Episode 120
Should You Invite Guests to Play In Your D&D Campaign?
Today we talk about inviting guests to join you in your D&D campaign.
Here are some of the topics we talked about :
Should you have guest players?
Reasons For
The guest has never played D&D. Allowing them to play with an established group would give them a better experience than just having them find a random group who may or may not have played before.
Bringing in a guest might allow you to portray an important NPC in the story without having to roleplay them yourself
Reasons Against
Adding in a guest might disrupt the flow of the game and the group. They may not mesh because they probably don’t understand the inside jokes and comradery of the group
Why should you try having a guest player?
How Should You Do It?
How Should You Not Do it?
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
Welcome back to How to be a Better DM, the
official podcast of Monsters.Rent.
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:I'm your host today, Justin Lewis, here
with my friend and colleague Tanner
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:Weyland.
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:Any words to share with the audience,
Tanner?
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:Um, words to share.
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:Well, I heard the word your curial the
other day on the podcast and I thought it
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:was really interesting.
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:But, but aside from that, hi, hi
everybody.
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:Glad to be here with you.
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:I do like that word.
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:I don't know what it means, but I'll have
to look that up later.
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:Because today we are talking about
something that I've actually wanted to
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:talk about for a while.
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:D&D is such a fun game that obviously we
all love to play.
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:And I know I say we all do stuff.
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:I say we all a lot, but I'll try not to
say that.
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:Usually though, when you have something
that you love, you tend to invite others
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:to join with you.
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:In the case of D&D, that can kind of lead
to large parties and tables that are
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:overcrowded and unmanageable games,
especially for DMs.
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:I myself suffer from the same problem.
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:But what if you just invited someone to
play for only a couple weeks, right?
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:What if they were allowed at the table
only for a little bit of time as a guest?
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:Is that something you can do?
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:How does that work?
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:What might go wrong?
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:That's...
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:Go ahead.
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:I totally agree that it's something that I
think a lot of DMs worry about because I
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:mean, for a great majority of us, I would
argue we have a hard enough time just
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:getting up the courage to ask our friends,
our good friends who are interested in D&D
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:to be part of a campaign or a one shot,
right?
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:We're like, that takes about as much
courage or goodwill that we have with our
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:friends to ask that.
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:time, you know, gaming sesh or, or someone
who maybe you aren't as familiar with or a
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:new friend, you know, that's, it's kind of
nerve wracking, right?
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:Yeah, yeah.
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:So let's get into it.
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:First, I want to talk about, let's
discuss, should you try having guests at
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:your table, or should you not?
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:And let's kind of explore both options.
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:So go ahead.
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:Um, I mean...
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:say that if you want to share the
experience of D&D, I mean absolutely,
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:right?
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:If you have a good party of players who
know how to make the game fun, who you
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:enjoy kind of DMing, then inviting someone
else that you would like to introduce to
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:the whole, you know, to the whole genre of
tabletop role playing, especially D&D,
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:that just seems like a win, right?
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:Absolutely.
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:Honestly, um, it's one of the best ways to
spread the hobby.
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:Uh, and I know that sounds really weird.
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:It's like a virus, but DND.
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:I mean, I mean, when you first, well, uh,
Nowadays DND is being portrayed a lot more
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:in pop culture in a positive light than it
has been in the past and
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:That said, that makes people a little bit
more willing to try it.
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:That said, people are still seeing that it
does seem to take some sort of a
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:commitment, right?
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:And when people ask me, you know, how long
does D&D take?
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:I'll say, you know, three to four hours is
like a normal session that we usually
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:play.
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:Like I think my group usually does three
hours.
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:That's kind of our standard.
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:And when I tell them that we've been going
for three years, they kind of balk at
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:that, you know, unless they're actually
into it.
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:And I think.
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:inviting someone as a guest to say, hey,
you know, we're playing this Friday.
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:How about you just come play as a
character I can help you make and see if
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:you like it.
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:And if you don't, that's totally fine.
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:If you do, I'll only let you play for like
two more sessions or something like that,
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:right?
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:Yeah, and that's something to consider as
well.
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:You know, if it's someone looking for a
long term place in your game, maybe don't
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:give them too much false hope with just
like, hey, yeah, come and come and join.
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:Unless you're willing to take on another
person.
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:That's something that should always be on
the table here is like, hey, it would suck
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:to give someone one opportunity to have
fun with you and then be like, oh, we're,
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:we're all full over here.
