I've been DMing a 11th level adventure, and I've provided the much needed arcane caster role with a DMPC. (We've got a bard who refuses to do anything but heal, sing, and plink away with a mwk longbow, an aldori swordlord/monk, a (deceased) aldori swordlord/duelist, a rogue, and my sorcerer)
So far, the players have been pretty satisfied with the DMPC. He contributes those hastes and fly spells, and then blasts away with fireballs after the buffs are up. He's throwing CL 14, intensified empowered fireballs with +2 damage per die, but, because we've mostly been up against fire resistant/high SR enemies, only about one in three fireballs does anything and the rest of the party gets time to shine.
However, one character got killed when he let himself get convinced by Bard* to help her take out Takaral*, whom three of the other party members had sided with. A platoon's worth of angels and skellies clashed, and at the end of the day, that character and everyone but the party and a cloud giant skeleton Takaral had hidden his phylactery in was dead(or dead again).
Now, I've allowed players to use most players to use 3rd party stuff, if it's on d20pfsrd. The new character for the player whose character died is an adept godling.. Who gives my DMPC +4 CL if he's standing within 60 ft of her.
I'm worried this might make my DMPC too strong. Opinions?
*see Nethys on pathfinder wiki.
I don't think the +4CL is overpowering. Could you give examples?
If the players don't mind your sorcerer being strong in order to compensate for the bard then it should be ok. I would ask them though, since I don't know how much the bard is or is not doing.
If you are playing the sorcerer because of the bard then I would not play it. If they want to use archery they should take the feats for it. If the bard is unwilling to cast spells the party will just have to suffer for it.
Peer pressure is a wonderful motivator, and if the bard is not willing to do more then there is no reason for the others to act as meat shield for her. If an enemy slips past the front liners then so be it.
Well, his fireball spells will average 123.75 damage, and that +4 CL will give him 20% more chance to penetrate spell resistance.
The players are inexperienced, and still think that having a person running around casting cure serious wounds every turn is effective at level 11, so they believe he's doing his job, other than him, who has started to realize something is up. I spoke to the bard about it and he says that he got his spell list wrong and will add some non-healing spells with some extras he forgot to allocate. However, I haven't looked over his sheet yet, so I have no idea what he's got other than Cure Light through critical wounds, and a mwk longbow.
Come to think about it, I don't even know what race he is yet.
I missed the intensified and empowered feats. :)
The bonus to bypass SR and to use dispel magic is pretty good though.
What I might also do if I were you is end the game*, and start them off at a lower level so they see how the game changes. Running inexperienced players in a game that is that high does not normally work out well.
*I would finish the story early is what I mean. I was not saying just suddenly end the game with no completion.
I'm also running Jade Regent (just started infiltrating Brinewall and assassinated the gatehouse crew), with the same group+1 person, with which game we play any given week determined by whether that player is there.
So, I could probably just make sure we do the Jade Regent one more often.
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If it were me, I'd drop the DMPC and adapt the level and style of adventure to suit your PCs. Sounds like 4 finesse infiltration types that with a little encouragement could work towards bypassing encounters through skills rather than blasting and slaying them all the time.
I dunno.
If they are really weak, run them through APL-1 or something average encounters and don't tell them you're fudging the numbers.
I would have fun, you have an NPC that they like, depend upon and rely on. This means he must die. His face isn't on the cover of the box, which means he must go. He should die in a way that scares the crud out of the other PCs, yet call upon a desire for revenge.
Now, I said this in mild jest, but while they are "scared" you can scale back the difficulty of encounters a bit and let them find cohesion has a team with a little less lethality. (It also give you a chance to maybe adjust the play style to fit their approach at the same time you are seasoning with tactics.)
If you still feel the lack of a player, in those times I use a revolving door of NPCs, individuals who jump in and out to help for their own needs. It exposes players to different tactical approaches and lets them get a feel for a style they want. Plus, its a new kind of tactical chaos.
I'd probably have the DMPC betray the party, but I am evil...
If you still feel the lack of a player, in those times I use a revolving door of NPCs, individuals who jump in and out to help for their own needs. It exposes players to different tactical approaches and lets them get a feel for a style they want. Plus, its a new kind of tactical chaos.
In times when we were short a needed archetype, I did the same thing. Usually it was a healer they needed. I had a revolving door of a young priest, his boss, and a local druid. They all were beholden to the local duke, so he would assign one the duties when he handed out jobs. Worked well. They were never too reliant on just one of them, and each iteration gave the group a different style.
My basic suggestion would be not to run a ~14th level party with inexperienced players.
If that's not an option, though, I'd multiclass with rogue or fighter, or have the DMPC get other things on its schedule and leave the party for a while, to let them gain a few levels before it shows back up.
You can make do without a sorcerer, especially since you have to soft-ball the encounters for such a party anyway.
Revamp to debuffs and support. You will still be winning the fights and be the most powerful by several miles, but they won't notice, because they will be doing all the damage.
Peer pressure is a wonderful motivator…
It certainly works in Basic Training, but then some people may be playing for fun.
In my experience, a DMPC is almost always a bad idea. Even assuming you are playing the character without an ounce of bias, it is one more responsibility to juggle in what should already be a full plate.
I suggest you tweak the adventure to fit the party, which, admittedly requires more work on your part. Or, talk to the players and explain you do not want to have to tweak the adventure and that they need to cover the standard roles. If you are short on players, you can consider beefing up the characters. I think it would be easier to let the players tweak their characters from the beginning than for you to try and tweak the adventure as it progresses.
As almost all Advice-seeking questions are best replied to, talk to your players. Tell them you feel like your sorcerer is becoming too strong, and your players too reliant on him. Tell them it's time to take the training wheels off, and that you're more interested in coaching them to get the most out of their own characters. Especially the Bard. A Bard with maxed UMD, a metamagic Rod or three, and some wands can pretty much duplicate everything your Sorcerer is doing, anyways - and he can still sing, dance, and pick wildflowers.