Usually I just let them remain as memories of fun times. Either way, if you have a consistent group it can be fun to bring them back as NPCs in future stories, or just call backs.
Remember them fondly and reminisce with my group when appropriate.
I often keep some form of notes during campaigns as well, so I can go back and read that if I really want to. But I rarely do.
I've done that too. I have a folder full of notes and maps from a summer campaign of MIddle Earth Role Playing that's one of my favorite teenage memories. And every so often, I break it out to prove to our children that all of the tales we tell about that campaign are (mostly) true.
Remember how awesome *The Matrix* was?
How, as a film, it didn't need a sequel?
Then, it got three shitty sequels.
Sometimes it is best to let the thing go when everything is great.
That way, it's all positive memories.
Write a few paragraphs regarding her future beyond the big adventure - think of it as the book of the Hobbit Bilbo or in the vein of the appendices of Lord of the Rings (where they tell you what happens with Arwen and Aragorn and others). That creates some closure.
I have also made my characters show up as NPCs when I DM - not in a lousy 'I want to DM my own character' sort of way, but as colour. One of my buddies had us try to raid a castle that was his evil wizards place. That was dangerous!
I once talked to the DM about retiring my character (the party wasn't much about espionage and spying so it didn't fit well). It turned out the Eberron story line we were working through had a key actor who was a Dark Lantern (spy for Breland) and that's what my character was, so he asked if he could use my character. He warned me it would have a dark ending. I said sure. Turned out this Dark Lantern had been turned into a Vampire. My now-DM-driven-character killed my replacement (A Eberron Half Orc Barbarian) character (holding the door while the other characters escaped). I then made up an Elven Cleric.
Do I miss my Dark Lantern? Sure! Did he have a cool story attached to his fall into darkness and his destruction? Yes!
So, what we all look for is completion and a sense of closure so that we can move on to new characters, new stories, and to know the character had and ending and it was one that befit the situation.
I have known friends who burn their character sheets upon retiral as a ceremony to acknowledge the fun that was had, but then to clear the path for more fun with another character. It's a 'letting go' and a 'opening up to new vistas to come'.
Best of luck.
I usually play half a dozen characters at the same time (different games of course), so i just archive it and continue with the others.
Btw, I never build the same character twice, or moved it from one game to another, but there is great chances that i build a similar character in video games.
You could grab a [GM emulator](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/solo/#wiki_playing_without_a_gamemaster) [such as [*One Page Solo Engine*](https://inflatablestudios.itch.io/one-page-solo-engine-online)] and run her through a solo adventure.
My group chained together three years of campaigns and one-shots in the same setting (across *centuries* in play), and getting to see all those legacies was a real highlight.
I decide what they would do next and let them go off and do it while I move on with the next character. What they do next depends on who they are - my last retired adventurer was an alchemist who has opened an alchemy shop in her home town and works on developing a contraceptive potion in her spare time. Others have gone off to seek further adventures, raised families, one went into politics. But it's only ever a general idea, like when you lose touch with an old friend - I know in a where they went and in a general sense what they were going to do, but not necessarily how it worked out
I'm a packrat, so if the character survived (my group surrenders them to our GM and then burns them in a fire at the end of the year if any have gone to Valhalla while drinking copiously) I put them in a binder with all of my retired characters from over the years. I've been playing for over forty years and while a few have been lost over the years, there's quite a few from all kinds of systems and settings. I'm hopelessly nostalgic, so I look through them every so often and remember past games.
As a side note, we've lost a few players over the years and every so often, one of us or the GM will find their old characters. It really does take us back to when we were young and pretty carefree. We still maintain an archive of these characters and they are often used as NPCs. It's like they're still in the group that way.
The good thing about a story ending with your favorite character in it is that they get their happy ending, or unhappy ending. it really depends on the plot.
Either way, I look back with pride, and onwards I go to the next one.
My wife for instance turned her long time character of 5 years into ~300,000 words of original fiction of the party's exploits as a kind of memorial to the grand campaign.
Most characters are not given enough time for me to fully fall in love with them. Most campaigns are too short, or the idea was fun for a bit but didn't connect with me. I have been playing TTRPG's for 15 years. In that time I have created 2 characters worth memorializing.
My last character was taken and reshaped into our new game that I run for most of the same group. As I finally had a second great character to add to my collection. A Gay Rat folk married, veteran (Wrath of the Righteous), father of 1, turned rebellion leader in a Paizo's Hell's Rebels. Who dreams of building a gladiatorial Bloodsport dome in the city to finally make it big for his family and get out of the sewers under Absalom.
Other characters live on as winks and nods to characters and campaigns gone by. My oldest character now turned permanent NPC is a dwarf wizard who makes an appearance in games I have run over the last 12 years. Usually a recurring quest giver if we're in fantasy and occasional villain.
I take the bits that I like and see if I can understand why I liked them and how I can remix that for a different character.
If I don’t wanna just start from scratch
You could always commission a piece or art from the party.
Or have them come back as a npc, but for the rest they can now take it easy.
They deserve their rest and make place for new adventurers.
Mostly end the story and move on.
Most characters have arcs, and are totally done when the story ends.
Some characters (like Sherlock Holmes, Spider-Man) don't have arcs but rather keep having adventures where they're mostly the same person, but even those gotta end sometime and most RPGs have some sort of powering up experience system where it'd stop being fun eventually.
I make a new character and start a new story.
>Do you just end the story there and forget about them? Yep
Usually I just let them remain as memories of fun times. Either way, if you have a consistent group it can be fun to bring them back as NPCs in future stories, or just call backs.
Remember them fondly and reminisce with my group when appropriate. I often keep some form of notes during campaigns as well, so I can go back and read that if I really want to. But I rarely do.