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:So maybe before you, if you're going
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:to invite someone for a one-time guest
player experience, you should honestly be
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:willing, if they wanted to, to have them
join for a longer period of time, right?
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:Because that's just being a good friend.
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:But I think that maybe...
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:Oh, go ahead.
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:would actually add that you can, and I
think I've done this in the past, when you
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:invite them, explain to them that this is
a short-term thing, right?
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:That there will come a time in the story
where their character will part ways and
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:they will not be invited to play at the
table anymore.
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:And it's kind of hard saying that, right?
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:So I wouldn't necessarily use those words.
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:I would probably just say, hey, would you
wanna come play D&D with us?
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:I want to invite you as a guest for only a
couple weeks, right?
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:Make it very clear that it's only a couple
weeks, you know?
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:And if it goes longer, you can say,
actually, can you come back one more week?
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:But like Tanner said, if you don't say
that, you will have to be willing to have
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:that conversation of, I should've told you
this, you know, and you're probably gonna
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:hurt someone's feelings, or you have to...
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:bring them into the fold, right?
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:You got to do one or the other.
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:Yeah, exactly.
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:OK, so just to jump ahead a little bit, I
think once you've made that decision,
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:like, hey, this person seems cool.
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:I want to invite them.
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:And you've invited them.
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:You're probably wondering at that point.
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:How could I do this cleanly?
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:How can I do this so it won't disrupt the
flow of the game?
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:Because I've seen it, you know, I've seen
this in a lot of podcasts and a lot of
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:campaigns where a guest player is just
allowed to portray an important NPC in the
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:story, right?
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:Or a new NPC, right?
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:Either one works, but they basically get
to inhabit someone that's already in the
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:world.
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:And so it's no loss
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:can't make it a week or if they stop
playing altogether, right?
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:Which is typically the case with these
guest players.
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:And so I think that's a great way to make
it work seamlessly into your campaign.
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:Absolutely.
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:In fact, just an example from my own
campaign, my brother-in-law and
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:sister-in-law moved down here from, I live
in Utah, they moved here from Spokane,
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:Washington for the summer.
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:And my brother-in-law loves D&D.
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:He's played, like when he's visited
before, he's sort of done kind of
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:guesting, right?
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:But in this instance, he, a couple times
actually, because his schedule was a
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:little bit off and on.
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:He made a character and then I sort of had
the character just disappear Right the
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:first time the second time I had him kind
of assumed the role of a character an NPC
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:that the party was dealing with and Him
creating the character profile for that
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:sort of fleshed out the NPC a lot more and
then now that he left Just because he
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:wasn't that consequent the character
wasn't that consequential he was just sort
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:of helping around I Didn't need to mention
him very much at all
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:and the story continues.
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:So that's something I would definitely
recommend, like Tanner said, is when
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:introducing the characters, you need to be
deliberate about how you do it.
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:Another example, I had my friend's
brother-in-law join us because he had just
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:gotten back from serving a mission to, I
don't remember where he served, but he
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:served a two-year mission, so he was kind
of new to being, not serving people all
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:the time, right?
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:And I said, hey, join us for a little bit.
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:I introduced him in a very specific way.
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:It was in the underdark, they found him,
and he sort of latched onto their group
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:because there was no one else.
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:And then he actually ended up dying.
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:So that was sort of like a perfect way to
make it so he didn't keep playing with us.
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:But that's another example.
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:You just gotta be very deliberate.
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:Yeah, exactly.
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:And so I think that a key thing with a
guest player, depending on your
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:relationship with them and also what
they're hoping to get out of it, you're
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:going to want to tailor some of your
gameplay or your DMing to that, right?
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:If they're new to D&D, which I think
that's gonna be the case for a lot of
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:these guest players.
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:you're going to want to make the next few
sessions where they're playing extra fun.
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:And you know, you're going to want to have
a variety of stuff.
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:You're going to want to have combat that
the guest player can actually do well at,
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:right?
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:So if they don't know how to how to build
their own character, you do that for them.
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:Or you have another player, you know, you
can delegate, right?
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:Other players, I mean, they don't have to
plan a whole session.
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:Be like, hey, we're going to invite this
guy.
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:Can you help him build a character, you
know?
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:Delegate it out.
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:Save some time for yourself.
