If you follow D&D streams like Dice, Camera, Action, you’re probably familiar with the occasional guest player—a player not normally part of the group who comes in temporarily to play a character. In DCA, these guest players either play a character of their own creation or an NPC from the adventure Chris Perkins is running.

We can use this idea in our home games, too!

What is a guest player?

A guest player is a player outside of your normal player group for a campaign. They typically hop in for one session and play a character that doesn’t have to reappear for future sessions. The Dungeon Master gives them access to the stat block or character sheet they will be using alongside any additional information the character possesses.

Why have a guest player?

This role is great for that friend whose schedule doesn’t allow them to commit to playing in a regular campaign. It might be someone already participating in another group, or someone who is usually busy during your session meeting times.

If someone else is handling an NPC, that allows you to direct your attention towards running other facets of the adventure. DMing is a practice in multitasking, after all, so having someone else tackle an NPC frees up some mental bandwidth.

Besides that, it’s fun to have an extra personality at the table, especially if your players already know that person!

Having a guest player works best when:

The guest player is someone the group already knows

Adding a new player, even if only temporarily, is going to change the dynamic of your game. The idea scenario here is that everyone already knows each other. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, though—if you’re confident that the guest player and the player group will have a great time, go forth with confidence!

The guest player is familiar with your game

Having a decent grasp on the rules will make everything go more smoothly. More importantly, though, is that you can fill the guest in on what’s going on with the character they are running. It’s a good idea to communicate to the guest who the character they’re playing is and how they’re significant to the game, as well as any relevant details about your setting or the adventure.

Our group is split into two parties. When most of the group were in the same location, it was easy to pull in a guest player here and there. It was a fun opportunity to get involved in the other side of the story! These NPCs were a range of complexities and personalities—from shopkeepers to spies and a few things in between.

One last thing to keep in mind: does your group tend to “adopt” NPCs into the party? The players at the table might want to keep the guest NPC around. Or, you might not get through the content you prepared for the session, so your party is halfway through a dungeon with the guest in tow. This makes it difficult to write the character out at the end of the session as planned.

How you handle this is up to you and your group. Is everyone having fun? Does the guest have the time to come in for another session? Discuss with your players to figure out what works best!

Have you had guest players in your game before? Ever played one in another game? Does this sound like a good idea? Let me know what you think!