D&D 5E (2014) DM's: what do you do with players who want to switch characters?

[Zaukrie]

It is a game for fun. Let them bring in a character at the lowest level of the characters in the party. It is a game for fun.

 

[Fedge123]

I'd say it all depends ...

No issues with them switching characters, it often happens that a player's character doesn't turn out the way the want, especially if they're a relatively new player, and I think it's ok to switch and I'd like to help facilitate that as a DM with something more enjoyable for them.

But as for levels and magic items ... that really depends on the situation - the levels the party has reached, what they have, how big an impact/switch it would be, etc. I might or might not have a problem with that.

Sometimes people can switch and blend right in with no issues, sometimes it's best to start all over. Maybe other players in the party feel the same?

 

[Dausuul]

I let the new character in at the same level as the old. No magic items though.

...Though, if I were the player switching, I think I would actually enjoy coming in a few levels lower and catching up (as long as the catch-up was reasonably rapid).

 

[iserith]

Player A no longer wants to be a dwarf paladin, now he wants to be a human ranger (or whatever). Do you allow him to just switch with no XP penalty?

Yes.

Do you start him with less XP?

No.

What if that dwarf paladin had magic items? Does the human ranger get them?

Maybe. Typically no.

 

[bgbarcus]

I run a world that contains many PC's. Each player has several PC's, most are henchman of a primary character. Switching often means a henchman stops being an employee and joins as a full member of the company while the previous character goes off to do some personal business. For instance, a cleric who was an original member left to build his temple while his bard henchman took the cleric's place in the adventuring company. The cleric is still a member in good standing and his temple will be a safe haven for the whole group. This sort of swap has occurred several times. Other times, the player just wants to use the henchman as the primary character's representative on an adventure. We've even run a couple of adventures that were purely henchmen when the players wanted to try out first level again. Their new henchmen were sent on a minor mission that was not important enough for the primary characters to do it themselves.

There's be a lot of character swapping in the game and it works out very well.

 

[Blue]

We play to have fun. If a player isn't having fun with a character then change it. It does mess up character arcs I have going, but there's a number of those and I'll adjust. We usually find a character-appropriate way to write them out of the story.

Keep XP and level - I found being permanently behind in XP isn't fun. However, in games like 5e and 13th Age where having your magic items aren't baked into your character advancement math I usually start with either no items or a legacy item tied to your background and let magic come as a reward in play or some shuffling from other characters.

 

[Warbringer]

I take the player outside and beat them to within an inch of their life ... The audacity, how dare they....

Yes, change without penalty if that's what the player wants.

 

[Imaculata]

If a player wants to start a new character, that's completely understandable. I would allow the player to create a new character at the same level of the party. (In my campaign the whole party is the same level anyway). They do not receive magical items from their old character though, unless they are at a level where magical equipment is a requirement.

 

[TheFindus]

When I DM, I let players change their PCs without a penalty. They have to give a believable reason why the PC would leave with everybody else who is playing. The new character has to be introduced believably.

If this cannot be achieved because the PC is crucial to something that the PCs want to achieve at the moment, then the change will probably have to wait. It has also happened that the PC switched classes (not race) simply by refluffing the PC to the mechanics of the new class (we turned a Paladin into a Druid that way in our 13th Age campaign - yes, I know that sounds weird, but it works for us).

Regarding magic items: since magic items at our table are based on the specific needs of a certain class, they usually are not relevant or of help to a different PC. That said, if it is decided that the old PC dies, the items stay available to the group (unless the PC falls into a bottomless pit or something).

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Player A no longer wants to be a dwarf paladin, now he wants to be a human ranger (or whatever). Do you allow him to just switch with no XP penalty?

Do you start him with less XP?

What if that dwarf paladin had magic items? Does the human ranger get them?

By character tree rules, all new PCs start at level 1, but when an existing PC goes up a level, the player chooses one other PC in his character tree of equal or lesser level to go up at the same time (he gets the minimum number of XP needed for his new level) because of offscreen adventures.

Magic items would not transfer over.