Reincarnation-based games?

[kylesgames]

So I play Dungeons and Dragons Online, and one of the progression mechanics that they have is called "True Reincarnation". Basically, you hit level 20 (or 30 for Epic True Reincarnation) and you can go back to level 1 with a class-specific bonus.

That's obviously based off of MMO mechanics, but can anyone think of a tabletop game with rules that handle similar things? Basically, the way it works is by giving players an incentive to give up a high-power character in exchange for a low power character with a little boost over the average, allowing them to make new decisions and explorations while reaping the benefits of whatever they already did (like a bonus to sneak attacks, for instance, from Rogue).

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

The closest I can think of off the top of my head is an oldie from 2003 called . In that game you can gain new skills at any time by reaching back to contact past lives and benefit from their knowledge. Not quite the same, but perhaps a source of inspiration.

Eclipse Phase, true to its transhuman ideas - lets you back up your mental attributes to a server and "re-sleeve" your mind in a new physical body should the old one be destroyed.

Mecha lets you replace a killed character with a new one that has the same number of advancement points. This is to keep players in the game, and let them engage in death.drama in anime style, rather than a reward for hitting a certian point.

In older versions of D&D at certain levels the characters were expected to create their own keep.wizards tower and start dealing with underlings and a greater sense of politics. Maybe we can link a bonus to your next character or the party on a whole to what happens when an adventurer retires. The fighter starts an areana, martial skills start higher, while spells get cheaper once the mage begins his own college.

[Onix]

When we were teens, my friend made a new character that he really liked and named him Rob. He promptly died that first game. His reaction was to change the R to a B and now Rob's twin brother Bob was going to be his character.

Maybe that wasn't what you were looking for though.