Roleplaying vs. Dming

[ionic isle]

Okay, so. Originally, I was in a campaign with one of my former friends dming. Some stuff happened and the dm left the group so I decided to take over as the dm, but continue to play the character I made since we were already a few sessions in. I’ve been really struggling to find a balance between roleplaying my character and dming because i’ve found that it’s hard for the rest of the party to know when i’m switching between the two. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to differentiate between the two without changing my voice or outright saying it?

[sweet cove]

Do you use first or third person when describing your character's actions?

Though honestly, my personal approach would simply be to find a way to let my character exit the party while remaining in the story, maybe through some plot linked to their backstory

[rigid fractal]

I would strongly advise retiring your player character. DMPCs almost always suck for a number of reasons, some of which you've already seen, and they make running the game even harder than it already is

[pseudo crystal]

I disagree. My game with DMPC were running smoothly

I will type more later

[rigid fractal]

An exception to the rule doesn't invalidate the rule

[pseudo crystal]

I know, but harmful stereotype is not a rule. DM needs to be very careful not to become the stereotype so preparation with player's expectation is a must

[rigid fractal]

Or, or, instead of trying to wrangle something that's an absolute pain in the butt to do well, risks taking away agency or narrative focus from the players, splits the gm's focus between their one super special character and everyone the fuck else in the narrative, introduces an innate power imbalance between one pc and all the others, and adds an innate knowledge imbalance to the game, you just don't use a dmpc

[sweet cove]

I feel like this makes a lot of assumptions about a given DM's ability to maintain impartiality

[rigid fractal]

Even if you're a totally impartial DM that'll kill your own PC without a second thought, having a DMPC at all adds a weird knowledge imbalance because the DM, by the nature of the job, knows everything that can or will happen and the other players don't

The main instances of a well done DMPC I've seen stay out of the way, leave a lotta room for the party to shine, tend not to be more passive than active in the narrative, and oh wait those're all qualities of an NPC that isn't actually a party member

To get back to Eliana's original question, it's cleanest to retire your PC and reuse them in another campaign so then your party doesn't have to deal with the weird separation of DM and the PC, and because it makes your already rough job as a new GM substantially easier

[sweet cove]

^

Definitely the easiest and best route

It sucks to shelve the character you've been having fun with, but DMing is ultimately largely about responsibility

If you find something you want is difficult to maintain, you may just need to accept that it's not in the cards

[ionic isle]

first person

i get what all of you are saying as far as it being easier to just find a way to get rid of my character, but i would really like to keep it. as far as the knowledge imbalance, it hasn’t been too much of an issue because my character is very self-focused and likely wouldn’t offer information to the rest of the party even if she knew more than everyone else. i’ve also found it very convenient to use my character to steer other people in the right direction when they’ve been struggling for a long time to figure out puzzles

[boreal yarrow]

probably best to switch to third person, to maintain some distance, you know?
Treat them less like an equal member of the party and more like a companion NPC.

[ionic isle]

that’s fair

idk i don’t really use her as much as i would like to, but i’ve also found that it’s a more fun dynamic for my party when i do play her

since most of the characters in the party are more serious and mine is much more chaotic

[sweet cove]

This, that's why I asked. It clears up the confusion you were talking about when it comes to switching between the two.

And like Kermit says, it's a good way to create emotional distance between yourself and the character for DMing, so you don't fall into the pitfalls Flameslicer mentioned

Think of your favorite show, and think of your third favorite character; that's how you should treat your DMPC

Not as the star of the show or even a dark horse, but as a cool character that gets some neat moments despite the lack of focus

[ionic isle]

i think that’s kind of how i’ve been treating my character. i definitely focus much more on everyone else’s characters. i’m still just struggling to find a way for the players to know when i’m talking as the dm and when i’m talking as my character

[pseudo crystal]

I think third person statements as "My character says this" or "My character replies to yours" is a good way to go about it. I do it with my character as DM

[ionic isle]

that would work, just something i would have to get used to since i’m used to first person lol

[pseudo crystal]

You don't need to stop doing first person. Try Third person statement-> First person talk. Like [Character name] says: "Can you pass me the salt?"