In at least one RPG I've played, the GM has had a character in the game - as in a PC that joins the party (in our case, it was a kobold sorcerer that provided a bit of extra punch every now and then).

I'm planning to run an Exalted game soon (with people that have never played the game before), and I'm considering having a GM character to help the players along or provide some extra punch.

What I'm wondering is: are there any guidelines for having a GM PC in a game? Anything regarding power levels (should they be as powerful as the PCs? A little more powerful?) or anything else that I should keep in mind?

Well that all really depends, generally if it's to 'assit' the players. I would say most definatley make it no more powerful than and likely probably at least abit less powerful than the PCs, otherwise you severely risk stealing the show from the PCs, which... really kills the fun.

I have however GMed where the PCs had an NPC that was a great deal more pwoerful than them, though this was really in a sort of... 'sponsorship' system. They were works, the NPC ran the merc group. It gave them some direction in a game system they werent too familar with, and they still ran off and had loads of fun doing all sorts of stuff on the side as well.

I even went out of the way to point out that the NPC would occasionally be around to help them out, but even if he was, wouldnt actualy necessarly do a damn thing. In one case one of the PCs decided to wander off into the woods alone, I decided to roll for a random encounter, he ran into a big beastie that -should- have roasted him alive, but with a good deal of inginuity, luck and quick thinking he actually managed to defeat it (though he just about died in the process).

I'd also randomly rolled to see if his 'patron' noticed him and followed, but I chose to hold siad patron back and see if the PC actually managed to hold his own. So the last thing the guy sees before he passes out from bloodloss is his patron, sitting up in the tree, havnig done not a THING to help him out.

He promptly woke up a while later in a hospital. I also had said patron use that as a prime example that he would not allways be around to help the PCs out and that they would ultimately, have to look out for their own skins.

I almost always have a DMPC in the groups I run, usually i set them up as a support type character rather than a heavy hitter. The reason for this is it gives me an easyway to feed background into a game and secondly as I tend to prefer small player groups it allows me to round out the team. I do what I can to avoid the major pitfall of this sort of thing the character having to much OOC knowledge (easest way to avoid this is giving them plenty of brains and knowledge so they should know the stuff IC) I usually avoid NPCs with lots of ideas about how to plan a run. I find it works but then I've had a lot of practice at compartmentalising my head.

For me it works, my players like it and it allows me to enjoy more roleplaying and to round out the group a bit.

Indeed GMPCs can as a whole if handled properly be a very good thing. Becuase while their NPCs their really MORE than a PC (thus the idea that it's the GMs PC) and some PCs get really attached to some of them.

It can be a great motivator when you want to have the PCs go after baddie X and suddenly geek their favourite NPC for some reason or other.

I largely agree with Kesslan.

The first step is to decide why the GMNPC is there, then you build the character based on that. Some reasons I've encountered:

The PCs are new to the game and have no idea what they're doing. Kesslan's example is good here, either have a GMNPC who is more skilled with them, but is going along largely for the point of training them or has other things competing for his time. He'll only play a major role when he knows in advance the problem will be beyond their ability (or when the GM decides 'boy, these guys are really in trouble. I'll save them... this time.') Alternatively, he's a retired fellow who is smart, but isn't as skilled or SOTA as these new young fellers are. He'll provide direction and advice, but in a toe-to-toe fight, they could beat him pretty easily.

The GMNPC is plot important (either as an objective in the plot, or in directing the plot). For instance, the party is escorting the GMNPC from point A to point B. In this case, I'd make his role minimalistic, and he shouldn't be anything special combat wise. He'll say where to go and expects the PCs to obey, but the details of how to get there are up to him.

The GMNPC fills a role missing in the group. In Shadowrun, riggers and deckers are oftentimes GMNPCs. That's fine, these guys stick to their selected roles. The rigger shines when they party is escaping and that's it. The decker is there so you have an excuse for rolling well on the research rolls. They get a share of the pay, but when the game enters the PCs specialties, they disappear.

The GM would really rather be a player. The GMNPC should be most awesome in every way. It's okay if the GM bends a few rules, because he knows if he were a normal player, the GM would bend these rules for him in the same way. Plus the GMNPC is important, so he needs a little edge, and that extra is okay. The GMNPC shouldn't just direct, he should be at the front of the group showing them how it's done and how awesome he is. It's best if the GMNPC is generalizes as a mage/adept/ninja/street sam/face/rigger/tax accountant/Drizz't so he can fill any role the stupid PCs can't manage.

It is all up to the group. I prefer that the GM not do this, unless there is a NPC that we need to fill out some special role. But the GM playing a PC and the rest of the world, just doesnt sit well with me. I can not run a PC at the PC levels and not use "insider" information. Which is not fun for anyone. In the SR4 game I am running right now, there are plenty of NPCs, but only the players get PCs.

Then again this is my opinionated opinion. Please discuss this with your group and agree about it.


dog

I usually just use very detailed NPC whenever the runners have a role they need. Some of the Js and fixers are re-occuring characters with detailed backgrounds. Some are former PC's of mine that I stopped playing. The only time the PC's get a NPC that runs around with them all the time is when they need a decker. None of my players really want to play one, and it makes the game a bit faster.

I'm considering the GM PC being a character that they need but don't have - like if the party consists of two Dawn castes and a Night caste or something like that, I'll probably make him Twilight - sort of the brains of the group.

Also, on the Exalted note, I was wondering: how practical would automated defenses of some kind be in Exalted?

