanwhile, Wilhelm has several healing potions on his person.
@schemage2210
Жыл бұрын
2 HP isn't 0HP. One requires a healer, the other does not.
@KnicKnac
Жыл бұрын
@@schemage2210 Well both situations still need healing, but I get your point.
@Catarinasunnergren
Жыл бұрын
Sounds like a wonderfully intense, high stakes moment that having a healer might have robbed you of. Yay!
@adriel8498
Жыл бұрын
Thats why I preffer how healing works on pf2
@emmasilver2332
Жыл бұрын
@@schemage2210 Technically another player could use their action to feed a downed player a health potion, but I get your point
@usuariob4948
Жыл бұрын
Personally I feel like it is appropriate to have a DMPC when the players actively ask you to have one. I was In a really small group, It was just me and a friend, and I wanted to RP as a dedicated healer, so I just told the DM "Hey, can you make a character and help us out a bit? or maybe a guard can join us or something"
@AnotherDuck
Жыл бұрын
For those really small groups, DMPCs work far better. And since the biggest pitfall, the way I see it, is the DM prioritising their own fun, if the players are the ones who want it, it's actually something to consider.
@Stereo-hb2lo
Жыл бұрын
Friend of mine also had a dmpc in his small group. Definitely seems fine in smaller groups if needed
@qlipothian
Жыл бұрын
We have only ever had one DMPC and they were a half orc fighter with no real plotline. The DM created them because me and the other players all had low AC and low HP when we first started the campaign. After a certain level the half orc left us and has become a reoccuring fun NPC for our characters to talk to.
@dragoninthewest1
Жыл бұрын
That's a good philosophy, although I refer to them as enhanced NPCs. It's not dissimilar to using a retired PC as an NPC eg [Spoilers] Vox Machina appearing in Critical Role campaign 3 or Arkhan the Cruel in the Descent into Avernus module. I would say that their only plot motive should be to help the party for a mission and then go back to their life.
@chromenewt
Жыл бұрын
Sounds like a rare case of DMPC done right. I created a DMPC for an old campaign of mine (home-brewed WH40K before Dark Heresy) because stupidly back then I had the philosophy of creating a story that would happen if they didn't interact with it but it's up to them how they affect things. They totally lacked any characters with any sort of knowledge of the Warp, and they were determined to go into said warp, and I didn't want to just say "you die, torn asunder over an eternity and going mad in a flash" so added a limited unsanctioned psyker to help. After they got out they said after the game the NPC was a Mary-Sue and made them feel redundant. Cue the blue screen face from me. It kind of felt like they wanted the rollercoaster despite being too short for the ride, then complained at the extra straps keeping them safe. I certainly gave plenty of warnings that following the Big Bad into hell on their home turf wasn't going to work out well, and they seemed eager to prod everything, and back then I was too eager to be a people pleaser. Now, 20+ years later, we're playing Mothership, where doing dumb shit gets you killed (even doing everything well will probably still get you killed) and they seem to still enjoy my games, so yeah, totally agree DMPCs mostly suck. Apart from when PCs decide a disposable NPC is now the most beloved mascot, and they tell you that they must come with the party at all times. If the PCs genuinely delight at interacting with an NPC and want to roleplay every. single. camp. and. bar. conversation, then I'd say go for it but come up with a reason so they don't get extra party member privileges (extra rolls, actions, attacks etc).
@michaelmccall2687
Жыл бұрын
If you really feel like the party is missing a role or is too small (sometimes it's an issue for a prewritten adventure or for what the DM has in mind) then sidekicks from Tasha's are a great substitute. Have a player run them in combat, let them be a voice for DM input out of combat. Sidekicks are balanced to be support for the team instead of pulling focus away from the PCs.
@IndigoF0X
Жыл бұрын
I’m in a similar position. All my players are martial classes. I had another player who was a Wizard/Cleric who since left the game so I did some jiggery-pokery and now I’m playing that character lol
@starhalv2427
Жыл бұрын
In my first campaign ever I experimented with DMPCs, but all of them became npcs by now except for one: a human wizard. There are 2 reasons she stayed: 1. She has utility spells, but not the same that players have access to (Leomund's Tiny Hut, for example). 2. One of the players seduced her as a joke, so it became pretty damn hard to justify her not being with other players.
@Jenn-lq9yu
Жыл бұрын
I think DMPCs work in a few key cases if they're handled well with finesse, because obviously anything that's poorly handled is going to make for a bad experience at the table. One of my favourite ways to use a DMPC is to create a character who the party forms a bond with, and becomes attached to and then ultimately that character they've been adventuring with, who they think is their friend... turns out to actually be the ultimate villain of the story that betrays them near the end of the campaign. It makes for a much more personal connection between the party and the villain, as they now feel genuinely betrayed by someone they thought was their friend.
@pyrosalsa
Жыл бұрын
Gahhhhh I was literally just thinking “I should put a DMPC into my new homebrew campaign!” *phone dings, read title* “Awww”
@johnlee7164
Жыл бұрын
It's a sign, dude.
@MarceloSantos-pt3hj
Жыл бұрын
They knew
@Skootlesecrets
Жыл бұрын
Make the friggin dood anyways
@ademas2010
Жыл бұрын
It's just their opinion
@ademas2010
Жыл бұрын
I do dm pcs and I minmaxs them cause of my players but I use my dm pcs sparingly
@dracotoy
Жыл бұрын
My first ever game was with a bunch of buddies in highschool. Our buddy who dmed made a pc so he could teach us better. It was honestly essential, helped alot of us who had no clue what we were doing
@MasterNox
Жыл бұрын
My players ended up adopting a young orphaned girl and have been training her to fight whilst also giving her an education and magic training. She's currently a 3rd level arcane trickster rogue and has been growing alongside the party, even fighting in combat. It was not my intention to have a DMPC, but the players love her and won't stop RPing with her so I guess we're all good haha.
@juliamedina3322
Жыл бұрын
This is exactly my problem with people saying you shouldn't have a DMPC. They should instead warn you of the risks of having one. I've made a bunch of DMPCs, I always ask my players what they think, and they always LOVE them, they want them to stay in the party and they say the game is more fun because of them. So instead of crucifying DMPCs, I think people should just...warn DMs about the possible problems. Some groups are actually well equipped to handle DMPCs and even benefit from them.
@CeranVA
Жыл бұрын
Gods, imagine how heartbreaking it would be if that little girl got hurt in battle though! As the DM who gave them the NPC, it's sometimes easy to fall into that idea that monsters and enemies would ignore or go easy on that NPC because of being a little girl, when in reality they shouldn't. Hopefully the players understand that and know to protect her with strategic placement and stuff.
@MasterNox
Жыл бұрын
@CeranVA she went down for the first time last session. They were not happy about it, they just about dumped every resource imaginable into her and then immediately murdered the one who did it to her haha.
@CeranVA
Жыл бұрын
@@MasterNox Nice! Every party has to have a berserk button, haha.
@Albatross0913
Жыл бұрын
there's a big difference between going out of your way to make one and forcing it on your players and them willingly asking you to turn a liked NPC into a party member. I'd say that's more along the lines of a well-liked NPC, and you should be proud that you've accomplished that
@michaelramon2411
Жыл бұрын
As a DM who has run a fair amount of DMPCs, I want to make a few points: The most common reason for me to make a DMPC is because the group only has two or three players, and the game really does get harder with a small party. The other common reason is that it's a relatively short or not-that-serious adventure (like our "not enough players can come tonight" backup campaign, or the Level 16 dungeon run), and so it's just a good time to break out a crazy build and have some fun. I always discuss it with the players before the campaign starts and build it to complement their PCs. I'm pretty good at separating out DM and player knowledge, but DMPCs do stay out of puzzle-solving and take a low-key approach to roleplaying and party decisions (though they may offer an opinion, based on their characterization). Assertiveness usually is a negative trait in DMPCs. For combat, they tend to make obvious actions, but I'll also ask the players what they want the DMPC to do in the fight. If someone's PC is elsewhere or gets paralyzed or something, I'll hand over the reins on the DMPC so they have something to do. This, in my experience, makes the players feel like the DMPC is a part of their team, rather than an outsider forced on them. With my most successful DMPC, she once two-shot a major boss through enormous quantities of sneak attack damage, and the players CHEERED because "we did it!". (That DMPC worked really well because she could put out enormous damage, but only with set-up or the party's aid, so for her to perform well, a team effort was required.) While many of your descriptions of why a running a DMPC is different from running a PC are accurate (it is, indeed, hard to enjoy solving a mystery that you wrote), the claim that "you can't give yourself a challenge in combat" is absolutely false. You may know what the enemies are likely to do and what their strengths and weaknesses are, but that's a long way from actually beating them, especially when dice are involved. (One PC can rarely win a whole encounter on their own anyways, so you're still dependent on the regular players' PCs and decisions to emerge victorious.) It can actually be a lot of fun to put down a hard encounter and say "I don't know how we are going to get out of this one, but I'm sure we can figure something out." This is doubly true if you are running a pre-written module or adventure, because there is another layer to it, as the DM running the DMPC didn't actually create the challenges - a separate author did. There can definitely be a place for DMPCs combined with "okay, guys, I am running this adventure exactly as written" or "I am going to run the monsters as ruthlessly deadly as possible, let's see if we can beat that." (DMPCs probably work best for combat-heavy or dungeon-crawl type adventures, rather than roleplay-heavy or intrigue ones, since the mechanics do more lifting there.) Now, DMPCs are not for everyone or every campaign. They can DEFINITELY go wrong. I personally have a good ability to separate my DM and player knowledge, and I have a group that trusts me to not cheat or steal their agency or use the whole thing as an ego trip, but not everyone has those factors. That said, I do think it's a bit harmful to run around telling newer DMs looking for advice "NEVER DO THIS BAD THING AND YOU ARE BAD IF YOU DO IT" when it can be a legitimate technique (especially if they are running a small, inexperienced group).
@tlaragihai5953
Жыл бұрын
I`m just giving you standing applause, because YES. DMPC is a tool, you can cut some meat with a knife or you can stab a person with it. It`s really easy to abuse that level of power, but i think it`s completely wrong to say that *no one person ever* had a dmpc done right, and that everyone who does this is *bad* . I have a dmpc in my first campaign, which is still running, simply because I wanted to have my own _constant_ character. To have something unchanging and _mine_ in an official setting where everything is not a my creation, and to have a connection within the party. It works out pretty well, my fighter is not a dashing hero, he`s more shy and silent, he knows something about the world, but definitely not everything. Mostly, he`s just here. And recently I`ve been abandoning him more and more in terms or roleplay, to the point where one of my players expressed concern that he doesn`t feel like a character anymore (which is very sad). And I agree that DMPC should never be forced, but it`s nothing wrong in them occasionally shining and having their own moments, if it doesn`t hurt the group. If everything, it can make this character feel more like a part of the group. Like, DMPC kills a demon who had a long history of confrontation with other pc and basically steals an important kill? Awful. DMPC kills a monster in some random encounter? Why not. I think it`s more plausible to give NPCs and DMPCs their victories too, otherwise they would feel like a cardboard background for the party. And of course you should never kill a huge danderous monster in one turn this way (thus robbing a whole group of a win), but I would say that one-turn-kills feel bad in general, regardless of if a pc or npc/dmpc does it.
@shawnwolf5961
Жыл бұрын
Yep, I agree with all of this. There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with a DMPC. It's how it is used. You can absolutely do this. And all of these examples they use "THAT COULD BE A PLAYER CHARACTER REEE!!!!" K, but if nobody WANTS that, then it can be an DMPC if it is necessary. I would argue circles around these arguments against a DMPC because it all boils down to A) intent and B) skill separating meta knowledge, which any good DM should be able to do anyway.
