DM inserts a DMPC into the party

>DM inserts a DMPC into the party
>They're a "LULZ SO RANDOM XD" character
>Rest of the universe is serious
>Game turns randumb whenever his female waifu insert is "on screen"

DMPCs in general are bad.

>raging against an imagined DM, then making a statement you know no one will disagree with

>this one guy makes bad DMPCs, therefore all DMPCs are bad!

All DMPCs are bad, just like all That Guys are bad and all Magical Realms are bad. If they were good, you'd just have NPCs, normal players and ERP.

None of that happened, and you know it, faggot.

so then a character who accompanies the party controlled by the dm is a?

NPC.

The 'dmpc' label is used for when the DM starts treating the character AS a PC, demanding equal screentime, loot, having defined character levels and a build, etc.

It's not inherently bad, but the DM already dominates the campaign on account of playing EVERYTHING except the 4/5 adventurers the PCs control. The DM also controlling a PC with their own progression & storyline is bad, even if they're completely unbiased about it. Which they won't be.

We don't quite get DMPCs in my game, but MOST of the regular NPCs are smug assholes who love doing things that you can't affect, like "borrow" your things even though you do your best to keep things secure. Then they casually give it back to you and go "oh that thing you have is pretty cool" and pretend like they didn't just invade your privacy and that you'd be totally in the wrong to dislike them or kick their asses.

im a DM who always wants to play certain characters without getting the chance.

I also find DM PCs cancerous.
I mostly go around the issue by making these characters villains or side characters that are either "lower level" to the PCs or beeing occupied.

For example a fighter character id like to play is tasked with running the town guard, so he kind of acts as a pointer for the PCs without directly interfering with their story unless they want to.

So far ive not gotten any complaints about DMPCs.

The only thing i did was upgrade a random "optional" villain encounter to an NPC because he seemed to reasonabte well with the party, the party took the hint not to kill him.

flcl 2 will suck

NPC

The reason why I know that Veeky Forums doesn't actually play games is how knee-jerk their attempts to accuse other people of not playing games are

This is literally one of the most common incarnations of bad pet NPCs.

Is this a commentary on FLCL? Because my gf tried to show it to me and the situation OP describes pretty much sums up FLCL.

Everyone always forgets that Haruko wasn't actually penguin of doom tier random, she was just acting like that to appeal to Naota.

I choose to remain cautiously optimistic for now,
but to tell the truth I'm terrified that it will suck. I'm obviously not expecting FLCL 1 level of quality, but I don't think I could take it if FLCL 2&3 became the next dumpster fire anime to make fun of.

Our one space sci-fi game had a few DMPCs, but mostly of the "we bring them if we need support on a mission, but otherwise they're off doing other missions that are important, but not important enough that it's worth sending our PCs to do."

Occasionally we did a session where we played as the DMPCs on one of the side missions whenever we needed a break from the "main" game. The DMPCs generally were never actually statted out at this point, so the DM would have us pick one, give a list of their established character traits, and we'd make the rest of the character from there. Got a good few roleplaying moments out those.

>make a "DMPC" that's just supposed to help fill a mechanical party role
>Is literally a robot with no personal goals or interests outside of serving the party
>PCs insist on humanizing it and 'making him a real boy'

They just don't get it sometimes...

this has never happened to me, but it feels like something other DMs have dealt with.

Teehee Maccaroni is the bane of my fucking existence.

Every fucking campaign that my GM runs inevitably at some point involves running into an NPC named "Teehee Maccaroni," who the GM affectionately describes as "an epic level sorcerer who's also a retarded nudist gnome."

Teehee Maccaroni wander the countryside with a unique Rod of Wonders powered by "retard magic" shoved up his anus, and he casts the Rod of Wonders by diddling his penis. He says nothing but his own name in different inflections and the phrase "I like-a the goodberry, gimme gimme the goodberry." The GM thinks it's hilarious to have this character show up during the middle of encounters we're struggling at and start jerking off magic everywhere.

But the worst part is his chant. He wanders around chanting his name, so when he's about to show up the GM will start low;
>Tee-hee-hee, Maccaroni Maccaroni
>Tee-hee-hee, Maccaroni Maccaroni
And then get louder and louder until he's fucking shouting
>TEE HEE HEE, MACCARONI MACCARONI!
>TEE HEE HEE, MACCARONI MACCARONI!

And the table loves it! The other guys I play with think this is the best shit! Teehee Maccaroni has been our table's de-facto inside joke, our signature "running gag" for six years now. When that chant starts up, everyone else joins in like a ritual; the whole table is expected to start chanting "TEE HEE HEE, MACCARONI MACCARONI" by the end, and every fucking time I refuse because this is some embarrassing circa-2002 Penguin of Doom shit, it's always the same thing; "There goes user again! No fun allowed around user! user's just a big grouch who's getting angry because we're making him touch Teehee Maccaroni's penis again! Why won't you just let us have fun with this character, he's just here for dumb fun, you stick-in-the mud!"

