Two characters per player.

[sidkfjjteidlkkf]

Do you allow this? why or why not?

Me no - Players favor certain ones over others. Do not feel you can trully play multi characters well... They use some as crutches to avoid the nasty!

If the two argued, could they pull it off? What if they hated each other?

Just my thoughts.

 

[Hervé]

I don't. We generally focus more on roleplaying, leaving the game system as back support. Characterization is harder when you play more than one PC.
We tried a multi party approach in a CoC campaign and it was rather fun.
I mean each player played two characters, but not at the same time. There was two parties with diffrent goals. It ended with one party scheming to anilhate the other (and it happened!). Quite schizophrenic!

 

[rgrove0172]

I have and would allow it but it normally presents as a main character and side-kick sort of dynamic. The lesser character is basically a devoted henchmen and it allowing the player to run them just saves me the hassle of handling them as GM. Should they have the character act in any odd way or out of 'character' I would step in, but it rarely happens.

In a recent game my Aquilonian noble encountered an old Brythunian Wardog that had campaigned as a mercenary under his father. The old fellow was extremely devoted to the family for various reasons and elected to ride with the noble on a given leg of their travel. I allowed him to run the guy as a devoted bodyguard basically. At one point he wanted the fellow to ride off on an errand under the command of another character, an Aesir. I stepped in and had the Brythunian refuse, stating he would honor the noble with any reasonable request but he would not bow to the Nordhiemer, nor accept his leadership having suffered the raids of his kinfolk as a lad.

Just an example of a happy cooperation in running the character.

 

[SnowDog]

I have never tried it. Well, actually I have tried to have my players run some of their hired help but they refused on a basis that it was job enough to try to get in one character So I didn't press it. It happened in Fading Suns where VPS system is pretty light so I had no problem running them when necessary.

On the other hand I have had bad experience when players have played characters of absent players'. At least one player abused this horribly using the other player's character as a mindles bodyguard to his own character. Needless to say that the "bodyguard" got horrible wounds (that was in Warhammer).

But basically I am intriqued by the idea of using multiple characters but not at the same time.

BTW Koski. Do you know that koski means rapids (as in a river) in Finnish?

 

[sidkfjjteidlkkf]

BTW Koski. Do you know that koski means rapids (as in a river) in Finnish?

No, I did not know that. Very cool! Koski is a nickname my father gave me as a child. Just something he came up with. Never in 43 years asked how. Just sort of like it...

May mean something in Polish too!

I am Polish and French...

 

[Clovenhoof]

Generally, No.
It can be okay for short periods of time, like single sessions, if say the party needs to escort an NPC, maybe following a rescue mission.
It may also be acceptable to control an absent player's PC for a single session.
But I wouldn't allow a player to permanently control two characters. Players are supposed to identify with their character, and that's hardly possible if they have to simulate two different personalities.

 

[Hervé]

Koski wrote:

I am Polish and French...

Salut Koski, je suis français aussi...Marseillais et pas peu fier...

 

[sidkfjjteidlkkf]

Koski wrote:

I am Polish and French...

Salut Koski, je suis français aussi...Marseillais et pas peu fier...

Uuumm, sorry, our father never taught us...

Bummer cause I wanted to learn...

 

[Jeffreywns]

I try to discourage it as the primary character normaly gets a zombie with no self interests. The Conan characters at 4+ lvls start getting enough skills and skill synergy scores, special feats, etc. that to get the most out of them (having little or no magic) I feel they should give their heroes their full attention. Just my thought.

 

[Valgrim Bragisson]

I indirectly started this thread with my response on another one. I personally have no problem playing 2 characters at once, and never use one as a mindless backup for the other. This is mainly because I'm somthing of a character creation junkie. I put too much effort into creating my characters to treat any of them as generic cannon fodder. I also usually have a bunch of characters "waiting in the wings", screaming to be played. Our group doesn't play as often as some others. So the only way I'll get to see some of my guys in action is to play 2-3 at once!

I guess I'm just good at multitasking . Having a good sense of who each one is keeps me from getting their personalities and motivations confused. I also will not balk from roleplaying tension and conflict between them. I currently play 2 Hyperborian Soldiers in the same squad. I would like to bring in a third character at some point too :shock: .

It's not something I have to do, just somthing I've gotten used to. It has always been accepted in the group I play in. I had no idea it was considered unusual until I wrote about it on this forum.

MP

 

[Bjorn the Barbarian]

I have tried it in other games (D&D, CoC, Role Master, and such), but I have not found the need to do so in Conan. I do allow the players to partially control minor NPC henchmen for me during combat, but I reserve the final call on their actions. :twisted:

 

[SnowDog]

BTW Koski. Do you know that koski means rapids (as in a river) in Finnish?

No, I did not know that. Very cool! Koski is a nickname my father gave me as a child. Just something he came up with. Never in 43 years asked how. Just sort of like it...

May mean something in Polish too!

I am Polish and French...

Could be. Unfortunately I don't speak either language so I can't tell...

Cool nickname, though

 

[Axerules]

Multiple characters : IMO it can be useful to have an additional character or two and some underlings if you have a small number of PC's. A GM can't prevent it to happen if one of his players takes the Leadership Feat, or he would have much work to do. I have a question about this : do you let your PC's control and play their Cohorts and/or Followers if they take the Feat (that's what I usually do) or do you treat them as NPC's and do all the roleplay/combat as a GM ?

 

[Clovenhoof]

That hasn't happened yet, but when the time comes, I'll basically let the player control the Cohort, and the Followers will "function" as long as the player doesn't ask them for anything too whaky.

Cohorts are "sidekicks" by default simply because they are so much lower level than the PC. But it also depends on the individual case. Usually I'd expect players to take the Leadership feat only if they actually want to become great leaders, and not simply because they want a henchman that can carry their stuff.

Two characters in my group are likely to take Leadership sooner or later. The Pirate, sooner, because she wants to have her own ship on the Main. In her case, the Cohort would be her Lieutenant and the Followers the crew (or at least the core of the crew). The Lieutenant would command the ship in her stead when she is adventuring on dry soil.
The other character may want to become king or something, but that will have to wait until very late in the game, so he won't take Leadership before level 15 or even 18. So that's a long way down the road.

 

[pasuuli]

It depends on if the players are capable of handling more than one character; i.e. not showing favoritism, not blurring ownership or sharing cash, that kind of thing.

It also depends on how deadly the scenario is... it's nice to have two characters if one's going to die...

 

[sidkfjjteidlkkf]

It also depends on how deadly the scenario is... it's nice to have two characters if one's going to die...

My point exactly, that is why most will do two characters. Let this one die, I have the better to keep alive... Especially when they get tired of one, or something they do not like happens to him/her..