hey all, i have a homebrew world with a party of four currently, all at level 5 (although they may be at level six by the time the adventure im currently planning occurs). the campaign has been going on for months at this point, so this is a fairly established party. also worth mentioning is that we're very roleplay heavy; character motivations and story play a super important role in this campaign.
with that all being said, i have a new player joining my party who specified that they wanted to be part of a carnival, specifically with the witchlight background. due to various lore reasons, the witchlight carnival specifically wasnt a feasible option, so this is. a fairly mundane carnival, at least in a world of high magic (a fact that theyre aware of and okay with).
im struggling to come up with motivations for both my party to stop within this carnival, and for the new player's character to actually leave and join the party. i figured something terrible happening and causing the carnival to disband, ala critical role, would be a pretty easy motivation, but its not necessarily the route i want to go. this character's entire backstory is wrapped up in this carnival, and i want to still have the option of bringing it into the story later. for the rest of the party, they already have a number of different hooks pulling them in different directions, and i really don't want to add to that for more than maybe a session.
as of right now, i plan for the carnival to be stationary, rather than mobile like i know many are, but i may have to change that depending on what my current party chooses to do after finishing what they're currently up to. i was given a number of npcs belonging to the carnival. im a little tempted to have the carnival's fortune teller basically suggest that the character go with the current party in order to avoid much fuss or potentially wrapping the party up completely with the carnival for long, and have the majority of the session just be fun and games, but im not totally sold on that idea either.
any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated ;0;
this is quite the dilemma isn't it. What i would suggest is bullying. Maybe the carnival on the outside is fun and all and everyone gets along. But since it's stationary there is nowhere to go. Your new player can be bullied for something. This would make the new player not want to stay with the carnival. As for bringing the party to the carnival area maybey there is a quest to be done in the city the carnival is at. perhaps a wererat problem. either way get your party to that city. from there...roleplay. the party walks past and hears screaming and then a crashing noise from inside one of the tents. this would be the new character being pushed around (keep in mind if the new player fights back that is ok. don't undermine him) give the party the option to investigate the noise and see him being bullied/fought. then go from there
What is the new player’s motivation? Why did they join the carnival in the first place? If it was for an adventure, maybe they’ve grown tired of the day to day life in a single place. If they wanted a sense of family, perhaps the carnival is too focused on money, and the connections they’ve made have been surface level at best. Or maybe they’re a prima-donna who’s too good for their small carnival, and wants to join the party and make it big in the real world.
Talk with your players about their characters and build from there. You don’t have to ask them outright what they want; just ask for an expanded backstory that you can mold into the overarching plot. Happy trails x
Here is a possible idea. For the new player, have them make up an npc they have a close bond with, whether they are a family or a friend. Then have that npc, go out and do something against the party. Maybe they rob something valuable or steal their money. Maybe the npc is someone that wronged another character in their backstory. Just something to help link it. As the npc views the group or does their deed, have them 'accidentally' leave something behind. That clue actually belongs to the new character. So when the party goes to the carnival to confront the new player, the new player will be confused and will wish to clear their name. Maybe have the new character recognize the clue as to something they have given to the npc. As the group confronts the npc, it can be revealed that the npc did something so horrible, the new character cannot forgive them. Hence a reason why they would want to leave the circus. You can adjust things with this kind of mini-plot by adding false leads, having the npc go missing for a small bit of time, having the party discover an evil plan made by the npc, or anything else. I hope this can help get some of the creative juices flowing!
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hey all, i have a homebrew world with a party of four currently, all at level 5 (although they may be at level six by the time the adventure im currently planning occurs). the campaign has been going on for months at this point, so this is a fairly established party. also worth mentioning is that we're very roleplay heavy; character motivations and story play a super important role in this campaign.
with that all being said, i have a new player joining my party who specified that they wanted to be part of a carnival, specifically with the witchlight background. due to various lore reasons, the witchlight carnival specifically wasnt a feasible option, so this is. a fairly mundane carnival, at least in a world of high magic (a fact that theyre aware of and okay with).
im struggling to come up with motivations for both my party to stop within this carnival, and for the new player's character to actually leave and join the party. i figured something terrible happening and causing the carnival to disband, ala critical role, would be a pretty easy motivation, but its not necessarily the route i want to go. this character's entire backstory is wrapped up in this carnival, and i want to still have the option of bringing it into the story later. for the rest of the party, they already have a number of different hooks pulling them in different directions, and i really don't want to add to that for more than maybe a session.
as of right now, i plan for the carnival to be stationary, rather than mobile like i know many are, but i may have to change that depending on what my current party chooses to do after finishing what they're currently up to. i was given a number of npcs belonging to the carnival. im a little tempted to have the carnival's fortune teller basically suggest that the character go with the current party in order to avoid much fuss or potentially wrapping the party up completely with the carnival for long, and have the majority of the session just be fun and games, but im not totally sold on that idea either.
any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated ;0;
this is quite the dilemma isn't it. What i would suggest is bullying. Maybe the carnival on the outside is fun and all and everyone gets along. But since it's stationary there is nowhere to go. Your new player can be bullied for something. This would make the new player not want to stay with the carnival. As for bringing the party to the carnival area maybey there is a quest to be done in the city the carnival is at. perhaps a wererat problem. either way get your party to that city. from there...roleplay. the party walks past and hears screaming and then a crashing noise from inside one of the tents. this would be the new character being pushed around (keep in mind if the new player fights back that is ok. don't undermine him) give the party the option to investigate the noise and see him being bullied/fought. then go from there
What is the new player’s motivation? Why did they join the carnival in the first place? If it was for an adventure, maybe they’ve grown tired of the day to day life in a single place. If they wanted a sense of family, perhaps the carnival is too focused on money, and the connections they’ve made have been surface level at best. Or maybe they’re a prima-donna who’s too good for their small carnival, and wants to join the party and make it big in the real world.
Talk with your players about their characters and build from there. You don’t have to ask them outright what they want; just ask for an expanded backstory that you can mold into the overarching plot. Happy trails x
Here is a possible idea. For the new player, have them make up an npc they have a close bond with, whether they are a family or a friend. Then have that npc, go out and do something against the party. Maybe they rob something valuable or steal their money. Maybe the npc is someone that wronged another character in their backstory. Just something to help link it. As the npc views the group or does their deed, have them 'accidentally' leave something behind. That clue actually belongs to the new character. So when the party goes to the carnival to confront the new player, the new player will be confused and will wish to clear their name. Maybe have the new character recognize the clue as to something they have given to the npc. As the group confronts the npc, it can be revealed that the npc did something so horrible, the new character cannot forgive them. Hence a reason why they would want to leave the circus. You can adjust things with this kind of mini-plot by adding false leads, having the npc go missing for a small bit of time, having the party discover an evil plan made by the npc, or anything else. I hope this can help get some of the creative juices flowing!