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Well PFS works like this but I assume you are talking about a home game and not organized play. We have dabbled in this from time to time usually in other rules lite systems. Mostly this is due to the fact our games tend to lean on the lethal side and we need replacements on occasion. I dont prefer it in D&D/PF since making up characters is kind of a chore for me.
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It can work fairly well, but requires more set-up before the campaign.
The "best" (IMO) way is to have PCs all be members of a guild, organization, or society to tie them together narratively. The various missions should also be related on some level to the guild, organization, or society: either directly sponsored/tasked or more tangentally. The PCs should have a sense of accomplishment from building up the organization as much (or even more) than leveling their PCs. The sections on Buildings and Organizations and Kingdoms and War in Ultimate Campaign can be used as a source of ideas; also the more general Downtime systems can allow even the PCs that didn't go on that particular adventure to be "productive."
Because there is a wider "pool" of characters to choose from, it can be easier to "prepare" for a given mission. It also lets the players to create more specialized characters (i.e., ranger Favored enemies, concentrate on certain energy types/spell schools) without feeling that they are "sub-optimal" because they can't apply their full potential the majority of the time. "We're going to an undead- and vermin-infested crypt? OK, the witch focused on the Slumber hex and Enchantment spells stays home while the positive energy cleric (or paladin) goes."
I take it this isn't like the old days where a group of 3 people would bring a pair of characters to make a larger 'group'. One character ends up being your primary character as he is easier for you to remember and roleplay. The other is there to fill out the group.
Well PFS works like this but I assume you are talking about a home game and not organized play. We have dabbled in this from time to time usually in other rules lite systems. Mostly this is due to the fact our games tend to lean on the lethal side and we need replacements on occasion. I dont prefer it in D&D/PF since making up characters is kind of a chore for me.
PFS = Pathfinder Society, the organized play group. I think they also appear in the faction guide, so you could get some idea of how to use the in-game Society outside of organized play or just as a pattern.
I run a tabletop Kingmaker game with 6 players and a troupe.
Each player has 2 characters that they swap in and out as they wish for each 'expedition'.
The adventuring character gains full xp for that expedition and the character who was left behind gains 50% of the earned xp, representing studying, training, minor incidents and that character's role in running the kingdom.
This required a little more adding to the adventure path as you need 33% more xp to level the pair of characters.
It's fun, the roleplaying possibilities are awesome due to the variety of possible interactions. From a dm's perspective, I would certainly do this again for a future campaign.
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As a somewhat variant to this, something I had thought about doing was creating a 90% random generation rule for the characters in the group. Each player rolls character backgrounds through the Ultimate Campaign background system, choosing a class based on childhood experiences. Abilities are rolled via 4d6 drop lowest, and assigned as appropriate for the background/class/race.
Every player generates three characters like this. They then choose one to play with, after the party decides who's backgrounds would work best together. The 'discarded' characters act as NPCs - for now. That's not to say they don't show up later (as a character replacement, as a cohort, as an NPC, etc). This allows the players to be involved in populating the world. This works best for a free form style of play, and I see no reason it couldn't lend itself well to your troupe style.
Downtime rules have ways to have less used characters earn xp in hand-waved side quests to bring them up at/near the party's xp as well.
I'd like to see the unused characters take part in downtime/kingdom building activities for the time the selected characters are adventuring. in short, this becomes a bit more of a world simulator, than an adventure simulator.
I see someone else has played Ars Magica. :)For those who aren't familiar with the term, troupe-style play means that the players each have several characters, only one of which they bring on any given adventure. At the beginning of each session, players decide which character to use based on what type of adventure is planned. I've read about this, particularly in connection with Ars Magica, but never actually tried it.
Has anybody here done this in PF (or any other flavor of d20)? How did it work?
One idea that occurs to me is for each player to begin with a level 4 or 5 Aristocrat, with a level 1 character in some PC class as a lieutenant.
All 5 editions. :)