inspired by the alternative beginnings thread:
How do you work in a new character? Either a character has died and the player has rolled up a new PC or you get a new player, what is the best way you have worked in a new character?
I still think one of the best stories was the party was working for a man (who I knew was going to be the BBEG) and when one PC died the player created a character that was the man's son. Little did he know that his father had joined an evil cult and was going to try and assasintate the king.
if they're in the middle of a dungeon crawl, they either bump into the player or find him in a locked room somewhere...
sometimes its hard as hell to work in a character, one occasion the gm didnt inform me that the rest of the group worked at the local school, and my character was a bounty hunter, bout 2 hours into the game of me sitting there, we all ended up at a Ihop and i was introduced...
That's one of my least favorite parts of campaigns...fitting new players. Sometimes, I just want to plop them in and pretent they were there the whole time.
Just last night, I had to add in a new character. The group was about to leave the city and go investigate a tomb. Rather than bump into him in a bar, I had him also looking for the tomb (he's a Scout), and they all bump into each other right as he finishes a small combat. Caught him up on experience, and it was a little different. Still nothing great, though.
Just like in "The Gamers"...
"You seem trustworthy! Would you like to join us?"
"Yes!"
*falls into marching order*
Fortunately, this is one that I very rarely have to deal with as my roster usually doesn't rotate during a campaign.
When it does, though, I'm somewhat merciless. I'll put the new PC in a reasonable spot, and it's the player's responsibility to have created a character the other PCs want around. If it doesn't feel like a good fit, the player is asked to create a different character. I think it's only been an issue once or twice.
I often go to the trouble to create several recurring npcs who are part of the overall group just so new players have a character with some shared history.
One tactic would have the new player be someone sent by an ally of dubious trustworthiness, so that a reason to include the person and a reason to be uncomfortable are bound together.
Hopefully I try and work it in during a break or try and tie into some back story point. However I just found out yesterday that I've got a new player showing up tonight. So we'll see how that one goes.
In both of my campaigns, the players work for organizations.
It makes new intros very, very easy.
-O