D&D 5E Poll: When do you typically retire your PCs?

[Sacrosanct]

By retire, I don't necessarily mean for good. But put them aside for one reason or another, which can include actual retirement, or just moving on to a different campaign because you want to try something new.

*Edit* For the most common scenario. Of course there are exceptions--some PCs die early, once in a while you may go to level 20, etc. But most often, when do you typically find yourself no longer playing that PC in an active game?

 

[Nagol]

None of the above? I retire my character when (a) it no longer is a good fit for the campaign, (b) it is no longer a good fit for the party, or (c) the campaign folds.

Any of those states can occur at any level.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Honestly, it varies quite a bit and it always depends on the DM. We have certain DMs in our group who do very good job of running, but can't play as often. They typically run for a few months at a time, so we rarely get over level 7 or 8 with them. This is pretty rare, however.

With DMs that are more consistent, we typically end up at about level 15 or so. Usually by then the DM is getting tired of running and wants to swap out for playing, or, sometimes, the party kind of breaks down. One or two PCs will end up significantly more powerful than the rest, and the rest of the party gets bored and wants to start a new game. This usually happens between level 10 and level 15. Usually what happens is someone will say they're thinking of running a different game, and the rest of the players get excited and the current DM says he'd love a break.

Once in a rare while, we run all the way to 20. It's only happened maybe 5 or 6 times in the 20+ years we've been playing.

 

[akr71]

I answered level 15 but the reality is whenever we feel like moving on and starting new characters. Sometimes the 'old' characters just get some downtime and we start something new with a crew of level 1 characters and when we get a chance, we pick up with the 'old' characters again.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Characters at my table get retired under only two circumstances: A) when their player no longer wishes to play them; B) when the campaign they are part of is over (which is never determined by character level - we'll play at 20th level for six years if that's how long it takes to finish the goals set by the campaign).

There would be a third circumstance of when the character no longer fits the campaign, but that basically never happens at my table because characters are built only once the players know what will fit the campaign.

 

[Greg K]

Typically, I retire them anywhere from levels 9 -12. Higher level play in D&D doesn't do anything for me- especially, WOTC D&D (despite my preference for WOTC D&D at low to mid-levels). However, I have retired characters at earlier levels if it seemed logical to do so based upon the character's motivations and goals.

 

[ccs]

What usually happens (regardless of edition) is that the campaign folds/gets put on permanent hiatus about lv 15+/-.
Then someone else starts a game at 1st lv.
Wash rinse repeat.
In theory we could pick up most of those previous campaigns. Or write something new involving those characters.
In reality we almost never do.

 

[Sacrosanct]

For my own answer, it's usually around level 10 or so. By then, most of us want to try something new, we move on to a different game, etc. Up until RoT/HotDQ, we almost never got to level 15, so that was a new thing for us. And even then, that only happened because level advancement was way faster than we were used to.

Basically, after a dozen sessions or so, we are ready to try out new stuff. That's the primary reason.

 

[TwoSix]

Yea, it's not really level dependent. I play them until I get bored, which is usually about 5-20 sessions.

 

[iserith]

I'm always on the lookout for a good ending to a character's personal story, be it an epic (or hilarious) death or some other form of retirement. A recent character of mine, the luchador-inspired grappling fighter "Immovable Rod" Manleigh, gave his own life to save the party, rooting himself in place with an immovable rod and allowing himself to be devoured by a nasty monster. The rod subsequently held the beast in place, allowing the rest of the party to escape. Truth be told, I probably could have gotten away with the party as the DM did appear to be fudging to allow an escape, but it was just too good a moment to pass up. People will remember that for years no doubt. (At least I will. Especially if you knew where he kept the rod.)

But for the poll's purposes, I'll select "By Level 10" because honestly I get bored with higher level play and don't play in many campaigns that go that long.