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Incorporating a New PC
Martin Ralya over at Treasure Tables brought up an interesting question today, How do you incorporate a new character into an existing campaign?
As I always encourage my players to role-play, I am almost always happy to let them sit around half the night as they get to know the new character. It provides a good chance for them to develop the character more fully, and it gives the other players a chance to get to know this new character, allowing for richer and easier role-playing to follow.
Sometimes, however, this just isn’t appropriate. Whether due to pacing issues, the PCs being about to embark on a harrowing quest which had built up a lot of excitement and anticipation, or players just not feeling up to spending the evening role-playing, another solution is needed.
The simplest and best solution I have found is to introduce the new PC as being a friend or family member of either the person who died or a survivor in the group. This makes the new PCs credibility easy to establish, without disrupting Suspension of Disbelief or stunting role-playing opportunities later on. Better yet, it lets the party continue onward as soon as they desire.
This method shouldn’t be hard for most people to accept. It provides role-playing opportunities for those who enjoy them, and allows them to skip arduous role-playing scenes for those who don’t.
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