[Rules] Does character property stay with you forever?

[Tom Townsend]

Apologies if this has been answered already, I've googled it a lot and not come across the answer, and it's something that has always bugged me, never having been in a game involving people who are actually familiar with the rules.

If a character (PC or NPC) picks up an item during one campaign, does that next item then transfer to their future campaigns, until relinquished.

for example if my pc obtains a [sword/talking puppy/legion of slave gold miners] throughout campaign A, would that property carry over into campaign B, at a later date?

Similarly are there any rules to limit what a character is 'born/created' with?
"oh I'm part dragon and part goldfish so I can fly and also breathe underwater and I've got 100hp"
"I'm the last of the royal family so I've inherited all of the magical weapons and armour from centuries ago and I'm now immortal and my sword does 1000 damage because it's valeryan steel

Tldr do items carry over to future campaigns?

Thankyou

 

[Fanaelialae]

Apologies if this has been answered already, I've googled it a lot and not come across the answer, and it's something that has always bugged me, never having been in a game involving people who are actually familiar with the rules.

If a character (PC or NPC) picks up an item during one campaign, does that next item then transfer to their future campaigns, until relinquished.

for example if my pc obtains a [sword/talking puppy/legion of slave gold miners] throughout campaign A, would that property carry over into campaign B, at a later date?

Similarly are there any rules to limit what a character is 'born/created' with?
"oh I'm part dragon and part goldfish so I can fly and also breathe underwater and I've got 100hp"
"I'm the last of the royal family so I've inherited all of the magical weapons and armour from centuries ago and I'm now immortal and my sword does 1000 damage because it's valeryan steel

Tldr do items carry over to future campaigns?

Thankyou

Typically, at least in the campaigns I've run or played in, characters from campaign A are retired and you roll new characters for B. If the campaign premise was to play previous characters, equipment would be up to the DM. For example, if the new campaign was picking up where the previous one left off, you'd presumably have most of your stuff. On the other hand, if the campaign begins with the characters having been imprisoned, then probably not.

The limits on what a character is created with is whatever the DM allows. It the DM allows a half dragon half goldfish race then yes you can play it. The DM might say that, yes, you can be the last of the royal line but the royal items have been lost. If you want to prove your claim, you'll need to find and reclaim them. Or he might simply say no, the royal bloodline of the campaign is strong and hasn't been broken in 10,000 years.

 

[Imaculata]

I have played in a group where at the end of a campaign another DM would take over, and we'd continue the next campaign with the same characters, in the same world. But more often than not, starting a new campaign means starting from scratch with all new characters.

As for starting equipment, my experience is that DM's usually assign a small amount of starting gold to each character, and allow them to pick their starting equipment from the list of normal equipment. It is up to the player whether they spent all their gold on weapons/armor/items, or save some for later use.

 

[Tom Townsend]

Thankyou so much for the clear and concise answers.
I'm looking forward to starting to play and learning the rules

 

[Rya.Reisender]

If you're playing in Adventure League, then you can keep all magic items. Other items are usually re-bought at the beginning of a module (because it's too much trouble to record them all).

 

[jasper]

It varies. If the same DM is running both campaigns then yes if he allows the same pc to play in both. If DM A is running campaign A, and DM B is running campaign B then generally NO unless the dms have gotten their heads together and talked.
If you are playing Adventure League you stuff stays with you unless destroyed by adventure x,y,z.

 

[jaelis]

Thankyou so much for the clear and concise answers.
I'm looking forward to starting to play and learning the rules

One thing to note is the difference between a "campaign" and an "adventure."

An adventure is basically one mission or quest that your party undertakes. It might take one to several game sessions to resolve, and you might gain one to a few experience levels in the course of it.

A campaign is a series of adventures, sometimes linked into a bigger story, but not always. A campaign might take several months to play through. Often it involves characters gaining many levels, sometimes all the way from level 1 to level 20.

Most of the time, an item you find in one adventure will still be in your possession for the next. (Unless, of course, the DM decides that the item was stolen, lost, or the like. Perhaps recovering the item is the trigger for the next adventure!)

Like people have said, it is pretty common for a new campaign to involve new characters. In that case items wouldn't typically carry over.

Just wanted to clarify that, in case you were thinking about adventures when you wrote "campaign." Welcome to the game and have fun!

 

[Dausuul]

If a character (PC or NPC) picks up an item during one campaign, does that next item then transfer to their future campaigns, until relinquished.

There is no rule on this, since "campaign" is not a rules concept. Generally, when you pick up an item, you have that item until you put it down or it's taken away from you.

for example if my pc obtains a [sword/talking puppy/legion of slave gold miners] throughout campaign A, would that property carry over into campaign B, at a later date?

That would be a reasonable assumption if you haven't heard otherwise. But if you have doubts, you should ask your DM, because your DM might say otherwise.

Similarly are there any rules to limit what a character is 'born/created' with?
"oh I'm part dragon and part goldfish so I can fly and also breathe underwater and I've got 100hp"
"I'm the last of the royal family so I've inherited all of the magical weapons and armour from centuries ago and I'm now immortal and my sword does 1000 damage because it's valeryan steel

The rules do not support any of that. The PHB spells out pretty clearly what you get as far as starting gear, backgrounds, and abilities. The DM may choose to let you start with more, but that is entirely at the DM's discretion.

 

[Ed Laprade]

Back in the very early days of D&D it actually was fairly common for characters to start in a new campaign, with a new GM and/or whole new group, with all the gear and levels that they had obtained previously. But when players started showing up with 100th level characters with one of every Artifact (or some such nonsense) that sort of thing went away. As usual, it was mostly a case of a few obvious cheaters ruining it for everyone else.

 

[77IM]

If the DM of your new campaign allows you to play a character from a previous campaign, he or she should allow that character to keep all their equipment, unless he or she has a good reason not to, in which case he or she should tell you that reason.

PS. This isn't a rules issue; it's a social-contract issue. In fact the only reason anyone follows any rules at all is by agreement, which is why you are allowed to change the rules instantly, by agreement. So, talk to the DM and the other players and find out what they are willing to agree to regarding characters from a previous campaign.