Runa
2007-10-20, 02:04 PM
Has anyone ended up doing this before?
Here's what happened:
1.) Our group starts getting together on Wednesdays for Game Night. The group is about half new, half old (Rob, me, Alan and Ralph were all in the old group together; Catherine, Ryan and Skippy are new), and we're trying something new to boot - Gestalt. Because our band of characters is such a bizarre combination - I'm playing a fun-loving, Elistraee-worshiping Bard//Pal of Freedom Drow; Ryan's a sneaky Rogue//somethingorother Psion; Alan's a goofy Druid//Barbarian; Robert's a semi-Spartan-esque Hieroneus-worshiping Cleric//Duskblade or somethingorotherBlade anyway (who inexplicably has tons of ranks in singing); Skippy's a weird Necro//something; Ralph's the DM now; and Catherine's a Dionysus-worshiping Bard//Rogue who's ostensibly a sexy and sly vixen/drunk - we half-jokingly decided we must be a group of "carnies" (we really did end of up being a group pretty much of traveling performers who also happen to adventure a little on the side, which has been pretty fun so far).
2.) It quickly becomes apparent that Catherine (who's never played D&D before) is not having fun, though it's not for lack of us trying I don't think. She complains she's bored/doesn't know what to do during the battle the first week we actually play; the second week of play she doodles whenever it's not her turn instead of watching to see what's going on; the third week, she and Ryan (who she lives with) don't even show up, so their characters get captured by the army of raiding goblins and we're down both our Rogues; the fourth week, we did a hilarious performance in the town (which she clearly actually enjoyed for a change; see the "I Summon... A Porpoise!" thread for details), but then another week she did homework when it wasn't her turn; the past two, she hasn't shown up, and it's become clear she probably won't ever give it another chance.
In the meantime, Ralph (who is DMing for the first time, and trying to make up adventures from scratch tailored to the party, partly because the method of using downloaded or from a magazine adventures didn't exactly work for us in the past, and partly because he's a masochist) is attempting to include stuff relating to every character - so that everyone gets treasure that's tailored to them, fun things to do, etc. He liked the idea of her character being a vixen (even though - and I mean no disrespect for her, but this is honestly true - she really didn't play a "sly vixen" very well, admittedly in large part because she wasn't interested enough to think of something to do most of the time, and partly because, to be frank, she doesn't always think before she does things - you know that PC Stupidity Stories thread where someone tries to "seduce the evil army"? That's exactly the kind of thing Cath would do with this character). And so, he was disappointed when she basically decided to leave, because the character had potential.
And also in the meantime, I had been under the impression that, given Catherine's actual usage of the character, mine would have some very funny interactions, mostly on the lines of "Siiiigh what did you do NOW that makes the Mayor want to kill you?", and mostly in the spirit (despite them being different races) of an older sister having to look after that annoying little sister that always manages to get herself into trouble. Which sounded like fun, actually, if played right, you know?
And then she leaves. Well, crap.
So the group's current plan (since Ralph's been having to play her, which is just weird for the DM as you can imagine) is for me to take over her character. While still playing my original one.
Now, I don't have a problem with the idea of playing her sly-but-ridiculously-impulsive vixen Bard//Rogue - it's a fun concept, and Ralph's outright said he's got a really fun plotline he was going to do for it including a "crazy Satyr Bard" that happens to be her nephew. I also don't have a problem really with playing two characters at once and keeping track of the two, ostensibly. The only weird thing is something nobody else currently seems to have a problem with - which is that I'm the only one doing two PCs instead of one (though granted, she's squishier than me, and thus tends to have a different role in things like combat to begin with). We're testing it out to see how it works this coming week, at least until the plot ideas Ralph had worked up have resolved and all, and we can develop her out of it or whatever.
I'm just wondering if anyone else here has ever ended up doing this kind of thing, though - even temporarily - and what they found it to be like? Do you think it could work for a short time (a few sessions, say)? Do you have any advice? I don't think it's going to be permanent, somehow, and even though I think the chances are slim of her coming back, it's not impossible (and I don't think she'd have a problem with me playing it, given her apathy towards the game most of the time when she did play it).