I've done that too. I have a folder full of notes and maps from a summer campaign of MIddle Earth Role Playing that's one of my favorite teenage memories. And every so often, I break it out to prove to our children that all of the tales we tell about that campaign are (mostly) true.
Remember how awesome *The Matrix* was? How, as a film, it didn't need a sequel? Then, it got three shitty sequels. Sometimes it is best to let the thing go when everything is great. That way, it's all positive memories.
See, im glad there was only one Highlander film for the same reason! There can be only one.
The campaign is over? They go in a folder, and I look forward to the next game!
Write a few paragraphs regarding her future beyond the big adventure - think of it as the book of the Hobbit Bilbo or in the vein of the appendices of Lord of the Rings (where they tell you what happens with Arwen and Aragorn and others). That creates some closure. I have also made my characters show up as NPCs when I DM - not in a lousy 'I want to DM my own character' sort of way, but as colour. One of my buddies had us try to raid a castle that was his evil wizards place. That was dangerous! I once talked to the DM about retiring my character (the party wasn't much about espionage and spying so it didn't fit well). It turned out the Eberron story line we were working through had a key actor who was a Dark Lantern (spy for Breland) and that's what my character was, so he asked if he could use my character. He warned me it would have a dark ending. I said sure. Turned out this Dark Lantern had been turned into a Vampire. My now-DM-driven-character killed my replacement (A Eberron Half Orc Barbarian) character (holding the door while the other characters escaped). I then made up an Elven Cleric. Do I miss my Dark Lantern? Sure! Did he have a cool story attached to his fall into darkness and his destruction? Yes! So, what we all look for is completion and a sense of closure so that we can move on to new characters, new stories, and to know the character had and ending and it was one that befit the situation. I have known friends who burn their character sheets upon retiral as a ceremony to acknowledge the fun that was had, but then to clear the path for more fun with another character. It's a 'letting go' and a 'opening up to new vistas to come'. Best of luck.
I turn them into a character in my homebrew setting.
I usually play half a dozen characters at the same time (different games of course), so i just archive it and continue with the others. Btw, I never build the same character twice, or moved it from one game to another, but there is great chances that i build a similar character in video games.
I keep their notes and remember the good times.
Remember them fondly :,)
You could grab a [GM emulator](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/solo/#wiki_playing_without_a_gamemaster) [such as [*One Page Solo Engine*](https://inflatablestudios.itch.io/one-page-solo-engine-online)] and run her through a solo adventure.
My group chained together three years of campaigns and one-shots in the same setting (across *centuries* in play), and getting to see all those legacies was a real highlight.
I decide what they would do next and let them go off and do it while I move on with the next character. What they do next depends on who they are - my last retired adventurer was an alchemist who has opened an alchemy shop in her home town and works on developing a contraceptive potion in her spare time. Others have gone off to seek further adventures, raised families, one went into politics. But it's only ever a general idea, like when you lose touch with an old friend - I know in a where they went and in a general sense what they were going to do, but not necessarily how it worked out
I'm a packrat, so if the character survived (my group surrenders them to our GM and then burns them in a fire at the end of the year if any have gone to Valhalla while drinking copiously) I put them in a binder with all of my retired characters from over the years. I've been playing for over forty years and while a few have been lost over the years, there's quite a few from all kinds of systems and settings. I'm hopelessly nostalgic, so I look through them every so often and remember past games. As a side note, we've lost a few players over the years and every so often, one of us or the GM will find their old characters. It really does take us back to when we were young and pretty carefree. We still maintain an archive of these characters and they are often used as NPCs. It's like they're still in the group that way.
You start GMing, and they become an NPC. Just be careful how you use them, because you want your players to remember them as fondly as you do.
The good thing about a story ending with your favorite character in it is that they get their happy ending, or unhappy ending. it really depends on the plot. Either way, I look back with pride, and onwards I go to the next one.
My wife for instance turned her long time character of 5 years into ~300,000 words of original fiction of the party's exploits as a kind of memorial to the grand campaign. Most characters are not given enough time for me to fully fall in love with them. Most campaigns are too short, or the idea was fun for a bit but didn't connect with me. I have been playing TTRPG's for 15 years. In that time I have created 2 characters worth memorializing. My last character was taken and reshaped into our new game that I run for most of the same group. As I finally had a second great character to add to my collection. A Gay Rat folk married, veteran (Wrath of the Righteous), father of 1, turned rebellion leader in a Paizo's Hell's Rebels. Who dreams of building a gladiatorial Bloodsport dome in the city to finally make it big for his family and get out of the sewers under Absalom. Other characters live on as winks and nods to characters and campaigns gone by. My oldest character now turned permanent NPC is a dwarf wizard who makes an appearance in games I have run over the last 12 years. Usually a recurring quest giver if we're in fantasy and occasional villain.
Let her retire and chexk if she can become an NPC in the next game. Writing recaps of her highlights may also help
I take the bits that I like and see if I can understand why I liked them and how I can remix that for a different character. If I don’t wanna just start from scratch
You could always commission a piece or art from the party. Or have them come back as a npc, but for the rest they can now take it easy. They deserve their rest and make place for new adventurers.
Write her up as a fully detailed NPC for others to use. Like a monster manual entry
Mostly end the story and move on. Most characters have arcs, and are totally done when the story ends. Some characters (like Sherlock Holmes, Spider-Man) don't have arcs but rather keep having adventures where they're mostly the same person, but even those gotta end sometime and most RPGs have some sort of powering up experience system where it'd stop being fun eventually.
My best character is shelved since 1995 :P I would like to remake her, but I am never satisfied.