@nikolaswhitten7236
Жыл бұрын
I use DMPCs because I only play with my ONE player and don't want to force them to play all 4 party members so we split them between us. Never has it been an issue at our table.
@ranekeisenkralle8265
Жыл бұрын
Completely agree on all points. Very well said. Besides, depending on how you go about your DMPC, it may add comedic relief to the party - on top of what the players create. Case-in-point: Narayana - the DMPC I am running in my Shadowrun campaign is a 12-meter (approximately 40ft) snake which by now has become a bit of a pet for the party in addition to being their mage. And yet, even though he can speak and is pretty intelligent, he is still but a sentient animal - and acts like that as well. To the point after having gotten pinched in a bulkhead aboard a submarine, he later telekinetically dragged a cutting torch to said bulkhead - intent on cutting away the lower portion of it so he could get through unimpeded. Watertight integrity? What is that?
@justincrowe888
Жыл бұрын
The last part is especially relevant. I've seen videos (for example, from Pack Tactics) saying "fudging numbers is bad, and you should always consider yourself as having failed if you have to do it." while Matt Colville, a much smarter individual and game designer, explicitly states "Encounter balance doesn't stop once you've rolled initiative." I find that most of these "controversial" things fall under Rule 1: If it makes the game fun for everyone, do it. If it doesn't, don't.
@The_Funky_Lime
Жыл бұрын
Player here, my DM has had a DMPC during our long ass 5 year campain. We love that dude, he is never gonna get away from us. he is our tired ex-alcoholic uncle an he is staying with us. The DM made him because we had never played Dungeons and Dragons before and we were shy and kind of a mess. Having a PC for guidance really helped during our first fights before we got into the hang of things. Now 5 years later we are finally finishing our campain and our DM wants to start another one in the setting for Eberron. He has created this really cool fighter girl that we all already love. The DMPC can be fun to have around and it doesn't have to take agency away from the players. Also if we notice that happening we can just tell the DM after the session, he is our friend and he is contantly trying to improve so he listens when there is a concerns about anything we find somehow unfair. A fact that hasn't been pointed out here is that when you have a long campain a lot of times people get art, make memes, interact with the other players characters and they form fun dynamics. A DMPC allows the DM to also have that and not be the weird one out. In my opinion if an NPC following the party is OK why is not a DMPC? The character is already following the party so might as well fight too, there is nothing more boring than scort missions lol. Maybe it hasn't worked for you guys but that doesn't mean is not going to work at all.
@Psychoveliatonet
Жыл бұрын
My group is small (just myself and someone else). I agree with dungeon dudes here - very important NPCs, not DM PCs. It's all about mindset. We function as a group of one player character with four NPCs (that the player controls and manages for combat).
@Demonheero360
Жыл бұрын
My partner is going to be running a campaign for just me. Any tips on making a 1 to 1 campaign work ? Any and all advice would be appreciated. Combat, non combat etc
@leahwilton785
Жыл бұрын
@@Demonheero360 I run a one-on-one for my partner. My partner's character has a sidekick that I run, though she will absolutely take suggestions/orders/etc from their character. The line I try to balance is making sure the PC has enough information/support, while still making sure this story is About Them - they're the protagonist. From a dms perspective I'd say don't be afraid to play to your strengths.
@Metalchefkiwi
Жыл бұрын
Same for me several years ago, but when we finally got more players and i tried to retire my dmpc my players refused to let me lol, they liked him to much despite me continually trying to retire him.
@bobswag710
Жыл бұрын
@@Demonheero360 don’t do it, it’s as useless as playing checkers by yourself
@twilightgardenspresentatio6384
Жыл бұрын
Nice, let’s you focus on personalized story instead of waiting for your spot
@dharmabm42
Жыл бұрын
Sidekicks (which they mechanically control) who is mostly silent but can speak up in important RP scenes is another strategy we have now.
@Herbalizer28
Жыл бұрын
Having DMing a campaign for 2 players, it was almost essential to have a DM NPC, although he didn't take any important decisions, he was at least an additional target and gave them an additional action..magic items don't really solve the danger of a 2 players party, where they only have 2 actions and there is only 2 targets, if 1 falls..If I had to redo it, I would go with "companions" or an extra PC each..which is exactly what I was going to do before the game fizzled...
@dennismokry258
Жыл бұрын
Way back when I ran a 2nd Ed campaign and only had two players to start, neither were very experienced so I didn’t want to have them try to run more than one character. So I did run a few different NPC’s that traveled with the party but pretty sure none of them would qualify as DMPC. They all were part-time companions often cycled through for specific outings from their home city with their own motivations for that adventure. Once we got a few more players my guys faded out into role as purely non-adventuring characters. So yeah I think they forgot the ‘excuse’ of pure number of characters. I am happy to say I stumbled into running adventuring NPC’ s and not a DMPC. Was thinking I might have to make an argument but ended up feeling vindicated doing it right. lol
@jacobbryson9495
Жыл бұрын
I’ve done that and only had them roll a check if/when the party asks them to.
@ClockworkOuroborous
Жыл бұрын
Much the same here. I had a work friend who wanted to learn the game, and my housemate wanted to try a different character than the one that they have in a game a friend is running. I created an NPC to help round out the skills (originally they played a ranger and paladin respectively. Work friend decided they wanted to play a sorceror instead, so I made the ranger an NPC. Then a nephew of one of my housemate's friend's joined the game as a rogue. So the DMNPC rogue multiclassed to cleric but when doors be doors, he can still help try to open them. I regularly check in to make sure that the DMNPCs aren't stealing any thunder, and if they still want them around. The players also shipped them... hard. So now the 2 DMNPCs are married, one of the plots is the party escorting the cleric/rogue's distant cousin to marry his older sister (politics you know...) while they're also tracking down rumors of a twin/duplicate of the other rogue. I'm expecting a lot of squeeing when the PCs find out they're going to be aunt and uncles in the near future.
@Enwickote
Жыл бұрын
They should've treated theses reason, not enough players at your tablet. I only had 2 too, a wizard and barbaran so I played a clérigo along with them helping
@bobswag710
Жыл бұрын
The biggest issue for me is that players WANT to bring all of the NpC characters with them on their adventure. “Oh we don’t have a healer? Let’s bring our local Druid”
@AlbertaGeek
Жыл бұрын
How is that an issue? The DM just has the NPCs refuse to go with them.
@DungeonDudes
Жыл бұрын
Again, those are NPCs, not DMPCs.
@olis2073
Жыл бұрын
I think what Bob is saying is that whether the players actually wanted to bring a character along determines whether they are a useful NPC companion or are a DMPC shoehorned in by the DM.
@samflory
Жыл бұрын
I have a simple fix. Sure, but they want a full share including magic items. Honestly though if the Players want to bring another NPC I'm fine with it, but they have to run the NPC. Also if they take too long deciding on that character's action I drop the NPC for the current round.
@BenjaminEarlMusic
Жыл бұрын
I wish my players gave a single shit about any of the NPCs i spend hours developing lol
@Petsinwinter2
Жыл бұрын
I think it goes to show that my group just gets along so well, that my DMs tend to use important NPC companions with PC stats and this has never been an issue for any of the players
@williamshafer1996
Жыл бұрын
We always did it because there were only two of us that would play. Everyone else in town thought it was devil worship. So my brother would dm and played his character, and when I finally got old enough, i would be dm and would play my chareacter. Its all about if you can not get a big head and enjoy the game for the games sake.
@SCAW1972
Жыл бұрын
Same. I’m not a fan of DMPC shaming. People got to play D&D however they can manage without having to feel guilty for working within your means and comfort level. It’s hard to find a big group that gets along
@williamshafer1996
Жыл бұрын
@@SCAW1972 thats so true. If you wanted to play, its what you had to do. We lived on a farm, and had so much work to do, that my older brother would just make up stuff out of his head. But it was how we played.
@shawnwolf5961
Жыл бұрын
Exactly, I'm sick of people DMPC shaming. It's up to the table a the end of the day.
@williamshafer1996
Жыл бұрын
@@shawnwolf5961 right. They talk all this stuff, then wonder why no-one is playing. Most people work. Or go to school, ets... if you get a chance to play, you dont want to be locked into a ruleset that shames you into their way of playing.
@wunnamwnn
5 ай бұрын
Dudes, I love your videos. Ended up in your channel by total chance and slowly grow fond of how you explain or bring examples or tips about everything. As a forever DM (for 10 years) that VERY recently (last year) did take a break as a DM, thank you for this video.
@nuclearbirds
Жыл бұрын
I’ve been waiting for this. I’ve been playing DMPC’s right alongside the party for years, and they hardly ever notice, because they’re indistinguishable from NPC’s. Here are some tips to keep things smooth: - Never plan on having them as a permanent fixture in the party. Always have them be someone related to the quest /overall party objective. - Never force the party to take anyone on. Give them a choice of who they want to take with them, and when. - likewise, never have the character fully commit to the party either. Have them make realistic choices about how far they go, when, and why. They have lives, motivations, and responsibilities not bound by the party. - never make them too much stronger (or too much weaker) than the party, depending on their role. This is flexible, but never breakable. - always roll for them last while out of combat. If the group is making perception checks, and another player succeeded, you don’t even need to roll; so as not to steal the spotlight. If everyone else fails, this gives “the party” one more chance to succeed. Here are some examples of “DMPC’s” that I have used, and the context I’ve used them in: The local innkeeper is worried because a longtime family friend was supposed to be in town by now, but has not arrived. They hire the party to investigate the mountains to the north, where the friend would have been traveling from. The innkeeper’s daughter (battlemaster, level 4) wants to prove her independence to her parent, and asks to go along with the party to rescue the family friend. The local ruler’s son (fighter 2, cleric 1) is seen by the party, praying frantically at the temple of the god that the party’s cleric worships. He discloses to the Cleric that he is being sent visions of a site that is holy to the cleric’s god, and has not been able to get restful sleep since the visions began. His prayers being unanswered, he implores the party to escort him to the holy site so that he may commune with the god in a more direct manner. The apprentice (Warlock, level 3) of a merchant the party is friends with wants to get a rare and exotic pet for their mentor as a birthday gift. However, the animal they seek is a prey species to a much more dangerous creature, and cannot go alone. Obviously, not every quest can be this way. And often, parties will have multiple “irons in the fire” rather than quest, return, quest, return, etc. BUT as a DM, you can control which plot hooks get introduced, and when. This style will definitely be more geared toward DM’s who run a “sandbox” style campaign. A good rule of thumb is to think “Does the person giving the party this quest think that they are too weak to join the party? Does the person giving this quest think they are too important or preoccupied to join them?” If the answer to both is no, why not have them come along?
@tuomasronnberg5244
Жыл бұрын
Your "DMPCs" are just regular NPCs. I don't see why you insist calling them DMPCs when they're clearly not?
@stuolm77
Жыл бұрын
This made me feel much better about the npc /dmpc I run with my group. he has a good Pam build but is silent most of the time unless we are at camp or something that's not hugely related to the quest.
@aaroncoffman7267
Жыл бұрын
One cool solution with RotFM where there is a section with a wizard NPC who would join the party: We were having an evening where some people were missing, and I was concerned that I needed to have Vellyne do more than I had previously in combat. Then I remembered one of the players at the table was interested in wizards, so I asked them if they wouldn’t mind running that NPC during encounters on top of their player’s turn. Made it a lot easier on me, sped up combat, and helped the party connect a bit more with them.
@fitz8923
Жыл бұрын
"If you want a DNPC, just take that energy and put it in your villains." is incredibly good advice. That's what I find myself doing all the time lol I come up with a cool character idea. Guess who the party is fighting once they get to the bandit camp?