-Runa
Here's what happened:
1.) Our group starts getting together on Wednesdays for Game Night. The group is about half new, half old (Rob, me, Alan and Ralph were all in the old group together; Catherine, Ryan and Skippy are new), and we're trying something new to boot - Gestalt. Because our band of characters is such a bizarre combination - I'm playing a fun-loving, Elistraee-worshiping Bard//Pal of Freedom Drow; Ryan's a sneaky Rogue//somethingorother Psion; Alan's a goofy Druid//Barbarian; Robert's a semi-Spartan-esque Hieroneus-worshiping Cleric//Duskblade or somethingorotherBlade anyway (who inexplicably has tons of ranks in singing); Skippy's a weird Necro//something; Ralph's the DM now; and Catherine's a Dionysus-worshiping Bard//Rogue who's ostensibly a sexy and sly vixen/drunk - we half-jokingly decided we must be a group of "carnies" (we really did end of up being a group pretty much of traveling performers who also happen to adventure a little on the side, which has been pretty fun so far).
2.) It quickly becomes apparent that Catherine (who's never played D&D before) is not having fun, though it's not for lack of us trying I don't think. She complains she's bored/doesn't know what to do during the battle the first week we actually play; the second week of play she doodles whenever it's not her turn instead of watching to see what's going on; the third week, she and Ryan (who she lives with) don't even show up, so their characters get captured by the army of raiding goblins and we're down both our Rogues; the fourth week, we did a hilarious performance in the town (which she clearly actually enjoyed for a change; see the "I Summon... A Porpoise!" thread for details), but then another week she did homework when it wasn't her turn; the past two, she hasn't shown up, and it's become clear she probably won't ever give it another chance.
In the meantime, Ralph (who is DMing for the first time, and trying to make up adventures from scratch tailored to the party, partly because the method of using downloaded or from a magazine adventures didn't exactly work for us in the past, and partly because he's a masochist) is attempting to include stuff relating to every character - so that everyone gets treasure that's tailored to them, fun things to do, etc. He liked the idea of her character being a vixen (even though - and I mean no disrespect for her, but this is honestly true - she really didn't play a "sly vixen" very well, admittedly in large part because she wasn't interested enough to think of something to do most of the time, and partly because, to be frank, she doesn't always think before she does things - you know that PC Stupidity Stories thread where someone tries to "seduce the evil army"? That's exactly the kind of thing Cath would do with this character). And so, he was disappointed when she basically decided to leave, because the character had potential.
And also in the meantime, I had been under the impression that, given Catherine's actual usage of the character, mine would have some very funny interactions, mostly on the lines of "Siiiigh what did you do NOW that makes the Mayor want to kill you?", and mostly in the spirit (despite them being different races) of an older sister having to look after that annoying little sister that always manages to get herself into trouble. Which sounded like fun, actually, if played right, you know?
And then she leaves. Well, crap.
So the group's current plan (since Ralph's been having to play her, which is just weird for the DM as you can imagine) is for me to take over her character. While still playing my original one.
Now, I don't have a problem with the idea of playing her sly-but-ridiculously-impulsive vixen Bard//Rogue - it's a fun concept, and Ralph's outright said he's got a really fun plotline he was going to do for it including a "crazy Satyr Bard" that happens to be her nephew. I also don't have a problem really with playing two characters at once and keeping track of the two, ostensibly. The only weird thing is something nobody else currently seems to have a problem with - which is that I'm the only one doing two PCs instead of one (though granted, she's squishier than me, and thus tends to have a different role in things like combat to begin with). We're testing it out to see how it works this coming week, at least until the plot ideas Ralph had worked up have resolved and all, and we can develop her out of it or whatever.
I'm just wondering if anyone else here has ever ended up doing this kind of thing, though - even temporarily - and what they found it to be like? Do you think it could work for a short time (a few sessions, say)? Do you have any advice? I don't think it's going to be permanent, somehow, and even though I think the chances are slim of her coming back, it's not impossible (and I don't think she'd have a problem with me playing it, given her apathy towards the game most of the time when she did play it).
-Runa