Most players have one character they never quite get over.

Maybe you rolled them up before you knew what a saving throw was.

Or you picked a class because it sounded cool and spent six sessions figuring out what it did.

They made terrible decisions, mostly because you did.

Somehow they survived anyway.

Or they didn't.

And the table still talks about how it happened.

Here's my theory.

The first character is where you learned the game.

Every rule you know, you learned while playing them.

And the best table memories from that year have them sitting right in the middle.

Later characters are better built.

You know the rules now.

The first one just got there first, and nothing after quite replaces them.

It doesn't have to be your first, either.

Some players have a character from a campaign that ran for years, or one who got them through a hard stretch of life.

You know which one yours is.

Campaigns end.

Sometimes it's a finale everyone sees coming.

Other times the group just stops finding a night that works, and you don't know which session was the last one until afterwards.

When that happens, the character goes quiet.

What's left is a character sheet in a drawer and whatever picture you used for them.

That picture ends up being how you remember them.

It should be one you'd actually want to look at.

A campaign that's winding down is the moment to give your character a version that outlasts it.

If your group already has a last session on the calendar, that's a good night for the table to finally see them.

A campaign that just started is different.

You don't need a painting before session one.

Play a couple of sessions first, until you know who they really are.

That's the best time, before the placeholder settles in.

And if nothing's ending soon, there's no rush on any of this.

If you're already in line, I'll text you before each turn.