Different Character Creation Methods at Different Times

In many RPG books, character creation is right in the front of the book to give the new reader a sense of what the game is about, help them picture who they'll be playing and what they'll be doing, and discuss character-facing rules (hopefully with references to fuller explanations later in the book). 

For veteran players, the instructive "new player" language of this character creation section is often glossed over. They've made 100 characters at this point, sometimes just for fun. They don't need the support structures of walking through a character step by step. Indeed, perhaps they have learned advanced strategies--which feats are best in their group's play style, how to create synergies between choices, and so on.

Fair enough.

But what if this was more explicitly part of the game? What if...

• New players or a group starting a new campaign would use one set of rules (new players | new characters)
• If your character dies mid-game and you need a replacement, you use a separate procedure to quickly roll up a new character and jump back into the action (lost adventurers); and
• If your character gets to a high level, you can choose to retire them. Your next character uses a different procedure to create a higher-level character to join the existing party (veterans).

Additionally, all three tiers might have fundamentally different character options!

Let's dig into what this might look like.

Note on system

Throughout this post, the system I'll be using to illustrate my point is Beyond the Wall (frankly, my favorite OSR game). I think it already has some of the best character creation rules out there, and I think riffing on the paradigm would be rad. 

In case you're unfamiliar with the system, here's an example of what a character playbook looks like to get you on the same page.

New players | new characters

If you are new to the game or if you are starting a new campaign, you'll use these rules.

This set of rules is probably what you're used to seeing in the chapter called "Character Creation." 

• It's coded for new players
• It assumes you're starting at level 1
• Explicitly associates players with each other; player characters designate how they know each other, establish bonds, why they're adventuring together, etc.
• Equipment comes in flavorful packs tied to a character's backstory
• Fewer choices to allow for new players learning the system

Changes to the rules

Characters that you create using this procedure are the baseline for the campaign setting. This here procedure is for regular walkin', not fancy walkin'. For example, you can only create humans + fighter, thief, magic-user, and cleric.

In a Beyond the Wall paradigm, use the character playbooks from the Village in the core book: Self-Taught Mage, Untested Thief, Village Hero, Witch's Prentice, Would-Be Knight, Young Woodsman.

Lost adventurers

If your character dies midgame, you want to leap back into the action as soon as possible. It wouldn't make sense to use the normal playbooks: oh, and it's me, your friend from the village, the Young Woodsman. This isn't the time for Merry and Pippin to join the campaign, this is the time Faramir, Captain of Gondor, to show his quality.

• It's designed to get the player to rejoin the game as quickly as possible; mostly random generation
• Character start at level 1, but have a calibration mechanism to "catch up" with the general table level
• Includes some contrivance for the character to show up and join the adventure

Changes to the rules

Characters you find chained to the wall of the dungeon waiting to be released and join the party have an opportunity to be weirder than the people from the Village. Here, you can introduce character options that are further afield from the baseline: elves, dwarves, princesses, talking dogs, etc.

In Beyond the Wall, you can use playbooks that include Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, the Nobility, and even the "Normal Bear" playbook. I'd edit them to cut the "You know the person on your right because" worldbuilding questions and replace them with d100 - Introductions for Newly Minted PCs In Medias Res. 

Veterans

When a character reaches a name level or completes a satisfying arc, I think it's fun to retire them. Why would I go adventuring at this point in my character's story? I did the quest. Let me put my blorbo on their farm with their wife and live happily ever after. But I, Josh, still want to play the game.

These rules are for players who have mastered the game. 

• Characters start at a higher level
• Characters are built in a bespoke way, picking and choosing traits, feats, and equipment from a list
• Start with a number of randomly generated minor magic items to represent their previous accomplishments
• Starting level, wealth, magic items, etc., based on level of retired character

Changes to the rules

Characters that join the game at a high level have an opportunity to serve as mentors to lower level characters in the same way that veteran players can teach newer players how to play the game.

In Beyond the Wall, unlocked characters can be made using the character creation rules from the book instead of being created via playbooks. Options from the Elders playbooks can be made available: the Dungeon Delver, the Dwarven Mentor, the Initiated Magician, the Landless Noble, the Learned Tutor, the Retired Veteran. Let these characters start with higher level spells and some magic items from the expansion books.

Closing notes 

His Majesty the Worm does this, kind of. New characters get XP to spend on cross-Path talents for every XP and arete point your retired character has. Making a character to join a game already-in-progress allows you to utilize a "quantum character" where you answer questions about your talents, what's in your pack, etc., as it comes up during the game. I could have leaned into this harder, though. Perhaps a second edition paradigm advancement?