Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeBlank" data-source="post: 1994070" data-attributes="member: 1806">Put me in the column that is completely against the DM telling the players what their characters must do.However, the DM is in the position of being able to reward those who make the game flow better, and make it more enjoyable for everyone.So I would let the living PCs make the decision, in character, but I would also ask the player of the dead PC how he feels about the reincarnation. If he is cool with it, or goes along with it to help the game and not make waves, I would consider rewarding him by letter him pick the result of the reincarnation. If that goes too far, you could let him roll twice and pick, or do the he rolls and you roll and he gets to pick thing. Everyone should be happy, the "roleplayer" gets to have his PC act appropriately, and the player of the dead PC comes out okay.As far as saying ahead of time that he would not allow a completely new PC into the group, this is where I could talk to the player. I would explain that I won't make his PC do anything, but that the players have to be willing to make certain concessions to make the game fun for everyone. Sure, it might not be in character to allow some stranger to join the group, but in cases where resurrection-type magic is unavailable this is usually the only choice. The guy needs to be willing to compromise somewhat, or he would not be welcome at the gaming table.I like the "constructive metagaming" explanation. Whenever possible, the PCs should act in character, but they should try to find in character reasons to make the game fun for all the players.A little off topic, but in one of our games we had a new player join a while back, and my sorcerer did not trust him at first. When we were scouting (outside the Banewarrens) my gnome cast a charm person on him. He made the save, and did not know the source of the spell, but when he spotted someone in the distance he assumed it was a hostile spellcaster, plugged him with an arrow. Turned out the guy was just a bum, at most. Whoops.Same player, new character last session, creeping up on our group, so my PC, same gnome, casts charm monster on him. Now I have his new PC charmed for 11 days, gives the PCs a good amount of time to judge his character and determine whether they should trust him once the charm wears off.</blockquote>

Verification