In reply to Bruiser419 (msg # 1):

Ask the GM. The character might not fit their game or the world it's set in. Or they might want fresh characters.

I guess I assumed that the character in question would fit the new game.

I wasn't sure if once a character was used within a game it was the DM's now since so many games say that it's solely owned by the DM.

The character always belongs to you and you can use it in any other game where you are accepted to play.  Some DMs might decids to use the character concept as an NPC in another game they run, but they don't own the character just because you joined their game...

Also, the soley owned doesn't refer to characters, it is about the game itself - setting, story, etc.

In reply to Bruiser419 (msg # 4):

I am an absolute stickler for new characters in the games I run, but I have never once thought I (or any other GM for that matter) "owned" a player's character because it appeared in a previous game. The player made the character, it's theirs. Period.

I think that ownership of the game is for site use purposes. It's the GM's game. They own it and control it. No one else. Not the players. Not the mods. No one can boot the GM or take control of their game. It's theirs. If you have a problem with the GM, that's that. End of. It's their game. That's how I've always read the "ownership" thing.
This message was last edited by the user at 20:01, Mon 07 Aug 2023.

When you do a request to join, the DM will have laid out the character rules and/or asked for potential players for their concept...  They will accept or reject you based on that rtj so you'll pretty much know upfront if the character will fit the new game...

Not sure I follow the logic or the requirement here...  Do you specifically ask everyone if they have ever used the character (or concept) in another game?

If not, how would you know? And why would it matter to you if they played the character somewhere else if they reset to lvl 1 in your game?

Sorry, not trolling you, I'm just trying to understand...

It's also used to prevent another from taking over a dead game marked for deletion. If it's marked "Sole Ownership" that can't be done, but if it isn't, I believe someone else can take it over and keep it going.

For what it's worth, while -yes- you can of course use your character in any game you want, a DM can -also- use your character in their game with or without you in it.

I'm not sure what the actual RPoL "ruling" would be in the case of, say, a player poaching another player's character concept/name/likeness/etc in whole and using it somewhere else, but I know from past rulings that it is 100% okay for a DM to keep and use a player's character in whole even when that player is no longer playing in the game that spawned it.

...which is probably neither here nor there, except for the part about them not owning the character just because you joined their game. As far as that game goes, they might as well, because you as a player have no control or say over what gets done with the character if you're no longer there controlling it.

(This of course might no longer be the case, but some great many years ago I joined a game, created a character, built a character, filled out every bit of backstory and paperwork-bits for said character, then was removed from the game while the GM took up the character I had built and proceeded to run with it as an NPC even though I asked them not to, and the mods at the time basically said 'too bad, that's the DM's right. They own everything in their game.')

There is no general taboo against it, but some GMs prefer to have characters created specifically for their game,  because they don't want the trouble of filtering down what an "imported" character may bring with it in terms of items in inventory, backstory, or "emotional baggage" acquired in other games.  Some don't want the filtering, but will allow you to reboot a character, so you're starting over (which can be a fascinating experience, to compare the evolution of the different iterations of the character).

That said, unless you inform the GM that you're recycling a character, there's very little chance that they'd know, short of having been in a game with that same character.  I usually don't rehash characters, but when I have done it, I check with the GM first, just out of respect for it being their game.  And I'm always willing to negotiate if they find some aspect of my character disagreeable or ill-fitting for their game.

The requirement is for ease of play and group cohesion. It's infinitely easier to start with all new characters purpose built for this game with these players and this GM using this setting and these house rules.

The alternative is to wrestle with every player to change their PC enough to make them fit this game, this pitch, this idea, this setting, and these other characters. Or to make something so generic and boring that anything could fit. Blech.



It's generally easy to tell. There's lots of tells. Huge backstory, unwillingness to alter a character idea, resistance to the GM using house rules that effect character creation, etc.

Unless you have specific unusual requirements for character building or the world they are in, I doubt you would even know most folks recycle their characters quite frequently.  Some folks create characters out of interest of what that would look like.  And the speed with which many games here fill up, it's not a bad idea.


