The Ethics of Abandoned PCs

[Palanan]

"It's okay to leave them to die."

- Simon Tam



As it happens, my question isn't about leaving PCs in the lurch during a fight, but rather that grey, quiet place that PCs go when a player leaves the game.

Several times now, as I've been starting up my new campaign, I've had prospective players who seemed really motivated for the campaign, who designed their characters in eager detail, and then never showed up. They just...went dark, leaving their characters behind.

And the thing is, they were usually good characters, nicely suited for my particular campaign. One character I essentially built myself, since the player was completely new to 3.5 and roleplaying in general; another was designed by a player with a fine touch for system nuance.

One player lasted for a couple of sessions before he bowed out, citing pressure from grad school; his character was already integrated into the storyline, and I've used him occasionally as an NPC. There are others which are game-ready, but never had a chance to join the action.

So, are those characters and builds fair game, to be used in the campaign as I see fit? Or is there some respect that's owed to their absent creators?

[LanSlyde]

"It's okay to leave them to die."

- Simon Tam



As it happens, my question isn't about leaving PCs in the lurch during a fight, but rather that grey, quiet place that PCs go when a player leaves the game.

Several times now, as I've been starting up my new campaign, I've had prospective players who seemed really motivated for the campaign, who designed their characters in eager detail, and then never showed up. They just...went dark, leaving their characters behind.

And the thing is, they were usually good characters, nicely suited for my particular campaign. One character I essentially built myself, since the player was completely new to 3.5 and roleplaying in general; another was designed by a player with a fine touch for system nuance.

One player lasted for a couple of sessions before he bowed out, citing pressure from grad school; his character was already integrated into the storyline, and I've used him occasionally as an NPC. There are others which are game-ready, but never had a chance to join the action.

So, are those characters and builds fair game, to be used in the campaign as I see fit? Or is there some respect that's owed to their absent creators?

Well, from an ethical standpoint, if they are already ingrained in the story then I would say they are fair game. But if they never saw the table then I would say hands off.

[GoatBoy]

I always say "it's your character, I don't want to introduce my interpretation of how your character would act." That being said, I ran an adventure the other week in which the players turned out to be acting at the behest of one of the player's old PC's, whom he had switched out in favour of a new class. The player actually seemed genuinely touched that I had kept the "spirit" of his character alive even though he didn't like the way things had turned out with the PC mechanically.

I go by how engaged the player seemed with the PC. If the treated them like something special and precious, like some kind of artistic expression of a part of themselves, I say hands off. Especially since some people like to expand their character during or after the game via stories or some such media.

If the player goes out of their way to make the PC important to the story at hand, and then leave the game with little or no notice, you should be able to do what you'd like with the character. Still, there's no substitute for communication, so it's always a good idea to ask, especially if they'd like to re-join at some time in the future.

[Coidzor]

Well, this guy (http://www.peldor.com/) certainly didn't have any trouble using characters after the players left the group or even after there no longer was a game.

As far as I can tell there's no serious lines that were crossed in doing so and he handled it fairly well. There was somewhere that this use of old characters as NPCs was discussed but I can't readily find the specific link to that.

Still, might be food for thought or possibly of interest.

[Answerer]

I've even had a DM bring one of my old characters back as an NPC for a new game. That was kind of cool.

Personally, I think it's probably polite to ask first, but if someone just abandons your game... I think all bets are off, you need to do whatever you need to do to salvage the game.

[CigarPete]

If someone has left, I think a new player coming in should have the option to pick up the now-absent player's character and continue as (s)he sees fit, especially if the character is integrated into the game world. If the character never saw play at the table, I'd leave him or her out of it.

[Metahuman1]

Ok, here's a question that relates to the topic.



How fair game is it to take a character idea or a game idea that you saw once/applied for but didn't get into for what ever reason, and liked, and use it?

Is it ok, for example, to have had a whole bunch of people apply for a PbP game, and one of them had a character you just liked, but they didn't get in, to use that character yourself as an NPC later down the line when running a game, or to make one with minor cosmetic tweaks? (Different name, from a different planet, different name of the mystical power source, ext.)

