Few thoughts.

Best thing about GMPC is that as a GM you can brutally butcher it, to show players how dire the situation is. Though, almost any NPC, who has been with a group for some time can take that role.

Also, every NPC is GMPC. If GM advances NPC (though slower rate than PCs) it can bring great realism (wrong word?) to game world, and make it more dynamic.

In my current SLA ind game I kind of have a GMPC, because I'm the GM 90% of time, and rest of the time someone else GMs, and I want to play. So, I made a character to myself, and he's practically absent NPC always when I'm GMing. Also, he is about half as powerful as other PCs.

I have never liked the idea of active GMPC, ie. a GMs character who is always with group. There is a too large change it will to Mary/Gary Sue scenario. If GM wants to play himself, then rotating GM is in my opinion better solution. But it needs more episodes game.

And back to original question. It is possible, but playing as GMPC is not, in my opinion, nearly as rewarding as playing as a real PC. Players need to think about separating player knowledge and character knowledge. With GMPC GM has to think about separating GM knowledge, GMPC knowledge, player knowledge and NPC knowledge. For some that may come naturally, but for me it is too much work.

If GM really wants to play as same level than other players, then there are actual GMless RPGs out there, which will probably give best results. Inspectres for example is great (as default it may have GM (I don't remember), but at least we have played it many times without GM).

Best thing about GMPC is that as a GM you can brutally butcher it, to show players how dire the situation is. Though, almost any NPC, who has been with a group for some time can take that role.

Or the ever popular "Kidnap them so the group has to go rescue them" plot. Mind you, I haven't done that in some time, since it was turning into a trope.

Best thing about GMPC is that as a GM you can brutally butcher it, to show players how dire the situation is. Though, almost any NPC, who has been with a group for some time can take that role.

Or the ever popular "Kidnap them so the group has to go rescue them" plot. Mind you, I haven't done that in some time, since it was turning into a trope.

Hmm... I have never done it. I have to remember that. I'm planning to finalize our SLA campaign and start a new one in EotE, so that might actually be really refreshing way to start the end game. (95% of campaign has been boss giving PC missions to do, that's basically the theme of SLA.) Thank you.

This campaign is a one-off (over a weekend camping for 3 nights...nothing but chill nights, fires, coyotes, and the clatter of dice...awesome! ) so if it becomes a problem I will bring it up afterwards and suggest he don't use GM PCs anymore.

Woof. Good luck to your friend. I tried running a one-off during camping but had a miserable time. Turns out, when you spend your days hiking and making your food, there's not a lot of energy left for game. (My players seemed to like it, though.)

This campaign is a one-off (over a weekend camping for 3 nights...nothing but chill nights, fires, coyotes, and the clatter of dice...awesome! ) so if it becomes a problem I will bring it up afterwards and suggest he don't use GM PCs anymore.

Woof. Good luck to your friend. I tried running a one-off during camping but had a miserable time. Turns out, when you spend your days hiking and making your food, there's not a lot of energy left for game. (My players seemed to like it, though.)

We are old hands at this, it's a yearly ritual, and to be honest the hike is a "walk in the park" so to speak, only a couple hours, then we stay put for the weekend. One time we even took some lead miniatures...ridiculous and never again!

We are old hands at this, it's a yearly ritual, and to be honest the hike is a "walk in the park" so to speak, only a couple hours, then we stay put for the weekend. One time we even took some lead miniatures...ridiculous and never again!

How many mules do you need to bring all the books?

I have given my my PCs a member to the group that I will essentially be controlling unless we get another player who wants to play this character and unless that happens the character is going to be taking a very back seat role in things not going out on missions with the party unless necessary and mostly helping out with space and ship related stuff.

The best way to use a GM sidekick is to use a droid with a restraining bolt. That way, the droid will always be subservient to the PC and won’t take over the plot.

We flip flop GMs on a semi-weekly basis, and I'll maintain a PC for the times that I'm not in the hot seat. Over the years I've gotten pretty good at having my PC fade into the background when it matters. She'll hang around for the BSing at the cantina table character building moments, she can do stuff that wont drive the plot - but when it comes time to plan or attack a base or whatever, well you always need someone on the ship to come racing in for a rescue or do computery things.

TL;DNR - it can be done, but with a great deal of care.

Another way of phrasing this would be "Yes, you can GM and you can have a PC, but not at the same time."

Overall, if you are the groups permaGM and want to play, you need to talk to one of your players and see if you can get them to GM. It's probably best to start a new, separate campaign for this. Alternate between campaigns as desired. Even if it doesn't worj out, it might make you appreciate being the GM a little bit more!

