D&D 5E Relocated PC approaches

[Baron Opal II]

If the player is a social fit, mechanically the character is a good fit, sure.

If there is a incongruent backstory or non-existent species, then they can come through a one-way gate. Gods, magic, sentient races &c. are different, but it's okay because you're from somewhere else. You might get a little lonely, however.

 

[bloodtide]

Have them join the game? I'm not really sure of the question.

If the players had any willingness to do so, I'd set up a meet and greet for everyone. But most players are so "busy" they can't spare even a single hour to meet someone. So I'll just have the new player show up at the normal game and join and play. Any player that wants to whine and complain about meeting the new player without wasting game time, is free to leave the game.

In game, I'll mostly just have the new character walk over. Any player that makes a big deal about it, or "role plays" their character to "not trust" the new character and/or acts like a jerk....is free to leave the game. And such a player that does something like "my character does not heal the new character" can expect a rock to fall on their character and turn that character to stone for like an hour ("go sit in the other room, I'll let you know when you can play again").

Occasionally I'll work the new character into the story somehow, but not too often.

 

[aco175]

In game, I'll mostly just have the new character walk over. Any player that makes a big deal about it, or "role plays" their character to "not trust" the new character and/or acts like a jerk....is free to leave the game. And such a player that does something like "my character does not heal the new character" can expect a rock to fall on their character and turn that character to stone for like an hour ("go sit in the other room, I'll let you know when you can play again").

I have played in a game before back in 2e days where the new player was a pawn of the DM and sent on orders from the BBEG to attack us from within. The DM played it as a friend who wanted to play for a few weeks in the game to see how he liked it. The human connection of wanting to be friends and play with a new guy were ruined when he backstabed us and the DM basically said, "Ha, you never seen that twist coming."

Forgive me if you take things out on the players for things happening in the game comes off as a bit petty in my perspective.

 

[James Gasik]

So something like this happened to me a few years back. A new friend was starting up a game, and myself and my friend Tim had been invited to join. We'd just been having a conversation about two of our old characters, who had been good allies, and how we'd never been able to complete our shared quest.

So we made (as close as we could) 5e versions of those characters and presented our backstories to the DM. To say we weren't optimized would be...lol...an understatement (High Elf Magic Domain Cleric/Wizard and a Dragonborn Barbarian/Bard).

But an interesting thing happened a few sessions later. While we fell into our old camaraderie quickly, the other characters seemed a bit overwhelmed by our teamwork, tactics, and "old war stories" at first.

Quickly realizing our characters were veterans, we became the de facto party leaders, so all seemed well.

But by session four, the DM, away from game, admitted that he felt intimidated running for our characters- he felt that our backstories were better developed than his entire game, that our tales of past trials and glories were better than his current storyline, and that he wasn't confident about challenging us, because our characters worked so well together.

In effect, he felt our characters were detracting from, instead of adding to, his campaign.

To the OP, search your feelings and ask yourself how you feel about this new character and the experiences they have had. It's perfectly OK if they want to pick the same race/class, but I would ask for a detailed backstory, so you specifically know what they have done in the past, to see if that lines up with your campaign. Just in case you might have any reservations about any elements of their past.

It's perfectly ok if you feel a character's backstory is a little too detailed. Also, make sure the new player is ok with any changes you have to make. Stress that this isn't their old character, but an alternate universe doppleganger, who may not have had the same life as the original.