@seanw8643
Ай бұрын
So glad I found this video, I am currently running a game and my players have managed to capture and convince a goblin to help them into a goblin camp and I some how made this character where they love him. They want him every where, trying to gear the little guy out, nicknamed him pillow… I’m not sure what to do with this as of right now he is helping out. My players are very new and struggle a little bit so I’ve been allowing him to help out but it’s a bit of a strain to keep track of another stat sheet
@sharpmountaingames9303
Жыл бұрын
Great points. I try to run them as NPC's and keep them pretty quiet. As you said, it doesn't really let me be a player character. Also, I'm fortunate that a couple of my players DO step in from time to time and gives me a chance to play.
@trevormccaffrey2575
Жыл бұрын
When you mentioned the healing potions it reminded me of the house rule we use. Healing potions can be taken as a free action and have their normal effect (roll for healing) but if you use a standard action the potion is maximized (no roll necessary). The idea is basically taking the potion as a shot or taking that little extra time to get every drop.
@Br1330
Жыл бұрын
So I worked with kids who were pretty new to the game and only played in small 1-3 person groups. And If I left them alone in the world they quickly found new and exciting ways to die or get locked up before doing anything actually interesting. The most successful campaigns we had were the ones where I had a DMPC playing with them, not to overshadow them in combat but to have their back, and not to give away puzzles but to make observations that might help the player make their own connection. Looking back the Key to these DMPCs that worked really well, was that they were not designed as DMPCs. One of the first times this happened was in a Magic Academy campaign where I made an NPC who was intended to be a rival and an antagonist to the players, but one of the players despite not liking them kept interacting with them and dragging them along until they actually became friends, and I had to make a full character sheet to keep track of what this NPC that was originally just supposed to be better at magic, could actually do. The more they interacted the more fleshed out the NPC became, the more the players started relying on the NPC to do things like Intelligence checks and to cast that last-minute Feather Fall. The same player who befriended that NPC, ignored the DMPC I had set up for them because she didn't like his personality, and when an found another NPC to drag along, that had to start leaving up to not die instantly, as again they decided they wanted someone the have their back. DMPC, and I would say they are DMPC because they very much did feel like I was running and Charicter at my own table, are at their best when they help are focused on having the players back and giving them more options, agency, and a dynamic for them to play off.
@frankproductions14
Жыл бұрын
My wife and I are co DM's in our game and have both played a DMPC that's worked wonderfully with our party. They loved them and we made sure that they didn't involve themselves too much unless the party addressed the directly aside from combat and party-only roleplay.
@smdursoii
Жыл бұрын
I've been running campaigns for my son in which he plays 2 characters, the 2nd one being the strong silent type, and I run a DMPC. I always let him take the lead, but we get some really fun & creative roleplay. We love it. But I agree with the D Dudes in that I wouldn't want the DM in my other group to run a DMPC and steal the show. I think the question of whether a DMPC is acceptable depends solely on the circumstances, Luke over the DM Lair made similar points in his video.
@cerulean_city_misty4659
Жыл бұрын
I think you guys make a really good point about DMPCs, it's difficult playing one as well because you have to remove your behind the screen knowledge and trying to make decisions based only on what the character would know and not what you want to happen next. And while not metagaming can always be a struggle for role playing I have found it particularly difficult not to make my character do things solely to further my plot because there are just some things that character wouldn't know or do. I am currently DMing for a campaign for 2 players and am playing a character myself. I decided to do this because neither of my players had ever played D&D or any table top RPG before and I wanted to give them an idea of the kinds of things they could do through example rather than just saying "you could do this, this, or this" all the time. They are still learning the ropes for a lot of the different dnd elements so I use my DMPC in a lot of ways that you all have mentioned including filling in gaps in the party since it's such a small group as their "tank". So far my players say that it has helped because there is a character for them to fall back on when they don't know how to handle a situation and don't have to metagame all time time and smoothed some of the awkwardness of role playing for the first time as well. While I know I could handle all of that with NPC(s) it's been more immersive for all 3 of us with all of us having a character and I mostly use my character to get things going in new situations (starting a conversation with NPCs, interacting with an item in a way they might not have thought of, asking questions to the characters to get them thinking about certain things). So overall it's been fun for us and I think my players appreciate having an in-game guide as well as they learn how to play and so far it's going really well.
@disciple012
Жыл бұрын
Was DMing my first campaign and I only had 2 players, one was a cleric and the other was a barbarian. As part of the story, they had a hobgoblin arrested, but then realized afterwards that he was actually good and very well liked. They begged some NPCs to release him, so I built him as a character, and in the game had him released from the prison under their care. I handed the character sheet to them and let them control the character.
@angelalewis3645
Жыл бұрын
That’s cool!
@elderdankspawn3973
Жыл бұрын
My very first ever D&D adventuring group came equipped with a DMPC. Myself and my 4 sisters ranging from ages 12 to 8 were introduced to an old hobby of my father's in the form of 1st edition AD&D. With a party of a cleric, a thief, 2 fighters and my dads DMPC rounding out the group as Daddo the magic-user, it's still to this day almost 15 years later, the best and most fun group I've ever had the pleasure of playing with.
@Immudzen
Жыл бұрын
In our games we sometimes have a character the DM made join the party. Sometimes plot elements come through them. However, we control the character in all combat encounters and also in all normal usage expect when a particular plot issue comes up. Overall this seems to have worked for our group fairly well. Most of the time the character has a particular skill set and we will directly ask the character to translate something or information about some lore that is intended for the DM to answer.
@samflory
Жыл бұрын
That's not a DMPC as the players control it in combat.
@FoxbatStargazer
Жыл бұрын
Dudes didn’t bring up a mostly player-controlled NPC once as a DMPC alternative. Its good to hear options other than sentient items.
@odesseus
Жыл бұрын
I had a year+ long campaign based on the Tomb of Annihilation 5E setting. The absolute best part of the game was the exploration of the jungle, finding all sorts of crazy tribes, encountering dangerous temples, finding amazing ruins (which I had great fun creating). They had picked a guide in town (after having a rollicking time there) and she was secretly a were-tiger who had to transform into a tiger every couple of nights to hunt and to relieve the pressure of maintaining a human form. She would inexplicably disappear for a period leaving the PCs to their own devices, but then show up and get them "back on track." She was trying to guide them to a specific spot in the jungle and get them to fight a bunch of bad guys so she could get an amulet that would help her control her shapeshifting. They kind of liked her, but during the periods she was gone, they discussed what the heck was up with her. It was a great arc for them trying to figure out her motives. Eventually, they just confronted her and she came clean and they all said "well, shoot, we would have helped you, why didn't you ask?" Her answer was "You could have said no." Anyway, they went on much more amiably, went to the place, beat the baddies and got her mcguffin. Everyone was happy, and they celebrated, then she disappeared into the jungle that night. Man, they were pissed. After being hopelessly lost for a while, they found a wounded Tabaxi (Sits-On-Hands) and he became a better, however more timid, guide after that.
@EveloGrave
Жыл бұрын
I am part of a group with my best friend of 26 years. I love him and I want him to be a PC. Ive never DMd but I have been watching and learning so many things from so many creators about how to DM. I love the Warcraft universe and feel as a DM (and a big old warcraft lore nerd) i could easily have a campaign in that setting. I brought it up to my bud and he suggested doing a oneshot first. It made me happy to see that tip in this video. Love you Tyler, I hope you enjoy being a PC and thank you for getting me into DnD.
@christianbarger9524
Жыл бұрын
6:05 he is the McGuffin that the PC must protect. The true Protagonist is Samwise. With everyone else helping as necessary supporting party members and side quest adventurers.
@drewcipher
Жыл бұрын
I like the distinction between a useful or necessary NPC and a DM PC. I'm just getting started running Stars Without Number which is an OSR game and old school style games have a lot of instances where you have NPC hirelings and the sort accompanying the party. I already have a plan to get an important NPC on the ship with the PC's, so this is something I very much have in mind. Making NPC's that can accompany or help the party without them taking the spotlight from the party, or having them be a mouthpiece through which I can speak, or my players think I am speaking.
@diego2112gaming
Жыл бұрын
I run a DMPC for my players. Specifically, a Drow bard (College Lore) healer (with the Healer Feat). They asked for him, because they're annoyed with potions and magic items. He aids in combat (takes up an initiative slot, casts spells, heals, I play him 100% exactly like I would play him were I a PC in another DM's game, I don't pull punches against the mobs, and the mobs don't pull punches against him). He RPs with the party regularly, and is a DAMN beloved member of the group because of it. He doesn't give plot advice, because his only concern is making money (oh yes, he charges them for the healing). He occasionally is required (at the group's insistence) to step up and "Face" for them (again, for a fee), which is something usually only done if the party has gone *extremely* offbook and we're already flying by the seat of our pants and I'm making things up as we go anyway (i.e. the session has been so derailed from where I had in mind that doing so is a decent chance to possibly get it back on track--pro tip: It does not always work, and sometimes derails things even further)! Has a full character sheet, with levels. Gets equal shares of all treasure (actually negotiated slightly higher from one PC on their first mission because of a gambling bet). Spends as much time bantering, laughing, and carrying on with the party as anyone else, and doing bard things that bards do. When a player came in who could *be* a dedicated healer, and I went to step him down, the party basically said they'd bail if I did. He's a permanent fixture in the group if I wanted him to be or not.
@Mattchudon
Жыл бұрын
5:09 I am immediately reminded of the webcomic 'DM of the Rings' by Shamus Young, y'all should go read it if you haven't already!
@paleposter
Жыл бұрын
I remember this! funny comic
@andruism7
Жыл бұрын
Had a DM create a paladin DMPC since we didn't have a tank in the group. Promised he wouldn't take any action without us giving the go-ahead. When we were trying to scout out a tunnel filled with spider-rats (he was a terrible DM in all other aspects as well, and every single enemy we fought was some kind of rat) he got fed up with us not charging ahead and decided to just charge ahead. Started making attack rolls but wouldn't tell us what was happening since he was around a corner. Finally we get fed up and go around to help, seeing him swarmed with enemies. However, he was so overpowered that he actually gained health (because our DM didn't understand that temp hp doesn't stack) and was boasting about how strong his character was. Immediately our sorcerer re-rolled as a tank just to get him out of the party.
@rebeccahamilton4041
Жыл бұрын
I'm going to be DMing my very first campaign soon and I just wanted to say thanks for all your videos - they're so helpful and the way they're delivered and topics explained make them so easy to follow :)
@xwindscythe96x
Жыл бұрын
My dm played a dmpc in my first ever campaign It was just me and my mate as the two players, so there would only have been two pcs, so having the dmpc as the third was great and never sucked, he was non verbal and had an interesting enough story that we actually wanted to figure out what was up with him!
@BMKoolaid
Жыл бұрын
You are well reasoned and thoughtful in your analysis. The druid changes make me sad. You are 100% accurate that it takes the creativity out of the class.
