I’m wondering how you all do this. It hasn’t happened yet in this current campaign but if/when it does, I’d like to find a way for the player to bring in a new PC in a way that keeps the story flowing and maintains a degree of verisimilitude.

Do you concern yourselves with this or do you tend not to worry about it and sort of let the player say, “She’s the old PC’s sister, she’s pissed cuz he died so now she wants to join the party”?

Many thanks for any thoughts!

It honestly depends on too many factors to offer advice.  I don't think there's a one size fits all solution.  The easiest and closest way is that the new PC is some kind of prisoner that the party frees, and chooses to join the party or some variation on that.

Every time a PC dies in the middle of my campaign, it's an opportunity to have one more PC with a backstory tied to a plot (either main plot or a side plot). I usually don't recommend to have a new PC that has close ties to the one that just died.

One thing I'm not a fan of is forcing the new PC onto the group, or the cliche that the new character is related to the previous one.  Instead, look at the new charater's backstory.  Can that be a plot hook to align them with the party.  Treat the new character as an NPC; how would you arrange that meeting.  Have an organization that the part trusts (local clergy, town guard, a guild) send the new character with some assistance to meet the group.  There are many creative ideas.

I would work with the player to come up with a character who will easily be slotted in. Maybe the character will be a prisoner of the next orc lair the party is exploring, and when they free him, he joins them to get revenge on the orcs... Or whatever fits the story going on.

Thanks for the quick replies, everyone. Very helpful.

WuDnD, can you elaborate a bit on why it's not a good idea to have a replacement come in who has/had close ties to the previous NPC?

What I'm getting is that it's best to help the player come up with something that fits decently well into the party's story but that you don't need to stress over it too much. Another question I have is, should the PC's die at a higher level (they're currently level 8 which is already a power level that is pretty rare in the world they're in), how do you introduce someone of around the same level without their having heard of this person before?

I realize that these questions demand pretty subjective answers but it's really helpful to hear about how other people have handled it (I'm a new DM).

Thanks!

I had to do this just a few sessions ago.  I think the main thing is to work with the player on the backstory of their new character and fitting them into the on-going arc.  Most players will be  patient until the main party gets to their introduction as long as they know that it is coming and they haven't been forgotten.  This is also an opportunity for you to add  clues or lore that may have been overlooked.  

My players had just entered the Great Swamp when they heard that the closest town had been sacked by lizardfolk.  Rather than going to check it out, they decided to rush to the next settlement and warn the people there.  They then proceeded into the swamp to hunt the black dragon who was commanding the lizardfolk.  Cue character death and the need to bring in a replacement. 

Now the module/ adventure I was running already had a prisoner so I could have just inserted the new person there, but I wanted to do something else.  Instead, I decided that the prisoner in question was a friend of the new PC who had actually gone to visit him only to find the town in ruins.  He then heard from a lone survivor that his friend and several others had been dragged off into the swamp by the lizardman attackers.  Not only, did I get to use the whole ruined town encounter that the party had bypassed, I got to give them the details about the antagonists tactics they would have gleaned and add the important hint that the dragon wanted live captives.   Now, the party and the "new guy" are working together to clear out the ruins in hopes of finding both the missing friend and the evil dragon.   

Quote from pasoguava >>

Thanks for the quick replies, everyone. Very helpful.

WuDnD, can you elaborate a bit on why it's not a good idea to have a replacement come in who has/had close ties to the previous NPC?

What I'm getting is that it's best to help the player come up with something that fits decently well into the party's story but that you don't need to stress over it too much. Another question I have is, should the PC's die at a higher level (they're currently level 8 which is already a power level that is pretty rare in the world they're in), how do you introduce someone of around the same level without their having heard of this person before?

I realize that these questions demand pretty subjective answers but it's really helpful to hear about how other people have handled it (I'm a new DM).

Thanks!

 

 
Speaking of having new PC related/unrelated to previous PC, I guess that’s really case by case. The key is to avoid them being too similar builds: that will give an impression that the death in your campaign isn’t a serious consequence when a wrong decision is made.

in addition, usually the initial PCs’ backstory won’t be tied to the storyline closely and sometimes won’t be motivated towards the plots. Having the new PC tied closely to the previous PC will just be a waste of opportunity to have a highly motivated PC.

After all, a rule of thumb is: everyone should have fun. Both the player who just lost his/her character and you the DM. I just found having a new PC unrelated to the old one is an easier way to achieve that.

Thanks for the clarification, WuDnD, that makes all kinds of sense. And the example you cited is really illustrative, Eriniel. Makes it clear that there's just lots of flexibility around the whole issue and lots if great ways to go about it, so long as you allow what seems fun and interesting to be your guide.

Last question about it all. . . do you all generally try to work in the new PC in the same session or wait until the next?

I recommend waiting until the next session.  This gives the player time to work out details of the new character and it gives you as the DM a chance to work with that player on backstory and on how their new character will fit into the on-going arc.  I have also adopted a house rule that allows a player to make minor changes to their character after the first session that they play.  This is usually something along the lines of switching a toll proficiency or selected language.  
Most players are willing to wait a bit for the sake of the overall narrative as long as they know you are working towards including them.  

Lots of ways to introduce a new player character. You free a prisoner and he joins the party or you find a near dead person. Same session or the next: as long as party and DM are happy with it, it's ok.

Introduce the new pc within the hour. I occasionally used the "Chaos Fog". How they related to old pc is up to the player. 

So if you dont want to create a new character with him/her there are several ideas:

First- you can resurrect her using "ancient powers of this place" this will change her to undead and will give some preferences of the undead.

Second- if you have a high level Paladin or Cleric they can ressurect him/her.

Third- This is a long one but my favorite- A mini-quest in Heaven or other planes and her/his goal is to get out, example: A character is a Noble 7th lvl paladin who died protecting a party retreatment from a lych citadel, his body is protected by strong yet weakening holy aura that prevents a lych turning it into undead. His soul ascends into celestial plane where he is given a choice: live here(which means creating a new character) or go through a pantheon of Nemesis and resurrect as a celestial in his old form, The paladin goes into the pantheon and heroicly faces all the enemies and dangers ascending trough it. After completing the pantheon he is given his life and a little bit of celestial powers.

Thats it)))