A Measured Response to DMPCs
This article, like others I’ve written, is largely motivated by seeing it as a popular topic in D&D forums and general discussion. It’s very likely you’ve heard the term ‘DMPCs’, and even more likely you’ve heard it in a negative light. But, the most common thing I’ve noticed about conversations involving them is most don’t fully understand them. A lot of people don’t know what they actually are, how they differ from NPCs, how they’ve gotten a negative reputation, etc. The two extremes I see are often riddled with generalizations and misrepresentations, and I do think lack of common ground on the topic massively alienates people from a very important aspect of the game: making memorable characters.
I’m going to elaborate on this topic and why the important distinction present here should be understood. Here’s a couple definitions to start, which is where a lot of confusion lies:
PC. A player character. These are characters made by the party you’re DMing.
NPC. Short for ‘non-playable character’, a NPC is any character the DM is running in the world.
DMPC. A player character who is run by the DM who is a member of the party and follows them for the duration of the campaign, participating as if they weren’t the DM.
These definitions might already throw people off. You’ll see plenty of threads where DMPC is made synonymous with NPC, but there’s a reason they have a different name. A DMPC actively participates as if they were a player, which tends to step beyond the bounds most NPCs fall into, who are often bystanders, or temporary participants at most.
For example: you, as the DM, may have a PC that you made a while ago. You have their character sheet and backstory and decide to place them in the world as an additional member of the party. This character earns XP (or levels with milestones) like the party, shares loot, gives opinions, pursues a goal, and reacts to NPCs and other events as if they were a PC. This is a DMPC.
The main distinction between a DMPC and an NPC has nothing to do with their personality, their powers, or their general disposition. The difference is how heavily they involve themselves with the party, and how they participate in party activities. This distinction is generally the point of contention for a lot of people’s opinions on DMPCs, and where they get their negative reputation. The term was coined with these negatives in mind, largely referring to the many pitfalls associated with them. However, recently, the term has been used less in a negative light and more to define particularly prevalent NPCs, which I don’t think is entirely appropriate.
It’s a very similar conflict of ‘all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.’ Yes, every character created by the DM is an NPC. No, not every NPC is a DMPC.
All this being said, while DMPC was coined as something negative, I do think it should be a more neutral term. I do think there can be some positives to having a DMPC, but it’s dependent on the group. It’s inappropriate to just snap at a DM who has a DMPC and call them awful without investigating the reasoning, but I also think immediately assuming all DMPCs are fine and dandy is not the best way to think about it either.
The Positives of DMPCs
I’ve seen plenty of people place a DMPC in their world, and they often have completely sincere intentions with it. And to be totally fair, there are a few reasons why a DMPC could provide a genuine asset to the party. To name some:
A DMPC could be there to mentor positive play for new players. If you are a DM, it’s likely you’ve already played before. Perhaps you have a crop of brand new players, and some are nervous to roleplay, some don’t know how combat works, or some are just plain lost. You have an old PC that you decide to set in the game to give them an example of what can be done in game and how level progression works. This can be nice for new players, as it gives them a semi-true-to-life player example they can work off of without halting the game.
A DMPC could fill a hole in the party. You may have a party that decided to all be spellcasters without a strength based character, or a party of fighters without a single brain cell between them. You could add a sidekick healer or a squire, but you may feel that will be boring, so you decide to add a good ‘ole cleric to bond and work with the party. This can give you a bit more wiggle room when building encounters, and can lead to some genuine roleplay moments.
A DMPC allows you to ‘play’ when you haven’t gotten the chance to in a while. You’ve probably heard the term ‘forever DM’, and that can be challenging. There’s nothing like being a player, and there’s nothing like being a DM. They’re very different experiences, and you may be in a situation where you haven’t gotten to be a player in a long time. Adding a DMPC can help you scratch that itch without sacrificing your rad DMing skills for the rest of the group.
These reasons are all valid concerns and fair when it comes to solving a problem. You might even add a DMPC because you just feel like it and don’t have a particular reason otherwise. If your entire group agrees to it, then you should go for it. However, it’s very important to consider the negatives that come with adding a DMPC, because some of the pitfalls are ones you fall into even if you don’t mean to.
The Negatives of DMPCs
This is where we get into the reputation DMPCs often have, and what causes many forum commenters to lose their mind when they see the topic. While the commentary can be a little over the top in their disparagement, there are some very valid concerns that come with adding DMPCs to the game. All the pitfalls I’m mentioning stem from the same issue: you’re just not a player.
You have advantages the players don’t, and it’s not easy to avoid it. I mentioned above that you may feel inclined to add a DMPC because you haven’t played in a while. Problem is - the dynamic is simply not the same, and whether you like it or not, you will even unconsciously bend the game to suit the story of your DMPC. You have all the knowledge, you control the narrative, the NPCs, the enemies, the loot, everything. Even if you go in with the sincerest intentions, you cannot deny the major power dynamic issue that stems from acting as a player when you simply have more advantages than the others by being the DM.
