Bringing PC's in that were created under other GM'S

[garhkal]

[DougRed4]

That's a great story, Leon, and I commend you for allowing the character. If you sort of "step back" from our games the bottom-line goal is for us to have fun.

For so long I was of the mindset that "beginning characters have to be 1st Level!". I don't know where that came from, probably just the way it was with the earliest games I played (D&D, Top Secret, Gamma World, V&V). I saw (and realized) that it was so fun to play a character and the best way to get that character where you wanted was to "level him up". Now as I look at it I see that it's almost more of a video game mentality. You start out weak and ineffective, and build them up from there. In "Top Secret" you start out with nothing but $400, so the running joke was that your beginning character was pitched out of a moving car, rolling to a stop on the street corner, naked and clutching $400 in one hand, with which he would then buy clothes, a gun, etc.

But I've started to abandon that thought in recent years. I've allowed players to jump into games with more advanced characters. I even started up a Star Trek campaign where our "bridge crew" made up the main characters. So just about everyone was a very experienced character who was more than competent, they each were people who could kick @$$ and take names. Of course that game's more about exploration and adventure, so it's not like combat is necessarily in every session. There are times where the characters were/are too good, as it's tough to challenge an Ops character whose computer skills allow him to immediately hack into every enemy vessel, powering down their defenses and shields and leaving them completely vulnerable, but that's another discussion.

The long and short of it is that I think we as GMs should do what we can to improve the chance of our players having fun. Certainly game balance is essential, and we don't want one person having fun at the expense of others, but if there's a way to incorporate somebody's character that they really love, I think it's a fantastic idea! 8)
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[Fallon Kell]

[ZzaphodD]

If a 'imported' character is too powerful to fit in the current Group Id just say that the player have to play an 'earlier version' of said character.

Disallowing the character in itself serves no purpose (unless its a gear issue), the player can just 'remake' a more or less identical character in that case..
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[Whill]

I wouldn't allow a PC from a campaign I wasn't a part of (not even a player in) into my campaign regardless of the power levels involved on either end. That character's history is not a part of my game's continuity, even if the PC was never played any of the same published adventures. That would be like a character just being transported from one universe into an alternate one, which really wouldn't make sense unless universe-hopping is a part of your campaign world.

If the character concept is compatible with my campaign then there is nothing from stopping the player from making new version of the character or one very similar, like ZzaphodD suggested. So the player's new PC could be considered an alternate version of the other PC from another universe, but he is not the same exact character ported intact from elsewhere. I don't see the big deal in just telling the player that he must make a new PC like everyone else did. It's simple, and fair.
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[Jedi Skyler]

A couple things:

First, I know this makes me seem like a total noob, but what the deuce is 'munchnkining?' I've never heard the term before now.

Second...I've actually used previously-made characters in a couple different games. Usually, this has meant, as has been said before, dialing the character back to fit the adventure. This was especially true of my first Jedi character, to whom I'd become greatly attached.

I do like the idea of such an advanced character being a mentor-type of figure; also, the GM can augment this by bringing out bigger badass bosses to challenge the advanced character specifically. The only problem with that is that it puts a higher burden on the GM to keep coming up with such challenges. A possible compromise might be to have this player stat up a lesser character to play most of the time, and their advanced character gets to shine occasionally when some big boss comes out, or an entire garrison comes out to attack the party. That would give the player a chance to continue to run his character some, but mostly in a behind-the-scenes way, while still being able to play as often as the rest of the group.

[Ral_Brelt]

A munchkin in concept is a char designed to break the power curve above and beyond the reasonably accepted level. Say a young Jedi rigging for saber combat above all others or a wookie in heavy armorbecoming a walking tank asap. Some players do it to test limits, others to be 'the best', either for being unaware that the game can be played other ways, or bebecause they think that's the only way to have fun. Sorry about the run-on BTW.

[Raven Redstar]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Munchkin

This gives a wonderful explanation.
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RR
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[Jedi Skyler]

Thanks for the explanation and link. VERY helpful. And although I don't know ANY player who hasn't wanted at least some good stuff for their character, I also, to date, have not had the misfortune of being forced to work with a munchkin.

Seems to me that kind of people can be dealt with fairly simply, with some customized attention from not only the GM, but also the other players. Either the munchkin will get the point, or he'll be constantly making new characters and falling behind while the rest of the party continues to advance.

[Darth_Hilarious]

OMG Raven that is TFF, and also WAAAAAAAY too true. I love that guys description.

[Raven Redstar]

Tropes is an awesome place to look up geeky stuff, especially terminology. They give examples in multiple formats.

I found it particularly humorous about the only person to ever win at Call of Cthulu.
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RR
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[garhkal]

[Esoomian]

Generally I'm with Whill, I won't port a character directly into my game but I will work with a player to preserve the concept and feel of the character.

It just feels off when a character might have memories of events or missions that didn't happen and potentially would never have happened in my universe.
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