DwD Studios
Replacement characters - how do YOU handle?
Mon, 02/04/2013 - 2:15pm | 
jasales
I know this question has a lot to do with the type of game I want to run but how have you handled character death and replacement characters in longer running BBF games, not oneshots etc.
I guess this is directed at those that have playtested as they've had the most experience with this.
Issues I see:
New BBF characters can have just as much BP as higher ranked characters so they could survive in a mixed rank group.
But what about skills? Are they useless? I know it depends on the ranks involved.
Specifically what has been most fun and rewarding method you've found for character replacement? Start the new character at zero DP? Start at half average party? Start with previous character's total? Something else?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
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We play a really "table friendly" game. By that I mean, regardless of game, we've always played such that everyone stays at the same Exp total. Players who miss a session, if we even game when someone's not available, still get the Exp everyone else earned. We figure missing a session is penalty enough, as everyone really enjoys playing. We keep a party treasure for loot and everything goes into it. We don't fight over magic items, if someone needs/wants one, it's just given to them. Same thing with gold. We buy the fighter's plate (or whatever they need) as soon as the party treasure can afford it. No player is allowed to backstab another player in any way, whether by social aggression, betrayal to the monsters or NPC's or stealing from the party. Players who fuss or argue or get greedy are merely not invited back. My house, my rules. I am certainly aware that everyone doesn't play this way, but I do this for fun. I'm not out to compete with the other players. The idea is we (or they if I'm GM) are there to work together, not get ahead at each other's expense.
If your players are keeping track of Earned DP it gives a new character somewhere to start to bring them up to speed. This can be time consuming at the gaming table.
Another idea is to average the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary skills, the Abilities and allow the new character to take the same level of skills/abilities. (This is what I do because I run so many different BBF games).
That sounds reasonable. In most systems, we usually just figure out Level Minus 1 or Level Minus 2. I'd probably just start them a rank lower--not enough to make them useless, but enough that they'll have some challenges ahead of them.
Then again, I don't have an issue with the way Neolithicwolf describes his group as operating. If that's working for you guys, I think that's awesome!
Neolithicwolf does indeed have a cool group. Neolithicayers! lol
I agree, I have a fabulous group. I couldn't do it without my friends. Definitely, to them goes most of the credit. I just decided what my house rules were (like the rules of the actual house, pun intended) and let them know my expectations. Everything is just so much easier when people realize it's about having a good time, not "winning" or "being right". Those concepts cause lots of problems on their own. When one is too convinced one is "right", one is generally the last to know when one is actually wrong (not to mention people just stop talking to you, and what's the fun in that).
My groups all do it the way Neolicthic wolf describes. We don't punish players for being gone or dying in other xp based systems.
BUT, that said, we are talking about BBF here where the DP is very participant dependant.
What has anyone done in an extended campaign? Or has BBF been around long enough for that? I'm seeing already it won't take long for characters to get to rank 2 or 3. But rank 4 is going to take a much longer time.
Given that BBF DP system is so participant heavy, what do you do for replacement characters? We will be tracking total DPs earned as I figured out right away that might come in handy. My first idea is to give an average of DP earned by all the players and appying that to the new character. As Larry pointed out, that could prove time consuming at the table but in a longer running game that should be fine.
Any more thoughts?
When a player's PC dies, I usually permit the new PC to have 80% of the old character's experience (or something like that). I also assume that the new PC is a sort of reincarnation of the old PC, or at least has some the old one's spirit. So if the old character died fighting orcs, the new character will have "Orc slayer" or "Orcophobe" as a descriptor.
Now that's a neat idea.
Do you allow these new descriptors to be in addition to the starting characters descriptors. I think I would lean this way.
Yes, in addition. And as the Fates have their own mysterious ways - this reincarnation descriptor is always double-edged. So our character that now has "Orc Slayer" is charged whenever he battles orcs, but that causes trouble as the party has already allied themselves with an orckish tribe.
Cool!
I would:
[1] Give them 50%/75% of the development points as the group.
[2] Give them 50%/25% of the development points as the group in a delayed development point pool.
[3] When development points are awarded, then an equal amount of delayed development points are converted to development points.
[4] After ten (10) sessions all delayed development points left over are converted to development points.