What is your experience with moving an existing character to a new game?

How would that even work?

If someone is so attached to a character that they want to move them, does that warp the game they move to?

How much of the character is even transferable as the world they previously existed in no longer exists?

In reply to GreenTongue (msg # 1):

The character is in the old game until deleted , the player is removed (in which case it MIGHT still be there, but is out of the player's reach) or until the game is deleted...and that can take awhile, even after the GM "deletes" it.

As to transferring... cut and paste it ito a text file and then into the new game from there.

What impact it has on a new game is going to vary by game it could well be the appropriate power level for the new game. If not, the DM probably won't allow it.

Truthfully, there are a few players that have a particular character they like to play, and they just recreate it at the power level of the new game, maybe with a name change, maybe not.

For my part I have a list of character ideas I want to try out, and submit the same ones more than once until one is accepted and the game lasts long enough I can get a feel for how it works in play.

we have  done that 'of sorts" with my space  game, the 'charter members' were from a  Starship tropers game  a GM had, that wasn't very god, as he tried to sit back and  have the characters   create  everything..to much like god Moding for me ( that's  why games are labeled as 'semi-freeform' )

anyway... I PMed the better players  and started  my game based ona premise i had for a book in the late 70's... I still have  1  player left from that start (11 years ago)

 but? if  the  character  can be brought in , with whatevcer  adjustments that needs to be made for the new setting..i think its great.

 One of my fav  fantasy series is  By  Michael Moorcock.. his 'eternal champions'... different characters...in different worlds, but more or less the same character...even thier  sidekicks  would   pop up at different versions of themselves.

 That is more or less how i play now?   regardless of the game,  the character  will be molded on the outside   to fit  the genre  or world..the Inside is  'the same person"

It's a lot like this for me.   While I have one or two favorites, I've needed to reskin them even when it's been a relatively straightforward move.

It depends, to me, on whether they're talking about transferring an existing character, with all the toys and current power levels, etc, to another game, or whether they're talking about rebooting a character in another game.  The first can be problematic, especially if the 'origin' game was vastly different from the new one.  There may be gear that doesn't exist in the new game, or stuff that the player has come to take as a given that the GM in the new game doesn't want to pull into the game.  It's not impossible...I played in one game for a while whose entire concept was about characters being pulled from other worlds into the world of that game, and I was having a blast (then the GM went and got a real-world job that ate all of her discretionary time and the game has been on indefinite hiatus ever since, with no sign of that status changing anytime soon.)  That can be an interesting challenge for the GM, especially if the character's origin-world exists under a completely different rules system (my Shadowrun Troll street samurai was intriguing to reconfigure to work under D&D 5e rules), but it is definitely a work load on the GM to figure out how to adapt rules to retain the character's defining features within the rules system that the game is actually using.  Players can make a stab at it...but it ultimately comes back to the GM to approve/disapprove.

Rebooting a character is relatively simple, as long as there's not a reliance or expectation that the new version MUST wind up exactly the same as the original.  Start out with the same basics, and let the character evolve from there, shaped by the circumstances and characters around themselves, and see where the character goes from there.  THAT method of moving a character, I'm fine with.

In reply to facemaker329 (msg # 5):

I keep seeing players with existing characters looking for GMs.
Maybe they assume that everyone plays 5E D&D and it is easy to move between games?

Or they create characters for fun and have some that they'd actually like to try and play.  I've had several friends do that (but not on here...)  They've put up FB posts about having created a dozen or more characters, even though they don't have a gaming group where those characters could be used.

I think that there are two things going on when people want to move characters, that are almost unrelated.

1. For Pathfinder, especially, creating a character is so much freaking work, given the interaction between archetypes, skills, talents, special talents, feats, spells, etc.  If you put together a character with a particular synergy of these elements, and then the game dies in the first few months as often happens, I can see wanting to reuse the character.  You just want to see if you get the interesting synergy that you were hoping for.

2. I have a particular character, Aduz Agave, that I have started in at least four different games now, on different systems, and have yet to explore his personality fully with a GM that really enables it.  The longest a game with him has lasted was barely over a year; and that was a slow-paced game, so the equivalent of just 4 months in a faster game.  I really like this character for his quirks and humor, not for anything in particular in the game system, and I'd really like to see him mature.  For instance, he has a pet warthog which he has named "Dog," which makes him guffaw every time he explains it to anyone.  ("He's a PIG, named DOG.  Do you get it?  Hahahahaha!")

