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From: quint@caip.RUTGERS.EDU (Amqueue)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: Multiple characters
Message-ID: <688@caip.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Wed, 11-Dec-85 04:10:49 EST
Article-I.D.: caip.688
Posted: Wed Dec 11 04:10:49 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 13-Dec-85 07:33:05 EST
References: <440@ucdavis.UUCP> <1767@uwmacc.UUCP>
Reply-To: quint@caip.UUCP (Amqueue)
Distribution: net
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Lines: 66

In article <1767@uwmacc.UUCP> oyster@uwmacc.UUCP (Vicious Oyster) writes:
>In article <440@ucdavis.UUCP> ccs007@ucdavis.UUCP (Cionex) writes:
>>
>>1) It requires all of a player's attention to play ONE character to the best
>>   of their ability...
>
>>2) ...
>>   No matter what the intentions of the player, knowledge seems to 'seep'
>>   from the brain of one character to the other, which can lead to nearly
>>   inconquerable problems of who knew what when.
>
>>3) Favoritism always rears its ugly head.  I have yet to see a player who is
>>   running two (or, in truly sick cases, more) pcs consider them both equals.
>>   Invariably, one character acts considerably more than the other, and the
>>   neglected pc becomes a waste of time and energy.
>>
>   I agree to much of the above, but still think having a single player run 2
>characters is a good idea in situations where there are not a lot of players
>(i.e 3-4).  I've played this way a lot, and DMed it a bit, and my experience

>   Some people have brought up the fact that with only one character, if that
>character dies early on in the gaming session, they just sit and twiddle their
>thumbs.  This happened to me early in my gaming career, and nearly caused me
>to give it up ("If this is how exciting it is, I'd rather be watching
>'Dallas'!").  With a subsequent DM, we each had a backup character to use in
>such occasions, and when the main character was doing something like 
>researching a spell.  Of course, the backup character had to be able to fit
>in with the happenings.  If the party was down a dungeon or in the middle of
>a desert, the character couldn't just appear; he/she would have to meet them
>in a town, or possibly "on the road."  This worked fairly well, probably
>because the DM kept things lively (pun), and the supporting cast didn't
>have to show up very often.
>
> - Joel ({allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!oyster)

In our campaign, we have a large world with lots going on at a time. We also
have about 10 people who sporadically play. So we have many characters,
often in different dungeons. The dungeon we play in depends on who shows
up. The number that show up determines how many characters we play. For 
example, 6 people in a low level dungeon might play 2 each, whereas in a 
higher level dungeon they would only play one. Of course, at higher levels
there is also a greater probability that the character will have money,
and that someone in the party will have a mount fast enough to get to a 
cleric in time to get the character raised. 

The other thing we do is if you are playing more than one character, you
play an 'action' character and a spellcaster of some sort. My favorite
combination is a Thief and a Cleric. We usually keep track of who knows
what by writing down what dungeon the character was in on the sheet, along
with any special knowledge. Also, taking souvenirs of a dungeon or wierd
monsters helps keep things straight. The players are encouraged not to 
have their characters help or even necessarily know each other. My 
Thief and Cleric cant stand each other, and tolerate working together
because it is profitable. These two do violate the 'knowing' each other 
clause, as they are mother and daughter, but over the years they have
become different enough that I can even have them converse without too
much problem... "Mommy mommy get me that!" "Get lost creep, you have more
money than I do!" "But my god wants it all!" "That's your tough sh*t, let
go of my cloak!"  They started out as Elf and Half elf, now they are 
Dwarf and Drow, so it makes life interesting. 

for information, I have a total of 20 characters, plus 4 children 
growing up, 2 for fighter-thieves, 1 for thief, and one for illusionist.
Our game is fun.

/amqueue