The nature of Dungeons & Dragons—and the nature of anything that includes improvisation—is that your ideas will not survive first contact with the game. That’s okay! That’s part of what makes the game unpredictable and exciting.

And as you play, you may find yourself needing to/wanting to change your character. What do you do then?

These are some situations you may run into where you’d want to change your character (this isn’t intended to be an exhaustive list):

  • Your previous character has died

This one’s a bummer. Some misfortune has befallen you in your adventures and you’re, well, down a character. Depending on your campaign and level, resurrection might not be an option (or might not be for a while). So, you’ve got to roll up a new character.

This may be a temporary fix while the party goes diamond hunting or wait for the cleric to get to a high enough level. On the other hand, you can take this opportunity to turn over a new leaf and permanently use your new character moving forward. Talk to your Dungeon Master—your options may be different from what you’d assume, especially if your group hasn’t discussed character death before.

A new character means a new dynamic in the party. The transition may be a little awkward, but ideally you’ll have just as much fun playing your new character as you did your old one!

  • You aren’t having fun with your character concept

Maybe you tried something new, and it isn’t working out. Or maybe you’ve played the cleric for the past three campaign’s you’ve been in, so you’re aching for a fresh start.

If your player character just isn’t fun to play, communicate with your DM so you’re both on the same page. The DM will have to change parts of the campaign if you change your character. So, communicating with them is not only considerate, but also may help you figure out a good solution. How will you write out your old character and replace them with your new one? Or, how will you change your existing character to something a little different?

Expect to have multiple conversations with your Dungeon Master about this. They may need some time to think over some options or your suggestions.

  • Same as above, but you want to change a specific aspect of your character

Something specific is rubbing you the wrong way. Maybe it’s your subclass, your background, or backstory. It’s not your entire character—just some aspect of them seems to be lacking. You might have some ideas on how to make them more fun to play.

Maybe it’s not that you want to change anything per se, but you want to add some more details to your backstory.

There is a theme in this post. It’s talk to your Dungeon Master!

It’s important to communicate and work with your DM so that you’re on the same page, you’re working with them to find a solution, and they have the information they need to continue to run the campaign. Your DM isn’t a mind reader, and you aren’t, either—and the DMs I know are happy to talk game stuff outside of normal sessions. Your DM wants you to enjoy the game!

What do you think? Have you ever changed your character midway through a campaign? Have you DM’d a group where this has happened? I’d love to hear your thoughts!