How to handle new players (xp+advancement)

[Greenwolf]

Hi everyone,

I've dabbled with the one ring over the past few months(Am loving it) having a mini game here and there(I'm LM), but one thing has me stumped, how should i handle new players joining the group, where existing players already have advanced characters.

It seems unfair for everyone to reroll fresh chars (People are attached to their hobbits!), Should i have a fellowship of strong & weak characters, or should i give the new people more starting experience points?

Or is there some other way to handle this that i'm missing.

Thanks

[Morgoth]

When our campaign got a new player, I gave him XP equal to the lowest in the group, and AP equal to the lowest in the group. I also started him off with some shadow points, spent hope, etc. Overall, I think it worked pretty well. If you don't start him off with some extra XP/AP, he's going to feel useless a lot of the time. But if you start him off too strong, the new players might feel cheated.

[Greenwolf]

Thanks for the advice Morgoth, I seem to remember something in the rules about only being able to increase valor & wisdom once per fellowship phase, so giving them lowest party xp + advancement seems like a great idea, they have the potential to get up to where everyone is quickly, but still have to be around for a few adventures to fully catch up!

[Morgoth]

Hmm, I let him spend his XP before he entered the campaign. But that idea might work well too.

[Greenwolf]

Well I thought that they could increase common skills and weapon skills straight up, but then gain virtues & rewards at one per fellowship phase. Then its their choice to blow it all at once or save it up for some of the nicer attributes.

[Morgoth]

Sounds like an interesting balance.

[zedturtle]

I usually give out enough AP/XP to bring them up to at least the lowest level of the current characters and let them spend it beforehand. There's not a lot of catchup balancing in the game and it gets tricky. My big group is getting towards the end of Tales and our newest player hasn't brought her Valour up yet at all. I'm getting worried that it won't happen before a critical Encounter; making things difficult to say the least.

[Stormcrow]

Just have new characters join the experienced group; don't worry about any kind of mythical "balance." Characters are not geometrically more and more powerful as they are in D&D, and it suits the source material anyway. (Seriously. A couple of hobbits in their tweens adventuring alongside an angelic being and the future king of the entire West? No problem.)

[Glorelendil]

Just have new characters join the experienced group; don't worry about any kind of mythical "balance." Characters are not geometrically more and more powerful as they are in D&D, and it suits the source material anyway. (Seriously. A couple of hobbits in their tweens adventuring alongside an angelic being and the future king of the entire West? No problem.)

This. I was about to say the same thing. TOR scales such that a "weak" character can still participate in adventures with more powerful characters. In combat just stay in Defensive stance and they miss a lot they miss a lot. The diciest parts might be Fatigue and Corruption tests, as advanced characters will want to travel in dangerous places, but the former at least can be alleviated by having the advanced characters give the new ones their bonus dice.

Then again, if it's in the power of the LM to grant free XP/AP, it's also in the power of the LM to design adventures that don't go through Dark Lands.

[Morgoth]

if it's in the power of the LM to grant free XP/AP, it's also in the power of the LM to design adventures that don't go through Dark Lands.

True, but it's a lot easier to say "Hey take 20 XP and 30 AP" then to redesign your whole adventure so that it avoids any place that's "dangerous."