Help with a player constantly changing characters

[SteveC]

Hi everyone,
I'd like some advice for the GM in a game I'm playing. I've written about it a few times before, usually in terms of rules questions, since I am the resident rules consultant.

The game is a very RP intense, story-centric game, and it's also a lot of fun. The problem is that one of the players is constantly changing characters. He's changed them both because the characters have died, but also because the plot and the direction of the campaign just doesn't fit with his ideas. In the cases where the character has died, he has basically chosen to have them die: it was never a case of bad die rolls.

This is a good player, who comes up with EXCELLENT backgrounds, but his characters never stick around long enough for their stories to come into play. The GM of the game does not like frequent switches, and uses the rule that you start at the level of the lowest level current party member. The result of all of this is that our group is having characters reach 6rh level, and he is starting over with characters at 4th level. That's a problem in and of itself, because it seems like there is a cycle developing: new character begins play, may not fit in perfectly with the party, is also below the average power level for the game, frustration sets in and the character exits.

Over the length of the campaign, he has gone through 5 characters (if I'm counting correctly) one of which only lasted a session.

Now the thing is, all of these characters were perfectly reasonable in having a reason to leave the group--sometimes it was even to die heroically helping us out, but there's been no real need for any of it. The resulting frustration in the game has placed some real stress on the campaign and is making some of the other players consider dropping the game.

Do any of you have any advice on how to handle this kind of situation? The player in question is a friend, but he just seems not to be willing to listen when we say sometimes you have to think up a reason, even invent one to stay with the group.

I'd love any suggestions...

--Steve

 

[BSF]

Suggestions? That's a tough one. Good character potential and he drops it for whatever reason? I would offer that you don't worry about it except for one nagging problem: the other players are growing frustrated as well.

The question is why? Why do the rest of you worry that he keeps bringing new characters in? Is it because it feels like a constantly shuffling round of guest appearances? Does it take away time from game to introduce the new PC? Does it break the verisimilitude to have a new PC all the time?

Figure out why it bothers all of you and you might be able to find a reason to discuss it with your friend. Perhaps he is unaware of the growing frustration?

As an alternative, you could turn the tables on the player. sometimes you have to think up a reason, even invent one to stay with the group. is a good point. If he isn't listening, then challenge the next PC with why the groups needs him. Explain that all of you have chosen to ignore the PC halo effect and his PC had better have a damned good reason why he should be trusted and included. After all, so many others have approached the PC's group and have not been able to cut it. Now your PCs are not going to include any more strangers unless they have a very strong reason to believe that the 'new guy' won't be slain out of hand, or abandon the group after a few days.

 

[Oryan77]

Just explain the exact concerns you posted here to him. It's making things harder on the group and most likely the DM. Let him know that you are worried about your PC's safety because of him not leveling up with the rest of the group.

This might not be a good thing to do, but it would make sense...you could treat his new lower leveled PC as a rookie who the group doesn't want joining the team because you guys are worried for his safety. Roleplay with his PC that you don't think he's skilled enough to add to the group. You're worried that if he's not capable of handling himself in battle, you might die because of his lack of help. Tell him he would need more training before you'd adventure with him. This might annoy the player, so it's probably not the best advice. But it would be a fun way to get your point across

 

[pogre]

Tough problem. Character Actors as Robin Laws calls them have a tough time getting juiced about a game unless there is something in the game that lets them explore their character.

Would it be possible for the DM to throw his concept a bone once in a while? Some sort of personal dilemna? If your DM is already making this effort - I'm out of ideas - refer to the sage advice above

 

[Runesong42]

Is there some reason why this player can't seem to make a character fit in with the adventuring group? I would direct the player to maybe sit out a session or use an NPC for a session and just watch the other players and how they interact. I would also direct the players to suggest to the indecisive player what sort of roles they would enjoy having in their party.

The player's problem could be that he can't seem to find a niche because the PC's have more power and thus more abilities and THUS less need for an additional lower level PC. While the player is trying to 'fit in' each new character, he never does because he's always looking at his character from the ability standpoint and not the RP standpoint. A few levels less than the party average shouldn't matter too much, provided the player has a genuine interest in keeping his character alive, and his fellow players share the same interest.

Thirdly, would the DM consider running a solo adventure with the new character so as to advance him a level or two closer to the party average? This would give the player some added background info and the opportunity to "stretch his muscles" to see how the character's abilities work without the pressure of feeling "needed" or forced into a situation he cannot handle.

