oh hey, its you again! Wow, your coming round so often I should just give you a key to the place, and who's this? you've brought a new friend?! Great! Have you ever played DnD before? No? that cool we can figure something out we have a load of time before we start to play. I know this seems confusing with all these books but it's super simple, here you can use some of my dice.introducing a new player to your game can be great for your table, game, and story. Having a new person can allow you to start to build a previously unknown part of your world around that new character. Using parts of their backstory to inform you of the situation within your world to create things around. However, I think there are a couple of things to consider before bringing
this person into your game.
Is it their first time playing DnD?
While this may be by far the smallest thing to consider, its something that should be considered. This person may have a character In their head that they might want to play and you should totally let that person play what they want to play. Just because you hadn't thought about the existence of warforge in your game shouldn't stop them from playing the character they have in their head . you want this character to resonate with that player so that they can get invested in your story and world from a position that they feel comfortable , and if they're not viewing your world from a vantage point that they cant enjoy the splendor may be slightly ruined for them. Does this mean more work? Yer in short it does but maybe only a little more work than you would have previously put into making that player feel part of the world down the line. One thing I do in my game is that everyone has what I call a change token, which they can exchange to change there character class, race and basically start again from the same level as the lowest level PC in the current party, I do this because it is their first time playing this character and if they aren't finding it fun it seems stupid to me have them keep playing this character that they don't find fun and it also stops PC's from just stupidly throwing there characters off cliff just because they don't want to play them anymore , I just let that character walk into the sunset to enjoy their adventure in the wider realm. Plus …interesting new bad guy to use later.
Are they aware of what your world/game is like?
This one is a little harder to consider . I don't know about you but for my game and world all my notes are handwritten and drawn and kept in a folder that I keep at home and then bring out for games and campaign work. Trying to compound all of this information into one document can be difficult, not impossible by any means but certainly challenging. It's also worth considering what kind of DM you are and telling the new player about that and what kind of game you run. To be perfectly honest I don't do either of this thing I employ a different tactic call "meeting in person".
I've done this the last couple of times and it works super well for me, at a time that's convenient for all the people involved I have gone to that new person's house or had them come to me and we have worked out their character from scratch with all of the information available at their fingertips to wonder about , question, find out about and start to form a character based around your world, I've often done this with the help of one of my players from the existing group , not only does this allow the new player to know part of the current party but also allows that current player to get to know this person and form a connection that will hopefully continue into the game. With the addition of coffee, tea or the adult beverage of your choice and this can become a very enjoyable experience for everyone involved.
How to introduce that new character to the party?
This one can be a tricky one to do. Ive known a fare few parties that will just to spite the new player and DM try and reject that new person entirely just because they are new which can lead to that new player feeling unwanted and unwelcome at your table. I know this can seem harsh but it happened to me so whenever I introduce a new player I do one of two things. Firstly I might give them a hook to either one of the other players , more typically the one who they met in the character creation meet up, whether it be a family connection, a connection to something that happened in their past or a link to something the party are trying to solve this can cement that new player place in the party .
Or secondly, I will throw a combat or social encounter into their introduction. This can show the existing party the abilities of the new player which allows them to see the use of keeping them around, just make sure you don't kill anyone in this encounter….unless their playing a cleric then maybe do kill someone and allow the new cleric to revive them from the dead! everyone's happy and new friendships are made! You might also find that you may want to wait a week or two before you introduce the new player to the game, if your group are in the middle of dungeon and it wouldn't make sense to find the player their maybe just wait until players get back to town, where they get ambushed in a side ally mugging and the new player saves them and its super epic and everyone love this new character.
Can that player make the commitment to you and your table?
No one likes to be let down, especially when so much work has gone into that new player's character. Making sure that the new player knows when you play and how many times a month you get together is important if at that moment their lifestyle doesn't allow for that level of commitment that's ok, maybe sometime in the future things will be different. You may find that after one session that new player may just want to walk away from the table and not want to be part of your game, in that case, thank them for their time, stay friends and just get on with running your game that your current players are loving. Sometimes people don't connect with the game in the same way that you and your current players do, don't be annoyed, don't be angry, don't doubt yourself just continue being the DM that your current players love.
I hope today's discussion has been useful to you and your new players, I hope you and they have fun around your table and in your game.
Bye for know peeps!
Jack
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