1001 ways to introduce a character in the middle of a dungeon!

[Rorrik]

79. Mum sends her love. Also do you have any food? How about that couch at your place, do you still have that? Your sibling has, for whatever reason, been sent (possibly by his own divinations, maybe by his recent unemployment, most likely by your parents) to help you out. Or possibly to mooch off of you. It's up to you. Have fun with it!

Wow, I feel that one.

[toapat]

80. "I got better". It is DnD, Death is an illness, not a state of mind. Even better if the dead PC is still quite clearly dead.

[Novawurmson]

81ish. Living sacrifice; the dark cultists were about to sacrifice one of their own who was getting cold feet at the last moment when the party burst in.

82 Aaaaaw, can we keep him? New character was a "pet" of the old denizens.

83 Curses! The new PC was cursed to roam the halls of the dungeon until X happens where X is fulfilled by the PCs or about to be fulfilled by the PCs (the ancient lich is slain, a halfling on a white dog sounds a trumpet in the deeps, etc.)

84 Working overtime; the new PC is working for an NPC the party is marginally acquainted with and was sent to keep tabs on them.

85 The old chest-burster routine; the PC has been captured by a horrible monster that stuck them to the wall and has implanted eggs in him/her - barely keeping them alive until hatching day. They've seen what happened to the other guy, and they disparately want the party to help them find a way out of the situation.

[tbok1992]

86. Spelljammer Crash- An enormous wooden ship crashes through the top of the Dungeon and a confused looking humanoid walks out of the wreckage. "Goddamn Giff." he mutters dazedly.

87. The Lady's Gambit- You see a portal open up right next to the PCs and see a humanoid flung out of there, screaming "No! No, m'lady! Anything but That!" He crashes into the wall, picks himself off, brushes himself off, looking around. "Hey, this isn't one of The Mazes."

[CoffeeIncluded]

It's probably already been stated, but if the character's a wizard, you could do something like this:

88. The party finds a small animal that pings as magical run up to them and lead them to a small chamber. Attempts to speak with the animal has her say that her master needs help. The party follows the animal, where he leads them to her master. Her master is a wizard who's tied up and helpless; maybe he's going to be sacrificed later or something (And as the party nears him, maybe they'll hear him shouting stuff that will give them a good idea of what he's like; saying, "Ooh, once I get loose I'll blast you to smithereens!" gives a slightly different characterization than him saying something like, "Look, if you're one of those freaky cults into virgin sacrifices then you've got the wrong guy, so let me go!" or "Can anyone hear me? HELP!").

So the party cuts the wizard loose, he thanks his familiar for getting help, and then introduces himself to the rest of the party. Turns out he has a score to settle with his captors. Oh, and the boss of the dungeon took his spellbook too, so he needs to get that back. Don't worry, he's already got most of his spells for the day, so he can fight alongside the rest of the party.

You could probably do something similar with a druid or ranger and their animal companion.

[Deathkeeper]

One instance I remember reading here was just having the new character fall out of the sky and crush the party member he was replacing...

Among this line of thought

89. The new character falls from the sky/bursts through the ceiling, drop-kicks the old character into oblivion (despite having possibly no unarmed combat capability) while loudly proclaiming "I'm the [role] now!" He never mentions the incident afterward.

[Giegue]

90: Sins of the Father: You get to the end of the dungon to find the endboss....the BBEG's son! However, in cliche' fantasy fashion he is not actually an enemy despite being a dread necromancer(or some other "dark" class) and is actually a tortured, emo anti-hero out to get REVENGE! against his villainous father for everything he's done to him. After talking to him a bit and convincing him you and he have the same enemy you gain a new party member!

91: Sympathy for the Devil: The BBEG has bound some sort of demon, devil, fiendinsh being or other outsider and is using them for their own nefarious ends. After talking with the bound outsider, the party decides to free him/her and it in return decides to travel with the party and take it's revenge against the evil spellcaster who had it bound.

