Too Much Effort to Make New Characters?

[Lanefan]

The general social contract of play is that the new character gets slotted in to the party without any fuss, regardless of the party dynamics already at play.

Whose "general social contract" is this?

If your only PC dies and there's no logical in-fiction way to bring in a replacement right away then sorry, you're gonna have to wait.

Further, there's nothing saying the new character has to - or will - fit in with the existing dynamics within the party. Most of the time a new recruit is a complete stranger, not knowing and unknown to the party before now; and while the party can conduct what amounts to an interview process and accept or reject any who apply for recruitment (I've seen this done!) oftentimes you just gotta take what shows up.

They're not going to be "back to basics" besides the fact that they don't have the past experiences of the campaign behind them; punishing a player whose character died by giving them an even weaker PC (if that's what you're implying) is just nonsense outside of any game that isn't some OSR games.

I'm in between on this - a new character usually comes in a level or so below the party average. (exception: if it's a player's first character in that campaign it'll come in at the average)

 

[grankless]

Gaming since 1979, and I've never seen that done. A PC dies, their replacement comes at entry level. When the group goes into combat, they put it all on the line.

Miss a session, no XP/RP/etc.

Did you know they've invented new games in the last 40 years that don't work as well if one player is 10 levels behind the others?

Whose "general social contract" is this?

If your only PC dies and there's no logical in-fiction way to bring in a replacement right away then sorry, you're gonna have to wait.

Further, there's nothing saying the new character has to - or will - fit in with the existing dynamics within the party. Most of the time a new recruit is a complete stranger, not knowing and unknown to the party before now; and while the party can conduct what amounts to an interview process and accept or reject any who apply for recruitment (I've seen this done!) oftentimes you just gotta take what shows up.

I'm in between on this - a new character usually comes in a level or so below the party average. (exception: if it's a player's first character in that campaign it'll come in at the average)

The social contract of "you're here to play a game with all of your friends". If someone doesn't have a character they don't get to play. And like, presumably the player with the dead PC has been talking with the GM and the rest of the party about what they plan to play.

One level behind is Alright in games with XP catchup mechanics. never more than that. but then that player is still going to be annoyingly behind the rest of the party - the idea of saying "alright, you all level up! excpt you Tim, you don't get to this session because your last PC died" sounds tremendously crappy.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Did you know they've invented new games in the last 40 years that don't work as well if one player is 10 levels behind the others?

Firstly, both game systems I use are only a couple years old.

Secondly, just because there's poor systems out there has zero impact on how I run my table.

The social contract of "you're here to play a game with all of your friends". If someone doesn't have a character they don't get to play. And like, presumably the player with the dead PC has been talking with the GM and the rest of the party about what they plan to play.

One level behind is Alright in games with XP catchup mechanics. never more than that. but then that player is still going to be annoyingly behind the rest of the party - the idea of saying "alright, you all level up! excpt you Tim, you don't get to this session because your last PC died" sounds tremendously crappy.

What social contract? If you don't show for a bowling match, or any other hobby, you don't get credit.

Experience awards (I don't use D&D) for a given session is awarded based on what the PC did and how much the player invested in the game/setting. Each PC advances at their own pace.

 

[Lanefan]

Did you know they've invented new games in the last 40 years that don't work as well if one player is 10 levels behind the others?

10 levels is extreme. That said, many parties I both run and play in have a 3 to 5 level spread within them - note this is in a 1e-variant system, however, and 1e is more tolerant of level variance than are either of 3e or 4e.

The social contract of "you're here to play a game with all of your friends". If someone doesn't have a character they don't get to play. And like, presumably the player with the dead PC has been talking with the GM and the rest of the party about what they plan to play.

They have? News to me.

If my PC dies and I need a new one I'm rolling it up on the side while the game is otherwise still going on. I can get enough basics down to make it playable within about 15-20 minutes, then maybe 5 minutes input from the DM. If I'm lucky I can get the new PC in during the same session the old one died; if not, then next week or whenever.

One level behind is Alright in games with XP catchup mechanics. never more than that. but then that player is still going to be annoyingly behind the rest of the party - the idea of saying "alright, you all level up! excpt you Tim, you don't get to this session because your last PC died" sounds tremendously crappy.

First thing, you're assuming I tell them when they level up. Sorry, but no; you level up when you've earned enough xp to level up, and characters level up at all sorts of different times and rates. I don't even use unified progression tables, each class has its own.

 

[Yora]

This may shock you, but it's quite possible these players may have enjoyed the story and the way their current characters experienced it. I'm not sure where you get off just assuming they hate the game.

i'm not sure where you get off just assuming I said anything about hating the game or not enjoying the story.

 

[beancounter]

The OP is yet another example of people who don't want to face consequences for their poor decisions in D&D.

If you (effectively) can't lose, what is the point of playing?

 

[Umbran]

I'm not sure where you get off just assuming they hate the game.

i'm not sure where you get off just assuming I said anything about hating the game or not enjoying the story.

Mod Note:
Well, it looks like folks are getting a little snippy, snarky, and sarcastic.

Please stop. Be respectful of each other, or go find something else to do.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Easily overcome?

Yes. Easily overcome. That's you don't agree has no impact on my statement and, in fact, highlights the fact that there are lots of different ways to play the games we play.

When your PC dies and gets replaced by a new PC, back to basic (or 1st level)? That's a hefty set-back.

And too much depends on the game being played and the table rules for your statement to have much weight.

Some games have vast power differences. Some do not. In some games, the speed at which levels are gained at lower levels quickly allow the PC to catch up to the levels of the others. In some, they do not. In some games, new characters are brought back at comparable or near comparable levels. In some, they are not.

In D&D 5e, for example, the amount of experience for a character to go from 6th to 7th level (9000 xp) would raise a new character all the way up to 5th level and mid-way to 6th.

So... Yes. Easily overcome.

edit: deleted some needlessly confrontational sounding language.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Secondly, just because there's poor systems out there has zero impact on how I run my table.

Because you don't like something does not automatically make it a "poor system" unless the statement is a "poor system to match my style of play."

 

[Doc_Klueless]

I'm in between on this - a new character usually comes in a level or so below the party average. (exception: if it's a player's first character in that campaign it'll come in at the average)

In the majority of the groups I've participated in, they seem to follow the New Player table rule in the DMG when introducing dead-character replacements as well which is: When a new player joins the group, allow the new player to create a character of a level equal to the lowest-level member of the party.

That's been fairly standard in my 40+ years of gaming. Not all groups, of course, but the vast majority of them.