How To Handle Players That Leave Mid Way

         It may be the hardest part of the RPG experience, when one of the members asks to leave the story, and thus bringing a tearful end to their character. For some it may feel like breaking up with a close friend or a lover, as characters become a tightly knit group in which all players invest their time in to bring to life. Yet the problems of real life sometimes rear their ugly head, and a player has to bow out, thus bringing up the question, "What to do with the character they wrote for?"

         The easiest thing to do is to kill off the character or leave the group for some reason.  How they die or leave should be left up to the original player. However, if the player leaves suddenly, and in a unfavorable way with the rest of the players. The character's death should be written by the RPG creator, with the death being as graphic or terrible as they decide. However it should be noted that doing so can sometimes personally offend the original player and harm friendships outside of the RPG.

          Another way is to see if another player will take up writing the character, pulling a double duty between the two characters. This may seem like the easiest option for characters that have become beloved by many of the players; however the surrogate player should go in understanding that they will need to adopt not only the character's emotions and personality, but also the writing style of the original author, on top of having to write for not only one character but two.

         The last option is to have the character adopted by all the players, to have the actions of the extra character added into events, and even add dialogue from that character into some conversations. This one while the easiest, also has the possibility of creating the greatest inconsistencies, as each player could believe that the character should grow in a certain way, or simply leave the character to stagnate.

         There is no easy answer as to what everyone should do when a player leaves, and as I will cover in a future post, the chance that all the players that start a RPG will carry it through to the end is nearly impossible. As such the creator of the RPG should decide early on what will happen to a character when a player leaves so they will not be caught off guard if or when it happens.

Preplanned vs Freeflow

            I have already discussed in previous posts about how a story bible would help a creator outline their ideas and keep track of them as the RPG progresses. However, even the most preplanned stories tend to fall to the wayside against a type of RPG known as free flow. These RPGs usually dominate chat rooms instead of message boards, in which people will add to the story in a matter of seconds instead of hours. Yet that does not mean that this laissez-faire style of storytelling cannot be translated toward a message board type RPG or that one style is preferable or better than the other. Each style has their own pros and cons, of which we will discuss in this post.


             Preplanned stories we have already touched on; it is when the creator or a group of people tend to plan out the major events, the setting, the people, the plot, and essentially spending time before its creation to lay out the world they plan to inhabit in detail. This usually works best when all people are in agreement for the basis of this story, or have a copy of the story bible so that they do not deviate from the foundations laid down. As mentioned before this story works best on a message board format, in which people have time to write out their story post, while at the same time making sure that there are no continuity errors. This format can also work in a chat room for a short period of time, as a chat room does not allowed detailed posts concerning the environment or actions, nor do they usually allow sufficient time for reflection on an addition to the story. Furthermore in chat rooms, stories can and typically do expand quickly like blowing air into a balloon, as such the larger it gets the more of a struggle it will become to keep along a preplanned path. However, that does not mean these stories are error free on message boards. Other members of the story may find preplanned stories too constricted, in which they cannot branch out artistically, or add their own personal style to the environment.


             Freeflow stories on the other hand have little planning on the plot, characters, or setting. There is a overall basis set by the creator in terms of the setting and plot, while each player explains a bit about their character. There is nothing contributed in the beginning beyond a bare bones treatment, and as such it allows each member to expand in a creative fashion. As mentioned before, this type of RPG is best used in a chat room, in which space is limited to type out posts, and the plot can expand quickly and frantically. Many players will find this style the most freeing in terms of artistic quality, along with the enjoyment of near instant gratification in terms of having instant responses. The overall quality of the story will typically suffer from the lack of foresight and continuity given in preplanned stories.


             At the end of the day the creator of the RPG should come to a understanding with the players as to what type of story they will pursue, as well as come to a understanding with their self in terms of which type best fits them. But the most important thing of all, is to have fun!

Mary Sue What Are You?

                When a writer creates a original character, they tend to wish to incorporate things from their personal life into that character. Sometimes these characters come out as just as fallible as the rest of the cast, others they come out as super powered gods, who can solve any situation, melt even the coldest hearts, and beloved by every other person in the story. These characters are called Mary Sue or Gary Sue. [1] Mary Sue traces her origins to fan created Star Trek stories originating in the 70s [2]. There adolescent stories were filled with characters who could do no wrong, and beloved by the cast. As such the editor of one of the fanzine's wrote a parody story for "Lieutenant Mary Sue". From then on the term grew to cover characters that were seen largely as wish fulfillment characters, and was not relegated to just fan created characters.

                However for the purpose of this blog post, we will discuss how to find a Mary Sue character, and how to confront a player about it. One of the quickest ways to spot such a character would be to read the sign up posted by the author. If the history of the character written down by the author seems too good to be true, that usually does not bold well for how the author will write the character in the present. For example, Lieutenant Mary Sue was described as being the youngest Lieutenant in the history of Star Fleet! Graduating at only the tender age of fifteen and a half. If there is a need of any more convincing, looking at the character's powers, weapons, or abilities could also yield a clue.  Such things should be balanced, giving a character time to grow, and not be something that could make the character a heroic power house the minute the RPG starts. If you suspect the character is a Mary or Gary Sue, the easiest option is to deny the sign up, or to work with the creator to make a more balanced and even character.

                However if the RPG starts and you find that a person's character is edging toward being Mary or Gary Suedom then problems can arise. Other players may complain about the character, or even ask for the player to be booted entirely. This can created unnecessary fights and damage between players that can be almost impossible to repair. However kicking a inexperienced player out of the story could create self doubt for the player, and may lead him or her to give up entirely. As such you should ask one of the fellow members if they wish to mentor the inexperienced writer, or even do it yourself. Explain calmly the problems with the character, and offer various ways to correct it, even writing a sample post or template for the writer could be invaluable. If problems continue however, the best would be to politely ask the writer to leave, and to write out their character in a respectful manner both to the writer and the story.

                Mary or Gary Sues are troublesome if not utterly annoying for other RPG players, and for a young writer they can be humiliating. But they also serve to teach on how to create a fallible character, and in the end that can create a greater experience for everyone.

[1] Merlin, Missy (01/07/2007); Mary Sue, Who Are You; Retrieved From: http://firefox.org/news/articles/6/1/Mary-Sue-Who-Are-You/Page1.html

[2] Verba, Joan Marie (2003); Boldly Writing: A Trekker Fan & Zine History, 1967-1987; Retrieved From: http://www.ftlpublications.com/bwebook.pdf