92: Who you gonna call? : The dungon is a Necropolos full of undead and negative energy. Among the undead, however, is a familiar face! Remember that party member who was awesome but died so early on? Well, he's been kicking around as ghost and has been gaining class levels too! The only problem is he got rebuked by one of the necromancers and has been sent to attack you with a bunch of other ghosts. Luckily, you found an artifact to break the necromancer's control of his minions earler after defeating the Midboss. Hold the ghosts off long enough to use it and you get your former party member back!

[Joe the Rat]

93. Old PC Was Actually a Time Lord Hullo. I'm The Cleric. (Still not ginger, though)

[nedz]

94. FedEx turns up. "Parcel for <Dead PC's name>", ..., "Oh I just leave it with his corpse then. I better cut a hand off for proof of delivery though."
Inside the parcel: the new PC.

[toapat]

95: Kool'Aid man style: Bust through the wall

[AgentofHellfire]

Took A Wrong Turn on the Way to the Easy Dungeon

The new party member was just coming in, having thought the place was abandoned...now that he's halfway through, without his map, and roughed up 1 more times than expected, though...well, protection was nice.


Wait...they got out of that cleaner than I thought they would...
Someone who either laughed off the PCs or works for someone that does has decided to focus not on the fact that one of their number died, but that the rest have, so far, survived. That was an impressive feat, and certainly deserves more monitoring, for whatever reason...

[nedz]

98. Character was exploring a dungeon when he stuck his hand into the mouth of a statue and got sucked through into a parallel universe.

[Empedocles]

93. Old PC Was Actually a Time Lord Hullo. I'm The Cleric. (Still not ginger, though)

+1

Also, I don't think this has been mentioned yet.

99: When the villain is defeated some sort of dark energy leaves him, and what is left is a very confused, brand new PC who had been corrupted by a greater force. Think of what happens to the earlier bosses in Zelda: Twilight Princess after you banish the twilight.

[Doorhandle]

94. FedEx turns up. "Parcel for <Dead PC's name>", ..., "Oh I just leave it with his corpse then. I better cut a hand off for proof of delivery though."
Inside the parcel: the new PC.

...That is downright dadaeque.

Stealing it.

[nedz]

100. You hear a braying sound as a donkey falls through the ceiling, hits the ground and dies. The new PC steps off its back.

101. You hear the sound of barking hounds in the distance. A character steps though a doorway and hides. A large number of dalmatians run past in the corridor.

102. A pastel coloured pony lands and the new PC alights.

[Mono Vertigo]

103. Suddenly, when trying to use a magical item (new or of little importance), a freak accident happens, and bam! It turns into a humanoid(?) PC! If it had already been used before, they start ranting about the improper ways they'd been used or lack of care. Bonus points if the item already was sentient but mute before transforming.

104. Next time the party rests and goes to sleep, they have a collective dream about the same person. When they wake up, that person has become real, and is eager to accompany them. However, being born from dreams, said new character seems to operate on moon logic and either obscure or heavy-handed symbolism.

[toapat]

105: paladin's Idiot Squire: an Underdark Knight has a squire who he cant stand anymore, and dumps him on the party. said Squire is phyiscally booted out of the floor in front of the party

[Giegue]

106: Batman Wizard is always prepared!: A PC dies! Whatever will the party do? Out of seemingly nowhere in the exact spot of the PC's death appears...the PC! Or rather what appears to be an exact clone of that PC made with arcane magic. The monsters and the PCs all turn to the party's own Batman wizard who now is proudly wearing his best trollface. He declares to the monsters: "problem?" and the battle continues!

[Allyzedl]

107: Swallow Whole

You find a PC inside the belly of a monster that swallows another PC, have a polite conversation inside the monster and get along before bursting out.

108: Inside an item

A PC just bought a bag of holding, when they go to use it they hear someone yelling from inside the bag.

It will also work well for a boat of folding, when used a PC walks out onto the deck complaining about being stuck inside the folded boat.

[Squark]

50- The Sleepwalking Barbarian (or other character): The PCs encounter their new party member stumbling around in the depths of the dungeon, eyes closed, mumbling to himself. When woken he is disoriented and has no idea how he got in or how to get out again. Having no other option, he joins the party.

Bonus points if he mutters, "Not again........"

