Changing Gears

Every GM faces a time when his campaign has to evolve or die out. Similar to that of Darwinism. An organism has to change with his environment, sorry Karen, or her environment. Changing gears can be downright tough. In fact with my situation I considered quitting. Especially when my star player joined the Navy. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to reveal his first name. Hi there Brad. When Brad left I lost the last of my original core players, he was the heart and soul of my group and was completely irreplaceable. I thought for sure I was going to quit and the game would die just when the players and their characters were reaching what I considered to be the highest level of role-playing I’ve ever had the pleasure of gamemastering for.

But I digress, things have to change and people as players and gamemasters have to evolve or die. Metaphorically speaking of course and of course I’m gonna tell you how to do it. First and foremost identify the most capable player in your group. When your roster changes it’s necessary to find out who can take charge of the new and often times volatile situation. Then begin the process of finding out what they want to do. Ask them where they would like to see the campaign go and what changes they’d most like to see. Evaluate this and make your judgment.

Remember this is a perfect time to introduce new players and characters, but remember that they’re unproven yet. They don’t immediately get to walk in and take over the group especially if the group is well established, they need to take the time and get themselves into the groove of things. Unless you’re willing to start a new campaign, the older players will still be into the original continuity. Then you have two choices. One “character replacement” is easiest and often best way to keep things moving. If the group can take the modification just sub out the old PC with a new one and continue on. Sometimes this isn’t possible, the player may have been too integral to the campaign and the stability of the group. Which leaves the GM with the challenging task of “Character Reincarnation”. Which means this: I have found that it is sometimes necessary to ask a player to take over an old character. It helps to keep the timeline and the relationships between the characters stable. Nothing is more disruptive to a game than to be humming along at cruising speed and then to lose a cornerstone PC and have to introduce his/her replacement. If the new player is willing, have him run the old character. But I need to add this bit—this should only be done if the player is EXTREMELY GOOD. They are being asked to play an established personality while bringing life to it in their own manner while keeping it true to the original player. This can be an especially difficult prospect and should only be asked of the experienced role-player or someone who shows a great deal of promise. Next erase any karma and reputation, this is necessary to let him/her build themselves into the established role without unduly rewarding them with freebie karma, also record the old character information at the moment of transition for the original player. This is just in case he/she comes back and they want to play again with their old PC. They should still have what they’ve earned. Record the new levels of karma and money acquired after this point because it should belong to the new player. If in the event of the original player’s return the character is unmodified by the new adventures after the character’s reincarnation, they are exactly where they left off and can resume play after being brought up to speed. The volunteer then takes the acquired karma and money and applies it to their new PC as something they can use, perhaps as an inheritance or a reward handed out at a time the GM selects. This money and experience should be awarded after character gen and thought of as a reward for a favor done.

This makes for a fair compromise on both sides—the player is doing the GM a favor by being willing to take an old PC and keeping him/her in the mold from which it was cast. The player is also rewarded in the event he/she is asked to return the PC and without having everything that was gained lost to someone who had to take a siesta for whatever reasons.

After all that the theme of the campaign can begin again, with the new modifications needed to let it evolve. Be it outright replacement, or asking someone to pinch hit with an old PC, the group will change, hopefully for the better. Once the modifications are in place and the group’s makeup is stabilized the campaign can retain its balance and go forward.