I just want to take this opportunity to single out one of the heroes of roleplaying lore; Dirk Daring. There is a constant criticism about DMPCs stealing the spotlight from the PCs, but I find that criticism to be fueled almost completely by the petty jealousies of simple people. Whenever the PCs having trouble in an encounter, who do they turn to? Dirk Daring. When the puzzle is too hard to solve, who solves it? Dirk Daring. When an NPC refuses to give up some crucial piece of info, who gets them to finally crack? Dirk Daring. Instead of complaining that the game has 'devolved into a reading of the GM's self-fellating Gary Stu fanfic', I think it's about time to give credit where credit is due.
So, come on people, man up and give props to the man who saves every session. You should all notice that the Actual Play session ended in disaster because of ONE crucial mistake; Dirk Daring was absent. He could have dodged Azathoth, sure, but he would've mowed him down first with three tommy guns (one being attached to a codpiece and fired using his cock) and then shoved a stick of TNT down those stupid piping appendages before the gibbering mass even had a chance to react.
