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How fast do new characters join the group?
- Thread starter Crothian
- Start date
Mouseferatu
Hero
Crothian said:
Well, yeah. Hence my comment about having the character ready.
My point, though, is that making someone wait for hours (or an entire evening) doing nothing, when they're ready to go, is just teh suck. I'd rather bend logic in the game than make someone sit out (or sit out myself).
Ravellion
serves Gnome Master
As soon as logical in game, but I generally aim for "as soon as the PC is fully created". More famous parties will have people come up to them and say "I have heard of your exploits, I am blah blah, and would like to join your group". A light strech of the imagination, but gaming time is few and far between, so I don't want to make it suck for one of them who just gets to listen in on the game (invaraibly leading to off topic discussions as well).
Rav
Rav
Keeper of Secrets
First Post
I try to bring in new characters at the first, best reasonable opportunity. In games like Call of Cthulhu its pretty fast because the players have a few pregenerated characters sitting around with backstories. In something more epic, like D&D its a little slower. The player certainly has something to do in (a) designing a new character and (b) watching how the others RP his/her death.
skippy_the_witch
First Post
In my current homebrew, I have the added problem of running for a college gaming group, where not every player can show up every week and even if they do, may be unable to continue playing for a semester due to class schedule, work, etc. So I have to be really flexible of how and when I add new characters, or reintroduce old characters. Also, I force my players to literally spend hours designing and developing their characters with me, so that both they and I know their background and capabilities pretty well before they ever get introduced into the game. This means that NO ONE is allowed to create a "quicky" character of stats/skills/feats/class in a few minutes and start play.
But, after all this work is done, I try to get the new character involved with the party as quickly as possible. I try and create a viable reason for the new party member to be joining the party, BUT it is up to the player to get in with the party. An example of this is that I have had two new players that I added (one almost 6 months ago, another about a month ago), both I knew were likely to be stable (as in show up), so tied them directly to one of my principle players (who HAS to show up, as he is the president of the gaming club) is a Heir of a High House (think duke level), and thus one player was brought in as a bodyguard for the new heir (along with a letter from the player's father and heir ring...allowing me to "nudge" the campaign in a direction I wanted it to go without railroading), and the other was a whisper gnome ninja sniper who is the House Assassin assigned to the heir. The noble player also has funds, so he has also done hiring of other players. All introductions have to somehow advance or add to the story I am creating, thus all of the required background.
For those folks who "show up" and are not sure if they want to play, we have a few NPC PCs that were created initially as PCs, but the players quit after a few games, and the characters became an integral part of the party. An example is what we call the "cousin" character, who is a samurai/fighter type distantly related to the noble character, and it became perfect for him to act as the Sgt Major to the nobles Colonel. Then that player quit, so the noble player has two characters, but regularly lets any random player play the cousin in the game (mostly the rolls and the like). This has netted me a number of players who decide they want to continue and create new characters, and filtered a few who decided that my game wasn't for them. Robert (the noble player) basically only has to do the book keeping for the cousin and his rolls, as the cousin was always designed as a strong silent type who would follow the noble into hell.
Lastly, this has happened once, that due to bad luck, a new players character has died in his first session. Usually I am very careful to monitor and modify such situations so as not to actually kill players. I prefer to keep them alive and torture them. making them WISH I had killed them. But I had no choice (something akin to firball going off in an enclosed room with locked door and no way to escape), so I said he had a twin brother, who had studied the exact same things, stats, etc. Made player modify his name slightly, and he started again (Bob is dead, Long Live Rob). Being as some of my players have a malicious streak, they keep on teasing Rob that they liked Bob so much more, even though they only new him for maybe a few hours game time.
skippy
The GM of The Cursed Earth Campaign
But, after all this work is done, I try to get the new character involved with the party as quickly as possible. I try and create a viable reason for the new party member to be joining the party, BUT it is up to the player to get in with the party. An example of this is that I have had two new players that I added (one almost 6 months ago, another about a month ago), both I knew were likely to be stable (as in show up), so tied them directly to one of my principle players (who HAS to show up, as he is the president of the gaming club) is a Heir of a High House (think duke level), and thus one player was brought in as a bodyguard for the new heir (along with a letter from the player's father and heir ring...allowing me to "nudge" the campaign in a direction I wanted it to go without railroading), and the other was a whisper gnome ninja sniper who is the House Assassin assigned to the heir. The noble player also has funds, so he has also done hiring of other players. All introductions have to somehow advance or add to the story I am creating, thus all of the required background.