These motherfuckers are all over 25 years old.

Teehee Maccaroni is going to be the death of me.

Just like FLCL sucked. I seriously do not get the love the show gets.

I have the opposite problem in that my PC is also just a utility character who serves mechanical roles, but also functions as the plot hook for one of the side stories, being a fragmented AI wanting to restore herself, and would also give the players access to more functionality, but instead the players are content to do sandbox hexcrawl, and simply exploit her monophobia and the fact that she is literally a box they carry around to use her for utility purposes.

It's gotta hit you at the right time of your life I guess.

The fact that you could only find one shitty guy to run dnd for you in high school and never had the balls to run it yourself isn't a condemnation of the rest of the hobby.

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It's overcooked pasta, friend-o.

A dmpc can be a great addition if you're dealing with a small group, especially if the group in question has poor direction. A halfway decent gm can do wonders with occasional inclusion of these characters.

Though on the other hand they can be a fucking nightmare if the gm is a cunt or a dumbass

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This board is for people who have played games and can make reasonable deductions based on those games played. Sorry, OP.

>even if they're completely unbiased about it.
That never happens though

Boy am I glad my small group of friends doesn't suck. We typically need a dmpc with defined build and levels to make up for our lack of party. And they've never been spotlight hogs regardless of DM.

>DMing for a group of 5
>The one lawful good paladin gets the short end of the stick since he's in a party of selfish and morally reprehensible rogues and fighters and warlocks
>Sometimes there's literally no way for him to stay in character without actively going against the party
>Give him a young squire of the order to help out

IN making this squire I had a few goals in mind


>The squire should mirror his character
So I made him a fighter(crusader homebrew) to mirror a paladin. Divine icon imitates a weaker form of Smite. Healing kits with the healer feat imitate a paladin's healing magic. He wears the same type of equipment but has Ring mail to the paladin's splint mail, a short sword to the paladin's longsword, and a sling to the paladin's longbow.
>The squire should be useful to the entire party
The party has weak healing and defensive potential so he stays next to casters with shield master feat, assists the rogue with the Help action, revives people with the healing kit, and has unpopular but useful proficiencies like survival and history so the story can progress smoothly
>The squire should be worse or more bland than the paladin in every way
A human fighter with 75% of a normal PC's stats, and all around worse equipment to make sure he never outshines anyone else unless the entire party fails
>The squire should feel like his own person
Randomized some ideals and flaws to make his personality, and picked a monster type he's deathly afraid of to give me a baseline of how he's going to be acting in any situation.

And so far the group hypes him up as a bad ass underdog at best, or refers to him as a very convenient mule/meatshield and second chance for skill checks at worse.

Gee that was difficult.

I dunno, my players like my dmpc, probably because he's got actual character.

He's a mad alchemist who found the philosopher's stone and managed to break down it's very essence and infuse his body with it hoping to gain the ability to use magic, essentially becoming physically immortal. However, since he can't die, he's slowly driven absolutely insane. He's sort of like Deadpool but without the lolsorandom comedy relief. He's traveled from plane to plane, collecting artifacts and such in search of not just a means to gain a magical spark, but also to find a way to finally kill himself. Having hopped around form countless realities, he has no concept of time anymore. He's lived forever and his mind can't handle it.
I think it keeps my players on their toes as they never know if the mad alchemist will aid them or fuck them over. Both are equally likely so long as he benefits from it. Pretty much the closest thing to being funny I've had him do was tell the party to clean out his basement in exchange for equipment. He handed them some alchemists' fire and vials full of glowing fluids and told them to drink the elixirs if something bites them. The stairs to the "basement" had the party descending for almost an hour and upon arrival, they faced what was pretty much Dead Space in a fantasy setting. Failed experiments of his.
The Mad Alchemist as a character generally just exists as a means of either providing some sort of job or rare artifacts and equipment. Sometimes he tags along if something interests him. He never works or gives anything away for free.

DMPCs can be good if the DM can actually make basic characters that don't interfere with the game.

>And the table loves it! The other guys I play with think this is the best shit!
Looks like the problem is with you. Yes, it's fucking dumb, but if everyone has fun then it's ok.

>The reason why I know that Veeky Forums doesn't actually play games is how knee-jerk their attempts to accuse other people of not playing games are
I mean, it's pretty obvious that OP just made this thread because he was hoping people would start talking about whatever anime girl that is in his OP.

In my Dark Heresy game I have a techpriest and an astropath that run the players' ship. They are just glorified npcs, that don't interfere with the plot, but provide the skills on demand from the players. The inquisitor that they work for also is a fully-statted character, but he's just an iportant npc, and doesn't interfere with the party as if he was a player character.