What happens to your character after you die in real life?
Tabletop gaming has been around long enough that it is outlasted many of its founders, and will long outlast new players. Soon, there will be no first-generation gamers left. What happens to the characters they created when they pass?
Of more relevance to home games is agreement between all the players what constitutes ownership. Does a game master own the character too? For groups that have separated, this can be a concern, especially if they're no longer on good terms. Generally speaking, it's a good idea to assume any character is owned by the player, full stop. I asked for permission for all my players before I referenced them in my fantasy novels.
You'll need to define that constitutes your character too. Is it the character sheet? The miniature? The stories you wrote about them, the art you drew of them, the memories shared about them? Or is it all of these things?
By far the best way to avoid any confusion about ownership is to decide what will happen to your character before you die. After all, if you invested a significant amount of time in your character, they are part of your legacy.
Characters that are sufficiently popular (say, appearing in published novels or other content) might warrant active ownership. You could bequeath them to a spouse, a child, or another player to play or manage.
If you don't want to "give" your character to someone, you could ask the game master (assuming they're still alive) to continue the character as a NPC who can be brought out on occasion to remind other players they still exist. When my friend and long-time player Joe passed, I did just this and shared this legacy with his family (his character, Beldin Soulforge, is now king of the dwarven nation in my campaign).
You could simply create a digital memorial of sorts, so that others can find the character. This can be as simple as a web site or social media page, or as complicated as a NFT in a form of digital permanence (presumably, a NFT of the character sheet).
Or you could have the character not preserve at all, but let them pass as you pass. If the character has already died in game this isn't a big deal (although in some games, people can come back in all sorts of ways). Having them permanently laid to rest is a nice way to honor someone's memory outside the game.
Your Turn: What happened to the characters of players in your game that passed?
Tabletop gaming has been around long enough that it is outlasted many of its founders, and will long outlast new players. Soon, there will be no first-generation gamers left. What happens to the characters they created when they pass?
Who Owns Who?
In TTRPGs, character creation is a deeply personal process. Players invest not only time but also creativity and emotional energy into crafting these personas. However, unlike traditional intellectual property like books or music, character ownership is a little murkier.Consider the Streamer
With the explosion in popularity of streaming games, this issue has been tested, and the results are mixed. Several tabletop inspired content from Dungeons & Dragons has had the "serial numbers filed off" to make it suitable for publication elsewhere: Critical Role uses D&D tropes but subtly altered them for its Vox Machina cartoon; The Adventure Zone published a comic that involved a playthrough of The Lost Mines of Phandelver and just changed a few names. In both cases, it's clear that the artists (and their lawyers) felt they owned their characters, and Wizards of the Coast hasn't challenged them publicly on this claim.Of more relevance to home games is agreement between all the players what constitutes ownership. Does a game master own the character too? For groups that have separated, this can be a concern, especially if they're no longer on good terms. Generally speaking, it's a good idea to assume any character is owned by the player, full stop. I asked for permission for all my players before I referenced them in my fantasy novels.
You'll need to define that constitutes your character too. Is it the character sheet? The miniature? The stories you wrote about them, the art you drew of them, the memories shared about them? Or is it all of these things?
By far the best way to avoid any confusion about ownership is to decide what will happen to your character before you die. After all, if you invested a significant amount of time in your character, they are part of your legacy.
Preserving Your Character
Beyond the question of copyright, which varies by country, and assuming you're not trademarking your character legally, you have some options.Characters that are sufficiently popular (say, appearing in published novels or other content) might warrant active ownership. You could bequeath them to a spouse, a child, or another player to play or manage.
If you don't want to "give" your character to someone, you could ask the game master (assuming they're still alive) to continue the character as a NPC who can be brought out on occasion to remind other players they still exist. When my friend and long-time player Joe passed, I did just this and shared this legacy with his family (his character, Beldin Soulforge, is now king of the dwarven nation in my campaign).
You could simply create a digital memorial of sorts, so that others can find the character. This can be as simple as a web site or social media page, or as complicated as a NFT in a form of digital permanence (presumably, a NFT of the character sheet).
Or you could have the character not preserve at all, but let them pass as you pass. If the character has already died in game this isn't a big deal (although in some games, people can come back in all sorts of ways). Having them permanently laid to rest is a nice way to honor someone's memory outside the game.
Rest in Peace
Whatever you choose, it's important to think about this now before it's too late. Your character might not mean that much to you now, but it could mean a whole lot to the people who gamed with you. Few things we create bear our marks so strongly as a character you role-played, and characters in campaigns are the sum parts of what can be years, even decades, of effort. For your friends and family, it's a lovely way to remember you too.Your Turn: What happened to the characters of players in your game that passed?
