Due to unfortunate circumstances one of my player had to move to another state and consequently dropped out of the game. my players need a new addition in order to get their party back up to its previous numbers. The problem im running into is that the characters are about to break level 10 and nearly half the story has gone by. I have several people lined up who would like to play but i am unsure how to smoothly incorporate them. all the potential players have little or no RP experience and would need to be helped along at first. im worried that their inexperience will heavily hamper game play. i am also having trouble finding a way to suddenly have a 10th level character come out of the wood works and join the party without jarring the story over much.
Any help or advise would be appreciated, thanks.
First off, help the new player make his character. Make it a simple character if they have no experience. I'd suggest actually a Reincarnating Druid from the UM. If they die, they reincarnate automatically in the next week. This gives them some cushion. Get them to take a domain, so they don't have to keep track of the AC, and use another archetype that get's rid of the wildshape, to keep things simple.
As far as putting them into the story, add a side quest right after the old player's character leaves. Make it something to do with the old character if possible, a quest to get him out of trouble or jail or something into an area that is highly dangerous. Let them hire the new character as a guide into the area, let him know it already. That gives them a reason to pick him up, makes sense that he's high level, etc.
First off, help the new player make his character. Make it a simple character if they have no experience. I'd suggest actually a Reincarnating Druid from the UM. If they die, they reincarnate automatically in the next week. This gives them some cushion. Get them to take a domain, so they don't have to keep track of the AC, and use another archetype that get's rid of the wildshape, to keep things simple.
As far as putting them into the story, add a side quest right after the old player's character leaves. Make it something to do with the old character if possible, a quest to get him out of trouble or jail or something into an area that is highly dangerous. Let them hire the new character as a guide into the area, let him know it already. That gives them a reason to pick him up, makes sense that he's high level, etc.
Alright i might be able to make that work. do you have any other suggestions aside from druid as a good starting character? my party already has 2 and if the new player becomes a druid then it will be 3 druids and an arcane archer. the only classes that aren't allowed in my game are paladins and monks.
A ranger is a pretty good class for newer players that would fit well in that party. A witch would probably work as well and is similarly well rounded enough to have reasonably good survivability and would be fairly easy to play. Fighter, Oracle, and Sorcerer could be doable as well, if the players aren't completely new to gaming and they have help from more experienced players while building and leveling them.
As for introducing them, depends on your current story. If the party is currently working for an organization or patron, the new character could be another agent that has been called in to help. The side quest idea, with the side quest tied to either the old, new, or even better, both old and new, characters, where the new character can serve as a guide is also good.
ill have to look into the witch option, although a fighter or barbarian might be a nice addition. Thanks for the help, im pretty sure i can work the new character in using the old characters exit.
Basically anything is simple compared to a wizard, with one exception. Divine casters are simpler than arcane casters. Don't, under any circumstances, allow them to play a Summoner.
2 druids and an arcane archer could use a meatshield. A barbarian fits, flavor-wise, but a fighter is even easier to play (just harder to pick feats for; even that isn't so bad, since you can switch some out).
Talk openly with ALL your players, and brainstorm something the n00b will enjoy playing. A 10th level melee god is a world of fun to play, and with a little coaching, the character could really contribute.
Set up a few encounters to let the new guy really mop the floor with the enemies, using his feats and such, and he'll enjoy it. Let the other players hold his hand the first few sessions, until he's got the hang of it, and you'll all have a blast.
2 druids and an arcane archer could use a meatshield. A barbarian fits, flavor-wise, but a fighter is even easier to play (just harder to pick feats for; even that isn't so bad, since you can switch some out).
Talk openly with ALL your players, and brainstorm something the n00b will enjoy playing. A 10th level melee god is a world of fun to play, and with a little coaching, the character could really contribute.
Set up a few encounters to let the new guy really mop the floor with the enemies, using his feats and such, and he'll enjoy it. Let the other players hold his hand the first few sessions, until he's got the hang of it, and you'll all have a blast.
The only problem I see is that level 10 is about where spellcasters start to rapidly out strip melee types. It might be kind of disheartening to play if your character starts out at it's strongest vs the rest of the players and only goes down from there.
The only problem I see is that level 10 is about where spellcasters start to rapidly out strip melee types. It might be kind of disheartening to play if your character starts out at it's strongest vs the rest of the players and only goes down from there.2 druids and an arcane archer could use a meatshield. A barbarian fits, flavor-wise, but a fighter is even easier to play (just harder to pick feats for; even that isn't so bad, since you can switch some out).
Talk openly with ALL your players, and brainstorm something the n00b will enjoy playing. A 10th level melee god is a world of fun to play, and with a little coaching, the character could really contribute.
Set up a few encounters to let the new guy really mop the floor with the enemies, using his feats and such, and he'll enjoy it. Let the other players hold his hand the first few sessions, until he's got the hang of it, and you'll all have a blast.
True, but the party makeup has some gaping holes in it, anyway. Where's the skillmonkey? The face? The arcane god?
This group is great in the wild. In a dungeon or a city? Not so much. The GM has to take these things into account, so I think a frontline melee guy (fighter, barb, TWF ranger, or maybe even paladin) will spice up combat, and if the other players work with him, he'll be effective in most encounters.
Two druids and an arcane archer could work with any class being added to the party. In fact they could probably go forward on their own. Meat shield? Heck, level 10 druids can summon meat shields until they clog up the battle mat.
The only question is how to integrate the new character in as seamless a manner as possible. And frankly that's a question that could quite adequately be answered with "just pick him up in a bar and promise him part of the party's spoils." OK, that's a horrible cliche, but the real question isn't how to get him into the party, it's how to keep the campaign going as smoothly as possible.
If you really want to put the effort into making some sort of smooth, logical, story-aligned transition for the new character then put the player to work on coming up with one too.
Since your party has no hole to fill, I would ask the new player what they want to play and just work him into the party as quickly and quietly as possible. If he chooses a cleric or paladin, then his God directed him to join the party. If he chooses a rogue, then the party has a reputation for finding good loot. If he chooses a witch, then his patron put an urge in his mind.... In the immortal words of Nike shoes.... Just do it. And get back to playing the game as quickly as possible.