Last night we brought a new player into our old group. Well, old by my standards - one player I've gamed with for a year, another for six months, and the last for four or so. We've had weekly meetings, and get along very well. Though the session starts at 7pm, we've rarely begun actually gaming until 8:30pm, as we're too busy chatting, talking shit.

Anyway on the weekend I met a foreign student guy who hadn't gamed in ages, and he seemed a nice friendly bloke, so I invited him along.

The old group had said that every session was fun, but "a bit lacklustre". I attribute this to the fact that we've one active player, and two reactive ones - so there's no high drama about what to do, never seems like the stakes are high, because two are happy to follow the third. I thought that bringing in a fourth player might shake things up a bit.

It did. He was an active player. Early in the session I was a bit worried, as his character wandered off doing his own thing, and was being stupid. But then he seemed to settle down, come back more to the group, and be a bit more restrained.

As I see it, it's always hard for a person to come to a group that's well-established, whether it be a game group, workplace, sports team, or whatever. You can deal with the new group reactively, or actively. The reactive person sits back and watches for a bit, to see how things are done there, then steps in when it seems appropriate. The active person, on the other hand, discovers the boundaries by running around smashing into them. So the active person will figure things out more quickly, but they might also get themselves thrown out!

Whenever I bring in a new person, I always ask the current members what they thought of them, and the new person what they thought of the group. It's understood by all that the new person should be given and give it a session or two, then all can decide if they want to keep gaming together. One player wrote,

QuoteI think he's on a slightly different wavelength to the rest of us, and I'm wondering if he might be used to a slightly different style of play as he seemed happy to wander off and do his own thing. I'm not complaining, just commenting. Made me realise how tight-knit and friendly the four of us have become.

He seems to be an active player, so I think he'll push things along nicely. I think he did a good job of playing [his character]... he tried to stick to the cultural background...

I initially thought he was bucking a bit hard, almost as if he was trying to make things difficult for the GM, but he got into a better groove as the night went on. I imagine he was eager to get into it.

But now I'm sounding like someone who wants to keep the status quo and preserve the sanctity of our little group. I don't mean to, and I suspect he'll improve the quality of our games, especially since last night was a bit more adventure than normal. Not sure if it was because of [the new guy], or just coincidence.

So this was interesting to me, seeing the new guy come into the old group, people sorting out, okay, I felt a bit uncomfortable with the guy, is that really him, or is he just invading our little group and I'm being xenophobic, etc.

What have your experiences been with this stuff?

I've traveled quite a bit in my life, so I'm often the outsider trying to find a group... gaming can be an uncomfortable hobby for the nomadic player, I've noticed.

Many established groups seem to avoid dynamic new players. They do want the quiet seat filler who won't disrupt stuff too much.  Naturally, I've become more reactive, as you call it, when approaching new groups.  

Illustrated example;

Recently I was going to be a plank holder for a new Exalted game, only the GM and players (other than me) were already a group.  The players had their styles, the GM his. There was plenty of friction and a couple of players who were admittedly disruptive to the game. The GM actually wanted to be rid of those two, when he was talking to me about it.  Tapping my inner dynamic player I sat down and came up with a character concept, one with lots of stuff going on, lots of things to do... and maybe a shade of the trenchcoat katana guy that WW games seem to love.  

Before the game even started I was out, the disruptive players stayed. My concept scared the GM. He didn't know what to do with a player who actively sought to move the world around him.  


Example two: Three months later I was invited to seat fill for my housemate's long running campaign due to scheduling conflicts with two of the players (also disruptive, which was why the group wasn't exactly shifting days to accomodate them). I came in with the idea to play once, and sat down and made a generic D&D fighter, a mercenary specializing in dual wielded flails. Interesting visual, but nothing propping him up as a concept.  Four sessions later I'm a valued and respected player in the group.  

Wether your mathamatic balance in play styles is valid or not, reactive playing has always smoothed entry for me into new groups, while active playing tends to cause undo friction.  It hasn't always been a 'deal killer' but it has been a factor.

If not handled properly, introducing a new player to an established group who not only know each others playstyle but are also friends outside the context of gaming, can be a tricky process.

Recently we had two new players in the group. The first one was a gamer, so it was pretty easy to intergrate her into the group. She was also an extrovert, so we could just chill out talk a bit about our gaming experiences before hand, and just dive into the game. She picked up on our playstyle pretty quick, found that we were on the same wave length as her and grooved along pretty smoothly.

The second one was a complete newcomer to the hobby. She was a bit of an introvert and was suprised there was no board set up before the game. Mindful of the fact that she was not a gamer, and a bit of an introvert, we cut out the usual shorthand that friends use with each other, answered any questions she had about rpgs (keeping it short and simple) and when we started playing, the other players gave her ample opportunities (sometimes to the detriment of their characters) to get engaged in the game.

For my part I kept the game simple and easy to relate to. A short mission with very little backstory . Also it was a game set in a genre - TV spy show - that she was interested in. That's over a year ago. This particular player is the best - at least she keeps winning the extra xp/bonus points award for roleplaying - roleplayer in our merry little group.

Regards,
David R