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:And then make sure that the character is
built well so that they can roll well for
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:like, charisma stuff or for combat.
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:But on the other hand, if they're more
experienced, then you might wanna find out
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:what they enjoy about D&D and make sure
that the next few sessions have that
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:specifically, right?
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:Yeah, and I think it's important to also
say at this point, we probably should have
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:said it sooner, that before you get super
excited and you're like, yes, I can
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:finally invite this one person, you have
to make sure it's okay with your group.
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:I think that's one thing that I didn't do
right when I've invited people before.
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:I just sort of surprised my group.
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:Luckily, they were awesome and they just,
they were actually excited about it, but
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:going back in time, I would have.
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:sit my group down and said, hey, I want to
experiment bringing guests in from time to
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:time.
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:Is that okay with you guys?
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:When you do that though, you have to be
aware that it's very probable your players
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:will, well, it's probable they will find
someone they want to invite and bring to
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:the table.
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:And you're gonna have to be at least
willing to talk about that.
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:Yeah, and then like if they start bringing
other people then you also have to be more
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:flexible maybe in just your interpersonal
reaction, just how you interact with them.
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:Because the thing is when it's you
personally and you meet someone and
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:they're like oh I love D&D but then if you
hate their personality or at least if
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:you're like oh I don't really jive well
with them then you can just keep your
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:mouth zipped right and you're like
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:They don't need to know that I'm running a
DM session, or they don't need me to
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:invite them.
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:But if other players are inviting their
own guest players, there's no guarantee,
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:right?
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:And so I think that if it's a case like
that, you want to let them know and be
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:like, hey, yeah, we can have them for a
couple of times, set an expectation with
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:your player who invited them.
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:They're like, yeah, we could do, this
might even be a good opportunity to do a
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:one shot or a two session kind of shot,
right?
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:Where you're like, oh, yeah, let's have
them play.
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:In fact, let's just do a separate one.
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:And then you kind of like...
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:give that player a trial period in a way.
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:You know, you just wanna be aware because
there's always the chance that someone
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:enters your group of players who doesn't
mesh with the rest of the people.
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:And that's not bad on their part, it's not
bad on your part, but sometimes it happens
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:and you just wanna be aware and set
yourself up with some soft boundaries so
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:that you guys all still have fun.
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:for sure.
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:And to that point, I think it's okay if
anyone invites a guest, it's okay for you
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:to sit them down or text them or call them
and sort of coach them on the culture of
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:the table and sort of the norms, as well
as your expectations as a dungeon master.
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:And it would be a good idea to do sort of
the similar thing to
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:other players at the table if you're
bringing in a new guest, right?
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:Uh, because if, if it's, well, when I mean
a new guest, a person new to D and D, if
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:the other players are sort of not really
helping them, then that's going to give
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:them a bad experience.
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:Uh, but also you want to talk to that
person and coach them because if they're
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:sort of just stealing the limelight all
the time, none of the other players are
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:going to have a good experience.
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:So you have to make sure everyone, like
you said, Tanner, everyone is having a
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:good time.
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:Yeah, if you've ever had, you know, your
mom or dad or someone, an adult being
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:like, hey, this person is new to the class
or new to the neighborhood or something,
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:can you make sure you play nice with them?
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:You know, essentially you need to have
that version of a conversation, a DM
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:version of that conversation with your
players and be like, hey, this person's
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:new, or hey, this person is really
interested in playing but they're a little
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:nervous, please give them opportunities to
speak,
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:over them, include them in roleplay, you
know, and also give them suggestions if
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:they have questions about how combat
works, you know.
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:I think that that's a very simple thing
you can do that a lot if you have a good
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:relationship with your players they're
gonna take that, you know, of course they
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:will, why wouldn't they?
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:But beyond that I also think that you need
to, and I love what you said about like
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:explaining
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:the basics of the culture of gaming at
your table because we've said this before
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:where like, hey, when you first get a
group of people together to become a
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:long-term...
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:D&D group, right?
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:You kind of have to set expectations of
like, hey, this is how I run things.
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:If you have any questions, do this.
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:After a session, I'm gonna talk to you
about these things.
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:You set expectations, kind of like a
session zero thing.
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:And any guest player that comes in,
they're not gonna have that.
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:And it's not necessarily fair that you
don't give, have a brief conversation and
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:be like, yeah, here's the things that are
core to our party.
