How do you Handle Constant Re-Rollers?

[ekarney]

We all have one or two of them, a player that want a new character every month or so.

So my question is how, if at all do you deal with them?
I try to prevent the whole party form re-rolling whenever we start a new arc, but other than that I don't really mind.
I do this by enforcing the rule that every time the party re-rolls they use a lower ability rolling system.

Other than that so long as they're no re-rolling every session or two I'm fine with it.

[GilesTheCleric]

I think it depends on why they're rerolling. If they do it because the character doesn't perform to their expectations, then helping them optimize a little could help. If they're like me and get bored with the same thing over and over, try and suggest that they play a prepared caster, or perhaps a ToB martial. I find that what helps me most is taking a cohort, then trading off control between the cohort and the main character whenever I get bored. They're both in the story, and I get to use different mechanics without rerolling.

Edit: There's also retraining and retraining quests like the Gates of Dawn in PHB2.

[TheIronGolem]

I do this by enforcing the rule that every time the party re-rolls they use a lower ability rolling system.

This is a bad idea. Allow re-rolls or don't, but don't punish players for doing it. It's passive-aggressive, and doesn't add to the game.

And I agree with the above poster that it's important to take into account why they want to reroll.

[ekarney]

This is a bad idea. Allow re-rolls or don't, but don't punish players for doing it. It's passive-aggressive, and doesn't add to the game.

And I agree with the above poster that it's important to take into account why they want to reroll.

It refers specifically to whole party re-rolls, TPKO's being the exception.

With the way my players usually function is they usually re-roll as a group once every 3-4 levels. This way it functions as a very minor difficulty slider. Especially since whenever a full party re-roll happens I tend to absent mindedly jump the group up a level. It also helps with the general style of my campaigns, which get much grittier as the players go up in level.

It's also not passive-aggressive I tell my players what and why I'm doing as well as running everything by them first. There's times where I'll even let them choose the statblocks of NPC's, though I don't let them know the full block of course.

I also take into account individual reasons when it comes to individual re-rolls, I have this one player for instance, who's just had terrible luck when it comes to what the campaign's doing vs what he's doing. This current one I'm running has the issue of switching between violence orientated and hyper-political, and since I let the players control where the campaign goes he still manages to get the wrong character, which is a shame cause he's a great player so I obviously don't punish him when it's just him re-rolling.

[Yahzi]

We all have one or two of them, a player that want a new character every month or so
I think that is a sign they are not getting enough role-playing. Try creating characters who are enmeshed in the world, who have friends and relatives and obligations among the NPCs. If all they are doing is kicking down doors and killing monsters, then all the excitement is in the mechanics of combat; hence the desire to use different mechanics all the time.

[Kantolin]

Have you tried talking to them?

This is especially true if the problem is 'I want to use different mechanics'. If so, a solution might be 'Use differnet mechanics but the same character.

If the fighter type wants to become a rogue type or something, that can even be explained away by using a different weapon - their main weapon breaks or they find / start using a new one, and this comes with a new combat style.

But either way, explaining to people that you'd like some consistency, so can we find a different way to do these things... that will help.

[MyrPsychologist]

I handle this issue by not thinking about it or giving it any consideration.

I think that people should play things that they enjoy. If they are fickle and want to reroll, that's their thing and not something I intend to force. If you are bothered by their activities, you could always talk to your players and figure out why they want to reroll so much and try to find a solution that minimizes this.

[Kelb_Panthera]

They have to give the old character a reason to leave the party first but otherwise they can do so as often as they like. New character comes in at the same level as the exiting character but at the beginning of the level; exactly enough XP to make that level and WBL as listed for the same or just a bit more if the last item on his list puts him just a little past it.

At the same time, I also allow retraining, the hiring of mid level psions to perform psychic reformations, and the performance of race altering rituals (per Savage Species).

Any way you slice it, you're paying for it somehow; either in time, gold, or progress on your current level. The last is the fastest but has the steepest cost in part because it is the most difficult to reconcile with the existing plot.

[enderlord99]

They have to give the old character a reason to leave the party first but otherwise they can do so as often as they like. New character comes in at the same level as the exiting character but at the beginning of the level; exactly enough XP to make that level and WBL as listed for the same or just a bit more if the last item on his list puts him just a little past it.

At the same time, I also allow retraining, the hiring of mid level psions to perform psychic reformations, and the performance of race altering rituals (per Savage Species).

Any way you slice it, you're paying for it somehow; either in time, gold, or progress on your current level. The last is the fastest but has the steepest cost in part because it is the most difficult to reconcile with the existing plot.

You allow a lot of stuff. Got it! That's good.:smallsmile:

[Crake]

I've never actually had a character re-roll in any of the games I have run, ever :smalleek:

I have however, been on the revolving door character ride before. That wasn't by choice though, the DM just kept screwing my character over and over giving me no other option than to re-roll. My first character got hit by a no-res save or die at level 3, my second put on a cursed cloak that turned me into a super gargoyle that the party couldn't subjugate to cast remove curse, because it was buffed beyond reason, having hardness 20, which means not even adamantine weapons could bypass it, and fast healing while it was holding still. He called it some "greater gargoyle" apparently a callback to 1st edition or something, but it was basically a way of saying "no you can't have your character back". The lost characters just kept piling up from there :smallannoyed:

Tell your players they should be thankful that they can hold onto the same character for as long as they please, it's not a luxury we all share.