Has anyone ever thought of having some "asst DMs"? I was thinking about this and it could be fun if your group is large enough. If you had some good D&D friends that could drop by you regular game when you are the DM, they could perform as the NPCs. This could give the party more flavor for the experience. Of course, your NPC friends wouldn't be needed on a regular basis; I would anticipate only when your players are in the town. As DM, you would need to give them an idea of how this NPC fits into the big picture.
As an example, I enjoy playing a bard. I think it could be real fun to be part of the setting and act out the bard for the DM. Likewise, the quest giver could be a friend NPC or the town Governor. I think there are many possibilities, but I may be dreaming. Who has that many D&D friends that aren't in the current game with them?
I can see the appeal, and to a degree it would work. Except for 2 things.
1: You'd be giving away a modicum of control over your NPC's. An NPC is a vehicle for the plot in many ways. They give the group quests, drop useful bits of info, mislead. Any number of things. They're a powerful DMing tool. And to give control of them to someone else has it's risks. What if they reveal WAY more info than you wanted them to? What if, when they leave, they decide to give their amazing weapon to the rogue as a "parting gift"? What if they get all frazzled and give the party the WRONG info? Sure, everything is recoverable, but it can make for some awkward situations.
2: The PC's are the hero. If your NPC's are overshadowing your PC's, you're doing it wrong. And if you have a sit in player running an NPC, they're probably not going to want to take a backseat to the players. Maybe it'll be ok because it's a person sitting at the table and not the DM running it, but it could make the players seem a bit redundant, which is a balance you'd have to watch out for.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's impossible, or even that I wouldn't do it, but they are the 2 main issues I can see with it that you would need to prepare for.
Has anyone ever thought of having some "asst DMs"? I was thinking about this and it could be fun if your group is large enough. If you had some good D&D friends that could drop by you regular game when you are the DM, they could perform as the NPCs. This could give the party more flavor for the experience. Of course, your NPC friends wouldn't be needed on a regular basis; I would anticipate only when your players are in the town. As DM, you would need to give them an idea of how this NPC fits into the big picture.
As an example, I enjoy playing a bard. I think it could be real fun to be part of the setting and act out the bard for the DM. Likewise, the quest giver could be a friend NPC or the town Governor. I think there are many possibilities, but I may be dreaming. Who has that many D&D friends that aren't in the current game with them?
I can see the appeal, and to a degree it would work. Except for 2 things.
1: You'd be giving away a modicum of control over your NPC's. An NPC is a vehicle for the plot in many ways. They give the group quests, drop useful bits of info, mislead. Any number of things. They're a powerful DMing tool. And to give control of them to someone else has it's risks. What if they reveal WAY more info than you wanted them to? What if, when they leave, they decide to give their amazing weapon to the rogue as a "parting gift"? What if they get all frazzled and give the party the WRONG info? Sure, everything is recoverable, but it can make for some awkward situations.
2: The PC's are the hero. If your NPC's are overshadowing your PC's, you're doing it wrong. And if you have a sit in player running an NPC, they're probably not going to want to take a backseat to the players. Maybe it'll be ok because it's a person sitting at the table and not the DM running it, but it could make the players seem a bit redundant, which is a balance you'd have to watch out for.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's impossible, or even that I wouldn't do it, but they are the 2 main issues I can see with it that you would need to prepare for.
I like to do it with former PCs now NPCs as long as those PCs were played by people not currently in the campaign.
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