Part of the plot I'm going to run is the characters journeying to a rumored First Age cache where they can find weapons that could enable a town near Thorns to repel Mask of Winters latest assault into the surrounding area. I'm having visions of the Rakata temple in "Knights of the Old Republic" that was guarded by old guard droids, and I want something like that for this cache - but I don't know what would be practical for Exalted. Any ideas?

Cant help you with the Exalted stuff, never played it.

On the subject of the GMPC being a leadertype... ehh be abit careful with that. It's cool if the PCs are lacking some direction etc. But make sure to allow them to go off on their own now and then.

When I ran the merc group game, while most of the time they had to toe the party line they were allowed (using their own gear only, not the merc companies) to take the odd side job or adventure on their own between contracts etc.

Hmmm Exalted... Well, I don't know too much about the system/settings, only played it two or three times with an unexperienced GM. But in any game involving magic, it seems logical that you could have Constructs or bound creatures or something. In my opinion explanation is less important than fun/effectiveness/setting.

The only GMNPC I have right now is a healer contact that the players inadvertantly rescued from being sacrificed by a Blood Cult. She doesn't follow them around or anything, but if they want to bring her along, they can call her up and offer her part of the pay. My group has a tendency to be very combat oriented and... well reckless to put it simply. Violence is often the first course of action considered, consequences are usually saved until after the deed is done... They're learning to be a little more subtle though, I guess gettin' tired of me killing them

Mostly I agree with what has already been said about putting GMPCs into support roles and not favoring them, etc. Definitely don't make them more powerful than the PCs. Some NPCs can be, of course, but not the GMPC.
Using a GMPC to give occasional nudges is okay, but if the players feel like you're using it to steer the plot too much, they'll hate the GMPC and you.

One thing to add, and it's one of my personal GMing rules. "Never let yourself get so attached to an NPC that you won't let them die. The GMPC is no exception." Of course, YMMV.

Well, we had character creation tonight. And, as I expected, the two of them designed combat related characters - one of them a Dawn Caste swordsman and another a Night Caste treasure hunter with a ton of Martial Arts (at my suggestion, the Night caste player took the MA charm that allows her to do lethal damage with bare-handed strikes, and the Dawn Caste player took a Grand Daiklaive since he had Artifact 3; this is going to be a TOUGH adventure).

I've designed a Twilight Caste character as my GM PC - basically, he's going to serve as the brains (Lore 4, Investigation 4) as well as the healer of the party's wounds (Medicine 4 and 8 of his 10 charms are from the Medicine ability). Personality-wise, I'm trying to make him something like Egon Spengler from "Ghostbusters."

However, when it comes to Investigation rolls (which will come in handy with the adventure I've designed), I'm going to let the characters take a stab at the roll first, no matter how low their relevant Attribute and Ability scores are - I figure that's the best way to let them share in the mystery and discovery of things while still having a character handy that's almost certain to make the roll if needed.

I don't know if I'd bother letting them have a roll first. I mean, they already know if they fail, you'll do it for them, so why even bother? There's no punishment for failure, no reward for success.

What are you doing that requires investigation? If the GMPC is running around like Mr. Encyclopedia, so the PCs (who are off to slay another dragon-blooded) say "which way did they go?" Mr. E can point in the appropriate direction and they charge after, that sorta makes sense. The parts they aren't interested in (investigation, knowing all the background of the world) is handled by you, as well as healing up after the battle. The parts they are interested (killing people and taking their stuff) they take care of. So a good mix, as long as the plot reflects that.

...I kind of did this with my hacker character Violet. Once we all had the SR4 BBB we took turns GMing one shot missions to become more familiar with the rules. At the time I was in the midst of finishing up Vi's backstory when the idea hit to write the extraction scene up as an actual run. I made sure she didn't take away from the players actions so she was for the most part, an NPC.

The only time she took any action was to hack a building's security system to unfreeze a lift when a false fire alarm was set off so that she and the team could make good their escape (there were no other hacker characters in the group at the time).

I don't think a GM PC works so well in Exalted. In Exalted, the characters are meant to shine, they're meant to shape the world etc. If they're new the system, don't know the rules or the setting, then it becomes very hard to do that when there is an equally powerful GM PC that does know the rules and setting.

My advice would be to take the chance to explore a different dynamic that is often hard to do with Exalted. Mix exalted types. If they're playing Solars, this is the chance for the GM to throw in an experienced rebel dragon blood, allied with the PCs. He knows the world, and he may even have the edge on them powerwise initially, but inevitably, the PCs will outgrow and outshine him. Or you could introduce a Lunar, similar in power, but with a very unique outlook and goals compared to the Solars. The differences in power often stop players exploring this route in games, because it's hard to balance, but with a GM PC, that doesn't matter so much

I should also point out that this guy (my GM PC) has a ton of Medicine charms - since no one else in the group bothered to take those, and since this could be a deadly game, I figured that might be helpful.

I've always been a fan of using GMNPCs. Of course like others have said, this character doesn't necessarily have to help the PCs out. For example, I've used GMNPCs to form groups (ie, hiring them for a job together), or if I put them up against a foe that was too powerful for their level, magic to heal the PCs, boost something, etc.

My GMNPCs tend to be stronger than PCs (usually for the reason if I need someone in the group to get them out of a hole), but the PCs usually catch up pretty quickly as they get the bulk of the experience.

But again, in my experience, GMNPCs are good to have even if just to move the story along.