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Maeven
Acolyte
Canada
17 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Dec 2003 : 01:26:30
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I play dnd since 1995. After my first campaign, I became a full fledged DM so our group could continue to play even if our DM could'nt keep up the work with us.
My question is quite simple. Do you guys play a character when you're running your game ? If you do, can you give me some tricks so that I can have fun as a player even while being a DM ? Is there a way to really get a good RP with your character when your a DM ?
Well... Let's start with that.
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" May Corellon always stay with you, for his favor is a great blessing of life and nature ... " |
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Belfar
Seeker
USA
86 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2003 : 05:31:09
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| I've never played a character while DMing at the same time but I think it wouldnt be very much fun. You would know exactly what you are gonna face and how to get past the traps, etc. I wouldn't recommend it. I find DMing fun enough without having to run a character at the same time. The only way I could see it working is if you used a NPC instead of an actually PC. |
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Cult_Leader
Learned Scribe
USA
337 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2003 : 14:46:15
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You can do that or actually just set aside half of your mind. What i mean by this is play like your person has no connection to the goals and such save for being in the group. Its rather easy to do really. You as the player know what is going to happen, your the dm after all. But your char has no connection to you since its a seperate mind and being that you, try to play as. Your char would not know that on the other side of the door is a big hulking monster ready to chop him in half with a great axe. Let him roll to find out. Let him be shoked when he does find out. And most of all do not over power your char. Infact.... Try to make him weaker. Gives the people who are doing nothing more then playing their char a reason to even play. And never play a paladin as a DM ran char. NPCs that might hlep the party ok, but not one that is ran by the char and played as a pc. Well thats my out look  |
"Madness you say! Do you fear me? Are you afraid of what I might do, of what I might say? What a fascinating reaction. Don't you find it somewhat encumbering?"
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"Aren't you people supposed to be doing something? Like, entertaining me, the fascist wizard?" - InleRah
I have the passwords to the minds of everyone and the cheat codes to the universe - Me |
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Trafaldi
Learned Scribe
264 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2003 : 16:50:28
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| Well said, well said, I have ran many games like that. Your character Should stay out of the story make him basically a tool that can help the PCs. He can help give hints if they are truly lost. Its difficult at first but you can get used to it fast. |
Some believe there is something more after death, if you really want to find out... go kill yourself and stop pestering me. |
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Maeven
Acolyte
Canada
17 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2003 : 23:31:52
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My true problem is that I find quite frustrating the fact that everytime I want to do some RP, it kind of "slow" the game.
More : the problem is that I'm currently playing a CN Strongheart Hafling ROGUE... The goal of a rogue is to Detect and Disable devices, find traps and all that kind of stuff. I can't make a check on every single room or door we encounter and I know, as a DM, where I am supposed to make these checks... What's the solution ?
Finally, a single remark : I'm proud cause I'm trying to play the most annoying hafling on Abeir-Toril, and I'm quite good at it...
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" May Corellon always stay with you, for his favor is a great blessing of life and nature ... " |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2003 : 01:20:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Maeven
More : the problem is that I'm currently playing a CN Strongheart Hafling ROGUE... The goal of a rogue is to Detect and Disable devices, find traps and all that kind of stuff. I can't make a check on every single room or door we encounter and I know, as a DM, where I am supposed to make these checks... What's the solution ?
Make about a dozen rolls (or more) and write the results down. Don't add any modifiers. Then, when your character would be actually encountering something that a roll would be needed for, you've got that sheet in front of you. Your players won't complain, because then you wouldn't be slowing the game down (by rolling every other action) or telling them there's something ahead (by rolling only when needed).
This is actually a method recomended for DMs in general. You just have the players make a whole bunch of rolls and record them, for use when you want to make a secret roll. The players can still say "I want to make a spot check" or such. But if the elven PC misses spotting that secret door, the PC's player doesn't know that the roll was made in the first place. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
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Yasraena
Senior Scribe
USA
388 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2003 : 04:24:45
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I find that this is very hard to do without throwing the game balance out the window. It's virtually impossible to keep your GM knowledge out of the descisions that the character you're playing makes, simply because you as the GM always knows things that the PC's shouldn't.
GM's have enough to worry about anyway. What with all the NPC's and their personalities, keeping those personalities consitent, keeping the storyline/timeline consistent, keeping track of the PC's and their actions and how they'll affect your world as a whole, etc, etc; to play a character on top of all that is just too much to deal with. The PC will really lose out in the end too, because you can't focus on really giving that PC life the way you can when you just play. There's just too much else a GM has to concentrate on to make the game good for his players, which should really be his/her focus anyway.
I have used an existing PC of mine as an NPC before. That was a lot of fun as I was able to roleplay her and use her in a combat situation to help out the party, but that was the extent of her involvement in the game.
If you really want to play instead of just GMing all the time, have some of your players run a game. That's what my group does. We have three of us who trade off GMing so we all get to have a PC that we just play with. Because let me tell ya, as much as I love it, GMing is hard work. Granted, it's a labor of love, but it's still a LOT of work.
I love the fact that when it's one of their turns to GM, I don't need to spend weeks preparing for the game. And when it's time to play, all I need is my PC folders, dice, pencil, figure and imagination. |
"Nindyn vel'uss malar verin z'klaen tlu kyone ulu naut doera nindel vel'bolen nind malar."
Yasraena T'Sarran
Harper of Silverymoon |
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Maeven
Acolyte
Canada
17 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2003 : 23:28:14
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As you said... One of my player started DMing.
It's the solution...
Thankx everyone. |
" May Corellon always stay with you, for his favor is a great blessing of life and nature ... " |
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DMs playing a character
