Picking Class Based on Current Campaign Level

[Trunamer]

Meet Bob! Bob likes to role play fun, quirky characters. He also favors different kinds of characters depending on what level his campaign is at. At the early levels, he prefers warrior-types because it's fun to chuck d20s for a while, and because they're a bit more survivable during the game's deadly sea turtle beach hatching phase. Later, when chucking d20s starts to lose its luster and casters get enough spells to be interesting, Bob prefers casters.

How do you feel about Bob switching characters a few levels into every campaign? Do your feelings change if Bob and/or his group like to optimize? Do your feelings change if Bob retires (or kamikazes) his characters, rather than waiting for a 'natural' death?

[Malroth]

abrupt jaunt variant conjurer can survive much better than most melee builds and has enough tricks to potentially be incredibly deadly from lv 1. (precious apprentice/ firey burst for unlimited 2d6 fireballs or metamagic school focus/ fell drain for instant death ray of frost)

[Ralcos]

Depends on how many times he'd die in the campaign. :rage:
No. Seriously. My luck for several months killed off multiple characters (up to once per session!). :rage:

Well, I dont know what to say besides that. It's never happened in my group (besides my horrible red-shirt deaths).

[nedz]

As a DM: Fine, whatever — though I might be tempted to finagle some major plot onto his fighter character, which would be bad of me.

As another player in the same party: Outplay him as a caster at level 1 — which is not as hard as Bob apparently thinks.

[jaydubs]

As long as it doesn't result in Bob grabbing too much of the spotlight or disrupting the story, I'm fine with it.

If Bob wants to be a non-caster at early levels and a caster at high levels because he finds those playstyles more enjoyable, that's fine. The game is about having fun.

If he's switching classes because he wants to have the bestest and coolest character during the entire campaign, explain that it's a collaborative game where everyone needs to have their moments; and that he wouldn't be allowed to overly hog the spotlight even with a single continuous character.

As far as story goes, rerolling is a normal part of the game. Characters die, players find they don't enjoy certain classes, or in character motivations force them to leave the party. But when we're talking about planned character swaps, Bob needs to be considerate enough to wait for a convenient point in the story.

[Heliomance]

Eh... I'm generally against switching characters where avoidable. It breaks immersion somewhat; you have to get the new character introduced believably, and they'll never really fit in as well as the people that have been through everything together since the very start.

[Trunamer]

abrupt jaunt variant conjurer can survive much better than most melee builds and has enough tricks to potentially be incredibly deadly from lv 1. (precious apprentice/ firey burst for unlimited 2d6 fireballs or metamagic school focus/ fell drain for instant death ray of frost)
Interesting how you avoid the question by assuming that Bob has the system mastery to know these tricks. ;)

[Sylthia]

Bob could play a Cleric or Druid and get the best of both worlds.

[cakellene]

I don't see a problem. It enhances his fun and he isn't being disruptive.

[eggynack]

Bob could play a Cleric or Druid and get the best of both worlds.
Yeah, basically this. He gets to be both the meat shielding beat stick, and the interesting caster, at all points in his career. Honestly, in some theoretical game where linear warriors quadratic wizards was a thing, this probably wouldn't be the sort of thing that should be allowed. However, in this game you don't necessarily have to trade off early game power for late game power, so you might as well give the player what he wants.

[Emperor Tippy]

Depends on the game but I generally don't care.

[Togo]

It's really up to your campaign. It's not a question about rules, it's a question about the social dynamics of your group.

I generally prefer to play warrior types at low level, casters at mid level, and some kind of hybrid at high level. That's because it suits the kinds of games I play, and the kinds of groups I play with. Different group, I might try something different.

I wouldn't want to swap out in a long campaign because I really like continuity and building up a character over time. But I'm not Bob.

The question is whether it's going to disrupt your group and your game. If it doesn't, I don't see the problem.

[Spore]

Deliberately running your character head first into ambushes, certain death and traps is a No-no. I have struggled with my character switch from rogue to ANYthing else for MONTHS now, but even I hesitate, when facing certain doom. Because my character would NEVER throw himself valiantly into the enemy fire. He would never "trigger a trap to end his suffering."

But other than that, I hate playing the weakest link. I am fine with people changing their role in the party over the course of an adventure. Frontline fighters are dispensable. They are like the paper towels of roleplaying. Just for christ's sake, make the end of an character somewhat realistic and immersive. A shining knight wouldn't die by starting a bar fight and getting crushed by that 300 pound barbarian he provoked. A rogue wouldn't agree on a fair duel versus a renown sword master. And a barbarian would certainly not die to a pneumonia.

[Totema]

I never mind when a player wants to retire a character. It's usually a pleasant experience for the whole group, as we get to make up a nice little "epilogue" for that character. Or kill them, if that's what we all agree on.

[HalfQuart]

I think its better to retire a character than continue to play one without any inspiration, so long as it isn't disruptive to the flow of the campaign and doesn't throw off party optimization balance.

[zilonox]

As a DM, I encourage players to play characters they enjoy (but keeping in mind the game as a whole should be enjoyable to everyone), so I generally don't mind if a player wants to swap characters (as long as it doesn't happen every session).

There are a couple of ways I've dealt with this in the past.

Sometimes the players are part of a mercenary guild or something similar and as such are sometime required / expected / doomed to work with different characters.[br]

Occasionally, there's a cross-dimensional clash that results a character retaining memories, but coming away mildly/completely different. [br]

It's also not unheard of for an apprentice|follower|hireling|groupie to step up and become a full-fledge member of the party if their mentor|leader|employer|idol dies or leaves of their own accord.


Just be creative! :smallsmile: