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Characters Aren't Forever

Posted by: Mylor Clearspring on 2006-04-19
Category: Roleplay

To quote myself:

Quote:
Develop the character and the character’s relationships. Have an arc.
Over time, a character should evolve. The character should care about some things or people, positively and negatively. Conflicts should arise and be resolved, positively and negatively. A character should grow or contract somehow. Face fears, overcome doubts, mature, gain strength; or accumulate fears and doubts, regress, become weak.

It follows that a role-player might reach a point when he feels he has done all he can or all he should with a particular character.

I have known some RP campaigns to fizzle out because people lost interest but did not know exactly what they had lost interest in. I think this happens in DG sometimes. It might be a weariness with DG itself, or with people, but I think sometimes it is a general malaise that results from having exhausted angles of a favorite character. The source of the dissatisfaction might not be recognized as such though.

I have known when to call it quits on a couple characters, and I have known others who recognized that their characters had run their arcs. In one instance, one player said that the time was right for him to stop playing a character but that he would make a new character that could make sense for the group. The rest of the playing group not only understood, they realized that the arc of the entire group had drawn to a natural conclusion. The game master went into a sort of mourning because he had enjoyed the campaign and characters. He was consoled by the players' agreement to play the characters in cameos from time to time for their own new group of characters. Together they worked out the projected futures of their former characters, rather than a generic "happily ever after" ending. They all (including the GM) said that it gave them satisfaction.

I present this because it might provide useful perspective to someone along the way.

Editor's Addition: Consider this when thinking of the term of your character and aging in DG.
Ben of Admin wrote in the Forums 2006/03/02:

Honestly, there really is no true passage of time or aging in the game right now. Since we have no idea when the game will be finished, worldbuilding wise, it would be a bit unfair to be aging people's characters. Now people's characters can age modestly if you like, but I don't suggest more than three or so years of aging per earth year, unless you are a kid and want your character to grow up faster so you can start using adult armor, etc.