Detached Characters [Archive] - Wizards Community

Detached Characters [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Psychofox
03-18-07, 04:04 PM I have a slight problem with my group. My character is the only one who has not died and been changed into something else in the campaign I am participating in.

Normally, this wouldn't be too bad a thing, except that noone died who didn't want to. Everyone asked the DM to make a 'rocks fall, you die' thing happen.
For example;
Player of an elf character wants to change to a githzeri (or yanki, can't remember), so the DM says, 'A portal appears 100 feet above the ground, and a githzeri/yanki falls out. It lands on the elf, who dies instantly.'

Player of a half-orc fighter (who had already killed himself once as a monk) cuts his own leg off to get of a magic ankle shocker. He dies of blood loss, and comes back as a new character.

Player of a human ranger wants to be a druid. DM says, 'Someone throws a rock at you from a nearby building. It hits you on the head, and you die instantly.'

This bugs me because I think of a character as a kind of investment, something you should want to preserve. My buddies just throw away their characters as soon as they see greener pastures.

What should I do about this?
SokenzanMarauder
03-18-07, 04:10 PM Well, I deal with players like this all the time so this may sound a bit 'agitated.'

I'd personally tell them to pick a character and stick with it, and if they wanted to die, I'd do everything in my power to not kill them (barring the normal stuff, combat, traps, etcetera).

However, I've done this before and my players then started killing eachother. My fix? Get a new group.

-Gene
Lindwyrm
03-18-07, 04:15 PM Difficult...

I'd suggest talking to the other players and DM and point out that you're no lon ger adventuring with your original party as everyone else has changed over. This wouldn't be so bad if it was legitimate deaths, but you've got character suicides happening. Out of interest, what happened to the original peoples' stuff? Did it get sold? Do you have it, or do the new characters have it, and thus have more stuff than they should?
Psychofox
03-18-07, 05:21 PM I took most of the other people's gold (since I knew them longest).
One characters soul got thrust into his axe upon his death for no good reason, and the replacement character now uses the axe as his main weapon.
The Gith character just took most of his former character's stuff.
The last character barely knows how to play )very irritating, hardly pays attention) so I have no clue what happened to her stuff.

Most of these guys are very fun to play with, except for this one samll problem. So far they haven't killed their players in a while, so I hope that it's over. The only other thing that bothers me is that the replacement characters retain their levels. (The DM doesn't use experience, just says to level up at the end of every third or so session if he deems it correct.)
So they just make a new character with no penalties.

I don't mind having back-up characters (I myself created one), but these people make new ones and throw away the old ones really quickly. They have no attachment to their creations. I honestly don't want my character to die, but these people have an 'oh well' attitude that irritates me.
bobothechimp
03-18-07, 05:53 PM Start killing yourself, coming back as a character with the exact same stats and equipment, then take your old character's equipment, saying you're his/her brother/sister/father/son/daughter/cousin/mother and that your old character wants all his/her stuff to go to your new character. Be sure to write up a will as your old character to show that this is true.
KillerGM
03-18-07, 06:14 PM I wouldn't get too worked up over this.

Are you enjoying the character you're playing?

Are the other players enjoying the game?

I don't think it's out of the question to get rid of characters. It's not my style - I really invest in characters and want to see them grow and change in the game.

BUT I don't look down on another person's playing style just because it's not mine.

The other players just want something different from the game. As long as you're not at a disadvantage from keeping your character - and note, being the same level as the changing characters is *NOT* at a disadvantage, as it is not "rewarding" them for changing, it is simply not "punishing" them for dying - then just keep trucking.

If the DM doesn't have a problem with it, then neither should you. If you run a game, then you can enforce the "keep your character forever" rule. Be prepared for that to fail, though...

Because, to be honest, I've found that players who are ultimately unhappy with their characters (or who yearn for something new) will kill off those characters in other ways - and usually to the detriment of the group. IE: Making terribly stupid tactical choices during a dangerous fight, potentially putting the rest of the group in more danger; or dying in a fight then letting the party pay to raise/resurrect them, but saying their soul doesn't come back.

Maybe the DM is avoiding this by letting the player change out their character in a metagaming way?

It may bother you, but I don't think it's that big of a deal. You're playing the way you want to play, and so are they. Neither style is intrinsically better than the other.

If it DOES really bother you, and you talk about it in the group and nobody cares, then you should find a group that's more in-line with your playing style. Other than that, just get over it.

Hope it helps! :D
Aminvelos
03-18-07, 06:54 PM From a roleplaying, stand point can't see how your "group" is still together, and perhaps there isn't much roleplaying and that is the problem. If your comrades are constantly dieing, life will not go on the way it did. You'll have to build new relationships, and begin trusting your fellow characters all over again. Your character in particular may become depressed and want to leave the group that is no longer yours.

If there is a lack of attachment there's probably a lack of ropleplaying.