For those folks who "show up" and are not sure if they want to play, we have a few NPC PCs that were created initially as PCs, but the players quit after a few games, and the characters became an integral part of the party. An example is what we call the "cousin" character, who is a samurai/fighter type distantly related to the noble character, and it became perfect for him to act as the Sgt Major to the nobles Colonel. Then that player quit, so the noble player has two characters, but regularly lets any random player play the cousin in the game (mostly the rolls and the like). This has netted me a number of players who decide they want to continue and create new characters, and filtered a few who decided that my game wasn't for them. Robert (the noble player) basically only has to do the book keeping for the cousin and his rolls, as the cousin was always designed as a strong silent type who would follow the noble into hell.
Lastly, this has happened once, that due to bad luck, a new players character has died in his first session. Usually I am very careful to monitor and modify such situations so as not to actually kill players. I prefer to keep them alive and torture them. making them WISH I had killed them. But I had no choice (something akin to firball going off in an enclosed room with locked door and no way to escape), so I said he had a twin brother, who had studied the exact same things, stats, etc. Made player modify his name slightly, and he started again (Bob is dead, Long Live Rob). Being as some of my players have a malicious streak, they keep on teasing Rob that they liked Bob so much more, even though they only new him for maybe a few hours game time.
skippy
The GM of The Cursed Earth Campaign
Evilhalfling
Adventurer
I prefer a logical introduction, usually it means some they start as a split party and they move to join up. The only person with a backup PC is playing a thief with a 4 ! con. On my urging he took a level of figher, and improved tougness, so now he is only fagile not a walking deadman.
Characters are normally introduced in the following session, although If the rest of the party, hits town, then heads into the wilderness for an extended time, half/formed PCs can join, and play then tinker with that character over the next week.
Characters are normally introduced in the following session, although If the rest of the party, hits town, then heads into the wilderness for an extended time, half/formed PCs can join, and play then tinker with that character over the next week.
MonsterMash
First Post
Well I do try and make it ASAP, but it depends on how easy it is to fit in with the plot and current situation of the gaming group, also on how easy it'll be to generate the new character.
Whooomp, there they are! 
Well I do try to provide some rationalisation. But often it's not a lot better than The Gamers example given. However, a player (that traditionally gets bored of characters quickly) showed up last session with a new character sheet because he couldn't find the old one he set aside a few weeks back when it looked like we were changing campaigns. It was a pain to quickly make the old PC *poof* and shoe-horn in the new one, but it's done.
Now after one session he wants to try find the old character sheet and change back??? I've got a logical place to put him in (that helps explain the *poof*), but he's going to have to play the current character till they get there.
Well I do try to provide some rationalisation. But often it's not a lot better than The Gamers example given. However, a player (that traditionally gets bored of characters quickly) showed up last session with a new character sheet because he couldn't find the old one he set aside a few weeks back when it looked like we were changing campaigns. It was a pain to quickly make the old PC *poof* and shoe-horn in the new one, but it's done.
Now after one session he wants to try find the old character sheet and change back??? I've got a logical place to put him in (that helps explain the *poof*), but he's going to have to play the current character till they get there.
KB9JMQ
First Post
I try to get the new one in asap.
I usually have an hour to do so though as the player is making a new character up while the rest of the group keeps playing.
My new character merging has ranged from a smooth elaborate that makes sense introduction to just dropping the character out of the air onto the party and let them explain how it happened
I usually have an hour to do so though as the player is making a new character up while the rest of the group keeps playing.
My new character merging has ranged from a smooth elaborate that makes sense introduction to just dropping the character out of the air onto the party and let them explain how it happened
