Replacement PCs: what level?

[Cam Banks]

I have rarely run a campaign in which the PCs were not all the same level. Thus, if a PC dies, the new character is the same level as the rest of the party.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Korgoth]

level 1
3d6 in order

I like the cut of your jib, mate.

Especially since I'm not planning on voting in my own poll.

 

[sckeener]

For my campaigns I use the Dark Sun method. Every level the player can advance 1 of 4 other backup characters. If he dies he can use on of these other characters. If he has not picked another character to advance in that time, he can play a character up to the level of his old character. He can play lower level character. As an example lets say the 4th level paladin dies. He could play another 4th level character or something lower. The advantage of playing something lower is if he dies again he isn't stuck playing only a 1st level character.

 

[Kestrel]

Same level as everyone else. I don't penalize a level for Raise Dead/Resurrection either.

Level loss makes for imbalance in the group and punishment where its not needed. The death and costs of resurrection are punishment enough, no need to insult them with a level loss as well.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Characters starting a level back catch up pretty quickly, IME, but it's enough of a short term disincentive to matter, so that's what I use.

 

[Banshee16]

We add new characters at 1 level below the lowest party member.

Banshee

 

[Agamon]

Other: Replacement PCs are 1 level lower than the lowest level in the party. Raised PCs are Level-1. That's right, stick with yer dang PCs or be punished.

New players, though, come in at the average party level.

 

[Korgoth]

A question for those that favor the "restart at level 1" method: how do you manage to keep the game interesting for the player that restarts from scratch? I just cannot imagine how a PC that is way behind in level can participate in fights appropriate for the party and generally feel useful and satisfied (unless you run a role-play heavy game with very few fights). And this problem must get worse the highest the average party level. How do you deal with that?

This is not a direct answer to your question, but perhaps it will help: this muddies the waters of my own poll, but it at least partly depends on what kind of a game/campaign you're playing in.

If you're playing in an Epic Quest to throw the Ring of Gyges into Mount Kilauea in order to preserve the idyllic lifeways of Hobbtopia, there's a certain notion of a cosmic struggle between Good and Evil. So if the beloved Nigel Dustyknickers, companion of the Ringholder, gets shanked by a Satire of Industrial Man... the forces of Good have a problem. So it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that the forces of Blessed Providence will guide another Noble Hero into the fold... a man of considerable accomplishment and worth who will have the necessary skills and pluck to replace the fallen Companion. Why? Because there is an implied intervention of Destiny into the whole course of events, and (given the nature of the struggle) an expectation of ultimate success. Good is supposed to win, and will.

On the other hand, perhaps you are playing in a Weird Tale where the characters are Fierce Wanderers. They spend their time skulking about in the ruins of the Nameless City killing the equally fierce Crocodile Men and plundering their heathen artifacts to sell on the Black Market. These are daring individuals, perhaps even heroes in some sense, particularly if you consider dark rites of the Crocodile Men, not to mention their man-eating qualities, to be inimical to mankind. But that is only secondary, because mankind may have a civilization here but it is not Civilization... man's cities are corrupt with vice and avarice and some men are about as bad as your typical Crocodile Man (who at least is honest about his primitive motives). Moreso than heroes, these are Adventurers who are in it for the thrill, or the loot, or the power, or maybe just because they're not satisfied doing anything else. They seek the dangerous possibilities of life (you could wind up lying in a ditch, or wearing a crown) rather than the predictable and often depressing certainties of the mundane. At least if you die with your foot on a Crocman's neck you know that you lived. For Misfits such as these, there is no expectation of success nor charmed path. They carve out an empire or die trying.

Therefore: in the latter sort of game Level 1 is meaningful as the place where you start, the closest you get to the mundane. Everybody starts out there and goes as far as he is able with his combination of luck, talent and skill. If everybody else is level 8 and you're at level 1, well you've got some catching up to do. But that's the game.

Now, the dichotomy I presented, if not precisely located at the extremes, at least highlights them. A game could fall in between. But the point is, starting at Level 1 suggests a game of "This individual man against the harsh realities of this (often dark) fantasy world". Whereas an epic quest of Good vs. Evil suggests that the characters are actors in a larger drama and have special destinies accordingly. In that kind of game I can easily see how starting over at Level 1 could be inappropriate.

 

[Trickstergod]

I voted average level of the party, but that's only because everyone in my games is at the exact same level, sans level loss due to energy drain or resurrection.

Miss a session? You're not behind the party experience level. Just entering into the game? You're not behind the party experience level.

I'm a commie about level. All characters have the same amount of experience as any other. They all receive the same amount of experience. The incentive to get resurrected or deal with negative energy attacks comes down to the fact that my player's actually care about their characters for one and I've mentioned that they'll eventually get something to make up for the level loss later down the line.

The whole "Come in one level lower than the party" or "Party members of differing levels" is something I find immensely unsatisfying. The extra book keeping to make sure all the characters receive a degree of challenge is obnoxious, not fun, and I also enjoy being able to run the gamut of iconic monsters from orcs to trolls to illithids to beholders to balor and so on - so constantly cranking back the power level, bit by bit, tends to slow that down.

 

[Quartz]

Min XP of 1 level below the better of the lowest level surviving party member and previous PC level, plus half a level of XP. This allows spellcasters to enter play with item creation feats and create items.

I'm not sure how I'd do it at Epic levels, though.