New Player out of Nowhere!

[S'mon]

Should the GM have a say over the number of players in his game? Sure, that can impact a game heavily. Should the GM have a say over personalities of players? IMO, to an equal extent as any other player.

Hmm, maybe if it's some kind of rotating GM system where the group is more important than the individual game/campain, or a shared world or somesuch.

Back in the old days I remember we used to interview prospective new players, typically the GM plus 1-2 current players would talk to a new prospect and see if they'd fit in. These days I run at a Meetup and if I have space anyone can join my game initially, but if they don't work out I may have to ask them to leave. That used to happen a lot in my 3.5e game, I suspect the 3e ruleset might be partially to blame as I've seen far fewer problems in my 4e game.

 

[Oryan77]

Awesome! Perfect opportunity for the DM to get some free beer.

Friends of my friends get a free pass when joining our group. I don't interview them beforehand. I'm ok with just letting them show up for a session and meeting them then. It's a social game and these are "supposed" to be friends. Being formal with a friends friend seems a little standoffish. I enjoy when my friends bring their friends to a party that I'm throwing when I tell them, "....and bring your friends!" You did say that you wanted to bring more players to the group. You'll make a better first impression if you're laid back about your friends friend joining.

Now complete strangers that nobody knows is handled completely different. That's because if the new guy is a putz, then you have nobody to blame but yourself. At least with the friends friend, you get to blame your buddy if things go sour and remind him once in a while about the time he brought that douche bag into the group and you guys can laugh about the ordeal.

But the best part about this is that he had his buddy make a PC already. That's kinda awkward since it would be nice for you to collaborate with the new guy about it first. But hey, just tell your friend that he's put you in a bad position and now he has to buy you a 6-pack of beer to make up for it. If you don't want the beer, you can ship it to me at:

Oryan77
123 Fourth Fifth St.
San Jose, CA 98765

 

[samursus]

I tend to fall on the side of "As a DM I get to decide who plays in my game". It sounds control-freakish, but as a Dm I put a lot of extra time and effort for my games and since when we play it is at my house I don't feels its unreasonable to have that opinion.

We have alternating DM's, so if its in his game, thats up to him.

To be sure though, I would definitely meet the guy and see what's what. As a DM your are kind of the de facto Leader of that "team". Others may have different group dynamics (for example a group of mostly DM's) which would change that paradigm, but in my group... no one else would ever want to DM.

We have tended to meet new players at a Denny's to get a bit of an idea if personalities will work, and so far it has worked well.

 

[Edgewood]

I have sent an e-mail to the player and will get to discuss the game with him before we play on Saturday. I'm happy that I got a new player because they are rare where I live. I don't want to rock the boat but it is my house and I have three small kids. Now I'm pretty sure that my friend (who also happens to be my supervisor at work) wouldn't invite some creep to my house, but still, I think asking me first would have been in order.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

These days I run at a Meetup and if I have space anyone can join my game initially, but if they don't work out I may have to ask them to leave.

I used to run a 1E/2E game in my old FLGS as part of a Gaming Club (Gamemasters Guild of Waukegan). One of the rules of the club was that not only could I not exclude anyone initially (unless I had a set maximum group size), I couldn't exclude anyone from the group at all unless I wanted to basically bring them up for misconduct with the club board (yes, the club was owned by a former member of the military). I had to make things work out with any player who wanted to join.

I don't mean to come off as the Hippy DM spouting peace, love and group decisions. My friends respect the work I put into DMing and don't play against me when I have an issue with someone. We generally see eye-to-eye. I think they've made it easier to reliquish my controlling tendencies and be a little more laid back because we all trust each other.

@Edgewood: Yes, he should have asked. But maybe he thought he was. Also, be careful gaming with your supervisor! I invited an old boss to game with us and it went well for a long while. But it strained our work relationship being friends and he finally bowed out when he thought I had crossed some line in our boss/employee roles. I'm not sure to this day what I did wrong, but it was slightly awkward at work until he moved on to another company.

 

[wedgeski]

I have sent an e-mail to the player and will get to discuss the game with him before we play on Saturday. I'm happy that I got a new player because they are rare where I live. I don't want to rock the boat but it is my house and I have three small kids. Now I'm pretty sure that my friend (who also happens to be my supervisor at work) wouldn't invite some creep to my house, but still, I think asking me first would have been in order.

Sounds about right! Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[S'mon]

I used to run a 1E/2E game in my old FLGS as part of a Gaming Club (Gamemasters Guild of Waukegan). One of the rules of the club was that not only could I not exclude anyone initially (unless I had a set maximum group size), I couldn't exclude anyone from the group at all unless I wanted to basically bring them up for misconduct with the club board (yes, the club was owned by a former member of the military). I had to make things work out with any player who wanted to join.

Yeah, I don't think I could deal with that kind of thing at all. Arguing a case is, literally, too much like work for me (I'm an academic lawyer), and I couldn't deal with a situation where I didn't have authority over who sat at my table. Again, though, it's not about control freakery, it's about enjoying the company of the people I'm spending time with, and not having to argue about stupid stuff like the player who declared his PC could not die (because the player had written in the PC's background he was prophesied to be killed by a red dragon, ergo nothing else could kill him).

I know I sound really bad, but I actually do enjoy meeting new people, introducing new players to the game, and most of the players I meet I like really well.

 

[jdrakeh]

I know I sound really bad. . .

Yes. Yes, you do!

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

not having to argue about stupid stuff like the player who declared his PC could not die (because the player had written in the PC's background he was prophesied to be killed by a red dragon, ergo nothing else could kill him).

That's when you have the random orc that killed him shapechange back into a red dragon, smile and fly off. You must think more evil-ish when forced to deal with disruptive players. I only had issue with one player, because he blantantly cheated. But he was even worse at making good decisions in game than he was at covering uo his cheating. One long time player asked why I kept letting him cheat. "Because it has become entertaining watching his uber-statted characters die."

 

[jdrakeh]

[Edit: Double-post.]