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When A Player Doesn’t Like Their Character
From time to time, a player will be unsatisfied with the way their character is working out. Perhaps they made an error when building the character, or made a decision which is closing off possibilities now. May-be the character doesn’t fit in with the party, or the story-line for that matter. Perhaps the opportunities to contribute are too few and too far in between. Whatever the reason for it, the situation is always best dealt with directly. But how?
Kill the character.
Killing the character allows the player to immediately roll a new character and re-enter play with one that is more appropriate to the situation. Character deaths which preclude resurrection may often be the best, as many groups would try to revive their fallen comrade.
If the character is going to be killed off, it is best if the death means something - it allows the character to accomplish something in its time and not feel like a waste. The character sacrificing themselves so that the rest of the group can safely escape a situation is a classic example of how to accomplish this.
Write-Out the character.
Less drastic than killing off a character and just as effective, writing the character out of the story for a length of time allows the character to continue to exist, and perhaps be played again in the future. This option can be best if the character is not critically flawed so much as inappropriate to the current game for whatever reason.
Re-build the character.
If a character doesn’t fit in with the group or setting, it may be best to change the character so that it does fit better. Allowing the player to re-build the character, within limitations chosen by the game master, lets them continue using the character in the game but fix whatever the problem with the character is.
The PHB II spends an entire chapter discussing how to accomplish this and what can be used in game as an explanation for the change - usually a magical effect achieved at the end of a quest or from thorough training. I tend to choose the latter for minor changes - in my Dark Matter game, the players are allowed to rebuild their characters between missions; there is ample time and the Hoffman Institute provides the necessary instruction.
Change the Story.
When a character doesn’t fit in with the story or the group, it can be easy to focus in on the character as the problem and by extension as the solution. But sometimes the best solution can be to make changes to the story/campaign/game world. Look at the situation and see if there is something you can do to make the situation fit the character more neatly. Often minor changes can yield great results. A player is also likely to be more open to making the changes you want to their character if they see that you have already explored this option.
What do you do when a player doesn’t like their character?
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2 Responses to “When A Player Doesn’t Like Their Character”
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Well, I pick the easy and fun solution. I talk with the player, and we figure what needs to be done. Have the character resolved his story? Is the character flawed? Doesn’t he fit into the campaign or the party? Is he boring to play?
Once that have been resolved, we figure a way to solve it. Either we rewrite the character or the character exits the campaign, and a new enter. If the character is tied to a specific plot or it would seem strange for the character to exit the campaign immediately, then I ask the player to play his character once or twice more, then an opportunity to exit ought to appear - you can even plan one with the player - a dramatic death, a happy end etc.
It is that easy.
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Well, you could dramatically change his life line, like suddenly improve his abilities or retire him and give his belongings to a younger character, which also inherits some of his abilities.
You should also talk to the player and see what he wants to be changed.
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