For an example of the other,

I see a game premise some time ago, I liked the premise, I get excited, I try to get in but I get outclassed at character application time. But I remember that game buy thunder. Or it was a game that I got into that died, not my fault, but it did, but I really liked it and the character I built for it. Would it be unacceptable to go on the forums and say "Hey, here's a game premise, anyone wanna run it/play with me in it/want to play in it if I run it?"

[roguemetal]

I usually find a way to walk a character off if there's even a mild chance of their returning. Otherwise, and I let players know this before my campaigns start, their characters are mine to use. Of course, this usually consists of just throwing them in every now and then to establish lost plot points until the party no longer needs them. Meanwhile I let someone new into the campaign.

[Darthteej]

Ok, here's a question that relates to the topic.

How fair game is it to take a character idea or a game idea that you saw once/applied for but didn't get into for what ever reason, and liked, and use it?

Is it ok, for example, to have had a whole bunch of people apply for a PbP game, and one of them had a character you just liked, but they didn't get in, to use that character yourself as an NPC later down the line when running a game, or to make one with minor cosmetic tweaks? (Different name, from a different planet, different name of the mystical power source, ext.)



For character ideas, something that you saw as a brilliant idea could have been a throwaway application for the person who created it. There's no copyright on ideas, and certain archetypes are going to be hit anyway. If it seemed that they went really deep into the application though, I'd ask the orignal poster of the character.

For game ideas? I'd say it's a bit murkier. Lots of campaign premises end up the same in theory(survival on islands, kill humanoid army, running a kingdom, etc.) But again, if the premise is extremely unique, you should ALWAYS ask, because the DM might have plans to try and run it again. Plus, asking about it nicely might just convince them to pass along some of the ideas/stat blocks they had for it.

[Zahhak]

Abandoning PCs or major NPCs subjects the rest of the party to sanity checks.

[only1doug]

I think that once a player has left then the GM is free to use the character as an NPC but should try to keep the feel of the character the same. If the player is planning to return then he should be consulted first.


If someone has left, I think a new player coming in should have the option to pick up the now-absent player's character and continue as (s)he sees fit.

Now this i disagree with, i experienced it n one game, where a really cool, well rounded ally suddenly had completely different personality and approach to life. It sucked.

[Laserlight]

One player lasted for a couple of sessions before he bowed out, citing pressure from grad school; his character was already integrated into the storyline, and I've used him occasionally as an NPC. There are others which are game-ready, but never had a chance to join the action.
So, are those characters and builds fair game, to be used in the campaign as I see fit? Or is there some respect that's owed to their absent creators?

Leave the character on the shelf if the player may return.

Check with the absent player if he has friends in the campaign or he designed two characters and decided to play the other one--ie if he'll hear what "his" character does. He might be pleased that his concept is getting play.

If the player dropped off the face of the earth, change the name and the character is yours.

[SowZ]

I run consistent game worlds in any given setting from player group to player group that I GM. (I move a lot.) Knowing this is cool to players, they think it adds more weight to their actions, I suppose. Entire factions are rewritten by player action and consistent NPCs multiple play-groups have met live or die by the current players. So you kind of accept this as a possibility, (or even likelihood, I love making old PCs come up in lore or even meet the party as a benefactor or villain,) by joining my game.

I think it is a cool and neat thing. So I encourage it. Of course, my players are aware ahead of time. It's probably best to make people aware in your group if you plan on doing it.

[Mithril Leaf]

I'm a compulsive character builder (it soothes me) and I view most of the characters I make as tools. Masterwork tools often, but to me, tools that allow me to interact with this world around me. Sometimes I have a new visage put on to use a tool, but it someone else can put on the mask, I have no trouble with them using it. On the other hand, currently played characters shouldn't come in if I miss a session.
It's reasonable to use them if you ask or know someone doesn't mind.

[prufock]

All abandoned characters get mysterious messages requiring them to leave the group on an important errand. Behind the scenes, they have been summoned by a former associate to form a new party on an important mission. If a player returns, the character's job with that party is done, and he can return to team A.

[Archmage1]

My groups will generally have the character be there for a bit, perhaps staying in town or whatever, and either have them die doing something the character would do, or go on an adventure somewhere...

One example is a drunken master player, who vanished fairly recently. We are currently going with he is following the party, but is attempting to drink all of his ale, on a bet(ale is a modified decanter of endless water)