How to bring a new player into an ongoing campaign

The short answer. Send the new player a short brief about the current problem, why their character is involved, and a few people they will meet. Include when you play and the table agreements they need to know. Answer their questions before the game and explain older events as they become relevant.

Ask what they want to play

Ask what the player enjoys: negotiating, investigating, exploring, protecting someone, or causing trouble. Find a person or problem in the campaign that gives them a chance to do that. If they want to play a bodyguard, their character could arrive with someone the party needs to protect.

Agree on that connection with the player before adding it to your notes. They should know why their character is here and be comfortable with the role.

The five-part welcome brief

• Now. Write two sentences about where the party is and what could happen next.
• You. Explain why their character is here and name one person or place they already know.
• Three names. Choose three names the player is likely to hear early in the game. Add a line about why each matters.
• How the table works. Say when you play, how to report an absence, and where you discuss rules and plans. Include only safety agreements the group has agreed to share, without anyone’s personal explanation.
• First choice. Give the new character something to decide in the first scene. They can learn the history as it becomes relevant.

A welcome brief you can copy

• Now. “The group is in Bellwater, where someone stole the town’s tax chest and framed the ferry crew. At dawn they will choose between following tracks into the marsh or confronting the Lantern Guild.”
• You. “Your character knows ferry captain Sera Vale and came because she asked for help clearing her crew.”
• Three names. “Sera, blamed captain and your contact. Orrin, local guide who distrusts the Guild. Lantern Guild, wealthy merchants offering a reward with conditions.”
• How the table works. “We confirm the next date in chat, fade out romantic scenes, and anyone may call a pause without explaining why.”
• First choice. “Sera can hide you on the ferry or introduce you openly as her advocate. Which do you want?”

Invite questions without testing recall. If the new player calls the Lantern Guild “the merchants” for three sessions, play continues. Names become memorable after they matter in a scene.

Make the first session do the teaching

1. Introduce their contact. Bring the person they know into the opening scene, or show them the problem they came to help with.
2. Ask for a decision. Give the newcomer a real choice before expecting them to understand every relationship at the table.
3. Ask how it went. Ask what was clear, what remains confusing, and what the player wants to pursue next. Update the brief from their answers.

Learn how to share lore without spoilers

Give the player a useful journal format

Where Storywright fits

Invite the player to your world and check the player view. Share the people and places from their welcome brief, keeping unrevealed details in GM notes. Link their character to the contact you agreed on so you can find the connection during play.

The player can use a journal for their own account of events. Storywright does not turn their theories into facts in the shared world record; you still decide what belongs there.

See how the campaign workspace is organized