[Mono Vertigo]

109. The (departing) PC has a Jekyll and Hyde syndrome going on. Their other personality takes over (with a different alignment/Morality/whatever applies), with whole new powers. The new character might be better than the previous one, sure, but sometimes, you'd swear you can still notice glimpses of the previous personality begging you to let them come back or end their pitiful existence... it's somewhat disturbing.

110. Angelic/demonic possession. An entity is using the old PC's body as a vessel, and will only release their consciousness after completing their task. Perhaps they were sent by their superior because your party was advancing too slowly to their taste... but is it really going to help?

111. You always knew your friend was doomed by a particular brand of lycanthropic curse, and, their time is up, and they permanently turn into a mindless beast. But wait, someone is able to Awaken the poor soul! The bad news is that it doesn't bring their old memories and abilities back. But the animal-previously-known-as-your-teammate is competent, and might show hints of their old personality. Perhaps there is still hope!

[Sactheminions]

33. The party finds a Deck of Many Things. The first card they draw is the Knight, but instead of a loyal 4th-level fighter, it's the PC. (Problem: if they continue drawing cards, the whole party probably needs replacements.)

This was my character in 1996. I kid you not.

[Anxe]

112. I just flew in from Greyhawk and boy are my arms tired!

[Lentrax]

113. This really only works for characters with the right skillset, and a DM flexible on character intros.

The heroes wander through the dungeon, when they hear music hooting and hollering from on ahead. They open the door to find a large dining hall where a young woman is dancing to the cracks of whips and catcalls. In the ensuing fight, none of the bad guys realize the dancer has stolen a couple of swords and becomes a dancing whirl of death through their ranks. When the heroes ask for her credentials to join the party, she just shrugs and gestures back at the room behind them.

(I actually used this intro once for a level 6fighter/6dervish. The looks on everyones faces made the whole process of begging for the intro totally worth it.)

[Nyes the Dark]

114: You Called, Girl?: The BBEG hired a hooker, but got a scantily-clad woman with class levels and a vendetta. She helps you against said BBEG, and then joins the party.

115-Good All Along: The BBEG was actually a good guy (or at least an ally) was actually a scapegoat, and the real BBEG was using him. He helps you beat the BBEG, then joins the party.

116-Man's New Best Friend: You fight a werewolf-type creature, who is mortally wounded by a silver weapon. He is cured (to somke extent) and begs forgiveness for his actions, then joins the party.

117-I Got Better: If a magical effect killed the victim, say they narrowly avoided the fatal effects, but a bizarre side-effect changed their race/class/gender (optional, but good for RP). They never even leave the party.

118-The High-Heel Face Turn: The boss' girlfriend/minion gets fed up with his behavior, and betrays him for the most handsome/charming PC

119-I Like This One!: The BBEG is, rather than angry at the PCs, intriuged by your skill, and offers the party to combat. You win, but she offers to help you with your quest, impressed with your skill.

120-My Pet Bob: A character's animal companion is affected by a spell and turns into a *player race*. Bonus comedy points if nude.

[Flavel]

115: Character was directed to dungeon as a result of a quest/geas/attonement spell.

[Megasaber4000]

116.many years ago a town was where the dungeon is and one person was frozen in time and gets unfrozen by the party.

[enderlord99]

"Totally not a Doppleganger" -- you find the PC tied up in a secret room. He explains that a Doppleganger infiltrated his former party and convinced them that he was the Doppleganger. The PC tried to kill the Doppleganger but was overpowered by his party and left tied up "until they could figure out whether he was lying." That was a day ago, and he hasn't seen them since.

Bonus points if the PC is actually a DM Trap and totally is a Doppleganger

Even more bonus points if he's a Doppelganger without being a trap. (Presumably, Savage Species is an allowed source book).

[toapat]

117: Protagonist, i choose you: A strange red and white sphere with a button and black stripe rolls in front of you. it pops open, and the new party member materializes from red light

118: Thrown by Green Lantern: The new party member, is thrown from one planet to the one you are currently on, and then impacts the partymember they are to replace during re-entry

[nedz]

119. Just like 118, except that the new PC hurtles through the party knocking them all prone. In the distance a voice can be heard, shouting "STRIKE!"