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View Full Version : Alternate DMPC: The narrator



elliott20
2008-10-21, 12:03 AM
On another board, I recently read a thread where the GM wanted to run a SW Saga game that emulated Arrested Development in it's narrative style by inserting narrator as the DMPC. The narrator would describe the actions of the PCs while inserting his own editorials every so often, give information that throws a twist on the canon of the story, or give information that fundamentally contradicts what just happens on screen. (and doing so at great annoyance because people just don't seem to pay attention to him at all)

it seems like a very interesting little experiment. But I wonder how you guys look at this sort of thing.

BobVosh
2008-10-21, 12:13 AM
How is it a dmpc? Offscreen voice that doesn't enter as a real character...sounds just like a DM.

A snider DM.

Breaw
2008-10-21, 12:15 AM
A few weeks ago my group started a thievery campaign in the same setting as our last campaign. When we left of with our old characters, most of us had risen to power among our respective circles and were either commanding Duchies or small groups of elite soldiers. It was a very political game that led up to a great battle (which we haven't resolved). Our DM has promised us that at some point we'll go back to our old characters for 3 or 4 gaming sessions to witness/affect how it all turns out.

Anyway... we started this new campaign with our DM monologuing. Speaking as a bard in a tavern, telling a great tale of thievery and cunning. Telling the tale of the REAL reason that man kind triumphed over the Gorgon (the war that is mentioned above). Apparently it's the tale of the three thieves we are currently playing. All of this means that eventually our missions (as given by the guild we joined) we be of significance.

Every now and then he'll interrupt our game with Tristan (the bard) retelling the story to the bar full of patrons. As he tells it our actions are much more heroic and fantastic, but they are recognizeable as what went down.

I've only had 2 sessions so far, but what I've experiences so far has been a ton of fun.

-B

I know some of you out there are reading this and thinking "holy railroad Batman!", but truth be told I think the thievery campaign really benefits from us being given missions rather than just stealing stuff... That way our DM can think up really interesting challenges with many things to learn about and prepare for, in order to ensure success.

JaxGaret
2008-10-21, 12:15 AM
Agreed. If it's completely metagame, and the PCs themselves aren't affected by the Narrator, it's not a character.

elliott20
2008-10-21, 12:19 AM
that's the thing, the narrator IS in fact a character, one that the PCs apparently at some point did meet and rescue. The DM in question immediately changed his speech from third person to first, talking about his experience with the PCs whilst around them.

and also, the narrator, unlike the GM, was not endowed with perfect information, so everything he said you even then had to take with a grain of salt.

JaxGaret
2008-10-21, 12:23 AM
So the Narrator is a disembodied voice that follows the PCs around? Is its speech audible to others, or do the PCs just hear it in their minds?

elliott20
2008-10-21, 12:28 AM
according to the GM, the voice is in fact audible to others, in that all the stuff he is saying is in fact him recounting history to the imperial interrogators or new republic court examinations. The PCs themselves never actually hear what he says. But what he says does have direct impact on the game in that it controls the flow of information to other characters that he speaks to through out the game.

in fact, here (http://www.story-games.com/forums/comments.php?DiscussionID=4866) is the actual thread.

JaxGaret
2008-10-21, 12:42 AM
I see. But wasn't the Narrator in AD in possession of all the facts of the situation?

elliott20
2008-10-21, 02:01 AM
the narrator is apparently someone with imperfect knowledge simply due to the fact that he's not exactly an impartial judge himself. apparently, he's kind of a snobby bookish type who, while obsessed with historical examination, can only piece things together from reports, researches, and all that.

Townopolis
2008-10-21, 02:20 AM
A few weeks ago my group started a thievery campaign in the same setting as our last campaign. When we left of with our old characters, most of us had risen to power among our respective circles and were either commanding Duchies or small groups of elite soldiers. It was a very political game that led up to a great battle (which we haven't resolved). Our DM has promised us that at some point we'll go back to our old characters for 3 or 4 gaming sessions to witness/affect how it all turns out.

Anyway... we started this new campaign with our DM monologuing. Speaking as a bard in a tavern, telling a great tale of thievery and cunning. Telling the tale of the REAL reason that man kind triumphed over the Gorgon (the war that is mentioned above). Apparently it's the tale of the three thieves we are currently playing. All of this means that eventually our missions (as given by the guild we joined) we be of significance.

Every now and then he'll interrupt our game with Tristan (the bard) retelling the story to the bar full of patrons. As he tells it our actions are much more heroic and fantastic, but they are recognizeable as what went down.

I've only had 2 sessions so far, but what I've experiences so far has been a ton of fun.

-B

I know some of you out there are reading this and thinking "holy railroad Batman!", but truth be told I think the thievery campaign really benefits from us being given missions rather than just stealing stuff... That way our DM can think up really interesting challenges with many things to learn about and prepare for, in order to ensure success.
Damn, I've had that exact idea kicking around for a while now. I guess it isn't really a new idea, just taking some classic concepts and running with it, but still... *green eyes*

I was actually going to have the bard telling the story be a DMPC bard who followed the party around. Start each session with a wizened "Tristan" recapping last episode to a tavern full of patrons, then transition to the actual gameplay with him saying something to the effect of "I should know, I was there."

I just haven't gotten my RL group to get their act together and game again since I came up with it.