@roypeak3603
Жыл бұрын
Every argument against a DMPC has a flaw, the assumption that the DM will run it a specific way. Here are rules for how to run a DMPC. -Certain classes are off limits, like the warlock and cleric. Classes that require active interaction with the DM, as with a patron or deity, are better for PCs. Avoid situations where you have to role play talking to yourself. -Do not help in any puzzles or social encounters. The DMPC is the silent type that steps back and watches, voicing up only when their words mean something. -Combat can always use another member. Most can absolutely be NPCs but those are made to squish easily to not outshine the PCs. So the DMPC must be the same way. They can help absorb some hits you know might be a fatal blow to a pc, but also just as fatal to the DMPC. Spell casters can’t have stronger damage dealing than the PCs, fo support fire and a spare the dying helps, but not integral to the party’s survival. -Loot will always go to PCs. Magic and items are for them, but currency can be split equally on occasion. -Think about playing something with severe flaws, like a DMPC with a Mindflayer tadpole, a slad tadpole, or find monster classes that make them unique but provide limitations, weaknesses, and varying difficulties that the PCs don’t have to add a little conflict in otherwise mundane actions. My DMPC is poor and only magic item she possesses is gauntlets of ogre power becomes everyone else was too strong to benefit from it. They gave it to my DMPC. She also doesn’t have any weapons and is leveling up as a full fledge vampire from Monster Classes pdf. She can’t enter an inn or tavern or any living area without permission and has all vampire weaknesses. She’s combat support so if a really strong hit comes their way, she could be the target. She can’t heal other than through feeding and stays silent in social interactions to avoid anyone finding out her undead nature. I love the surprise and the challenges the PCs create on their own and I can enjoy the unknown just as well as them, only offering my thought on a solution if one is a struggle to find. Recently they fought my homebrew will o’ wisp that animates corpses in its presence, using them as puppets that form one mass after they’re cut to pieces. My DMPC voiced that something must be controlling them, as no one attacked the will o’ wisp yet. Lastly, if she dies then my next DMPC will be using the sidekick rules to make it easier on myself on leveling up and to keep the abilities mundane. So far, my party always takes the light and almost always gets the final blow. Even if I have to miss on purpose. You can absolutely have fun and experience the surprises and solutions through the players while enjoying surprises of my own. My DMPC was a warlock half-vampire to start two years ago. She was killed by a fireball from a pc by accident. This gave me the opportunity to drop warlock and go full vampire after they buried her that gives my players the option of being vampires too, if their PCs lives are cut short too soon for them. By the way, the barbarian has an undead killing greatax for insurance if her bloodlust gets out of control.
@razpan8149
Жыл бұрын
Im currently running a campaign wearing Im playing with a DMPC, however Im doing it at my party's request. I voiced my concerns of past horror stories Ive heard and the last thing I wanted to do was to take away my party's agency. Despite saying that my group still requested I play a character alongside theirs. As a rule I dont award myself magic items and I dont help with puzzles, usually themed as my character keeping watch for enemies while the party solves the puzzle. I run my games in 'chapters' where each chapter has a different player as a focus, giving that character a chance to shine and focusing on their story. The agreement I came to with my group is I refuse to DM my 'chapter' for my character, someone else has to DM it. So if someone else wants to give me a magic item or surprise me with plot elements/story then they are welcome to do so during that time. I dont know if that would work for everyone, but its been working for my group and its been enjoyable.
@TBoring
Жыл бұрын
As a forever DM what I like to do is use some of my PCs I’ve made assist the party on their quests. They aren’t permanent members, just friends helping out for a mission or two.
@bobswag710
Жыл бұрын
So you shove a DMPC in every session to play as many builds as you want. That’s toxic and gross
@TBoring
Жыл бұрын
@@bobswag710no not every session. Just occasionally. especially when I make an encounter that’s maybe a little too tough.
@michaelcross7665
Жыл бұрын
That's a DMPC my guy
@riccardozanoni2531
Жыл бұрын
@@TBoring ignore the trolls... the only thing that matters is if you and your players are having fun.
@squishgod9094
Жыл бұрын
Tyler your game sounds Boring
@dadlen44
Жыл бұрын
As a general rule I believe your points are valid. Maybe 10 years ago I did play an exception that I think worked though: At that time my recurring gaming group, that I have been playing with for more than 20 years now, was playing a D&D 3.5 campaign and we had two GM's who had a player character each - I was one of the GM's. In order for that to work we divided the tasks so that my friend, who had GM'ed the campaign before back in 2nd edition, would be GM''ing the official modules for the campaign (I think it was 4 main adventures with different level requirements in the Mystara setting). Since the world was well described by TSR it gave me room to design adventures in between the main adventures without knowing anything about the main plot where the players would interact with relevant factions and general events in the Mystara history setting. I was playing a bard and he was a cleric and it actually worked pretty well in the sense that none of us got fed up being a GM even though the campaign took like 3 or 4 years to complete.
@madcat3c
Жыл бұрын
As a forever dm with a small group, my 2 friends and 2 little kids. I have always run a dmpc it has never been an issue. I typically run someone who is mainly support and there as another person to talk to. I simply never solve problems and never take the spotlight. I can see how it could be abused, but I’ve never had anyone have a problem with it and it lets them have an extra healer or bardic inspiration, etc
@ArekesuLive
Жыл бұрын
Exactly this. We run a small group, and we have 2 DMs, me and someone else. We both run DMPCs, but their basically just NPC+. An NPC that follows the party, and lives by the rules of the PCs. For me, they almost never get full story moments the way I would give one of my players. They are in the background. They speak when spoken to, or when it makes sense. They do a lot of stuff "off screen" as to not hog the spotlight. They are not as important as the PCs, and they are a side character in the PCs story.
@madcat3c
Жыл бұрын
@@ArekesuLive ya, my friends, family, and I have used that exact method to run multiple year campaigns. I typically run most, with others taking over as a dm for a one shot or a single adventure when they want. Everyone has a great time and gets to be “there” for the story. If there is ever a moment where it makes sense for my character to be in the spotlight, which is rare, one of the others, typically my brother, takes over as dm. We have played that way whenever we can since the late 80’s. It is great fun and makes long road trips and family vacations, even more fun.
@JeremiahGosdin
Жыл бұрын
I think a cool way to have interesting NPCs bolster the party's abilities (maybe if they're new players or they have not very optimized characters) is to allow the players to have retainers. These are like servants/bodyguards to royalty/nobility but can often become close friends of the noble they serve. The important thing here is they will be controlled mechanically by the players as they follow orders, but they can be rp'd by the DM.
@alanbaird5135
Жыл бұрын
TLDR: A fourth reason one may play a DMPC is because your players ask you to. I have DM'd with the same group over many years and through seven full campaigns. [luck, I know] In one campaign we all decided to try to use the optional rule in Chapter 9 of the DMG, "Plot Points" - in particular 'Option 3 - The Gods Must Be Crazy' where "[T]here is no permanent DM. Everyone makes a character, and one person starts as the DM and runs the game as normal. That person’s character becomes an NPC who can tag along with the group or remain on the sidelines, as the group wishes." I started as DM but also rolled up a wizard to play along when others used their Plot Points. Only . . . no one ever did. Ever. They liked my Wizard, he was relationally tied in with other characters as we tried to do this very heavily in this campaign. And we all loved it. I avoided the DMPC traps. My character stayed in the decision making background. I even had them killed by a Beholder's Disintegration Ray at one point when it was clear that no one would EVER take the DM chair even for a day. The party scooped up his dust and spent the next 4-5 sessions and tens of thousands of gold to find a place to get True Resurrection cast to get their DMPC friend back. Two campaigns later - during COVID - I start a new campaign along with another Forever DM buddy. We agree to each create a PC and rotate playing and DM Lost mines of Phandelver each week. "Hey, its only for the COVID lockdown. How long could it last?" He lasted about 5 sessions, the campaign went LMoP --> HOTDQ --> RoT. All with me playing my little halfling rogue. All without the typical issues associated with a DMPC. How do I know without all those issues? Because we just started Dungeons of Drakkenheim on New Year's Day after 4 months of prep. A month before we started one of my players asked me if I was playing a character. I told him of course not. Those were two odd occurrences and not my preference. He said - and I quote - "That's too bad, we all like it better when you play along with us." I individually asked each of the three other players in that campaign. Each told me a surprised 'Yes!' that they love playing along with me and love it more when I have a character in the campaign with them. So 'serq' the goblin paladin of the Silver Order joins the fray.
@furiouskaiser9914
Жыл бұрын
Now I want to create a DMPC that checks a few of the "bad DMPC" boxes only to have them get obliterated by the BBEG as a sort of power check for the group.
@metadoxy
Жыл бұрын
I wanna start a campaign like this. The party works for (and is obviously subordinate to) the “chosen one” DMPC (who is 4 or 5 levels above them), but by the end of session 2 or so the BBEG has killed the chosen one and now the party has to figure out what comes next.
@bjsuits
Жыл бұрын
We have a dmpc that was a goblin we had watch the horses and take up a spear to defend. Now he’s become a devout follower of our clerics deity and has become a half paladin. We also toss him some better weapons and he’s grown attached to our war horse. Doesn’t offer advice but battles like the rest of us and can occasionally heal when needed. Great addition and in a one off we are currently doing he is our healer while the cleric is dm’ing. Which our DM was super stoked about.
@RadiantHealer
8 ай бұрын
15:57 omg my deepest condolences, playing a dedicated healer is the most fun way to play most games imo I love it so much
@greg.kasarik
9 ай бұрын
I love playing a DMPC, largely because when I first started playing Traveller, and D&D 1st ed, I often only had two players and needed to round out the party. One of my best moments as with a DMPC, was when he sacrificed his life, so that the other players could survive. It was an epic, emotional moment for the players and myself. The key to most DMPCs is to leave them in the background, play them as introverts, and use them to assist the player's goals and plans, and not to have them in the limelight. If you are a good roleplayer, then a DMPC can actively contribute to the player's fun, especially, if they are a bit unusual. Once, I generated an intelligent Australian King Parrot (I love them!), that could talk to the players, and was unbeknownst to the players a Dragonfire Adept. The players in this game were a friend and his children, aged about 12-16 at the time. If I was a completely unoptimised and terrible DFA, but it was enough for what I wanted it to do. The kids loved the parrot! Even more so, when it happened to save the party (mostly on account of the kid's lack of familiarity with roleplaying), revealing itself as more than an intelligent bird, for the first time. It was a wonderful moment for them, that truly bought home the incredibly captivating world of D&D, and some of the ways that it can provide moments of awe. So, yes, used properly, the DMPC can be a great addition to a party. On the other hand, I've found that DMPCs are often a warning sign of a bad DM. Over COVID, I had the misfortune of playing in an online game with a DMPC. This was D&D 5e, and I came in at third level paladin, while the DMPC was a 6th level necromancer, with an army of skeletons. That game went about as well, as you might expect. The DMPC was the only evil character in the party, and I didn't know about it until I'd started playing. Basically, the evil DMPC, was the Mary Sue of the (IMHO psychologically disturbed) DM, who enjoyed screwing the players over, and I very quickly left the game, and it collapsed the next session, when all the other players decided that enough was enough. I've seen DMPCs ruin games in all the ways described in this video, and more, but seem to be one of the few people who've cracked the code on this.
@coryreid122
Жыл бұрын
I have a story of a DMPC that I think was working out okay. It was my first campaign as DM, and the players were two of my close friends. They were kind of experienced with Dungeon World but had never played 5E. I was running Dragon of Icespire Peak, and they had a few close calls during their first few missions. They were feeling weak. They didn't realize that they were not only growing in strength quickly, but also I was adjusting the challenges for them to the best of my abilities. They spent a ton of time looking for other warriors to join their party, and I finally relented. I had a fighter join with them to help them in battles, and that helped relieve their stress. So, he did fight and had his own personality, but I didn't use him to solve problems or develop plans. That was on the players. I would have just let them control multiple characters in battle, but they were having a hard enough time keeping up with the ones they had. With the help of my character, they got more confident, and the story progressed much more quickly. They also seemed to like the character, so I guess I was lucky!
