Heyoo! I dunno if anybody's on right now, but I require some assistance in the reworking of one of my player's characters.

For reference, this is a futuristic tron/cowboy bebop lovechild campaign where all things are organic and very much real (not in a video game), just very far in the future. I really like the material that the player gave me, but it has a very heavy "main character" energy that I need help reworking a little bit without fully changing the character idea.

here's the material I was given by the player:

Main ideas I need to have changed: 1. Everything is organic in the world, so being "digitalized" like in Tron wouldn't exactly be a thing, but I like the idea that they are unique from other beings of the world. 2. The planet they live on is a festival/game world. I don't think it would be possible for a character to "rule by fear" and was imagining that they would be more of an entertainment style gladiator. 3. The character is only 3rd level, so I'd have to explain that calling the character undefeated up until now would be slightly unrealistic as they will most likely get very beat up plenty of times over the course of the campaign.

How do I deal with all this without seeming like an overbearing DM and fully changing the character?? I would appreciate all advice! Thank you all!

PS. Sorry for the long post! 

You don't do it, you tell the player the problems, and the player does it.

Explain to them that digitized isn't an option and see what else they come up with. (Also, if he has human organs, what's left to be digital, exactly?) But if you're trying to brainstorm with him, a clone seems like a good fit here. Could even be he's a clone that keeps getting re-cloned and thrown into the fighting pits.

And explain that a level 3 character isn't 'ruling" anything, by fear or otherwise. That's a goal for the level 12 version of the character. By level 3, they've probably won a few fights, lost a few, maybe made a bit of a name for themself as a promising up-and-comer, but they're not in charge, yet. Explain the idea is to do the cool stuff in the campaign, not before the campaign. Although I would let stand the idea of one guy who really showed him up and he wants to seek vengeance on, that seems fine and can be a good story hook.

The other issue is I'm getting really angry, edgy loner vibes here, and they're almost always a problem. So, I'd head that off, as well.

1. Just say that "digitalisation" isn't a thing in your world. They're welcome to find some other distinguishing nature but this isn't somewhere that "digitalisation" makes sense. I'd take the opportunity to explain more about the world so they can understand what fits and what doesn't.

2. This is a result of the player not understanding the setting. You need to make sure that they understand what kind of campaign you're running. This is only the first (and least problematic) issue you'll come across if they don't understand the setting. If you're running a light hearted and whimsical game (for example), then them playing someone playing a brooding emo edgelord is going to wreck it.

3. Levels don't matter too much, so long as everyone starts on a similar level of experience. Such a character wouldn't make sense alongside Princess Peach going on her first adventure and learning what side of the horse the cart goes. Set the experience expectation...and get the players to adjust their characters accordingly. Yes, admittedly, such a history would be dissonant with what's likely to happen in the campaign (my players expect me to beat the living daylights out of them in most fights), but there's going to be such dissonance regardless - it's just the nature of trying to harmonise people's imaginations with rigid rules. Rule of cool only gets you so far.

Quote from Xalthu >>

You don't do it, you tell the player the problems, and the player does it.

Explain to them that digitized isn't an option and see what else they come up with. (Also, if he has human organs, what's left to be digital, exactly?) But if you're trying to brainstorm with him, a clone seems like a good fit here. Could even be he's a clone that keeps getting re-cloned and thrown into the fighting pits.

And explain that a level 3 character isn't 'ruling" anything, by fear or otherwise. That's a goal for the level 12 version of the character. By level 3, they've probably won a few fights, lost a few, maybe made a bit of a name for themself as a promising up-and-comer, but they're not in charge, yet. Explain the idea is to do the cool stuff in the campaign, not before the campaign. Although I would let stand the idea of one guy who really showed him up and he wants to seek vengeance on, that seems fine and can be a good story hook.

The other issue is I'm getting really angry, edgy loner vibes here, and they're almost always a problem. So, I'd head that off, as well.

 

 Absolutely drop some of this in the player's lap.  I had a character from Lvl 1 who literally never lost a fight through a couple of levels, entered a tournament and cleaned up until he did get a beating that put him at the brink of death.  While recovering he was unable to keep his NPC friend from getting murdered and roleplay turned him from a peaceful sort who would offer and accept surrender and pull his punches into a serious killing machine once the fight started.  One of my favorite characters of all time because of the organic character development.

Agree with the above, and definitely suggest having a discussion with the player - as in, set time aside to chat (in person or otherwise) whilst they are adjusting their character's backstory.

I also 100% see problems with integration into the party with this character - they are giving off "Lonewolf Edgypast" vibes, which is to say that they go it alone, trust no-one, and have never needed anyone, ever. That's not an easy pool to drop the "join a party!" hook into.

I thoroughly recommend asking the player "Why would #001 join an adventuring party?". What connections might they have? What are they after, besides specific vengeance? 

One thing I often do in my character creation is to give them a single-minded purpose, and then let it atrophy. Rather than "I have dedicated my life to hunting #002", instead consider "I dedicated a year trying to hunt #002, but I failed. Now I need to find an income, and some harsh fights outside the rules of The Game have taught me that when I do face him, I may not be able to win alone. This game is a team game."

The character needs to be softened, even if it's just one edge. Right now, if you gave me that description, I would assume that this was the low-level BBEG, and one of the characters in the party is #002.

1: Like others have said, ask your player to change it, you don't do it yourself. Changing a character without their input is a little rude. 

2: i get why they went with what they did, since you listed Tron, you will have to clearify that it is the Neon Futurism vibe, and not the being digitized into a Grid part.
(He also might be going for 'digital mind print uploaded to a meat body' thing, the language leaves that as a possibility. A 'digital soul' if you will.)
This can be cleared up with a simple talk.

3. An advanced and sometimes complicated option is you can work with the player for a little roleplay driving compromise. His character may THINK they are some terryiying ruler of Party planet, but then no one has heard of him, or it is something like "Oh from the Tyrant world series, yeah i used to play that game" and work with him to see if he wants to be an experiment where someone uploaded a video game AI into an organic body, and the character has to grapple with not being who they thought they were.
This can give the other party members something to play off of when it is revealed since you are working with the player in question. Sometimes character details can be surprises for everyone else and you and the player are in on it for everyone else's fun. (you can do this with other players too)