Failing that, there is a prestige class on the WOTC Website called The Chameleon. Google it and peruse... the class gives the player the choice to adapt certain abilities of other classes each day, thereby giving the player to play whatever class he wants, every day!

- Dru

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

I really don't know this problem, when I dm it is one player one character, no new guys. Perhaps he just needs this iron ruling & need to handle his character.

Tell the dm that you and the other players find these new characters disruptive, then like any decent dm s/he would simply have to to put on the iron guantlet.

 

[delericho]

There was a player like this in a Vampire game one of my friends ran a few years ago. In his case, the problem was that he was reading all the books for the setting at a rate of about 1 a week, so every week he wanted to create a new character to take advantage of all the kewl new stuff he was discovering. Eventually, the GM got sick of it, and told him he couldn't bring in any more characters (even if the current one died!). I doubt this same solution will work in your case - the GM didn't like the player in my example, and would have been quite happy to see him go.

I think it's quite likely that the player in your example is probably not entirely sure of what he wants to play. So, he'll create a new character, play it for a while, find it's just not grabbing his attention, and wanting to move on. With the new character always being weaker than the party average, and therefore not pulling his weight, the problem is exaggerated.

I can't think of a solution that is guaranteed to work off the top of my head. One thing that might work is if you adjust the campaign slightly. If your group is willing, consider the following:

The adventuring company consists of 1 fewer PCs than players (unless you have multiple PCs per player, of course). Each time the group takes on a mission, they hire on the services of a "mission specialist", played by your uncertain player. This new character is vouched for by the party's patron/mentor/other trusted source, so that the group know they can trust him (solving the "why should we let you join us?" issue). Also, if the DM is willing, the character could be of the same level as the party average, or a level or two below, as desired. Even better, the DM could allow the player to amass XP, which then carry over to whichever character he is playing at the time.

Over time, the likelihood is that the player will settle on a single character he likes, and your problems will be over. Until then, you would have changed the game so that this rotating cast works, and hopefully cut out the tensions in the group.

Of course, the other solution is for the whole group to just tell the guy to stop changing character all the time, but that's probably not the best thing to do

 

[Abulia]

Tough problem. Character Actors as Robin Laws calls them have a tough time getting juiced about a game unless there is something in the game that lets them explore their character.

Would it be possible for the DM to throw his concept a bone once in a while? Some sort of personal dilemna? If your DM is already making this effort - I'm out of ideas - refer to the sage advice above

Ding! Without knowing the particulars of the campaign, this guy appears to be either working through his individual character dramas or, and more likely, wants to be the center of attention.

Essentially, long, detailed backgrounds tend to be the first signpost that a player expects his character to have a vital, central role. If that doesn't materialize, they can feel betrayed (and a little hurt) and just leap into their next character idea, hoping to have this character become the central theme of the campaign. And the vicious circle begins.

My advice for nearly any person who posts on an Internet forum with these "problems" is to do what you're doing here, but with the players in question. Talk to them. That's the only way to solve this, to find out what the root problem is.

At the worst I'd put my foot down and say no more characters. I might offer the opportunity to go back to one of the earlier ones, however, if that strikes their fancy better.

 

[MonkeyDragon]

I try to nip this sort of thing in the bud at character creation by instructing the players to choose characters that can function in the group. Perhaps your dm can instruct this player that when he makes his next character, he needs to create someone with a background and personality that meshes well with everyone else, so that he won't have a reason to leave.

 

[SteveC]

These are some excellent suggestions and will give me something to think about. I think a number of you have hit it on the head: many of these new characters are made using the absolute latest rule books in a dizzying combination. As I am the rules consultant for the game, I'm called upon to make calls as to what to do with these combinations, which also causes tension in the game. It seems like we go through a "negotiation" stage with each new character that is, frankly, annoying the rest of the group since it takes up session time--even after a thorough discussion with e-mail during the week.

The worst part of it is that any of these characters have the sort of background that a good story-centered GM would love: lots of plot hooks, possible friends and enemies, future directions for the campaign to take...it's just that the character sticks around for such a short time that they don't come to pass.

I like many of the suggestions you've given me, and I'm going to send a link of this discussion to my GM...perhaps he'll make a comment on the matter.

Thanks guys!

--Steve