@NationalDevin
Жыл бұрын
As a "Forever DM" I indulge in playing the NPCs and I explore the characters that know the world. I have an understanding of game design and player psychology, so I'm familiar with the concepts you bring up in that section of the video, and I've found that shifting in mindset is necessary if you want to have fun. Of course, if you want to have the player experience then you can try to find a game for that purely, but for me, it's about the NPCs. I know all of the answers, and I know where each of the NPCs are on their journey, and I get their character development stuff taken care of. For me, games are all about narrative, where the system used is the bone means to an end, and most of the players I get are focused on character growth over mechanical growth as well so I really build that into my D&D game. Even if we never talk about it in the context of a session, each npc actually has a deeply crafted backstory, even if in my mind, that influences their actions. As a DMPC, you cannot truly give yourself a meaningful choice because you are both the system and a PC, but you can give your NPCs meaningful choices against the party. I don't mean that everything has to be combative, do we fight or talk it out thing, but as an example, in a recent game I ran this last week, our players found the daughter of a famous Wyvern Rider bandit left to hang out on a cliff and saved her. She convinced the party, who had fought these bandits a few days prior, to go to the hideout, where she thinks she could take over and make things better for the bandits. Within the context of entering the cave hideout, there was a guard named Smol Nucklo (As opposed to his brother Big), and from a design perspective, he was a "Condition checkpoint" for the PCs. If she approaches alone, he attempts to capture her. If she has a singular character companion, then it depends on which character but there will be dice rolls associated, perhaps some bribing. If she brought the posse in, then he is immediately your man. All of those designs, of course, had their own game design functions to be sure, but all of them were based on that character's perception of the world and how the situation looked. In this instance, the players sent in the unassuming white-haired, pale-skinned celestial warlock female aasimar. Humanlike females were a big point of attention for this character, and in character history, he had always proposed to this daughter and she had always rejected him as a creep, which he was, as he felt comfortably superior to the two women. He demanded to be paid for putting his life on the line and the daughter offered him her hand, and then the PC didn't like that so she offered gold, and he said that 175 gold would be more than the value of being married to her. Haggling happened and the PC got the price to 150gp, backed out to get the gold, bought passage, and brought the party of 7 in, which is including the warlock. The Coup went well, one lesser bandit was killed, and the rest bent the knee to the party in favor of enacting that coup. While I won't be able to explore the reality of how this bandit guard in question will develop or not from there in a real game sense, I still get to indulge in the fun of having a character out in the world that will be living his own life because, even within the context of the dungeon itself, one of the days he had in that realm was completely out of my control as he met the wild variables, the PCs, that could have to lead the NPC to, or altered, their fate. Because on that day, on that particular session, it's the party who decides how this NPC lives or dies, even if the NPC dies fighting with the PCS against other NPCs. Also doesn't hurt that I actually drop builds into the main campaign against the players in singular or minor ways.
@TheManinBlack01
3 ай бұрын
I'm so glad Monty mentioned putting all the DMPC effort into your villain because thats precisely what I've chosen to do in the past. I ran a short campaign where a rival party of adventurers acted as the villains, and in the campaign I'm currently running any one of my players could've literally created a carbon copy of my BBEG if they happened to pick the right race and multiclass combinations
@jacobswindler5213
Жыл бұрын
I had one very good experience with DMPCs in a game. In college I played with three other guys and we all liked to DM. We decided that we wanted to play a longer campaign but couldn’t decide who would DM. Our solution was for us all to make PCs and then take turns DMing 2-4 month arcs. (We were playing planescape so as DMs we had the freedom to just take on a new plane as our world for that arc.) While we were DMing we would keep our PC around for continuity, but they took a back seat, becoming pseudoNPCs (for all the reasons you correctly state in your video). Still, they got experience and treasure so they wouldn’t fall behind. It was a great success, and one of the most unique and memorable campaigns I’ve ever played in.
@Yoder023
Жыл бұрын
I hate when people use Matt Mercer as an example but this is one of the few times it actually DOES work: Mercer made "Gilmore". He was a Wizard character that was an owner of a Magical Goods chain that was successful. He talked with the party once in awhile and went on a quick adventure with them, they were thrilled....... .....he nearly died. Scared everyone so bad they didn't want him with them. He agreed as it worried him how he got his ass throughly kicked. 😆 I think 3HP away? This is a fantastic example. While yes, he helped them when they needed a bit extra firepower, they also nearly lost someone they really liked; it added tension and fear. This is a VERY rare time it paid off
@KevinGarrisonVA
Жыл бұрын
I’m actually one to do solo games. I have books and tables where I roll the dice and it generates most of the campaign. Currently, I’m running a quest using this system where my bladesinger/hexblade is delving into a dungeon to find a magic smithing hammer for the local blacksmith, with the promise of reward. Whatever happens, the dice will decide! That being said, you as the player can fill in the gaps in the narrative, but it’s so much fun. It’s also good inspiration for if you wish to run a game for your friends since they can be chock-full of inspiration!
@yayatheobroma929
Жыл бұрын
We have a handful of DMPC’s (aka “beloved NPC’s”) that we took adventuring with us and are very dear to our hearts. One was a retired warrior with a limp who was supposed to just be sending us on a quest, but we were afraid of losing our way in the moorlands so we put him on one of our mules and took him with us as a guide. He’s since been elected mayor of the village. One is a scrawny goblin who was harrassed and enslaved by the hobgoblins in one of the dungeons we visited. One of the PCs took pity on the thing and adopted it. We are to this day unsure oh the exact status of our pet goblin, all we know for sure is, he lives in the stables, loves taking care of the mules, and is overfilled with gratitude because we feed him daily, let him sleep in a warm place, and never hit him or abuse him in any way. He’s not very bright, but definitely useful and reliable as a stable lad. One is a half-elf warrior (who wants to become a druid) we rescued and who offered to help us for a bit as a token of gratitude. He acted so shocked (originally because the DM unintentionally overplayed it) when the traitor NPC almost killed him that our PCs immediately inferred the traitor NPC had to be indeed *very* dear to him. We shipped the two of them so hard that the DM had to come up with a mind-control medallion to explain that the traitor wizard was not really a traitor, after all, as we found out when we freed him. Long story short, my cleric dwarf (who serves Sharindlar, dwarf goddess of love and ship) has decided that we needed to have them wedded, and have it done by somebody important because gay marriage is not universally accepted in the Forgotten Realms. The scheme is to rescue the mayor of Waterdeep and ask them to perform the wedding as a reward for our services. Whether destiny will offer an opportunity to rescue said mayor or we need to kidnap them first is yet to be determined.😁😇 One is a villain who got his redemption (mind-controlled much like the other, by the same late BBEG). He’s a drow wizard, the variety of foods available at the surface never ceases to amaze him, my dwarf cleric (who has unofficial custody) has been teaching him about all those weird green things that are NOT Underdark mushrooms but taste a lot better: courgettes, leeks, beans, peas, etc. She secretly hopes to see little half-drows running around the place some day, but he remains single for the time being. At some point, she had formed hopes because he seemed to get on well with the innkeeper’s daughter, but that led to nothing. However, he is on his way to become a renowned chef, and she’s proud of him for that. Some of them may come with us at times or be off about their own business. Also, we try to keep an eye on the two wizards because we suspect they are unobtrusively looking for a way to steal/copy/transfer the whole collections of Candlekeep to the local library they’re setting up. They’re all huge fun and we love to have them. The point is, the DM never forced them on us, quite the contrary: we mostly grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and told them, “You’re coming with us.” Also, they each have their personality and objectives, but they will never be prioritised over other quests, unless we, the players, decide to take them into our own hands. EDIT: TL; DR: I don’t think DMPCs are inherently evil, or should be avoided at all costs. It’s a question of mindset, they’re just a tool that you can use well or poorly, like many others. Of course, the DM mustn’t steal the spotlight, or use his NPCs to railroad the campaign, etc. The NPC will not offer help when there’s a riddle to solve, for example, because the DM knows the answer already. Nor will they say which door they think the party should try first, or decide in what order they walk… All that should be pretty obvious. But having NPCs that feel real, have a story the PCs may want to explore and help with, all that is great, and makes for a richer adventure, especially if your party is on the smaller side.
@kathrynmcclatchy
Жыл бұрын
We have a large party--nine of us. I wanted to learn to DM, and the experienced DM wanted to play more, so we are co-DMs for this campaign. We do the big world-building together, and then trade off planning and DM-ing every few sessions. When I DM, my PC is off at the library or on a secret mission, and when he DMs, his PC is off hunting or sleeping off too much drink. On occasion one of the other PCs will go call or get our PCs to jump in, but we keep their participation very minimal. So far it has worked well for us. Added bonus is that on occasion he's had to cover me, or he's gotten stuck at work and I've been able to cover him, so our party never has to reschedule. Also, with nine, if the party wants to split, he goes with half and I go with the other half, so no one who hates shopping has to sit and wait 😉.
@danieltilson4053
Жыл бұрын
One of my favorite companion NPCs was (allegedly) The Chosen One. He hid behind things in combat, but had lots of lore for us. We solved the problem he was prophesied to deal with. The Oracle said that it still fit the prophecy because he helped us learn how to solve it. We rolled our eyes, took our money, and left.
@ancientmoros
Жыл бұрын
New dm here. I have a dmpc in a LMOP, or at least I thought I did. I made a healer to join the campaign since my all brand new player group chose other things and I just want them to have fun with their very first character ideas. After watching so many dnd how to and don't videos, I did a lot to hold him back to make sure he never outshines my players, doesn't become their compass, isn't a convenient info dump and then I realized than my dmpc is actually just an npc that only fights and heals alongside the group in a support role. They kept Droop which gives them a second frontliner, so I now I think I'll drop him back and let them discover some healing potions to take with them. Thanks for helping me avoid major pitfalls as a new dm.
@romeotango5597
Жыл бұрын
I’ve done DMPCs twice, and both times it was more of an NPC that used a PC build. Both times I was running a module, one of which I think could have, in hindsight, scaled fine with out the DMPC but the other would not have (combat heavy and challenging dungeon crawl). One, my wife and I play dnd just the two of us. She plays two characters as do I. For my part I was mostly combat support and playing the characters out based on the party’s background for interpersonal roleplay and character development. It works surprisingly well. For things like exploration I typically let my wife just kind of encourage “my” characters to use their particular skills and strengths, giving her control of everything but moment to moment combat and character plot stuff for them. We are between groups and for us it’s good enough until we get settled in with a new party. In the other instance me and two guys from my unit spent a weekend playing through the Mines of the Mad Mage’s first couple levels. I did 0 prep outside of the intro chapter and setting up the map in my VTT software. I took a back seat on decision making and exploration but because I was running the game as I read the module for the first time, I was able to be a little more involved, offering some input on what I thought we could do. This worked because I genuinely didn’t know the module well enough to meta game. If I did happen to have some knowledge I just stepped back. It was a really fun time and a great way to say goodbye to a great friend and player before he left for a different duty station.
@Axiom_Link
Жыл бұрын
2 things: 1) thank you guys for being solution based thinking instead of problem based thinking! Instead of listing off all the ways as to why these DMPC’s are bad/wrong, you gave ways to fix it! Love it. 2) party balance is a joke even in most video games. I played a 10 man WoW raid once with out healers and because the tanks had means of damage mitigation/self sustain (just enough) because the damage dealers was so dang high they burned enemies before combat even began. Remember, DPS is the best form of crowd control 😂
@nickkirsch163
6 ай бұрын
I have at times been the forever DM and I have run multiple DMPCs with success over the years. The important elements are that 1. they are not interested or at least engaged in the puzzles or intrigue 2. they have a party role that is focused on support, even a tank role is too active for what they need to do 3. They have a personality that meshes with the party without driving it forward. Some examples of my best DMPCs are a natural philosopher druid in 2nd ed who was with the party to encounter new life forms and study them up close. She contributed to combat but not substantially. Sometimes she would "control" an enemy by confusing them utterly while studying them while dodging or using a hold spell of some kind to keep them still or see how they responded. Her interests laid exclusively with intellectual pursuits. Also she would cast buffs and heals on the party to make the spotlight on them shine all the brighter. Another was in a fallout game, I had a crafter who was coming along because none of the Players had much interest in engaging in the crafting system and he was fascinated with machines and tools and was hanging around with them partially to provide transportation, but also so he could learn more about pre-war machines and get access to rare knowledge and materials. Again he would fight in combat, but he was one of the weaker combatants and he would improve all the PCs' gear making them again shine brighter. Further there are two major reasons you might want a DMPC that you did not address. If you have a party of only 2 or sometimes even 3 players and you want to round out the party and If you want to build a character along with the players. And these two reasons are 95% of the reasons I have ever run DMPCs. As long as your DMPC is not a mover or shaker and not a combat glory hound, it is fine. It doesn't ruin the game for the players and is rewarding for the DM. Yeah you don't get to experience the story as a PC, and you don't get to shine in combat, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun with it or that it has to detract from the players.
