AP: Getting a new character without "getting" it.

Sludge Pump & Its Environs:

I'm the MC.

last session, we ended with the main town all sick with the wasting worm (eat more than your share or take 1 harm & advance the clock, and you don't want to advance the clock).

The PCs: Dust, a hocus, CJ, a gunlugger, and Key, an angel.

The PCs have heard about this weird brain-machine, and through the maelstrom have figured out that this brain machine can cure what ails their people (and themselves).

They spend this session seeking out the brain-machine, and find it. They figure out that it can grant them one wish, but they have to give it one more weird brain (the Hocus's brain is ripe for it!), and instead of doing that the Hocus does Augury, hits it (Oh, how I wanted him to miss!), and projects the maelstrom into the last remaining brain-tank, and wishes for what he wishes: more goods (food, and clothing, and med supplies--barter, basically) than he can handle. The dome that the brain-machine was in fills with these supplies, and they're richer than they can imagine. If they can hold it.

END SESSION.

We decide (the other players proposed it, but it was a fantastic idea and I ran with it), that next session we'll cut to a year or more ahead, and see what the deal is with this new hold (everyone in the old, starting town died of the worm. Dust, the hocus, didn't wish for a cure!). The Angel and the Hocus will stay, but the Gunlugger player wants to play a new character. We're all cool with this, as we feel (I think? I do, at least) that the game needs something new, or some new energy, or whatever.

Thing is, the Gunlugger's player doesn't have enough advances to get a new character (and yes, he's going to be playing both), but we give it to him anyway, because we're all happy with the idea. The Gunlugger was two advances away from The Ungiven Future.

So is this cool? Should I give the other players two free advances? Another player is potentially coming in: should they get two free advances as well?

Nothing about the Gunlugger player playing a new character seems like a bad idea, but it's against the rules, and I'm just wondering: Is there anything wrong here?

I would just let the player start up a new character, and not worry about the advances. 

That's a funny problem!

Of course it's okay.

The technical, picky answer is, you added a custom move to the home front that says "when play jumps forward a bunch of time, somebody can introduce a new character," but that's so technical and picky that I'm embarrassed to mention it.

That's a funny problem!

Of course it's okay.

The technical, picky answer is, you added a custom move to the home front that says "when play jumps forward a bunch of time, somebody can introduce a new character," but that's so technical and picky that I'm embarrassed to mention it.

Haha, why?

That's actually rather illuminating as to what potential custom moves have.

And you could handle the gap with "Dear Player" notes that might give two advances with a roll for something bad/interesting (in the case of the gunlugger) or maybe a roll for a number of advances and/or interesting developments to represent the last year.  Right?

And you could handle the gap with "Dear Player" notes that might give two advances with a roll for something bad/interesting (in the case of the gunlugger) or maybe a roll for a number of advances and/or interesting developments to represent the last year.  Right?

hm, yeah, I could. I was definitely going to do love letters, but now I may use this idea as well. Thanks.

And Vincent, that makes a lot of sense. I knew there wasn't anything wrong with it, but couldn't describe why.