(over a weekend camping for 3 nights...nothing but chill nights, fires, coyotes, and the clatter of dice...awesome! )

Oh my god, I am so totally jealous!

About the only way my groups allow GMPC is the same campaign, rotating GMs. And the GMPC spends that week in sickbay or off screen in a secret mission / personal business / fetching supplies when that GM is running.

That said I am about to join a game where the only guy who can fly, shoot, use the force, and owns the ship is a GMPC. Rest of us are colonists, scientists, civvies essentially. Curious to see how he handles it without being a fun vortex

About the only way my groups allow GMPC is the same campaign, rotating GMs. And the GMPC spends that week in sickbay or off screen in a secret mission / personal business / fetching supplies when that GM is running.

That said I am about to join a game where the only guy who can fly, shoot, use the force, and owns the ship is a GMPC. Rest of us are colonists, scientists, civvies essentially. Curious to see how he handles it without being a fun vortex

That's almost the very situation we're in.

With rotating GM's planned at the start, my GMPC owns the ship. But, he stays behind to perform administrative tasks most of the time. Last session, he was revealed as a former Jedi, but he's not the only (knowing) Force used in the group...the most recent addition uses the Force. (There's another character - a con artist - who has Influence, but she's totally unaware of her Force sensitivity.)

Last session made things problematic, though. Not because of the Jedi reveal. One player was our dedicated pilot. But, the player quit the group due to lack of time to be able to commit to the game. (She'd cancelled last minute several times.) With a dedicated pilot, no one else sunk any XP into piloting skills or specs. Except me, with primary career being Smuggler-Pilot. So, until we can find a new pilot or one of the players takes up piloting, my guy may end up tagging along. My plan is to, as much as possible, configure the next few sessions to have no need for piloting checks...just basic "go here...ok, you made it."

Last session made things problematic, though. Not because of the Jedi reveal. One player was our dedicated pilot.

Should not be really an issue if the group as a few turret on their ride. We have two dedicated starship pilots in the group, both PCs, yet one of us is usually staying at the ship anyway, just to have the option to bring a getaway ride when needed … and to bring the big guns when needed too. Speaking of guns, as pilot you are usually not doing the shooting anyway as you should be busy with GtA actions, so the crew has plenty to do, while you narrate the shooting positions and results of the fire. Having a GMC as pilot is really one of the best options you can have. Well that and the medic on the sickbay

Last session made things problematic, though. Not because of the Jedi reveal. One player was our dedicated pilot.

Should not be really an issue if the group as a few turret on their ride. We have two dedicated starship pilots in the group, both PCs, yet one of us is usually staying at the ship anyway, just to have the option to bring a getaway ride when needed … and to bring the big guns when needed too. Speaking of guns, as pilot you are usually not doing the shooting anyway as you should be busy with GtA actions, so the crew has plenty to do, while you narrate the shooting positions and results of the fire. Having a GMC as pilot is really one of the best options you can have. Well that and the medic on the sickbay

Oh, I know the pilot's not doing the shooting. The group prefers to evade rather than engage when it comes to space. Given that dynamic, I'd prefer to allow a player to have that moment to shine, rather than all of them just sitting back while I roll for the ship and any pursuers.

Although our pseudo-medic may soon find himself replaced in that capacity with an NPC droid if he remains unavailable to play. (Him, I don't blame. There are medical issues with his kid that understandably take precedence over an RPG, and he tells us well in advance when he can't make it. The pilot, however, would cancel day-of after committing to come. When she cancelled last minute this time, her exact words were, "Make my death memorable.")

Oh, I know the pilot's not doing the shooting. The group prefers to evade rather than engage when it comes to space. Given that dynamic, I'd prefer to allow a player to have that moment to shine, rather than all of them just sitting back while I roll for the ship and any pursuers.

You could always use purely narrative results for the chase and don't bother with the dice for your pilot, while building the encounter around the crew's ability to deal with a wave or two of incoming hostiles. At least that is what I would do in this case when none of the players is doing the piloting anyway.

Oh, I know the pilot's not doing the shooting. The group prefers to evade rather than engage when it comes to space. Given that dynamic, I'd prefer to allow a player to have that moment to shine, rather than all of them just sitting back while I roll for the ship and any pursuers.

You could always use purely narrative results for the chase and don't bother with the dice for your pilot, while building the encounter around the crew's ability to deal with a wave or two of incoming hostiles. At least that is what I would do in this case when none of the players is doing the piloting anyway.

As it stands, until/unless we get a pilot player again, I'll likely just use the ship as a setting for transportation and some in-transit storytelling. Unless an attack is just plain vital, transit will just be uneventful. Complications to travel will occur once they reach their destination or try to leave, and won't require piloting checks.

