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Forums » RP Discussion » Group RPs - Adopting Abandoned Characters

What do you consider the proper etiquette in group RPs when a player with a character pivotal to the plot suddenly leaves? (I'm not talking that they haven't shown up for a few days - I'm meaning that they've deleted their RPR account, left the discord server, etc. It is clear they are not returning, but have not written their character out of the game.)

Sometimes it's easy enough to just narrate them out. Sometimes doing so would effectively end the whole story.

If a player within the group is willing to adopt the character as their own, is there any stigma against it?
Hi Juls,

Part of the reason I asked Kim and the mods if it was possible to split off a post or a section of posts from an original thread was to ensure that the whole thread did not come to a very long pause or complete stop in some cases when people leave or no longer communicate and disappear.

I have seen people go dark, as in no longer communicate and in the worst case, delete characters/accounts.

I've written out their characters in the past and left it as them going MIA, perhaps they have died, perhaps they have not. If it was a major character or they simply having disappeared for unknown reasons.

I personally would not have anyone else "Adopt" the character if it was an original OC and not their character to begin with and they do not have the OC creator's permission. If you have a way to get in touch with the person, it's best to ask if you can "adopt". If not, it would be best in my opinion to write the character out as simply being gone for unknown reasons.

Edit: It might start a whole new story if the character was pivotal. It might send a search party going and even if the character is not found it can add great depth to the characters left behind. I have had to deal with this with one of my mains becoming a widow since I doubt the character who was her husband will ever return or be brought back.
A year ago someone I have written with both in groups and 1x1 left RP Repository, and I 'adopted' a few of their characters with their permission (I am still in touch with them on discord). That is a bit of a different case than having someone 'go dark' (goes 'dormant' or 'lines out'). In a group, I have usually just started treating them as an NPC and proceed to write them out. If they were a major character in the story, then I suggest to the rest of the group that we end the chapter with an epilogue and maybe start again with a short time shift where adjustments are made to not having the deleted character around anymore.

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