Howdy. I'm hoping for a bit of advice on how I should handle a GMPC.
When we started out Shattered Star campaign I was going to be co GMing with one of the other group members. So both of us made PCs to play while the other was GMing. Wed done this in our previous campaign and it worked out well. But the person I was going to be co GMing with had a lot of real life stuff to deal with and wasn't going to have time to commit to prep and all of that, so I'm solo GMing now. I'm completely fine with that but I don't know what to do with my PC.
I was going to just drop her from the game but the other players liked her and wanted her to stay in the team. The problem for me is that I don't really play her all that much. I'm leery of playing with myself if she has something to say to NPCs, Id rather interact with the players. So she doesn't do much. I'm also concerned about slipping up and accidentally giving her GM knowledge, or that if she makes suggestions or anything like that the players will take that as me, the GM, making those suggestions.
At our last session some of the players mentioned they'd like to get to know her better because she hasn't had much development. I decided to try some email RP with them, no die rolling or anything, just a day on the town where I could be her and they could get to know her better. They liked the idea but when I sent out the initial email only one responded so I kind of let it go.
I don't know how I should go about having her be more substantial in the group. Advice?
Develop her with interaction with the PC, and non important interaction with the NPC's. What class is she?
It helps if the class is capable of supporting the other PC's in some way, either healing or buffing, or... just some gap in the PC groups abilities.
I just add a few mooks to "kill" (since rolling for a GMPC slows things down) while the rest of the PC's do the real stuff. IF they need my help, the GMPC will roll in to prevent a TPK, since i prefer a story based campaign. Its not a guarantee of survival, but it might help them.
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If you don't want to drop her completely, you could have her 'retire' and set up shop somewhere the PCs can go from time to time to ask for advice or to check in on her.
I'm running Serpent's Skull and there are plenty of NPCs who accompany the group for a while and that's what I did with them. Worked fine for us!
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I think semi-retirement is best: your old PC is still around, and the PCs can stop by now and then, but the GMPC isn't going to go on adventures.
In particular: the GMPC won't be solving the PCs' problems for them or stealing glory. But he's there if the players are stuck and need a sympathetic ear or sounding board. Your GMPC won't know anything the players don't know, but he might point out a few dots they haven't connected yet, or obvious flaws in a proposed plan. But it depends on the PCs to go to the GMPC for advice, and no punishment if they don't; the PCs are generally capable of doing things on their own.
In addition, your old PC may offer some services at cost/discount; if your old PC was a cleric for example, he might cast healing spells merely at the price of the components, no extra service charge, because they're old pals. If your old PC is a rogue, he might inform the PCs of rumors floating around town; he can set up some plot hooks that way, or warn them to lay low for a while.
In this way, the players can still keep in touch (which they want), without the risks of a glory-stealing GMPC (which people get tired of fast). Everyone gets to be happy :)
I had a goblin Rogue that I built primarily for being utterly bonkers/funny and stupid pranks I made for a group with not enough people playing in it.
Maybe just concentrate less on being useful and more being funny?
If funny works for you, have at it, but not everyone is comfortable with a high level of slapstick humor in their game.
Another thing: I remember having an NPC cleric of Gozreh travelling with the party. He turned most of their healing requests down out of combat, arguing that it's just a scratch, nothing a good night's sleep and a day of rest won't fix, or generally not worth asking for Gozreh's power. In combat he held back most of the time and only took action if things went seriously downhill. And even that only if the PCs were trying to stick to Gozreh's rules. If asked for advice he'd usually reply with a question or say something like: "Come on, think harder. You know this."
Even though he was condescending and precocious, he became a favorite of the players.
They care about her just enough....
... she's become a plot hook. Kill her horribly in a way that locks the party into the storyline. This way you can use all the hollywood cliches about revenge motivations, gets your PCs emotionally involved in the story and sacrifice something that you didn't really want to keep around anyway.
Hello again. Thank you all for the advice!
She is the party fighter. The other members are a rogue, cleric, bard, and magus. We will probably finish the first volume of the AP tonight.
I think the semi retirement may be what I end up going with.
I'm playing a LN Inquisitor in Rappan Athuk. He worships a god named Idec, god of arbitrary decision making, and as part of his religion, he uses a stone D20 to make most decisions. Example: At a fork in the road 1 is go right, 20 is go left, 10 is indifferent. I let decisions be made by the party through voting, and use the dice to determine my vote.
Do not take control of the party's decision making, but do not let them forget you are part of the party at the same time. If there is a problem that your party is facing, like who to go first in marching order, you can offer to go first if it's something your character would do and let the party decide if they want to do that.