Huge backstory can be just a byproduct of the muse that inspired the character.  I can tell you some of my own characters that have never been played have long backstories because I was in the mood to write and went a bit overboard :).

House rule resistance can also be someone who is a rules lawyer/indoctrinated in the rules of that system.  Could still pose problems when adding them to a game on those principles more than the fact the character was used in another game.

Of course whom you accept (be that character or player) in a game is your choice, GM is God(dess) in their game.  I just find it interesting that someone takes umbrage to reusing a character.

All this is good advice above!  I can just say it is YOU who have command over using your character where ever you wish.  Just keep in mind that the characters in a game once in play belong to the game when you leave.  Depending on their importance to storyline, ALL characters are and should be important, but it is up to the GM of a game what to do with those characters left behind.  Sometimes they are adopted out to players to carry on.  This is done in freeform probably more so than system games.  If you ask the GM to remove the character then they  must do so though.  This is between you and the GM.
This message was last edited by the user at 09:44, Tue 08 Aug 2023.

I would never allow a character into one of my games that was not generated the same way as every other player character in that game.  That would not be fair to any of the other players in the game.  A backstory that does not have an affect on gameplay would probably be acceptable but players stats/skills/attributes etc need to comply with the rules of that particular game.

Nope, afraid not.  Once you enter a game, your character belongs to the game, and if you leave the GM is not required, under RPoL's rules, to remove your character (or stop using it).

link to a message in another game

So if, for example, the group have embarked on a mission to rescue your character's sister from a drug cartel's secret base in the middle of a tropical rainforest, all based on details in your character's back-story, and mid-expedition you suddenly decide the game isn't for you and quit... then the GM can keep using your character, his sister, the cartel leader (and his grudge against your character), your character's hyper-intelligent feline sidekick, the sister's sleazeball boyfriend...

Which is better than just cancelling the entire story line while everybody is in the jungle for a very specific purpose.

"Oh... never mind, we can all go home.  Bob just vanished in the middle of a conversation, and left his beloved sister to die."

I agree completely, if a player wants to leave a game that is their choice, but to ruin the game for everyone else is unacceptable.

I've started far too many games for a concept or specific character request, only to see that character's player is usually the first to drop/ghost from the game. Having to remove the character upon departure is annoying, disruptive, and ruins continuity. Those characters, even for a brief period, have an impact on the game and I don't remove them until they are no longer needed. Whether that's NPC then, or have their deeds continue to impact the game.

I'm a firm believe that the character is the players to do as they please while they are participating in the game. Once the player stops participating, the character is the GM's to use as needed to continue the game forward. I'm thankful the RPOL moderators have that policy.


That isn't to say I haven't had a few players try to pull the 'my character leaves upon my departure' routine. But, again, they have no further say since they've left the GM holding the bag.

As both a player and GM, I make it a practice to keep a copy of all the characters and NPCs on separate text files (Including the portrait code(s), the bio, and descriptions). That way if needed I can quickly re-use a favorite character or reference something if I need to make rolls. (Or in rare cases of a return character/player the character can be restored if I have actually deleted the character from the cast list). For temporary absences, the HIDDEN tag is a godsend, thanks Jase for that feature. Handy for keeping the cast list organized for active NPCs and removing the inactive ones without deletion.

Good luck OP, and hopefully these tips will help you retain a favorite character.

I have found it prudent to keep backup copies of all characters in my games as well as lists of players who leave games and the reasons why.  I actually find it humorous when players try to impose their will on a game they are leaving :)

In reply to CaptainHellrazor (msg # 19):

What's the best is when players routinely flake and leave, and continue to RTJ for new games you offer like nothing ever happened.

I can never figure out if they think that ghosting is okay, or if they just assume that GMs don't remember usernames...but it's always funny.

I have never ghosted a game, and never would...  I always give the DM notice that I am withdrawing from the game and, if possible, the reason why...  Even if the DM doesn't feel my explanation is an acceptable reason, it is always the player's prerogative to leave a game that they feel doesn't fit them and rtj with the character concept they created in a different game.