@owerumer6160
Жыл бұрын
i ran an adventure in Middle earth inspired by the Hobbit. So I as the DM played one of the blue wizards who gave the party their main quest. I played him similar to Gandalf so I guided the players along the way but also had a lot of other things to do what gave me an excuse to leave the party alone for a while. It was also important to me to not make decisions for the party and just give them hints on how the world would react if they did these or that or push them a little bit in the right direction. If the wizard was present in combat he mainly gave out temp HP, boosted the Players AC or pushed enemies around the battlefield. The best fight we had in the entire campaign included him as well as an other important NPC or DMPC whatever you want to call it and I think as long as you don't take the decisionmaking from your players and don't be more powerful in combat than they are a DMPC can be a nice addition to the team. You could argue that it was just an important NPC and not a DMPC, but I as the DM had fun playing him helping advance the plot and throwing in a wise word once in a while.
@Riftfacter
Жыл бұрын
Been running Pathfinder 1st edition campaign Rise of the Runelords for a few years. Started the game with only three players who all wanted to play squishy classes. They had a dedicated healer but survivability was going to be an issue so I played a fighter to round out the party. My philosophy behind was that he would be able to fill his combat roll and also be able to be an asset outside combat without taking away any agency from the players. in service to the second objective I gave him skill points in survival, knowledge nature, and profession cooking. With these skills he is able to make it so the party never goes hungry, useful but not overpowered. I also chose to put no skill points into any social skills and very little into perception, meaning the players have to handle the roll play with the other NPCs and general awareness. I gave him a personality and backstory and set, Doc the Lizardfolk fighter with a Boston accent, loose on the party and they love him. I roleplay with the rest of the party when we are exploring their backstories and non story NPC interaction but in general I let the party run things only having him chime in when the group needs a little advice from the dumbest guy in the room. Even after we got a fourth player the players insisted they still wanted Doc in the party. I agree with the videos assessment that DMPCs are generally a bad thing, but in this case as the exception that proves the rule, it's worked out.
@dr.slaughterstein1879
Жыл бұрын
I had a DMPC in a way. We had a player character who was a celestial spirit that was locked into possesing a mortals body as a punishment and the mortal was being helped in a conveluted way. The mortals mind could sometimes break free, but mostly stayed as a voice that the celestial could hear, meaning they got a personality. The partys cleric engineered a conveluted way to speak to the mortal mind and befriended them. After a while the player had to leave. So instead of needlessly killing them off there was a deal made with a powerful creature where they surendered the body back. The mortal now npc rogue was still around for a little while. The players grew to like him alot. I had altered the subtype to be a mastermind rogue to supliment and buff the party. I intended them to leave the party when they were back to civilisation but the party leveled rapidly (sourcebook) in the meantime so I threw in a few paladin levels. Choosing support spells and the reason was it was the npc devoting themselves to a cause. Next thing I know its a beloved character with pc levels whos purpose is to simply be there and help when and where needed, only taking a swing at lesser foes or taking a crossbow shot at a boss if opertunity presented itself and never when a boss had only a little hp left. Not sure what to do now tbh. The party like the npc alot, he doesnt step into the spotlight and only contributes to plans or lore if asked directly, in which case will only provide things that were missed but should be known by players, simply alowing me as a dm to remind them of info without having to do it above game. Should I have him leave or kill him off?
@Shammoria
Жыл бұрын
Best format I ever played back in high school was out of necessity and we called that format 1 World, Many Kingdoms, basically there was a master DM which we called the World Builder, it was their job to manage the main story line as well as the starter kingdom, however every player was the DM for their kingdom of origin. They worked with the World Builder to make sure that key story plots that would happen in their kingdom were worked into their kingdoms design, however the side quests and various other bits of regional lore were up to that player, whenever the party went to that kingdom, that players PC would be off doing a solo quest, being a royal, hiding from or captured by the law, visiting family, etc, while that PC was sidelined, that player would DM the game, this gave everyone the ability to be a PC while not being a DMPC as even the World Builder didn't know every detail of what was going on, it was also a good way of not only everyone learning how to DM, but also meant that we were not beholden to the DM being available every week, which with assignments and exams allowed us to basically consistently run a weekly game around people's lives. I suggest that maybe some groups would like to try something similar, I have actually also been in another campaign where similarly each of the 4 PCs DMed one of the elemental planes to give the DM time off and that allowed the DM to play the pickup NPC more like a PC, but as it was for a short time, 2-3 sessions, it worked well even though the PCS wer technically DMPCing for that time.
@lucas_george
Жыл бұрын
I have an NPC that one of my players saved from being sacrificed by some hapless Cultists when they were level 1. The sacrifice was actually a freshly changed Dhampir who was a little on the slower side. Not dumb, mind you, just slower with his speech and mannerisms. However, two of the cultists were badly wounded on the ground and as the party checked the two dead ones for loot, the Dhampir used his manacles to kill the two wounded cultists since thy were “suffering” in his words. Lol. The Dhampir was affectionally named “Shank” and their new minion was born. I gave him the minion class by W Nash on DMSGuild and away we went. Shank is now the pack mule for the party and carries all of their extra gear, loot, and even a backlog of healing potions. The group members can call out to Shank and he almost magically appears out of nowhere to help out in times of great need. Also, he does dispatch injured enemies left for dead and he has a knack for taking trophies from the groups victims. He certainly can attack, but for the most part he completely stays out of battles and out of the way unless there is a desperate need for him to spider walk his way, over a ceiling, to a friendly and drop them a healing potion, for example. Haha. He’s an NPC with weak sub-optimal abilities who adds flavor and certainly doesn’t take any glory away from the players. Oh, he does have a pretty awesome magical item though. It’s a Fanny Pack of holding that unzips and fold out into a portable hole so the party can get larger items in it. Otherwise in the zipped up configuration it’s just like a normal bag of holding. Ok, it was a stretch to make something with zippers, but it was granted by an inter-dimensional being and it’s made of sweet ballistic nylon as well. Hahaha I won’t ever let Shank get in the way of the party, but he does allow them to solve a lot of issues in very creative ways, which are at the heart, the party’s ideas and not mine.
@JimyRoze
Жыл бұрын
The end of the video reminds me how fortunate my group is. We have two dms regularly and a third tho he hasn't run in a while. Finally we introduced some old friends and one of them instantly caught worldbuilders disease and os now planning a campaign.
@achimsinn6189
Жыл бұрын
One thing you could do for giving lore and informations to the characters is to give them a sending stone and somebody else the counterpart to it. That other person could be a knowledgable friend who can give them information about certain items or lovations. It could be the person who hired them wanting to get updates on the quest and supporting them with instructions or it could be some kind of superior giving them advice and maybe at times new orders when a situation changes. Of course nothing stops the players from ignoring whatever the person on the sending stone tells them and the players could even decide to not respond to the sending stone or leave it somewhere so while some of the stuff the other guy is telling them might sound as them bossing the players around, the players still have the final word in every decision.
@aurorasolstad8614
Жыл бұрын
You mentioned that session 1 goblin or ratling that tags along for the rest of the gme. Session 5 we picked up ablack dragon egg, and we're currently traveling with a young black dragon. He's our baby, and the dm is terrified of killing him. But he will occasionally go and get stuck in a net.
@enforcer0175
Жыл бұрын
I had a villain turn major NPC/DMPC in a VtM because the party spared him (after killing everyone else in his group) and helped him clear his name and right some wrongs against him. He was a werewolf, and most of the party were vampires. He ended up serving as their guide/interpreter while dealing with werewolf society for a while, and developed a rivalry with the groups Brujah in combat. They'd try to see who could smash the most mooks, or rip the biggest hole in bigger foes or whatever. The Brujah usually won. After the party was done with the werewolves he went on his way, but they'd run into him every so often, and bust a couple heads if the opportunity arose. Eventually he died in a time skip because Vampires are immortal and werewolves aren't, and several characters insisted they would have attended his funeral when I told them it happened. I guess he worked out alright. His descendants are out there for the players to meet when we eventually get back to playing some vampire.
@OniLODSamuraiFan
Жыл бұрын
I ran some what some might call "dmpcs" in my campaign where they started off in the first arc as characters I made to fill one combat role they wouldn't have (I heard your section on using items and supplies as a method to avoid this and I did not think of that at this time). next arc it became that they were more of a method to just fill the gap if a player couldn't make it and for the second arc, they were introduced to the characters and given the choice to recruit the characters to their cause. these characters were still built to fill one role in combat being specialists but they had the choice to choose which one to bring in if someone couldnt make it. both of those arcs the characters were pretty much under the control of the players (at first I controlled them but figured it would be best to give players the control of them), they did not contribute to the story or out of combat moments and were simply to fill the gap of a player missing (so I could avoid needing to retweak an encounter so its at the same level of threat as before) and always gave the players the choice of who to bring in. now as we are moving on to the third and final arc of my campaign I have asked the players to make backup characters since the difficulty has upped and character death can be likely in the third arc, the characters they recruited before moved on to other things and will no longer be able to with them in their adventures and their backup characters are that option now to fill the gap of a player missing and that person runs two characters that session. They dont need to rp both at the same time just at least control them during that session in combat if it comes up. couple pitfalls I avoided with the "dmpcs". 1)I did not favor them if they were sent somewhere and died they died, no mary sues (two of them actually did die in the story and I played on that to make them face one of the two as an undead zombie with all his abilities and skills and more) 2)i did write a backstory for the characters I created and included but kept the spotlight off of them unless it became natural to highlight their backstories and when I did it was brief. 3)I did the level up and what they came across when away from the party so they were equal to the pcs but never more powerful than them. 4)as I said before I let the players control them not me so I could not accidentally seem like the characters were being favored by the dm and treated them all equally in combat but kept the narrative spotlight on the pcs not the characters they recruited. 5) it was left in the choice of the pcs and I always tried not to force things on them when it came to "dmpcs"
@matthewhansen5669
Жыл бұрын
I'm calling shenanigans. An effective DMPC is the easiest thing to pull off. You just have to follow one rule: Drive the wagon. A Dwarven Alchemist with the Chef feat, Brewers Kit and Land Vehicles is always useful when they tend the wagon. They love the wagon, and it always survives for the party to return to. But if the party decides the Wagoneer should join in the dungeon? It's their own fault they invited an alcoholic pyromaniac along with them.