The spotlight should be on the players, not on you. If you lean toward narrative story telling, you’re likely giving each player time to shine with backstory progression. If you have DMPC, you may start doing the same thing for them, but again, there’s simply an unequivocally different dynamic when you’re spending a lot of time writing for your own character. When you get to control everything, and you get to have your own player experience, it has a good chance of making the players feel sidelined, especially if you make a personal quest with little involvement from party members. Again, even with the sweetest intentions, having a DMPC can feel very self-serving.
Exploiting the power dynamic can extend to infuriating degrees and breed resentment. This doesn’t happen all the time, but you’ve probably read a horror story or two about a DMPC who basically becomes the main character. They may always have the right plan, always steal the final hit, always save the party from near death, or always get the exact loot and advantages they need. They may be higher level than the party and take on a parenting personality. While some of this can be unintentional, it can also be intentional, and that’s not okay. You should never play a DMPC there to live a fantasy or exploit your power as the DM. This can lead to some terribly toxic behavior.
DMPCs aren’t automatically the scourge of the world, but they can be, and that’s why people draw their line in the sand so aggressively. Having a very personal connection to a character can mean you will, consciously or unconsciously, bend things to suit their narrative. Even with the greatest resistance in the world, you’ll very likely use your DM powers to give that DMPC the story you want, and that can really challenge, or even completely subvert, the integrity of the game.
Considerations if You Use a DMPC
After reading all this, if you still decide to use a DMPC, that’s okay! But, always keep the following tips in mind if you decide to go that route (and the whole group agrees to it):
Be extremely careful about your foreknowledge. It’s going to be pretty impossible not to metagame at least a little, but try to control it as much as possible. Catch yourself before you suddenly give your DMPC knowledge they shouldn’t have, or have the monster avoid hitting your character, or have your DMPC suggest the perfect plan.
Consider a more passive role. It may be a good idea to have your DMPC play a much more passive role when it comes to parts of the narrative that are related to knowledge the party doesn’t have, like puzzles, secrets about the evil they face, or mysteries. Of course, you could fake it till you make it, but your party may gravitate to your DMPC, knowing you, as the DM, have the cards. Try to abstain from major decision making unless they directly ask. If they do, refer to tip number 1.
Tie your DMPCs story to another, or make it one the whole party can participate in. This is one that applies to PCs as well, but try to avoid having DMPC who’s story can’t actively involve the rest of the party. If you’re going to be focusing on your own character, it’s best to make it intrinsically related to PCs, or perhaps your character is related to the main plot in a way. Again, you have to be really careful about stealing too much spotlight, but it can work.
Alternatives to DMPCs
From one World Weaver to another, we all want to be players, and I totally sympathize with that. However, as a DM, I know I’m not going to get the same experience trying to emulate being a player as a DM as I would if I was actually a player. As a result, I don’t personally use DMPCs, and I probably never will. But the desire’s still there, and there are ways to tap into it without adding someone to the party permanently: they’re called NPCs.
Creating memorable NPCs can be a tough feat if you’re not super familiar with character building or narrative design. I could write a whole other article about the topic, but for now, I’m touching on using your immense power as a DM to create a breathable world for the players that also allows you to have lots of fun playing these characters.
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything adding more standardized rules for sidekicks, who can be characters of their own and can fill a hole in the party. After all, NPCs don’t have to be boring, blank slate, quest givers. You can play wonderful characters without trying to emulate the player experience, and they can have huge impacts on the party without being a member of it. Consider tweaking these characters that you wanted to be DMPCs into NPCs, and using your almighty powers to give them a different dynamic then they’d have as a PC. After all, you control everything, so you can create completed scenarios and quests for the party that both highlight this character you love, but also give the party a great role in their story that benefits both the players and you.
Do you have a PC that died in their campaign and never got their cottage in the meadow they wanted? Well, you can give it to them now. Do you have a PC who you weren’t allowed to play in one campaign? They run the tavern now. The key is to never allow these characters to overshadow the party, and to give them a progression that is much looser, and most importantly to give up a little control. Let these characters you love change, and let the party change them, and let them have a role in the story in the background while still being engaging and well-loved (or well-hated, if we’re talking about a good villain.)
For example: there’s an NPC in my current campaign named Elis. He’s an engineer, and also happens to have a fairly important role in the main plot of the game. While his opinion is valued as well as his desires, and the party works to ensure to help him, he still is a device for the plot, and the players are always going to be more important than his plot line. This is so fun to me, and his character has already gone in a different direction than I initially intended, all because I relinquished some control, and allowed the party to influence them and not my own plans.
It’s also important to note that sometimes NPCs just don’t hit right with the party. They may fall flat and even though you love them, the party just does not vibe, and that’s okay. You can always make new characters, and even if it bums you out in the moment, you are a wonderful creator. You’re a World Weaver, and you will come up with incredible things.
