I like the third option.  I would even be willing to skip forward father if the group agreed.<br/><br/>But I also think it would be a good idea to clear out the unused/abandoned characters.  I know I would feel uncomfortable writing a character that was generated by someone else as an NPC.  So mostly they're just taking up space.  If we cleaned out the corners and started recruiting again, then I think we can get things rolling at full steam again.  Just a thought.<br/><br/>