@DukeBrave7
Жыл бұрын
As a long time dm who had historically often used dmpcs (it as i usually call them, party npcs), here's my take. I use them because I like to play (as a willing forever dm) and having a stand-in in the party to experience everything with them. I do know all the twists, I do know what's coming in combat, but being an ally ti the people discovering all that, there for them to bounce roleplay off of is such a fun experience as I can internally laugh and be giddy and externally be their stoic, rarely talks companion fighting desperately to stay alive along with them. Moreover, I want to experience the world I create in "first person" because I create it fron my passions and fascinations, and if I just wanted to look down on it from above as DM, I could just write a book. Obviously not everyone feels the way I do about experiencing the world, but it's how I feel, and it's worked well for a long time. There are definitely some rules to follow though if running a forever dm (or party npc) because it can definitely go wrong. 1. They should always be middle of the pack or even underpowered, they should never be the powerhouse of the party 2. They shouldn't talk much, they should talk almost exclusively to the party for roleplay, it's boring for everyone if you just spend ages talking to yourself. And obviously if they ask you questions, answer as the character with the characters knowledge, not as the all knowing dm in the character's body. Moreover, they should not take initiative from the party, they are there to help the party how they want the dmpc to help. If they have spells, you can pick your own, but always aak the party if there's any spells they want the character to have/prepare and then do that. If they want you to go deal with "that thing over there", do it. If it's obviously suicide and the party/character can rebutt that in character with in character info, but also consider why the party wanted to send you on a suicide mission. You should be an asset for the party to use, not an independant agent who they need to deal woth having around 3. They should have little to no story relevance unless they are A. Frodo esc, or B. Sharing the vast majority of that spotlight with actual PC's 4. they should always play second fiddle to the party, the party finds a cool magic item, great, everyone should have a chance to take it or even cinsider selling it if they wamt before you get it. You should get a minority share of treasure/gold, or if you get equal, you should spend some of it supporting the whole party how they want you too (put some of that gold into a party-wide fund they can spend on stuff to support the party like potions or equipment) 5. Most importantly, they're not for all the time. Only ever use them with friends, always make sure they're okay with you having them, and check in with them every once in a while to make sure they still feel good about it and are okay with them being there and don't feel tired of the dmpc, or overshadowed by them, or any other issue, and if they di have an issue, tackle that problem accordingly and if it persists, get rid of them, this either isn't the group for it, or you need a bit more experience before you're ready to run something that needs to be as carefully balanced as a dmpc. Just judge yourself amd your table and see if it's the right time and place for a dmpc Ps. I do also play outside of my own campaign I run, my players will also run their own shorter campaigns fairly regularly, again, this is mainly because I want to experience the campaign and world I make within the body of someone who stays with the party
@honoratagold
Жыл бұрын
I will say I've found one situation where having an NPC tag along and be very active in combat is in a duet. When you only have one PC, "knocking a player character out" basically becomes a TPK, and it means the player spends a lot of time exploring alone with no one to talk to. That said, I give my player options of who to invite or hire to travel with them, and I'm prepared to run things for them if they decide to fly solo. Additionally, I try to build the NPC to support the PC in combat -- my player has rogue levels, so I have their sidekick able to give them the Help action at range so they can get Sneak Attack if they weren't able to hide and ambush someone. In a full party, there are much better solutions, although I do make hireables/sidekicks available if players seek them out. I also haven't done the "have an important NPC played by a player," yet, but I did talk to one of my players about potentially being a ringer for me and playing the NPC who initially hires the party if I ever run the Eye of Traldar module -- I asked him to do this with the understanding he could keep or get rid of the character as early as he wanted to for his "real" PC if he wanted to, once the ball got rolling on the plot and the players were involved in the problem enough to go on the adventure. This is definitely not only an option, but often a good way to doctor a module that has too many NPCs the players may not be likely to assist.
@RubberD3
9 ай бұрын
The one instance I like using a DMPC is for antagonists. Having a villain that is independently moving and shifting around the world, growing and scheming parallel to the party can be a great dynamic. I get to have fun playing as a villain, while additionally creating an antagonist with a naturally developing and evolving story. It probably would work better for smaller antagonists sort of like Team Rocket following and harassing Ash Ketchum and friends, but I'm currently using it for a main villain. As long as you use a DMPC carefully just like any other of the tools in your arsenal, I don't think it's always a problem. The issues that mainly stem from it are DMs either self inserting, meta gaming, or getting to play out a power fantasy. If you ask me, there plenty of ways for DMs to do this even without DMPCs so I'm not convinced they are the soul issue, just an easy way to harbor bad habits. I've also used them in very small groups of 2-3 when playing with new players just to kind of lead by example and show them how to play. Some people just need to see how something works rather than spitting out 2 paragraphs from a book at them
@dercount804
Жыл бұрын
This video reminded me of an adventure my wife once ran for me and a friend. We had to rescue the daughter of a noble who was kidnapped by a dragon... as starting characters. So we were told by her father "The dragon was not so big. You guys should be able to handle this". Once we got to the dragon's cave, we found the daughter guarded by another dragon... who was the kidnapper's father and much bigger. Fortunately he was so annoyed by that noble girl that he just gave her to us and was happy to get rid of her without having to kill her, since that was just not his style (not all dragons were per se evil in that setting). Our characters were happy that the job seemed much easier now than in the beginning, except it wasn't due to the spoiled brat of noble daughter we had to escort through the wilderness. The real problems of the adventure were stuff like getting her across a river without getting her clothes more torn and dirty than they already were and fighting off a bunch of goblins while she was complaining about us not freeing her from the net trap she blindly walked into and stuff like that. To me it was a memorable adventure with a memorable, although not very likable NPC.
@TheOptimismprime
7 ай бұрын
We have a couple DMPCs in our campaign… But it’s because we only have three player characters and dungeon Masters trying to give us the feeling of fairly fun and epic combats without scaling them down. His characters engage with us, but more so for comedic, purpose and light combat assist. They are both a level under the party so they aren’t too distracting butthey add to the combat and it is a welcome addition
@alexandraressler
3 ай бұрын
Here's a heartwarming example of a good DMPC to support your exception proves the rule! The DM, who has been DM'ing for over a decade, is also an incredible fanfic writer. She wrote a 100 chapter fanfic D&D AU for another fandom, based on a lot of campaigns she'd run. At the end, she said "Some of you in the comments said you'd like to try D&D- I'm happy to DM a game for you." So random group of three strangers who have never played, and a god-tier DM, all trying to figure out Roll20. We had a Fighter, a Paladin, and a Druid. - We had no ranged weapons (apart from the paladin with a short bow) - We had no rogue skills (apart from the paladin who took proficiency in lockpicking) - We had no arcane skills - We had no one to be the face of the party - We had no $&#%ing clue what we were doing. We built the characters all wrong. (Example: my fighter took DEX from 10 to 12 when I leveled up because I kept failing Dexterity checks and didn't know that raising CON from 15 to 16 would make a difference). We kept splitting the party. We kept getting confused over skill checks vs saving throws. We were *not* fiction writers and had no ability to roleplay, when it even occurred to us to do so. The DM took pity (or may have been going mad) and introduced a DMPC Ranger who immediately started flirting with one of the PC's so suddenly there were conversations. She took over ranged combat and started learning Arcane spells when we started needing them. She never spoke up during convos with NPCs apart from adding flavor and rarely tried to influence our choices beyond advice (and when she did, I was extremely grateful because she was trying to keep babies on a cliff again). She brought her own backstory/quest line, but it never came up until we'd made some progress on everyone else's. She fought in every battle but never took away the glory, and it was honestly a huge relief when she would see we were having real world panic attacks and took pity on us to try to swing the odds a tiny bit in our favor. Juuuust enough to keep that crucial NPC alive, dice willing. Even though we've been playing for a while now, her playing a DMPC still up-levels our experience by at least 2x. HUGE fan of a well-done DMPC.
@obeastness
Жыл бұрын
Recently running a Traveller game, and I've been considering this topic a lot. It's common for players to hire NPC's. I invented a character that is essentially a rival of one of the player characters. The problem was that in the 3rd session something occurred that aligned the player crew and this NPC, this is of course only a temporary alliance, but I had to keep in mind this concept of NPCvsDMPC, the same character traits which made them a good rival, also made them a bit over reliable. Luckily the party was universally cheering him on as he ran into combat in his armor and powered exoskeleton blaster pistol in one hand leeroy jenkins style. I think this character only works because he is unable and unwilling to join the crew. he will be departing to his military assignment towards the middle point of next session, as long as he actually survives the combat encounter we are currently in.
@hyperstressedmage706
Жыл бұрын
We have a very RP oriented campain so when we met the first NPC we basically asked the DM if we could bring his NPC with us. It was nice having one more player (even if we are 6 with the addition of the DMPC now), especially because we lack combat efficiency. We are a Wild Magic Barbarian, a College of Swords Bard, a Battle Master Fighter/Hexblade, an Artificer/Genie Warlock and I was a Nature Cleric but my PC died so now i'm a Shepherd Druid. The DMPC is a Hunter Ranger which added ranged dps that we lack in combat but also it's nice having our DM part of our RP since we take multiple sessions to end one day cicle in game. He knows what he's doing, he doesn't give us any clues to puzzles or course of actions we want to take nor is his DMPC related to the story in any way. He said that we will find other DMPCs in our journey and we could recruit them if they are willing to follow our cause (only one at a time obviously). We have a very good DM imho.
@deltadumbo
Жыл бұрын
I’m not sure if he was a DMPC, but I once created an NPC for a campaign with a single player. I originally introduced him as a old elf trapped in stone, with the PC releasing him. The elf had no memories so the PC named him Dusty. I made him the same level as the PC, and he helped out with healing and sometimes giving ideas if the PC asked or was stuck, but mostly just followed around and was very laid back.
@Rene-jh1ms
Жыл бұрын
In one of my groups we use the rule in the dungeon masters guide "The gods must be crazy" So everyone at the table is a player and a dm from time to time to balance it out.
@paximilian4037
Жыл бұрын
I started with a rotating cast of support characters for my 2 player party, but after Tasha's came out, I ended up just giving them both a sidekick using the sidekick rules in Tasha's.
@michaelhagerty4846
4 ай бұрын
My adult kids were struggling to find a d&d group to join. I offered to dm as a way to spend more time with them and hopefully give them the chance at the memorable experiences I remember from days of gaming. Note I have very limited DM time compared to 1000s of hours as a PC and its been 20+ years for me. So we are all relatively new. I had to insert an NPC for several reasons. 1. The party consists of 2 fighters, ranger, and a thief. (2nd edition) is somewhat brutal and they need a healer. 2. They are very new and really need, actually begged for guidance despite very simple plots with both linear and open plots. We have been at it for aproximately 90 hours of gaming. I'm thinking of arranging for a short side quest to allow one of the players to try the DM seat. Where by I can step into the campaign and play the NPC only to give them an example of what roll playing can look like from my experience. They really have no clue how to do the simple things and our sessions sometimes drag becuase of it. Im very conscious of the temptation to just want to be a PC. Trust me, it's not that I enjoy the DM seat and the many NPC that come and go. Any thoughts on the side quest DM PC switch?
@eqsenretsu
Жыл бұрын
I put my DMPC into our campaign as a hostage that they could rescue. She took a few pot-shots at the bad guys while kind of babysitting the other NPC they were trying to protect, and then after that combat she went on her way. Their paths did cross again later, literally, while traveling along the Sword Coast. They camped together, fought a few gnoll ambushers in the night, and again said their goodbyes. This all allowed my PCs to meet her and get to know her just a little, and they're excited to team up together later on when I get to pass the DMing on to someone else.
@robertcarpenter9823
Жыл бұрын
I'm sure it has already been said because I'm slow to this video but I think Balnor from NADDPOD was a good example of having an important NPC along with the party without actually doing main character things.
@TheOneNotTheOnly
3 ай бұрын
Murph from NAD Pod does a dm pc perfectly. He only uses them as a comedic tool so that he can join in on role playing the jokes and shenanigans that his players get up to. Plus gives them a lot of support abilities that help his players rather than steal the spotlight. Cronal shift being a good example of an ability that is good to allow his player to have a reroll sometimes. Doesn’t steal any spotlight yet still gets to role play with his friends when they are all playing the game together.
