Topic: Tips for introducing a new player

[Druss_the_Legend]

i am introducing a 4th player to my rolemaster campaign.
he is a fighter. other pcs are burglar, barbarian, assassin.
any tips?

[Druss_the_Legend]

the current party are well established and have numerous NPC contacts, their own personal goals and a few common enemies of various power (a criminal crime lord, a thieves guild leader, an assassins guild leader and an evil sorceror/leader of a dark cult. im resisting the 'long lost cousin' angle and am looking for a realistic reason for the new pc to join the party.  the story  arc is already rather complex so im aiming to keep any relationship/connection to the current lists of npcs simple.
two questions im deliberating over are:
1) why would the new character want to join the party? (motivation)
2) why would the party want him to join them?
i keep coming back to the common enemy/common ally angle. keep it simple.

thoughts?

[Peter R]

If your PCs have well developed back stories then plant clues in the new players back story to some element of the story arc. As long as the players do not just blurt out their entire backgrounds then slowly though the roleplaying the new character will have something valuable to add.

[Druss_the_Legend]

If your PCs have well developed back stories then plant clues in the new players back story to some element of the story arc. As long as the players do not just blurt out their entire backgrounds then slowly though the roleplaying the new character will have something valuable to add.

Thanks Peter. With such a complex plot it is somewhat inevitable the new player will be a bit lost as to the story arc at first, but that is fine as I actually prefer to keep my players guessing. You can sort of tell when they need a few plot threads explained to them, this is why its important that you listen to your players and as GM keep in mind that everything they know about the story comes from you. One idea iv been playing around with a bit is the use of scrying and fortune telling to drop plot hints to my players. I have actually created a set of 30 digital tarot cards for this purpose (in the setting there is a race of gypsies who are known for their ability to tell fortunes using all manner of devices such crystal balls, tarot cards or palm reading). Its really intresting blending in the randomness and unpredictability of this during gameplay because the fortune readings are of course suitably cryptic but as i know whats actually going on behind the scenes i can shape their reading accordingly and the players really seem lo like getting plot clues this way, even if they seem like a riddle at the time. one player has described the plot as riddles within riddles which i probably need to take as a hint to give him some more information in some areas that relate to his pc specifically.