Also, anytime I make a not so max feat chose or screw up the order I would be angry and kill my character so I could make a "better one". If I wasn't attached to it that is, if I had this guy as a dm.
Nathreet
03-18-07, 07:03 PM In our group this isn't a problem b/c new characters start at the same level as the lowest level guy in the party. So everyone wants to res their old guy rather than playing a weaker new one. Unless the old guy got soul trapped... after a while I learned that rogues don't last long in our group and switched to sorc. But I have 3 different rogues thought up specifically engineered for our DM should the time come when I change my mind.
Corpsekin
03-18-07, 07:32 PM how about imposing experience penalties everytime the switch characters as if they had lost a level from being ressed
SokenzanMarauder
03-18-07, 09:23 PM how about imposing experience penalties everytime the switch characters as if they had lost a level from being ressed
He's not the DM remember. If that were the case it'd be a much easier fix. Much like the one you suggest.

-Gene
jeffseadot
03-18-07, 09:40 PM It's not fair to expect players to keep characters they are unhappy with, but it's also not fair that they can apparently make huge changes without any drawback. This is the type of trouble that can really only be resolved by having an in-depth discussion with the group about what everybody wants to get out of the game, what they want their characters to be able to do, and how everyone could go about accomplishing those things. If total character swaps are a consistent event, then you would all really need to set aside a time to actually talk about what people want.
Darth Sephiroth
03-19-07, 02:25 PM If you have access to PHB2, show your DM the character rebuilding and retraining rules. If that doesn't work, casually mention the exp penalties in the DMG. If you have access to them, use the spells to bring them back to life and be a pain about it to irritiate them if nothing else.
kelvinaw273
03-19-07, 02:32 PM I have a slight problem with my group. My character is the only one who has not died and been changed into something else in the campaign I am participating in.

Normally, this wouldn't be too bad a thing, except that noone died who didn't want to. Everyone asked the DM to make a 'rocks fall, you die' thing happen.
For example;
Player of an elf character wants to change to a githzeri (or yanki, can't remember), so the DM says, 'A portal appears 100 feet above the ground, and a githzeri/yanki falls out. It lands on the elf, who dies instantly.'

Player of a half-orc fighter (who had already killed himself once as a monk) cuts his own leg off to get of a magic ankle shocker. He dies of blood loss, and comes back as a new character.

Player of a human ranger wants to be a druid. DM says, 'Someone throws a rock at you from a nearby building. It hits you on the head, and you die instantly.'

This bugs me because I think of a character as a kind of investment, something you should want to preserve. My buddies just throw away their characters as soon as they see greener pastures.

What should I do about this?