@TheCoyote808
Жыл бұрын
Something I've done before regarding the forever DM is one of the groups I played with was we called it the hot seat. Everybody was required to take the hot seat at least once in a while. We even would play other systems during those "off weeks". Hell, you could take that neat PC idea and maybe make him an important leader of a faction your PCs need to interact with, or even make them the villain they have to overcome. Maybe their patron was the villain the whole time? So many options to bring those "DMPC" ideas to life, but not join the party.
@Archonis09
Жыл бұрын
I ran DMPC in my first dnd 3.5 campaign. There were often NPCs with the party, for example, the party priest was an NPC from the beginning to the end of the campaign, because no one wanted to heal, and in 3.5 party composition is very important, and without a healer, the party would die in the first few fights. But that NPC, which I'm talking about, was specifically the DMPC, it is still my favorite NPC, I realize this. Because I introduced it to work through my childhood psychological trauma. First unconsciously, then consciously. I understand that my players don't give a damn what kind of person I am, DM is a feature for other people's entertainment for the most of players. But I also have flaws. I didn't make that mistake again, but in dnd 5e I came with a strong influence of 3.5, so I thought it was normal for the party to carry a couple of NPCs with them. However, I was unprepared for what kind of monster will appear in my games, and which I can not get rid of. In the first game session, the party had two unwitting assistants, whom I planned to kill in the course of the game. But one of them survived. And he still accompanies the party, despite all my attempts to kill him. Now it's too late to do something with this NPC, no matter how much I hate it. This is my wife's favorite NPC, and she will kill me if something happens to him or he leaves the party. Why am I also driving an NPC with a party? Firstly, almost always the players cannot, in any case, I came across such extremely rarely, mix the world around and themselves. Conventionally, the party is living people, and the world is their soulless toy. Even if you tell the players directly, this block is still there. And in my case, the NPC in the party makes it clear that the world is even where only players are usually present, it lives, it reacts. But never the NPC in the party should not influence the decisions of the players, if they do not ask him for help. Secondly, through the NPC, sometimes I tell certain thematic stories. And the presence of a NPC in the party simply makes it easier for players to empathize with him, therefore, to be involved in thematic stories that take place with these NPCs. Thirdly, wands and staves will not help the party if no one of them wants to heal. Players came to play a certain way, and handing them items that allow them to play the role of a healer or a tank takes away from them the experience that they came for. At best, they will reluctantly do so. At worst, they will refuse, shifting this duty, like a hot potato, to others. Fourth, using Occam's razor, the easiest way to solve a problem is the surest one. If it's easier to solve some problem through the NPCs in the party, then it's worth doing so without interfering with how the players want to play the game. Fifthly, I mostly run low-magic homebrew worlds, and a large number of magical items will destroy both the balance of the world and authenticity. If the party can't buy a magic item, which in my games they can't, then they need to give it out at the right time. This means that wherever they go, there must be magic items lying around. Which goes against the grain of the setting. I'm a pretty weird person, I guess. Аs a player, I'm interested in how the story unfolds. Even if I know everything in advance, it will be interesting for me to see HOW this happens. And the same for those games where I am the DM. I'm interested in HOW the story will be revealed, but with a wider field of view. Yes, I like being a DM more because I can see and understand how different actions of the world and players affect each other. But in fact, as a player, I like the same thing, just the field of view is small, like the neck of a bottle.
@NaerenVastir
Жыл бұрын
So, this is going to be a LONG POST, and many will veiw as controvertial, but as someone who uses a "DMPC" alot and pretty much all of my players in the 10 years i've been DM'ing have thoroughly enjyued having them around. I'd like to add a counter-narrative to the video. I'm going to bring up points as I hear them in the video. Please note for anyone reading. This is not me saying ALL dmpc's are good. many, many DM's play them poorly and give rise to these criticisms. However I believe we should take more time to talk about how to do a DMPC correctly, and not just say No. "Stealing the spotlight from the player characters... Often these characters are injected into the campaign to be a protagonist" - This is probly the biggest concern I hear when I have a new player and hear I use a DMPC in the game. and i'll be honest, when i first started DM'ing, I fell into that trap and the game was ruined because of it. However if a DM learns this lesson, either by fire like i did, or through education, it can EASILY be avoided. a DMPC should be there in SERVICE of the player characters stories. Perhaps the DMPC is one of the characters siblings, or lovers who is there to support the character, but doesn't really like to be in the center of attention. they might sit in the back, helping when asked, or providing some questionable advice (having a DMPC give the player characters "wrong" hints is a wonderful bit of fun, as long as the players are made aware and understand its the DMPC giving the advice, not the DM). But a DMPC is a good way to get your players invested in that NPC fast and hard. since its not just "an NPC" its a comrade, a member of the team, a member of the family. And so when you pull the rug out and kill off the character... suddenly that has a much bigger impact. If done well it can feel like an actual Player character death to the other players, but without the disappointment and frustration of a Player losing their character they wanted to play. Or maybe they don't die... Maybe they get into a heated argument with the party or character, have some heart wrenching drama as the DMPC leaves the party, leaving a hole in not only the team, but the players hearts... only to have that DMPC come back as a villian (basically pulling a bastilla from KOTOR) . And the party has to either try and save them, or kill them. These are the kinds of stories you can't really do with normal PC's but a DMPC if played correctly can make a campaign just THAT much better. Following your LOTR example... Boromir. perfect example of what i'm saying about DMPC's. He's a great DMPC as he provides a service to the party, he starts some drama and pushes the plot and character motivations forward, and dies spectacularly, inspiring the Mary and Pippin PC's to step up and be more useful. In regards to the sentient magic item... thats all great advice for a DMPC as well, and similar to what i mentioned above with a DMPC taking more of a back seat support role. The only real difference between that magic item and a well run DMPC is that if you need to "take it away" from the party. a DMPC can have an emotional impact on the players and characters, but taking away their sentient magic item is more like taking away a toy than a friend. players will be more likely to feel as though they are personally being disadvantaged by loosing their talking murder stick than if you killed off a DPMC. the "benefits" they are losing might be just as if not even more significant with a DMPC, but it doesn't feel as though their character is suddenly less useful than before, rather it can make them feel more useful now as they have to pick up the slack left by their fallen friend. "Forever DM" - oh Monty... with all due respect, your list of things DMPC's cant do is just bullshit. I could write an entire video's worth of script about this but i'll try and keep it breif (this comment is getting long already) DMPC can't be challenged in combat - this only applies if the DM cheats to have their characters NOT be challenged. if you build an encounter to be challenging for the whole party, DMPC included, as long as you're not cheating and fudging rolls, the DMPC can absoultely be challenged. even more so, as a person who really enjoys D&D combat for the tactical choices you can make, as a DMPC i can tailor the combat to be even more challenging for me than the rest of the party. Say i'm playing a necromancer type wizard who is trash when fighting against undead. I can throw a horde of undead at the party that they get to have fun slaughtering, while the DMPC has to switch tac, and try and support from the back. or you're the Melee DMPC and the rest of the party has ranged options, throw in some flying enemies. you'll be down there trying to throw rocks and things while the players are shooting them out of the sky. bonus points if your wizard or caster thinks to cast fly on you, now you've given them the opportunity to do something creative, and your DMPC is more useful, until you break the casters concentration and your DMPC falls out of the sky. Cant Solve the Mystery - This all depends on how you DM. As a DM who enjoys letting the players tell as much of the story as they like, alot of times I come up with a puzzle or mystery that doesn't have a solution yet. I let the characters come up with interesting theories or solutions, and when they come up with one that sounds like the most fun, boom, thats it. the DMPC can absolutely be involved in that, talking about potential solutions with the other characters. Not surprised by the plot twist - ooooh boy. this may be my opinion but as a DM i've been more frequently surprised by plot twists than I ever have as a player. A single roll going the wrong way. Someone says something to an NPC or another player that pulls the rug out from under you. You realizing or thinking up a great plot twist in the middle of a session, and now your DMPC can react to that information right away. Maybe its just how I think and tell stories, but aside from a general outline of certain events and facts that already exsist... I'm experiencing the story being created and unfolded in front of me at the same time as the players. Can't Explore the world you made - fair, but it can follow similarly to my explanation of the plot twists, say your players are looking around for a secret door, and they get a nat 20. rather than be boring as say, nope no secret doors. there's a suspicious bookshelf with a portal behind it.... you have no idea where it goes yet, but the party decides to go in. you may know where it leads about 10 seconds before the rest of the players, but you can still get that experience. Can't Roleplay with NPC's - this is fair... but more importantly, and the main reason why i love playing DMPC's... is that you get to roleplay more with the PLAYERS. they are the ones that bring excitement and new ideas to the game. and being able to interact with them more leads to more interesting and personal stories. Can't make interesting choices for your character - I disagree. this comes down to being able to seperate the Roleplaying side of a DMPC with the DM side of you. if you are able to inhabit that character properly, when a situation arises when your character would do something with significant consequences... ones that YOU may not necessarily have planned for until the situation arose and you realized "oh yea this character would definately try and kill this person". But doing so could throw a wrench in your whole plan? and now you're in a situation where the DMPC is doing something risky and the rest of the party has to either go with it and contribute to flipping the script, or they have to convince or stop the DMPC from ruining things, and regardless of which way it goes... that was the plan all along.the PC's might never know that wasn't planned, but rather get engrossed in the story playing out differently than expected. again, with a DMPC it should always be done to make the story more interesting for the players.
@mrbean3470
Жыл бұрын
Our first campaign, our DM played a "heal-bot" cleric that was essentially an NPC but we had enough fun with it that when she got incinerated by Iarno in Tresendar Manor, there was great role playing/vengeance motive. DM didn't want us to get overwhelmed in levels 1-3, so had them as a safeguard/meat shield. Then the training wheels came off.
@angryghost521
4 ай бұрын
I definitely agree that the last one, being a forever DM is difficult. The not knowing part of being the DM and making a DMPC I feel is partially correct. But also having a "character" that contributes to the hijinks whether its in the field or back at town. Not just solving a mystery or over coming a challenge, but the ability to socialize and really add a bit to a conversation, it doesnt even have to solving anything, sometimes just adding a perspective that isnt correct is fun and often why I have a DM controlled NPC. Also as a forever gm of almost 35 years... I can say that over those 35+ years I have been able to be a player character about 20 times. The most recent issue is that as a GM/DM I allow players to use ALOT of books for character options and creations and the off limits books are usually 1 or 2 books, based on writing and balance. Now when I am a player and they are the GM, I was allowed to only use the core rulebook for race and class. So I never get to play and use these amazing race and class/achetype combinations that everyone else does. I do not know if this is secretly their play to make me stay as a GM forever, but its working. Again its frustrating for me because monsters and NPC's in their games exist that obviously use the other books. Some may say no D&D is better than bad D&D, but when the option is bad D&D vs. never gaming again it becomes a bit harder (also online searches via discord channels has led to alot of horror stories..).
@t2force212
Жыл бұрын
My first DM had a DMPC but he did it right. This character was purely utility and support (life cleric), it was only ever verbal if we spoke to it, it only ever did things if we asked it to. It was essentially a familiar with a bunch of heals because we were all noobs at low level
@hk4124
Жыл бұрын
I don't often disagree with you guys but I, as a DM, absolutely love my DMPCs. As someone who homebrews most of my settings I wanna play in that setting and this is one of the only ways I get to. I'm currently running a Wheel of Time homebrew I made and would LOVE to play in that world. Sadly unless I find a DM willing to run my homebrew or has at least made their own homebrew for that setting I'll never get to so my DMPC is the best option. So long as a DM can avoid main character syndrome and not put their PC in the spotlight every time it works perfectly fine, sadly that seems hard to do for a lot of DMs lol.
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