A quick suggestion I figured I’d toss up on my way out to work. What if, instead of quitting a character via suicide you could choose to let them wander?
To go into further detail on just what I’m suggesting–instead of discarding a character you turn them into an NPC to be randomly plopped down somewhere in the created world. They’d have their carried and equipped gear, skills and (when NPC HQs are completed) a chance to spawn amid their chosen allies.