As it stands, until/unless we get a pilot player again, I'll likely just use the ship as a setting for transportation and some in-transit storytelling. Unless an attack is just plain vital, transit will just be uneventful. Complications to travel will occur once they reach their destination or try to leave, and won't require piloting checks.

Another alternative is to have one of the other players do the rolling for your pilot, while you handle the NPCs. You could keep the pilot actions light, but the other PCs operating the turrets and other aspects of the ship could have a lot of things to deal with. Those few pilot rolls that need to happen (as opposed to just being done by GM fiat), could be handled by one of the other players who is otherwise less busy with non-piloting things to do.

Oh, I know the pilot's not doing the shooting. The group prefers to evade rather than engage when it comes to space. Given that dynamic, I'd prefer to allow a player to have that moment to shine, rather than all of them just sitting back while I roll for the ship and any pursuers.

You could always use purely narrative results for the chase and don't bother with the dice for your pilot, while building the encounter around the crew's ability to deal with a wave or two of incoming hostiles. At least that is what I would do in this case when none of the players is doing the piloting anyway.

As it stands, until/unless we get a pilot player again, I'll likely just use the ship as a setting for transportation and some in-transit storytelling. Unless an attack is just plain vital, transit will just be uneventful. Complications to travel will occur once they reach their destination or try to leave, and won't require piloting checks.

Another line of thought reminds me that just because one doesn't have a fancy piloting specialty or ranks in Pilot (Space) doesn't mean that one can't fly a ship and do it well. I'd imagine only a few skills where this doesn't apply.

Oh, I know the pilot's not doing the shooting. The group prefers to evade rather than engage when it comes to space. Given that dynamic, I'd prefer to allow a player to have that moment to shine, rather than all of them just sitting back while I roll for the ship and any pursuers.

You could always use purely narrative results for the chase and don't bother with the dice for your pilot, while building the encounter around the crew's ability to deal with a wave or two of incoming hostiles. At least that is what I would do in this case when none of the players is doing the piloting anyway.

As it stands, until/unless we get a pilot player again, I'll likely just use the ship as a setting for transportation and some in-transit storytelling. Unless an attack is just plain vital, transit will just be uneventful. Complications to travel will occur once they reach their destination or try to leave, and won't require piloting checks.

Another line of thought reminds me that just because one doesn't have a fancy piloting specialty or ranks in Pilot (Space) doesn't mean that one can't fly a ship and do it well. I'd imagine only a few skills where this doesn't apply.

Running away is a competitive check, and a good autopilot droid brain can give you a skill of 4 for Piloting anyway, so yeah that should work fine without being a pilot, just have decent agility.

BUT actual dog fighting is something that really, really requires the talents, you can still be a cheapskate on your pilot skill, but those talents make really all the difference when things get rough and you are trying to fight.

Another line of thought reminds me that just because one doesn't have a fancy piloting specialty or ranks in Pilot (Space) doesn't mean that one can't fly a ship and do it well. I'd imagine only a few skills where this doesn't apply.

Running away is a competitive check, and a good autopilot droid brain can give you a skill of 4 for Piloting anyway, so yeah that should work fine without being a pilot, just have decent agility.

BUT actual dog fighting is something that really, really requires the talents, you can still be a cheapskate on your pilot skill, but those talents make really all the difference when things get rough and you are trying to fight.

Very true, in the same way that having a gun-nut is handy in a firefight. Not necessary but very handy.

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to the thread my Gm and I came to the idea where we will trade off once in a while.

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to the thread my Gm and I came to the idea where we will trade off once in a while.

It really adds a lot to your own experience. Its nice to just sit back and enjoy things for a while rather than have to spend so much time preparing and doing the heavy lifting during sessions.

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to the thread my Gm and I came to the idea where we will trade off once in a while.

It really adds a lot to your own experience. Its nice to just sit back and enjoy things for a while rather than have to spend so much time preparing and doing the heavy lifting during sessions.

As a sufferer of GM Burnout, I wholeheartedly agree. There is little better use of a GM's off time than playing!

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to the thread my Gm and I came to the idea where we will trade off once in a while.

It really adds a lot to your own experience. Its nice to just sit back and enjoy things for a while rather than have to spend so much time preparing and doing the heavy lifting during sessions.

As a sufferer of GM Burnout, I wholeheartedly agree. There is little better use of a GM's off time than playing!

I'm finally giving in to my GM burnout (nice term lol) and reverting back to a normal player for the first time in a few months tonight.

I do not suggest doing that you know what's coming and they don't, and you know where you want the story to lead, it could seriously be not only difficult but unfair as well, and you should try to enjoy yourself with NPCs