No, this isn't a thread for players wanting stats to play as a Shambling Mound...
It's a fairly tried-and true method for placing the DM's voice to create a dedicated follow-the-party NPC...what about asking a player to play something very specific for the sake of story? In other words, planting a PC in the party to deliberately introduce a sub-plot.
For example, a party is composed of good-aligned PC's. They have uncovered a growing cult of undead-worshippers, fueled by an unknown power. A new PC joins the group, dedicated to the discovery and destruction of said cult.
Unknown to the other PC's, this new PC is actually an evil cleric of the dominant god of death and undead, bent on eradicating his patron's new competition. Clearly, the evil PC has a reason to stick with the party, their goals being similar; however, the paladin-types in the group will have some serious misgivings about the evil character once they find out, and even the more forgiving PCs may be upset about the deception.
Out of game,the DM requested the player to play this concept, and, for the sake of reducing the hellacious metagaming some players tend toward, asked the player in question to keep this portion of character concept secret, so that the players and characters discover the truth at the same time.
I've had mixed reviews on this idea with those I've pitched it to...So, what do you think? Is this practice of "planting" a PC concept acceptable/ethical/as-unique-as-I-believe-it-to-be/etc?
I wanted to do this as a PC myself not long ago, but my DM decided it would be too disruptive to the group. I don't believe such top be the case if the DM has the inclination and takes the time to do the work that would be required, as well as having good players and role-players he could trust and knew would have fun with the story. But, you could probably only do this once or twice with your group, ever, and would have to space it out well. But, otherwise, I think the concept is sound and would be entertaining.
A friend of mine ran a game back in the 90's where every PC was expected to have their own agenda...and keep it secret from the rest of the party. The DM made sure that every player got pulled into sidebar conferences often during a gaming session and players only had their "public" character sheets--the DM had all the "real" character sheets--even if the character was totally above board and honest.
One player managed to run a serial killer PC under the rest of our noses for a year and a half before we found out. Another player managed to run a vampire PC for several months before anyone got wise to it.
It was wonderful great fun--best "role-playing" campaign I ever had the privilege to play in. The DM was masterful at pulling this stuff off. He was also a great friend.
Jim...we all still miss you and you'll never be forgotten (Stefan, Jennifer, Bruce, Tina, Cory, Scott, Carolyn, Brian and all the kids)
It'd have to be a very specific kind of campaign and the players would have to want this sort of thing - especially but not exclusivivly the plant. I'd not do it in my current campaign but I did something similier in an old campaign once. The planted player was pretty skillful and did in fact manage to kill every other party member and insure that they would never be resurected. Despite the dire consiquences it did work in that campaign but your playing with fire - which can be fun but its also dangerous.
Yes, the idea that it must be a specific campaign, with a specific group, is very true...I've certainly had groups I wouldn't dream of trying it with.
Farewell2Kings, that sounds like a fantastic game, and just the sort of roleplaying I enjoy.
Hopefully, this sort of evil plant wouldn't go hell-bent for leather on killing the other PCs, but he would make it plenty crazy for PCs wanting to "just get along." It's the kind of DM machination I like. Thanks for your opinions, folks...keep 'em coming if you've got 'em.
I tried this a few months ago. One of the characters died in my campaign and the player wasn't sure what kind of character he should do next. So I proposed, that for a couple of sessions, that he played this NPC I was about to introduce. His goal would be to lead the players into an ambush. I told him that I expected to play this character to the best of his abilities. And he did.
Although the group was surprised when the ambush happened, they were also happy to pit their abilities against a fellow player. The "traitor", and his awaiting friends managed to kill one PC before he himself was decapitated. There were no hard feelings between the two players afterwards.
It was a really good experience, and tought the group to be more on their toes when they invite a new member into the adventuring team.
Ultradan