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DM PCs and Evil

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
SleepsInTraffic
Feb 13, 2009 14:42:55 The first question of all is how do you guys feel about a DM PC in this particular adventure. I only have four guys to play with and I'm new to DMing and don't have much time to roll back all the encounters and skill challenges to fit 4 characters so a fifth character under my control was a logical decision as my group usually has DM PCs

The second question would be weather or not i should make this character evil. It is a drow rogue that i have told my entire party is a good character with your general Drizt kind of background but Im thinking about making that the front of a slyly evil character, rescuing orphans and helping old ladies across the street to gain the confidence of people that wouldn't normally trust a drow. I thought it might be a fun kind of hook later in the game for the good dwarf invoker to try and convert the drow from evil if the group figures it out.

feel free to discuss either point
#2
iserith
Feb 13, 2009 16:09:59 You don't really need a fifth PC if the party mix has enough healing abilities. Worst case scenario, just take out one or more monsters whose XP level is equal to the level of the party to balance it. Piece of cake. In most of the adventures, it seems a friendly NPC can usually be picked up along the way anyway - Rennis, Kalad, etc.

As for the drow, I had enough of those in 1992. I haven't had one in a campaign since.
#3
nihzlet
Feb 13, 2009 17:00:55 I've been in many a campaign where there's been a DM PC, and I have a suggestion--you roleplay him(maybe even using him to prod the party in the right direction if they seem lost), but let one of the players play him during combat. Just give them his combat stats/powers/etc, and let them use him. Maybe a different player each time. It's more fun for the players that way, because more time in combat is spent in their control, instead of yours.

As to whether you should make him evil--if you can make up good plot threads with it(either betrayal and/or redemption, for some easy examples), then hell yes. Having a DM PC makes it incredibly easy to work them into the plot very heavily, so you can do some really neat things with it if you think it out beforehand. You can, of course, make good plot around a non-evil DM PC, but the above two examples are easy routes to go if the party is good and the DM PC is secretly evil.
#4
Krancher
Feb 13, 2009 18:28:53 Be careful with the double-bluff--the (typically) evil drow who is really good but secretly evil. You might be able to use it to good effect once, but once your players get stung with it they will *never* trust another NPC with even a whiff of shadiness about him ever again. Don't expect them to be sympathetic to other drow, dark dwarves, chromatic dragons, or even tieflings--all will instantly become victims of D&D racial profiling, and be treated as the villains your players will assume they really are ... even if they aren't.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 SleepsInTraffic Feb 13, 2009 14:42:55	The first question of all is how do you guys feel about a DM PC in this particular adventure. I only have four guys to play with and I'm new to DMing and don't have much time to roll back all the encounters and skill challenges to fit 4 characters so a fifth character under my control was a logical decision as my group usually has DM PCs The second question would be weather or not i should make this character evil. It is a drow rogue that i have told my entire party is a good character with your general Drizt kind of background but Im thinking about making that the front of a slyly evil character, rescuing orphans and helping old ladies across the street to gain the confidence of people that wouldn't normally trust a drow. I thought it might be a fun kind of hook later in the game for the good dwarf invoker to try and convert the drow from evil if the group figures it out. feel free to discuss either point
#2 iserith Feb 13, 2009 16:09:59	You don't really need a fifth PC if the party mix has enough healing abilities. Worst case scenario, just take out one or more monsters whose XP level is equal to the level of the party to balance it. Piece of cake. In most of the adventures, it seems a friendly NPC can usually be picked up along the way anyway - Rennis, Kalad, etc. As for the drow, I had enough of those in 1992. I haven't had one in a campaign since.
#3 nihzlet Feb 13, 2009 17:00:55	I've been in many a campaign where there's been a DM PC, and I have a suggestion--you roleplay him(maybe even using him to prod the party in the right direction if they seem lost), but let one of the players play him during combat. Just give them his combat stats/powers/etc, and let them use him. Maybe a different player each time. It's more fun for the players that way, because more time in combat is spent in their control, instead of yours. As to whether you should make him evil--if you can make up good plot threads with it(either betrayal and/or redemption, for some easy examples), then hell yes. Having a DM PC makes it incredibly easy to work them into the plot very heavily, so you can do some really neat things with it if you think it out beforehand. You can, of course, make good plot around a non-evil DM PC, but the above two examples are easy routes to go if the party is good and the DM PC is secretly evil.
#4 Krancher Feb 13, 2009 18:28:53	Be careful with the double-bluff--the (typically) evil drow who is really good but secretly evil. You might be able to use it to good effect once, but once your players get stung with it they will never trust another NPC with even a whiff of shadiness about him ever again. Don't expect them to be sympathetic to other drow, dark dwarves, chromatic dragons, or even tieflings--all will instantly become victims of D&D racial profiling, and be treated as the villains your players will assume they really are ... even if they aren't.