To Whom Does a Character History Belong?

This last Wednesday, we sadly had a character pass away. It happens to us all. As gamers we all lose characters at one time or another. If the game is a one shot, or you know you will never revisit that world, I am sure that some people (gasp) throw away their character sheets and notes. I am new to gaming (going on two years) and such an idea is abhorrent to me. I have binders of carefully divided characters, histories, game notes, and tokens from various games and campaigns. I am not alone in my group. One of our group, Jordan, makes small cartoons of various game situations, and Gregory makes elaborate game notes. We are all packrats and we hoard this info.

But Jason, our DM, also needs this info. If a character dies, there is a chance that they may not stay dead. He might bring them back as an NPC in a dream sequence, or to haunt your new character into completing some task. He needs the character sheets and notes of major characters. So if a character dies, who keeps it? The DM or the Player?

I think the fair thing to do is see how comfortable you are letting the DM keep it. If you know and trust your DM, then go for it. If you are like me and need that for yourself, then make copies. Most printers now have copiers or scanners, and if not, a Kinkos has to be close by. Just make a copy for the archives and keep the originals.

And I think this goes without saying. If you have been using something like original cards, or cards from a set like Warhammer that the DM owns, make sure he or she gets those back too, because that is just classy and fair. Just remember, no one ever plans to die, but knowing what to do when it happens can be comforting.