Retiring Character Sheets

[unknownmercury]

So, I finished a campaign. The characters are all "living happily ever after" and are not adventuring. So the question is:

How do you get rid of character sheets from campaigns you've finished?

[TheDarkSaint]

Paper shredder of DOOM!

[AuraTwilight]

Save them forever. Those sheets have sentimental weight.

[Sidmen]

Most of my sheets are stuffed into the ever-growing mass in my computer bag along with all the printed materials I've used over the past two years. Will probably be thrown out in a bit when it gets too large.

[lady_arrogance]

I'll try to save my old character sheets - as AuraTwilight said, they have sentimental value. I have a binder for them, so they are quite easily stored on my bookshelf.

[BWR]

Save them forever. Sometimes it's fun to look through old characters, some of which you've forgotten about until you see the sheets.

[SiuiS]

Save them forever. Sometimes it's fun to look through old characters, some of which you've forgotten about until you see the sheets.

Especially when you make a spare, lose one, then find them both after one has been updated. I've some characters with upwards of twelve sheets across three games.

Personally, I want to make a log. The character sheets, throughout the months/years, an illustration, and a brief history of accomplishments and goals. Keep them all in digital and print a book of them eventually.

[BWR]

I should do that, especially with the characters that have seen a lot of play time. 7 years is the most so far. That's not counting the break and some NPC stuff he did later.

[Stake A Vamp]

save them, it is fun to look back and see what you played.

however, if you are bent on destroying them, i Recommend creating a small ( 1'X1') flame, burn a clove of garlic in that (do this outside) and then chant the characters name as you consign the sheet to the flames (or do something similarly ritualistic)

[gr8artist]

If the campaign went on for a long time, frame the character sheet and glue a small shelf to the frame. Retire the miniature used, along with the sheet, and possibly the dice (if you can afford it). Twenty years from now, you can look back and remember all the fun that character had.

[mrzomby]

Viking funeral.

[valadil]

I only save my favorites. But I'm not very good at it so they usually end up in the recycling bin anyway.

[Amnestic]

If it was a campaign successfully carried to completion and I never intended to use the character sheet again, I'd probably get it framed or otherwise secured away from most of the ravages of time and wear/tear.

Makes for more emotionally significant decoration than some of the stuff we hang on our walls.

[Amaril]

I've never been with a character long enough to make them worth saving (sadly), but once I finish the campaign I'm currently playing, I plan to either archive this character sheet in a folder designated for that purpose (if he survives), or burn it in a grand ceremony (if he dies).

[Erasmas]

For my group, character sheets usually end up in one of three places:

A.) The Orphan Bin - A massive stack of characters used in one-offs and from people that started to play and then never returned, etc. It is arranged by level, and then by name (alphabetically).

B.) The Folder of Retired Heroes - Just as it says, a folder specifically for those that ran a long and successful life of adventure. We almost always play in the same campaign setting, so these usually get used as grand NPCs for future characters to bump into.

C.) The Pyre - Great characters that die and cannot be rezzed (for whatever reason), usually get the section of their name, race, class cut off of the sheet and saved. The rest gets torched.

[genderlich]

I save mine. On the bottom, I write a brief description of how the campaign ended or how they died, e.g. "Saved Waterdeep from the Drow cultists" or "Eaten by skeletal dragon he created but couldn't control". I find it's useful to have old character sheets around somewhere.

[Kane0]

All of my D&D stuff is on my laptop and by extension dropbox, so i have them in neat folders. I have two folders for current characters (3.5 and Pathfinder) and a couple for those not in use (Planned for future games, retired, dead, didn't get used beyond one or two sessions).

[Amphetryon]

The Binder of Glorious Heroism.

Characters that die during a campaign may be retained by their Player at that person's discretion, except for the first Character death, as that sheet gets torn asunder before the Player's eyes by tradition.

[DigoDragon]

I've never partaken in a campaign that actually concluded, but I usually end up losing my character sheets after a while so... I just don't do anything. :smallsmile:

[Mastikator]

Viking funeral.

This answer.

[banjo1985]

I tend to throw mine out, or rub them out so I can use the sheet again. A couple of characters I have kept, but they're the exception rather than the rule.

[geeky_monkey]

So, I finished a campaign. The characters are all "living happily ever after" and are not adventuring. So the question is:

How do you get rid of character sheets from campaigns you've finished?

Save them in a binder. You never know how long "happily ever after" will last - they might just have one more adventure left in them after all.

[Thialfi]

As a consistent D&D player since 1979, I have just one question regarding the OP. What is this "getting rid of character sheets" and "finished campaigns" that he speaks of?

Our last playing session included a character that I rolled up in 1982 and his daughter, who is my second character in the adventure.

We have had one campaign for 34 years. Adventures done in the 80's affect that campaign world today.

[dysprosium]

That is awesome!

[Jay R]

File old character sheets. They will be NPCs in a game you run in the future.

[Crazyfailure13]

Most of mine just end up in a small binder, which I eventually lose:smalltongue:

[Felandria]

As a consistent D&D player since 1979, I have just one question regarding the OP. What is this "getting rid of character sheets" and "finished campaigns" that he speaks of?

Our last playing session included a character that I rolled up in 1982 and his daughter, who is my second character in the adventure.

We have had one campaign for 34 years. Adventures done in the 80's affect that campaign world today.

What level are you? Infinity?

That is incredible.

I an genuinely intrigued as to how that is still going, after that long, the original characters should be practically gods by now.

[RFLS]

I keep all of mine on Mythweavers, and when I finish with a character, I download the XML file and keep it on a ceremonial flashdrive.

[Amphetryon]

What level are you? Infinity?

That is incredible.

I an genuinely intrigued as to how that is still going, after that long, the original characters should be practically gods by now.

They play twice a year, obviously.:smalltongue:

[Figgin of Chaos]

My main group plays using my homebrewed system, meaning the characters get transferred from sheet to sheet now and then. So the sheets don't have as much sentimental value, although we do burn them when the characters die. We remember what mattered about our characters pretty well anyway.

[Jay R]

Actually, I'm kind of surprised that anybody in this century keeps their characters on paper, instead of in a computer. Every character I've run since 1998 is saved on my flash drive.

I print out an updated sheet for each game.

[Eldonauran]

Successfully retire? I make a copy of the sheet, laminate that copy and store both in a folder. Dice used during play are retired with the character. I can always play that character again.

Did not survive the whole adventure? No copy, just laminate the original. File it away. Can not play character again.

Did not make it to level 5? Recycle bin.

[Hunter Noventa]

Actually, I'm kind of surprised that anybody in this century keeps their characters on paper, instead of in a computer. Every character I've run since 1998 is saved on my flash drive.

I print out an updated sheet for each game.

I've made the transfer from paper to digital spreadsheets, customized by system for most of my characters. I ought to do something like, transfer said characters to paper sheets when they retire, and put them in a nice folder. Maybe frame the sheets of my absolute favorites.

Course, I'd have to frame the house rules that went with some of them too...