Backup Characters!

Gotta keep those replacement goldfish on hand.

"Splitting the Party"

In previous entries, I have touched upon the need for backup characters in case some terrible fate may befall your players. In fact, character death is not the only instance that a contingency might be needed. One of the more difficult cases that groups are faced with is one in which a particular player character doesn't mesh well with the group. A paladin travelling with a band of thieves, or a character who has betrayed a fellow party member in some way would not logically travel with them and share in adventures. In these cases, the group may never address the fact that they are not a functioning team, and continue to keep the group together for the sake of pragmatism. 

A player whose character is incompatible with the group need not take it personally. Their character may not be a good fit for the team, but the player shouldn't feel attacked. Instead, they may be encouraged to create a character that will support their party and cause less disruption. In this case, having a backup character is important. Having a fallback that is immediately on hand can relax a lot of the tension that might happen if the players feel like their adventuring party needs to be reorganized. 

I believe that characters should be able to decide who travels with their party (Characters, not players. If your players have real difficulties between each other, that should be resolved somewhere other than a game table.) 

The group of knights who see one of their team mates steal from an orphan shouldn't be forced to venture onward together simply because there is no other option. Nor should this case be allowed to escalate to player on player combat in which player feelings are more likely to become a casualty. Instead, the group can simply agree by majority that they need a new travelling companion. The player can be offered a backup character by whatever means appropriate and the tale continues on. 

If you have this system in place, your party should be more comfortable with the idea of role playing freely, as they don't have to worry about being stuck permanently on the team. In fact, sometimes a player might decide to retire their own character from the team because it is incompatible with the other party members or no longer fun. Doing this and picking up a backup character is much better than alternatives like deliberately getting their character killed off. 

Pre-Made Characters

"Here's your new character"

One way of handling backup characters is making them yourself.

Sometimes I have guest players drop into a campaign, players who don't have time to make a character for themselves. Having a pre-made character ready eliminates the muss and fuss of slapping something together at the last minute.

If you wish to save yourself some time and energy, you should check online for free supplementary materials. Many game systems have sample adventures that often include pre-generated character examples that can be used as quick and easy fallback options for players in a pinch. 

Pre-generated character sheets don't have to be permanent for players who want to make their own characters. You can use these options as stop-gap measures, giving them to a player who loses their character so they can finish the session. Then they can design their own character for the next session. Never let a player sit out more than a few minutes of your game session. Get them back in action and involved in the game as soon as possible. 

Improvising and Planning Ahead

I've never had to add a replacement character with no explanation or justification in my adventures. When adding a backup it is important to work out the logic of who they are and where they come from. Rather than just having a new cast member pop out of thin air, it is preferable to give them some kind of connection to the story in progress. If they are pregenerated, this will be fairly simple. When a character drops in, it may be tricky to justify why they would suddenly be accepted as a new member of the team. That's why it is best to require that player to add some kind of pre-existing association to the group. A character might be someone's old war buddy, or be assigned to work with the group by a commanding officer. Whatever helps get the team together and back on track.

One easy trick to introducing a backup is promoting an NPC to player character status. A non-player character who has been introduced previously can be statted as a full-fledged playable character. Of course there will likely be a discrepancy between their NPC stats and their new character sheets, but players won't usually be picky enough for that to be a problem. 

In the end, your focus is on keeping everybody involved in the game and getting along. Backup characters are great because they can smooth over the "what if?" of what happens when a character is removed from play. Even temporary measures will help the players feel more secure. Every new character is a new opportunity, and your players should know that. As long as you encourage them, and let them create a new story, you will always have new material to craft an exciting adventure!