Introducing New Players Into an Existing Campaign

It can inevitably happen to any group: one or more players leave the table for an indefinite time. It can also happen that a group simply decides to bring additional players to the table. In this post, I want to focus on the options a Dungeon Master has for integrating new players into an existing campaign—so that it's as pleasant as possible for the newcomer, the DM, and the existing players alike.

The approach presented here is structurally very similar to the process I use to design my own homebrew campaigns. You start at a macro level, and once you start feeling comfortable there, you move on to the details. If you enjoy this approach, you might also be interested in this article.

The Pre-Session Conversation

Conversations between the DM and individual players are important—regardless of whether the person is new or has been part of the group for years. Most people are surely already aware of this, but it doesn't hurt to mention it again.

Especially with new players, it's important to make sure they know what kind of game is being played. What themes will come up? What's the balance between exploration, combat, and roleplay? How do players portray their characters—in first person or from an observer's perspective?

New players need to understand what they're signing up for and what gap they're filling for the existing group. It's possible to consider whether the existing group should adapt to a potentially different play style, but that shouldn't be the norm. This can lead to complications, especially during an ongoing campaign. Because when the group changes, the DM has to make sure that whatever has been making the game fun for the group so far is preserved.

That's also why it's very important to talk to the existing players beforehand, to learn from their perspective which aspects of the game matter most to them. That might mean, for example, that a person has specific taboo topics that shouldn't come up in the game—or that the group wants to meet weekly so they don't lose track of the story.

If there's a lot of interest in the open seat, it helps to put these points together as a handout and send it to potential newcomers in advance. It's difficult to know exactly what to expect from a tabletop RPG group. But if a concrete definition already exists, most people can work with that and more easily decide whether they'd feel comfortable joining.

Ping-Pong

Once someone has been found to fill the role, the hardest part is done. Now comes the really fun part.

The ping-pong technique (the name will make sense) is a character creation approach that has worked well for me when it comes to introducing new players into an existing campaign without overwhelming them with too much context and information, or spoiling things. The knowledge the players have should be as closely synced as possible with the knowledge their characters have.

At my table, for example, avoiding meta-gaming is very important. That raises the question: how much do you tell new players about the world, its secrets, conflicts, and cultures? Either way, the goal is to give players as much information as necessary, but as little as possible. Because nobody remembers endless timelines, pantheons, stories, and backgrounds if they're completely irrelevant to their own character.

So the DM should start at a macro level, revealing the knowledge that every character in the game world would have. Then the ball is thrown back. The new player now decides what they want to learn more about, which aspects interest them—always with the goal of building their own character out of the information they receive.

The DM then goes further into detail, but only as far as necessary for new character options to emerge. This process is repeated until you've essentially "zoomed in" on a specific aspect of the game world, without needing to consider everything else. If the new player already has concrete ideas about which personalities or themes interest them beforehand, all the better. In that case, the DM doesn't need to start at the macro level and can dive into detail more quickly.

In practice, these conversations happen one-on-one. Otherwise, others would learn too much about the new characters. For example, this exchange might go as follows: the DM introduces the world with its kingdoms and peoples. The new player decides on elves, for instance, because she finds their role in the world interesting. The DM then shares knowledge that all elves would generally have. Maybe the player notices an aspect she particularly likes—for example, the unusual trade relationship between elves and humans, who exchange vital goods along trade routes through a dangerous sea. The DM then starts going further and further into detail from there. The result of this exchange might be an elven pirate who specifically raids these trade routes.

If it turns out that you've followed a thread and the player isn't happy with her choice after all—no problem. Going back to the elven pirate example: even a character who isn't an elven pirate can know about elven seafaring. Maybe because a parent fought against these pirates. Maybe a parent was even killed by one? Or perhaps they learned about it from books?

In this way, the ping-pong approach can be used to playfully create a character who is already integrated into the world, without burdening or spoiling the player with unnecessary knowledge. The DM's role here is still to guide the process. Two things must be ensured: that the character's and the player's knowledge stay in sync, and that the new character is a good fit for the existing group. That means if the group has been fighting an evil dwarven people for over twenty sessions, the new character probably shouldn't be a passionate supporter of that very dwarven people.

Fill in the Blanks

You may have already had this thought while reading the previous section. It's obviously unrealistic to expect the DM to have already worked out backgrounds, characters, and locations for every last detail of the game world.

It's actually an advantage if that isn't the case. Because at the point where the DM reaches a level of detail they haven't fleshed out yet, they can hand the reins to the new player. Together, you create what's missing. This immediately gives the player the chance to actively contribute to the world—with more or less input from the DM. It also makes it easier for the new player to settle into the world.

The DM should also distinguish between world knowledge that has actively been played out at the table and knowledge that has so far only existed in their own head. The latter isn't actually part of the game world's reality yet—so it can, by necessity, be changed. If the new player has a sensible idea to expand the world and give her character more background, and that idea contradicts something only in the DM's head, the DM should let it go. Instead, they should make an effort to integrate the player's idea into the world.

Together with the information from the ping-pong exchange and the newly created details, a character can now be created. This character doesn't need to be multi-layered yet. What matters is that the character has a place in the world, is anchored in it, and fits the existing group. What inner struggles, motivations, and longings they have isn't important at first. For one thing, a character's depth only really emerges within the first five to ten sessions. For another, no character would immediately share their deepest wishes and fears with the group in their second session. So why bother with something there's no need for yet?

Establishing a Theme

After roughly the first five to ten sessions, players develop a good sense of the world, its conflicts, and above all their own character. At this point, it's time to talk about the character's theme.

This is about answering two specific questions about the character's personality and background.

• What does the character long for? (Player's perspective)

• What is the character's goal, and how do they try to achieve it? (Character's perspective)

The goal is to create a throughline that grounds the character's personality and that the DM can use as a guide to keep pushing the character's story forward. For example, the elven pirate might have left his family behind for wealth and has since wrestled with the burning question of whether that decision was the right one. What moments, places, and people in the character's life made them who they are today? The DM can build on this and create concrete conflicts in the form of locations and NPCs that engage with this theme and force players into decisions that significantly shape their character's future.

For the question of the character's longing, you look at the character from the player's point of view. Maybe the pirate's player has realized over the course of several sessions that her character needs to learn the value of family in order to find happiness. It's up to the DM whether to affirm or push back against this framing. What matters is only that it gets established.

For the question of the character's goal, you take the character's own point of view. What does the character believe would fulfill their life if they achieved it? What actions and means do they use to try to get there? For example, the pirate might be searching for a sunken relic that would grant him dominion over the sea, and for that reason seizes every opportunity that brings him closer to that treasure.

Closing Thoughts

Introducing a new person into an existing campaign is work. But it's work that pays off and can be a lot of fun if you approach it the right way. Not all of the steps I've presented need to be followed in this much detail. Maybe your campaign needs fewer, maybe you need more. Perhaps they'll simply serve as a memory aid for your own ideas. These steps can also be used with existing players to give their characters a deeper personality.

In any case, as the DM you should always pay attention to how the person is doing and how you can make sure they feel comfortable in the group going forward.