I agree, and this sounds like a really naff game to me.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Psychofox 03-18-07, 04:04 PM	I have a slight problem with my group. My character is the only one who has not died and been changed into something else in the campaign I am participating in. Normally, this wouldn't be too bad a thing, except that noone died who didn't want to. Everyone asked the DM to make a 'rocks fall, you die' thing happen. For example; Player of an elf character wants to change to a githzeri (or yanki, can't remember), so the DM says, 'A portal appears 100 feet above the ground, and a githzeri/yanki falls out. It lands on the elf, who dies instantly.' Player of a half-orc fighter (who had already killed himself once as a monk) cuts his own leg off to get of a magic ankle shocker. He dies of blood loss, and comes back as a new character. Player of a human ranger wants to be a druid. DM says, 'Someone throws a rock at you from a nearby building. It hits you on the head, and you die instantly.' This bugs me because I think of a character as a kind of investment, something you should want to preserve. My buddies just throw away their characters as soon as they see greener pastures. What should I do about this?
SokenzanMarauder 03-18-07, 04:10 PM	Well, I deal with players like this all the time so this may sound a bit 'agitated.' I'd personally tell them to pick a character and stick with it, and if they wanted to die, I'd do everything in my power to not kill them (barring the normal stuff, combat, traps, etcetera). However, I've done this before and my players then started killing eachother. My fix? Get a new group. -Gene
Lindwyrm 03-18-07, 04:15 PM	Difficult... I'd suggest talking to the other players and DM and point out that you're no lon ger adventuring with your original party as everyone else has changed over. This wouldn't be so bad if it was legitimate deaths, but you've got character suicides happening. Out of interest, what happened to the original peoples' stuff? Did it get sold? Do you have it, or do the new characters have it, and thus have more stuff than they should?
Psychofox 03-18-07, 05:21 PM	I took most of the other people's gold (since I knew them longest). One characters soul got thrust into his axe upon his death for no good reason, and the replacement character now uses the axe as his main weapon. The Gith character just took most of his former character's stuff. The last character barely knows how to play )very irritating, hardly pays attention) so I have no clue what happened to her stuff. Most of these guys are very fun to play with, except for this one samll problem. So far they haven't killed their players in a while, so I hope that it's over. The only other thing that bothers me is that the replacement characters retain their levels. (The DM doesn't use experience, just says to level up at the end of every third or so session if he deems it correct.) So they just make a new character with no penalties. I don't mind having back-up characters (I myself created one), but these people make new ones and throw away the old ones really quickly. They have no attachment to their creations. I honestly don't want my character to die, but these people have an 'oh well' attitude that irritates me.
bobothechimp 03-18-07, 05:53 PM	Start killing yourself, coming back as a character with the exact same stats and equipment, then take your old character's equipment, saying you're his/her brother/sister/father/son/daughter/cousin/mother and that your old character wants all his/her stuff to go to your new character. Be sure to write up a will as your old character to show that this is true.
KillerGM 03-18-07, 06:14 PM	I wouldn't get too worked up over this. Are you enjoying the character you're playing? Are the other players enjoying the game? I don't think it's out of the question to get rid of characters. It's not my style - I really invest in characters and want to see them grow and change in the game. BUT I don't look down on another person's playing style just because it's not mine. The other players just want something different from the game. As long as you're not at a disadvantage from keeping your character - and note, being the same level as the changing characters is NOT at a disadvantage, as it is not "rewarding" them for changing, it is simply not "punishing" them for dying - then just keep trucking. If the DM doesn't have a problem with it, then neither should you. If you run a game, then you can enforce the "keep your character forever" rule. Be prepared for that to fail, though... Because, to be honest, I've found that players who are ultimately unhappy with their characters (or who yearn for something new) will kill off those characters in other ways - and usually to the detriment of the group. IE: Making terribly stupid tactical choices during a dangerous fight, potentially putting the rest of the group in more danger; or dying in a fight then letting the party pay to raise/resurrect them, but saying their soul doesn't come back. Maybe the DM is avoiding this by letting the player change out their character in a metagaming way? It may bother you, but I don't think it's that big of a deal. You're playing the way you want to play, and so are they. Neither style is intrinsically better than the other. If it DOES really bother you, and you talk about it in the group and nobody cares, then you should find a group that's more in-line with your playing style. Other than that, just get over it. Hope it helps! :D
Aminvelos 03-18-07, 06:54 PM	From a roleplaying, stand point can't see how your "group" is still together, and perhaps there isn't much roleplaying and that is the problem. If your comrades are constantly dieing, life will not go on the way it did. You'll have to build new relationships, and begin trusting your fellow characters all over again. Your character in particular may become depressed and want to leave the group that is no longer yours. If there is a lack of attachment there's probably a lack of ropleplaying. Also, anytime I make a not so max feat chose or screw up the order I would be angry and kill my character so I could make a "better one". If I wasn't attached to it that is, if I had this guy as a dm.
Nathreet 03-18-07, 07:03 PM	In our group this isn't a problem b/c new characters start at the same level as the lowest level guy in the party. So everyone wants to res their old guy rather than playing a weaker new one. Unless the old guy got soul trapped... after a while I learned that rogues don't last long in our group and switched to sorc. But I have 3 different rogues thought up specifically engineered for our DM should the time come when I change my mind.
Corpsekin 03-18-07, 07:32 PM	how about imposing experience penalties everytime the switch characters as if they had lost a level from being ressed
SokenzanMarauder 03-18-07, 09:23 PM	how about imposing experience penalties everytime the switch characters as if they had lost a level from being ressed He's not the DM remember. If that were the case it'd be a much easier fix. Much like the one you suggest. -Gene
jeffseadot 03-18-07, 09:40 PM	It's not fair to expect players to keep characters they are unhappy with, but it's also not fair that they can apparently make huge changes without any drawback. This is the type of trouble that can really only be resolved by having an in-depth discussion with the group about what everybody wants to get out of the game, what they want their characters to be able to do, and how everyone could go about accomplishing those things. If total character swaps are a consistent event, then you would all really need to set aside a time to actually talk about what people want.
Darth Sephiroth 03-19-07, 02:25 PM	If you have access to PHB2, show your DM the character rebuilding and retraining rules. If that doesn't work, casually mention the exp penalties in the DMG. If you have access to them, use the spells to bring them back to life and be a pain about it to irritiate them if nothing else.
kelvinaw273 03-19-07, 02:32 PM	I have a slight problem with my group. My character is the only one who has not died and been changed into something else in the campaign I am participating in. Normally, this wouldn't be too bad a thing, except that noone died who didn't want to. Everyone asked the DM to make a 'rocks fall, you die' thing happen. For example; Player of an elf character wants to change to a githzeri (or yanki, can't remember), so the DM says, 'A portal appears 100 feet above the ground, and a githzeri/yanki falls out. It lands on the elf, who dies instantly.' Player of a half-orc fighter (who had already killed himself once as a monk) cuts his own leg off to get of a magic ankle shocker. He dies of blood loss, and comes back as a new character. Player of a human ranger wants to be a druid. DM says, 'Someone throws a rock at you from a nearby building. It hits you on the head, and you die instantly.' This bugs me because I think of a character as a kind of investment, something you should want to preserve. My buddies just throw away their characters as soon as they see greener pastures. What should I do about this? I agree, and this sounds like a really naff game to me.