The Black Campbell

When a gaming group gets a new player you have a few challenges to confront: do you just throw them in the deep end and bring them into the play in media res? Do you can an ongoing adventure to start a new one with the person involved? Do you craft an entirely new game, perhaps, to introduce them to the group, then bring them in on other ongoing campaigns?

We had a new player join us for out Battlestar Galactica game — the game they were most interested in playing — so I decided to go with a combination of the first two choices: There was already an ongoing adventure, but we were a a spot where I could do a “teaser” just for that character, to introduce the player to the world and the character to the other players. There’s a lot going on in the game, as anyone who has read the after-action reports can see. The character was brought in as a Colonial Fleet SID (sort of their NCIS) investigator that is aiding in the hunt for Cylon infiltration, but also to keep an eye on the commander (a player character) as the admiralty is suspicious of the constant coincidental links between him and the Cylons.

It was a pretty clean intro, but sometimes you just aren’t quite set up for an intro like that. Say you are in the standard dungeon crawl — how did the character get to be there? Did you “promote” an NPC (give the player an existing NPC?) Or are they mysteriously in the depths of a dungeon without having encountered all the monsters, etc. your party did? If so, how did they get there? IF they are traveling to a location, it’s a bit easier. There’s the traditional tavern meet and greet, but I prefer some kind of short side adventure — the players encounter some kind of evil or shenanigans the new player is involved with. They get convinced to go on this side mission with the new character. Easy peasy.

If you are very near the end of an ongoing mission — say right at the denouement — you could always shelve that last play session for a week or so, play something different to get the players comfortable with each other (I did this with the BSG adventure, as we were to the final fight in a Marvel mission), then come back to it if the new player is absent or there is another play time available without them. Another way to handle it to jump the characters to just after their last mission and assume success or failure. “Whew — that was a tough fight, but we slew the dragon and got the treasure…” or “I was sure we had that bootlegging gangster dead to rights, but somehow he got away…fortunately, we’ll get a lead through [new character]…”

When we’ve had a large number of players change hands I find I favor the create a new campaign strategy.

What’s your strategy for handling new folks?

This character is unique to our campaign, which is an “original” setting (or as much a one as supers campaigns get.)

I’ve been told our Liberty City campaign is a bit dark. The recent adventure, which featured the suicide of a security guard with the unfortunate power to release a power noxious gas from his nethers, aided in stopping a robery on a casino in the LC. Since the gas also affects dies, it ruined the carpets, paint, and fouled the air of the place badly enough the lobby will need to be refurbished…for that they fired him. It was a poignant scene and continued a theme I’ve been pushing — powers don’t make you smart, talented, or competent. The villains are still mostly idiots who can’t do much other than crime (and that rarely well), and the heroes don’t necessarily embace their gifts, or have them make their lives marvelous.

Here’s an upcoming villain that keeps that darkness going. The campaign is essentially a police procedural show with superpowers. In an upcoming episode, they’ll have a series of child abduction/murders that link into an FBI serial killer manhunt. They know very little, other than the suspect uses some kind of hypnotic weapon to draw in the kids. Only once has someone identified the perpetrator, and that agnet was killed with some kind of sonic weapon — possibly the same thing used to lure the kids. The FBI has dubbed him the Pied Piper:

THE PIED PIPER (real identity unknown)

Affiliations: Solo d10, Buddy d8, Team d6

Distinctions: Pedophile, Takes a Lot of Planning, Centuries of Experience

POWERS SETS:

Psychic Vampire

Lifeforce Drain: d10     Superhuman Durability: d10   Superhuman Stamina: d10

SFX, Psychic Vampire: On a successful life force drain test, shift the effect dice from the Pied Piper’s stress to the target. With an opportunity, can shift trauma from the Pied Piper to the target.

SFX, Memories!: With a successful life force drain, can trade 1PP for  the highest die from the opponent’s next action pool for his action or reaction.

SFX, Unleashed: Step up or double a Psychic Vampire power for a turn. If the action fails, the effect die goes to the doom pool.

Limit, Love of Innocence: When lifeforce drain is used on an adult, takes the targets reaction die in mental stress.

The Flute

Sonic Blast d8     Mind Control: d10

SFX, Come Hither: +d6 for each extra target and keep an extra die for effect.

Limit, Made for Children: 1PP and step the Mind Control effect down to d6 on adults.

Limit, Gear: 1PP and shutdown Flute. Needs to make a test vs. the doom poo or use an opportunity  to recover.

Specialities: Covert Master d10, Crime Master d10, Menace Master d10, Psych Expert d10