Like Zag24, I have replayed PCs that I created for games that died prematurely. Although, I will sometimes change the name or make other cosmetic changes (not sure why I bother).

I know that there are some people on RPOL that use basics of their character over and over (e.g. half-elf that was raised human not knowing their elven father) but will be different classes.

I have seen the exact same character appear in different games - same background story, same class, same name!

I don't see any issue with whatever players want to do. If they want to play the same character over and over, so be it. Now if I was in all the same games with them, it might become a bit boring!

I enjoy wasting time putting slightly different takes on PCs - I'm still trying to play an Eldritch Knight - I've tried in 3 games and they all folded quickly. So, if we crossed paths in those 3 games, you might think I am fixated on EKs, but it would only be partially true as you have not seen the warlocks, rogues, or fighter/thieve that I also play.

As a DM/GM/Referee I insist that all characters in any of my games are generated using the character generation system for that game.  Allowing a player to bring in a character from another game is not fair on the other players in that game.

In the end? 'Fair' comes from the way the  GM handles it...

you tell  the player,  "well, this is what you can have", and let them craft the   abilities  to those  parameters. The Character  is RP..personaility, history ect , al that cane   have a frame work that the  player   wanted, but fits the game.

 Unless its  just a number crunching, dice rollign game, then, you would need strict parameters on numbers and such.

In reply to CaptainHellrazor (msg # 10):

There's a difference between revising a character for a game and doing a straight copy/paste.  The latter almost never works, and even then tweaks often have to be made.

Edit: I would also add that with more complex systems (such as Pathfinder) and/or higher level characters; you tend to end up with a certain amount of cookie cutter.   You know approximately what you prefer, and simply wading through all the options can take hours.
This message was last edited by the user at 02:19, Sun 06 Mar 2022.

There are so many variables at play here that at the end of the day it is going to come down to the referee of each individual game, I simply gave my own position based on the OP question.  Even if the character is being ported from another game with the same system i.e. 5th Ed AD&D to 5th Ed AD&D the new referee or even the old referee may have home rules that are not compatible.  Obviously names and personality are going to be determined by the player but the mechanics are up to the referee.

On the subject of players looking for a game for a specific character they have created, in most cases it appears to me that those players are looking for solo games, otherwise they would have to be prepared to make some compromises to fit in with a new playing group.  Again, just my observations based on what I have seen.

From a Freeform players look at this question then you can simply use the character wherever to whatever game you wish.  It is up to the GM of the game to look at your  RTJ to see if it fits their game.  They should work with you on any changes needed to fit in their world/game.  You can play your character in more than one game at a time with the same character on this site whether it be a Freeform or System game.  ; )

In the days when I went to conventions, I used to play in RPGA Living Worlds, where the idea was that you created one or more characters and played them in various tournaments.  However, this is not exactly what you are talking about.  Even though the adventures were written by different people, the world and the rules were standardised.

If the GM is using a set world, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Eberron all come to mind, it's likely you can move a character from one of those games to another, unless the GM is using a lot of house rules.  You'll probably have to make a few adjustments, especially if the character or the GM uses all or most of the books, and the other of the character or GM does not, but the general flavour of the different games should be similar.  I have moved characters to GM created worlds with fair success if the character wasn't too far out from the GM's vision.

In short, there's no overreaching rule, it has to be on a case-by-case basis.

is it compatible with the game it is to be played in? Appropriate character build, items and gear, wealth, influence in the world, etc. if the GM on the new game feels it's compatible then it is up them to make it work. all you can do is ask to play the character in an existing game.

there are factors that  go into to how the  game is played/run.

if the  GM is  using Modules, and or is married to the  rules...Then all you have to do is   craft the character's  stats to what ever parameters  the GM  has set.

If its  semi-Free  Form, or the   GM  is more interested in character interaction, then its  easy enough for a GM  to say  " here's what you start at.. and  let's look at the skills"

There are Players  who are more interested in bringing their Character to a 'new world" and play  it there...

there are power gamers who love their  high stats and  don't  want to  put in the work to  earn them again.

 I have  a 'starting  point' set of points, and the player have to craft their characters and go from there...sometimes  a player will say " I got these character..."  if  the character isn't too goofey, and the player is on board  tpo  adjuts score to fit the game.. there is no problem

GMs are there to run the game..not let the game run them...BUT..there  has to be some set of  rules  or frame work...a good GM  will craft and  adjust....now? Players who  hold to steadfastly to a certain  character..be it  stats, level class, ect..then>. they can seek out  a game more welcoming.