As a player, I also keep a list of DMs... I always check the list to make sure I'm not considering a game run by a DM with a personality or play style that I don't care for/like.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the user at 16:03, Thu 10 Aug 2023.

 they are your characters...right? you can use the 100 times..you don';t even have to tell your  new GM  that this was used else where..none of thier business.

 of course. when you RTJ..the character has to  fit the game, some tweaking  should get thjat done, unless the character is too far out there, for the game yiu wish to Join.

 for me? If  a Player leaves the game on bad ternms..( ghosted,  got bounced..rage  quit)  that charcter  will be sued  by  me to further the plot lines or establish new one

 so? if one of thos eplayers  want to come back..they'll have to make a new character caus ethe other is dead or worse?

 IF... some one leaves on good  terms  and comes   back.. i have thier  characters  'off camera"  and they can step right back into the role.

 I have had  examples of each..alot of th 2nd  example..

 the character is yours.. the GM  runs the games..  it would be a simople..'yes -no' thing.

It could also be a matter of not realizing it is the same DM...  Most DMs use an in-game name different than their rPol user name... Unless the player is cognizant of this and writes down/remembers the user name, they may not associate a new game with the previous DM...

For example, I usually use "Dungeon Mistress" as the DM name in game but you wouldn't see that name associated with any player wanted posts...

  yeah?  You don't have  to even remember the suer names.. you go to GM menu  and look at the thing  for Lurkers or Banning.. you get your whole list.. I think my space game had  around 200  folks who RTJ in the past 12+ years..so if  a  thing' 'hey..this loks  familar" i can   check to see if they were here before or not. And what kind of impression they left me with

I would agree with you for games where the CharGen has some kind of luck, as D&D or Traveller (among others). There the GM may wish to direct and see the rolling of the dice and the CharGen, and may well not accept pre-done characters he does no know if used the same CharGen rules or variants.

For games where you choose your Character (usually point based) as GURPS, Vampire or SWADE (also, among others), there's no way to avoid the same character to be used again, as, if a player has found his "ideal" character, it can do it again (unless the background is too different (don't try to use your compuer hacker or combat pilot in a medieval fantasy game ;)), or, in GURPS, the character points are not the same) by using the points to buy the same stats/skills/whatever.

That's kind of the crux of the whole issue.  Characters can be recreated, or the same character name and personality can be given to a character with different stats, or the same stats can have a new name and backstory slapped on them.

I don't run games, in general...it's just never held that much appeal for me...but I think it's more a question of "Does this character fit the game?" than "Is this a brand-new character?"  If everyone else is starting new and someone wants to import their veteran character, the character doesn't fit the game.  As mentioned earlier, don't try to shoehorn a hacker into a high-fantasy epic (unless that's exactly what the GM wants).  And if you're recycling a character, don't have its behaviors based on what happened in other games, let the character start from the same general baseline as it's other iteration(s), and grow organically from there, based on what happens to it in THIS game.

Not everyone can do that, I know, and I get why some GMs decide to spare themselves the headache of having to referee whether this character quirk (which may or may not be causing trouble in the group) is a natural result of what's happened or a carryover from another iteration of the character, and decide to therefore have everyone start from scratch.  I haven't joined a new game in a while, but the vast majority of games I've joined have seen me create a new character, just because the new game was different than what I've done in the past.  There's only one game I've joined during my RPOL tenure where I reused a character (at least, one game I can think of), and that was actually a reboot of an old character, going back to base stats and experiences, and starting from there (there may have been one or two other short-lived attempts where I had created a character for a game that died shortly after I joined, and having found another, similar game and not having done anything to speak of with the character, I just used it in the new game...it was still a new character, after all, and there was no "baggage" to worry about from the last game...but none of those attempts lasted long enough to make any lasting memory of said character.)

Firstly BBR I knew that rule but was unsure so thanks for correcting me.

As for reusing character over and over that’s totally up to you and the GM but be hinest.  Some will accept and some will say no.  But the characters created and used in a game belong to that game and is the GMs perogative what to do with that character.  BBR said it as always, excellently.