Bad DM Habits #1: The NPC Fixation

Hello there and welcome to my first of these series of Bad DM Habits. These are things that DMs often do with the best of intentions but actually end up irritating or hurting the game.

Non Player Characters are part and parcel of any tabletop RPG- and D&D is no exception.

There is nothing more able to suck life out of a campaign/one-shot than a limp NPC that has all the charisma of a wet noodle. A good NPC, such as Pumat Sol on Critical Role can create anticipation as their character is fleshed out. They allow the players to ingratiate themselves with the world on a level that feels real and can create all sorts of organic moments. This is not an article that derides them or wishes them to be forsook from the world.

This is an article that looks at what happens when the DM forgets what the NPC's role is.

How does this happen?

Often times, the way that this sort of thing happens is simply because the DM has a PC they used to play with and wants to insert them into their own adventure. This can be a good thing if they have the maturity to realise whose adventure it is, but unfortunately sometimes the prospective DM can forget and what we have instead is an adventure where the actual players can feel like they are supporting actors in the saga of the DM's character.

I was watching a DM once who had a non-player character who he wanted to use as part of his new adventure he was DMing. At first I was interested to see how he would go about it. But as he went along I began to see that much of his time was showing the weaponry he had to his PC allies and the coolness of his moves, which were far superior to the party as a whole. And to top this all off, the game was held up by the DM talking so much about how the NPC felt or what he thought of the situation.

Another way this can happen is if a DM sees a film or a game and wants to emulate that character. Many people want to see Batman, after all, but it's a bit less cool wondering around next to him if you feel that it should be your story (I mean, unless you're Robin I guess...)

Why is this a bad thing?

Again, the issue here is not with the NPC per se, but with a lack of control. If the players feel like they are not integral to their own adventure, then they are going to soon lose interest. Furthermore, things like massive weaponry or massive stats will only cause resentment surrounding the NPC in question. Instead of creating a great adventure that has your players hanging on your every word, you are essentially creating a massive target on the back on your NPC.

How does it get worse?

The real problem is that with this sort of massively overpowered/overemphasised character is that the obvious way that players feel like they can re-establish control is essentially against the NPC. Take the example I said before with the uber-geared NPC. As the game drags on, what is to stop a player simply attempting to stab said NPC in the back to take his stuff? Or casting a spell to make him obey the player's every command? Maybe the players will simply disobey/disregard the NPC, affecting the DM's plans adversely. 

This then leads to a decision for the DM: do they actually allow the player to do harm/ignore the much treasured NPC and perhaps move off from a character who a lot of the plot is usually invested in? Or do they find a way to again deny the player their choice and essentially make them feel like they have less choice in the game than they already do?

See, here's the thing. By investing so much time and effort (and love) in one singular NPC, often DMs will feel constrained by what they can do when these sort of decisions come up. Rather than make the players feel happy, the DM will do what they can to keep the character around and powerful because they believe it is more integral to the adventure.

How can it be identified?

There are a couple of ways to identify if you are on the path to a NPC fixation. A good way to start is to look at how much time you are investing in the NPC in question between sessions and whether this time is actually relevant to the players. If you are spending time thinking about how they will react after the player's latest exploits, that's fine. If you are spending a great deal of time thinking about how they will tell the player of their exploits several decades ago, then there could be a problem.

Another way to tell is to look at how much time these NPCs spend in actual combat/doing checks. If you have a NPC that is continuously in the party, passing checks and dealing killing blows to important enemies, then you are taking away the moments from the players like a Hoover run by the power of buzzkill. 

The final way of finding out is a little more esoteric. Simply imagine that your NPC is removed from the adventure in the next session (due to poisoning/consumption by giant toad/catastrophic bowel movement/ etc.). Then ask yourself how much is the plot and the adventure affected by their disappearance. If the answer is not much and you can rework everything easily, then it's probably fine. If not...you have essentially made your NPC the pillar that holds up your entire house.

The question is then, how you deal with it.

How it can be stopped?

1. Get them out of the way- Put simply one of the best ways to get rid of such a NPC is to give them less to do. Perhaps they are called away on a secret mission or they retire from adventuring? Perhaps they get promoted to a position that sees them away from the battlefield? What you are aiming for here is a scenario where the players can still meet the NPC occasionally but it isn't compulsory.
2. Reverse the Roles- This is potentially a good choice for your uber-armed and levelled NPC. Put simply, put the NPC in a situation where they are helpless and need the player to come rescue them. If you really want to twist the knife in to your poor NPC, you can have their equipment taken and maybe they've been beaten up a bit.
3. The Captain Amazing Route- This is from the film Mystery Men, where Captain Amazing dies to emphasise the diabolical nature of Casanova Frankenstein's machine. If you have a villian you want to make feel powerful and vile, why not feed your NPC to him.
4. The Hercule Route- This requires a little more work, but start making your NPC insufferable and egomaniacal, like they are the best thing since sliced bread. What you are looking for is essentially the D&D version of this guy:
   
   

         Hercule Satan is a ridiculous martial artist in Dragon Ball Z who becomes more and more convinced that he is the chosen one to defeat the android Cell in a tournament. In one of the more memorable moments of the show, Cell simply swats him aside with one blow in a brilliantly shocking and anti-climatic moment. Again, this is a great way to emphasise the power of your villain.

So that's my thoughts on this particular habit. I hope you enjoyed it!