Rebirth

Technical difficulties can take down a blog for a while, and so they have. But it has returned - just like your character can. It's a great way to keep a favorite character alive, no matter what system you're playing in. The simplest way, of course, is the tried-and-true "identical twin" who is exactly the same character with a different name. But more interesting is the eternal champion idea, as in Michael Moorcock's novel series (and a very old RPG, Stormbringer, from 1981) - one individual, reborn in different identities, each with different skills and personalities.

Stormbringer the RPG. (image: breeland.files.wordpress.com)

Rebirth doesn't have to literally be birth, with one character dying. Instead, a character can be left in the past, if the storyline jumps forward in time. A character can "magically" be reborn into a new identity - think of Jean Grey as Phoenix in the X-Men comics.

Rebirth costs something in D&D (the Resurrection spell costs the character a level), but rebirth as part of a character concept, where every PC is an eternal champion, can be worth something instead. Each time the character starts anew, it has a new permanent bonus, like a +1 or +2 to a skill the character specialized in during that life, or an item of some kind (like a sword handed down from the previous identity). A new life, reborn with a little "residue" of the previous lives.