DM Question: Ditching Old Characters Without Dying

[ptolemy18]

Hello everyone,

One of my players is getting tired of his current character and wants to create a new one. The old character isn't dead, so he'll probably become an NPC (though I may ask the player to play him temporarily if he ever shows up again).

My question as a DM is... how much XP should I let the player have to create his new character? I've been using a system where people who die can be replaced by new characters with 1/2 the XP of the old character. (The players are just at 2nd level, so this is a better deal for them than starting out at the beginning of the previous level.)

I wonder if I should use this system and take away 1/2 his XP... but maybe it punishes him too much? I want to encourage him to play a character he wants to play, instead of sticking around playing an unliked character until he dies, since he is a good roleplayer. But on the other hand, if I don't give him *ANY* XP penalty when he rolls up a new characters, I'm worried that some of the other players will start to abuse the system ("I'm tired of playing my old character whose top ability score is 14.... go ahead and turn him into an NPC, I'm going to roll up a new character...")

How do all you other DMs handle situations like this?

 

[calypso15]

I'd treat it as if he'd been killed and resurrected. He goes to the midway point of the level below his current. So, if he is currently level 2, he gets to make his new char with 500 xp. Otherwise, with your current method, at any level about 4 you'd have to be nearly insane to bring in a new char. A level 12 player goes down to level 8. Level 20 player goes down to 14. Ouch.

Also, I wouldn't penalize players for bringing in new chars if they die. Just if they want to switch because they're unhappy.

Calypso

 

[scholz]

I personally do not penalize people for dying, It think it makes people too cautious. But I think that is besides the point, because dying is not an analogical case. I would ask the following: if you introduced a new player into your group, what level or XP would you allow her to play?
Instead of using dying as the test case, I would use adding a new player.
That seems a more similar case.

I let new players join at the same level as the party (they all level together in my game). So I would let a player change characters without penalty. If you penalize new players (or require them to start out at 1st level), then I would do the same to the person to changes character. Seems only fair.

I hope that helps.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

The last couple campaigns I've played in have worked in a much, much simpler fashion.

If you switch out a character, the old character goes off and does his thing.

The new character is the same level as the old one, with just enough experience to be that level.

Seriously, why would you want to punish your players for playing a character they like?

As far as the 1/2 XP rule, that seems ... really, really silly to me.

 

[dvvega]

I play resurrected "by the book" simply because you've had a second chance (or third or tenth for that matter) and so should at least suffer the consequences. If there was no penalty for dying then adventurers could just charge head long into encounters without any real care knowing that a resurrection by the cleric means they're back to normal without a penalty.

However for a player that wishes to dump a character - I require a decent reason for it to keep the story flow - that is the penalty. If they can't justify the leaving (and believe me I'm flexible) - then they will come back at the start of the level they were. If they can do a half-decent job of it then they're back at the same XP they had.

 

[Herpes Cineplex]

How do all you other DMs handle situations like this?

I just shrug, say "sure, if that's what you want," and tell them that their new character will start with the same number of experience points as the lowest-level member of the party. Oh, and that I'll need to vet their new character and whatever equipment they want to start with, and that if it's at all possible I'd like to do it before the next time we play so we don't have to waste game time on it.

Because, y'know, it's really not worth my time to worry about things like whether players will want to swap out their Joe Average character for a shot at playing someone who is a little more robust. I just want them to settle on their characters and give me enough information about 'em to be able to plan and run a session that will keep us entertained.

And I definitely don't want to find myself in a position where a player who is sick of his or her character feels like they have to keep playing it or fall behind everyone else. Honestly, I just don't care about penalizing someone who is honest enough to say "I'm not having fun, and I think I could be having fun if I could do this instead." I've found that the more fun the players are having in the game, the more interested they are in it and the more fun I have running a game, and it's getting to the point where that's the only thing I actually give a damn about anymore.

--
and sometimes if i liked their old character, i'll ask if i can use it as an npc
ryan

 

[ptolemy18]

I personally do not penalize people for dying, It think it makes people too cautious. But I think that is besides the point, because dying is not an analogical case. I would ask the following: if you introduced a new player into your group, what level or XP would you allow her to play?

Well, the players are all 2nd or 1st level. If I allowed a new player, I would have them start at 1st level.

But I think it's not really analogous... 'cause if someone has been playing for awhile and wanted to play a new character, they deserve some rollover for all the time they've spent with their old character (IMHO)... whereas if a new player comes into the game out of the blue, they have to earn their XP just like everyone else did.

I'm just worried that if I let the guy switch characters without an XP penalty, some of the more munchkiny players will start switching characters over and over until they get really good die rolls. :/

Jason

 

[calypso15]

But I think it's not really analogous... 'cause if someone has been playing for awhile and wanted to play a new character, they deserve some rollover for all the time they've spent with their old character (IMHO)... whereas if a new player comes into the game out of the blue, they have to earn their XP just like everyone else did.

Umm... if you have a group of 10th level characters, you can't start a new player at 1st level. There is no way to make that work.

I'm just worried that if I let the guy switch characters without an XP penalty, some of the more munchkiny players will start switching characters over and over until they get really good die rolls. :/

You do realize that, as the DM, you retain ultimate control, right? If someone tries to pull that kind of ridiculous thing, you say.... "No." It's not like you have to say "Well, I let Bob switch without penalty once, so, go ahead, switch five times this session."

Calypso

 

[ptolemy18]

As far as the 1/2 XP rule, that seems ... really, really silly to me.

It's only 1/2 XP because they're so low-level... once they reach 3rd level I'll probably have their new "replacement for dead characters" characters start out at the next lowest level (i.e. 2nd, if they're 3rd when they die, and so on), like when you're Raised.

In the long run, the "switching characters" question isn't too different from the whole "How often should the characters die and have to make new characters?" question. It's good to have the players play the same characters for a long time because it allows for more in-game story continuity... but on the other hand I hate campaigns where no one ever dies, and even as a player I sometimes want to ditch my old character and play a new one...

Jason

 

[ptolemy18]

Umm... if you have a group of 10th level characters, you can't start a new player at 1st level. There is no way to make that work.

Of course not...! But in the last campaign I was in, which lasted for about four years, new players would start out about 2 levels below the party average. That's within the acceptable limits that they suggest in the DMG (3 or 4 levels' difference, I think...).

Jason