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:Here's some basic rules
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:have in terms of just interactions and any
questions you know
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:Exactly.
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:And honestly just thinking back of the
different times where I've invited people,
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:I'm thinking of all these mistakes that I
made because I definitely didn't do those
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:two, you know, sitting my players down or
sitting the guests down.
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:And I definitely think that hampered the
session.
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:And actually, the session in question
brings up another point that I...
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:recommend is when you bring in a guest,
you do need to make sure the character
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:fits in a story, it fits in the story in a
way that the other player characters want
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:to do, want them to sort of adventure with
them.
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:So the example I'm thinking of, my
sister-in-law decided to try and play with
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:us and at the time my players were still
in the Astral Sea, right?
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:They were on a space station.
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:and they had just gotten there and my
thought process was like, hey, you know,
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:like, as soon as they get there, this
guest character will bump into them
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:running from some other big creature.
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:Right.
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:And then I had this whole plot of like
this player character or this guest
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:character had lost her memory and she
wanted them to help her and, and they
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:would go into the belly of this, the space
station, they'd find this obelix and
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:you know, they'd fight it and the Obelix
had stolen her memories and then she gets
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:her memories back and she realizes she's a
time traveler and she finds her ship and
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:goes back in time and then, you know,
that's, that's her session, right?
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:Uh, but what happened was, you know, she
bumps into them.
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:She's like, Hey, this big guy's chasing
me.
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:The party, you know, scares the big guy
off.
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:And then they're like, who are you?
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:And she explains and they're like, okay,
whatever.
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:We don't care.
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:And they just like went on their way.
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:And so like this whole story of this
character that I helped her make was just
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:like gone.
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:And it really made for sort of an awkward
session for her and that was her first
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:session.
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:I think I did her a big disservice in not
making it a little bit more intertwined.
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:Yeah, that's a really great point where
it's like, you know, especially if they're
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:a guest player, you want fewer loose
threads with how you introduce their
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:character into the story.
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:All right.
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:And yeah, that might feel railroad-y, but
you gotta do it.
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:Otherwise, you're lining up the dominoes
in a way that's not gonna be satisfying.
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:I also think that, you know, when
you're...
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:when you're thinking about, you know, this
whole question, because I know we're
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:wrapping up here, but
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:You know, we've said a lot of things like,
hey, do this, don't do that.
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:Consider these different points.
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:In the end, I would really just encourage
you, if you have anyone that you want to
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:invite, you know, do it.
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:And maybe this is my parent moment of
being like, hey, be nice.
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:But basically I think that D&D is such a
fun thing, that if you find someone that
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:you have, you know, the thought, or that
your players have the thought, like, hey,
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:this would be really fun to play with
them.
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:You know, do it.
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:D&D is a great thing because you can
interact with people at a different level
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:and you can make friends You know
different friends new friends And so, you
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:know if you don't take anything away from
today At least take away that you should
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:try and look for opportunities to
introduce people not only to the game But
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:also to having a more fun time with you,
right and then hopefully, you know with
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:experience and with some of this advice
We've given you You can kind of take it to
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:the next level and prepare them back
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:prepare your party better but you know
failing all that it's still totally worth
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:it to invite a guest
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:I couldn't agree more, honestly.
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:I think that is probably the biggest
takeaway I would give is just try it.
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:It will spice things up for your story
because there's gonna be a new face at the
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:table.
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:Everyone's kinda gonna be abuzz with
energy just because there's new energy at
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:the table.
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:But also, if you need more reason, go look
at Critical Role.
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:They've done this a couple times.
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:Go look at High Rollers in the UK.
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:They've done this a couple times.
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:And it always makes for sort of a fun
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:situation because you can call back to
those characters, those sort of iconic
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:characters that the guest played later in
the campaign and it sort of gives sort of
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:a nostalgia effect, the callback, it's
just a good all around thing.
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:So last thing we're going to say is do it
and let us know how it goes.
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:You can actually reach out to us on
Instagram.
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:We are at howtobetabetterdm or at Monsters
Rent, I think it is.
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:Yeah.
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:We couldn't put the dot in there because
Instagram's dumb.
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:It should be Monsters.Rent, but it's at
MonstersRent.
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:Yeah, send us a message.
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:We'd love to see how it went.
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:But we're going to be back next week for
another awesome episode from me and
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:Tanner.
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:And until then, let's go ahead and roll
initiative.
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:Thank you.
