One of my players, after becoming a wereboar via. magic sickle, has decided to roll a new character and abandon their old one, Shina, a female, half-elf bard/cleric. He has expressed a desire to have Shina become a servant of the BBEG, and I felt like that would be a good idea as well. However, I feel like Shina's player is being a bit presumptuous as to how that would happen, especially since none of my players actually know who the BBEG is (Eye Tyrant Beholder), saying that he wants Shina to be cured of her lyncanthropy and become a tiefling instead, and he also wants Shina to go full death cleric (she was life cleric when actually being played). Additionally, he wants Shina to eventually become "redeemable". I have my own ideas for as for what Shina will become (full bard, wereboar), but I also want Shina's player to be happy as to how Shina develops without him.
I'd explain to the Player that once they relinquish control of the Character, they relinquish what happens to them. If they want to keep control of their fate, they need to keep control of the Character.
That said, I might meet them part way. They do get to determine the goals and intentions of the Character as they leave their control. They know what that Character intended to go and do, but what actually happens ... that's up to you - kind of.
The reason I say kind of is that you can determine what will happen to the Character is what the circumstances that will befall them are, and the Player has determined their personality and goals are. What I'd do is some impromptu high-level role-playing of that Character in my head: I know that this will happen to them, and they'd react that way, which means this other thing would likely happen ... etc.
Which means that if your Player wants to try and steer Shina in a particular direction as she leaves his control, he'll need to pretty clearly define her personality ( ideally that should be obvious from how she's been played in the past - but not always, for all types of Players ), and her intended goals.
A caveat here: I'd make the Player define her goals in character. I wouldn't allow them to make up whatever goals they think have the best chance of landing the Character where they think they want them to go, if those goals make no sense for the Character to have adopted. I have a hard time believing that a good, life domain oriented Cleric would suddenly decide to switch sides in the conflict, and reject their entire current faith/ethos and embrace the complete opposite, without some pretty damn strong reasoning. That is kind of like a Bishop in the Catholic Church suddenly deciding to become a devout Satanist. If I was going to put a character like that in a work of fiction, I'd need a hell of a character motive to justify that change ( no pun intended ).
But once you've got the Character personality mapped out with your Player, and they've defined reasonable goals for that Character - the events that befall them outside the Party narrative, and their role-played reactions and changes that come about because of those events, that's all up to you.
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One of my players, after becoming a wereboar via. magic sickle, has decided to roll a new character and abandon their old one, Shina, a female, half-elf bard/cleric. He has expressed a desire to have Shina become a servant of the BBEG, and I felt like that would be a good idea as well. However, I feel like Shina's player is being a bit presumptuous as to how that would happen, especially since none of my players actually know who the BBEG is (Eye Tyrant Beholder), saying that he wants Shina to be cured of her lyncanthropy and become a tiefling instead, and he also wants Shina to go full death cleric (she was life cleric when actually being played). Additionally, he wants Shina to eventually become "redeemable". I have my own ideas for as for what Shina will become (full bard, wereboar), but I also want Shina's player to be happy as to how Shina develops without him.
I'd explain to the Player that once they relinquish control of the Character, they relinquish what happens to them. If they want to keep control of their fate, they need to keep control of the Character.
That said, I might meet them part way. They do get to determine the goals and intentions of the Character as they leave their control. They know what that Character intended to go and do, but what actually happens ... that's up to you - kind of.
The reason I say kind of is that you can determine what will happen to the Character is what the circumstances that will befall them are, and the Player has determined their personality and goals are. What I'd do is some impromptu high-level role-playing of that Character in my head: I know that this will happen to them, and they'd react that way, which means this other thing would likely happen ... etc.
Which means that if your Player wants to try and steer Shina in a particular direction as she leaves his control, he'll need to pretty clearly define her personality ( ideally that should be obvious from how she's been played in the past - but not always, for all types of Players ), and her intended goals.
A caveat here: I'd make the Player define her goals in character. I wouldn't allow them to make up whatever goals they think have the best chance of landing the Character where they think they want them to go, if those goals make no sense for the Character to have adopted. I have a hard time believing that a good, life domain oriented Cleric would suddenly decide to switch sides in the conflict, and reject their entire current faith/ethos and embrace the complete opposite, without some pretty damn strong reasoning. That is kind of like a Bishop in the Catholic Church suddenly deciding to become a devout Satanist. If I was going to put a character like that in a work of fiction, I'd need a hell of a character motive to justify that change ( no pun intended ).
But once you've got the Character personality mapped out with your Player, and they've defined reasonable goals for that Character - the events that befall them outside the Party narrative, and their role-played reactions and changes that come about because of those events, that's all up to you.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.