Baldur’s Gate 3: How To Add A New Character To Existing Multiplayer Session

I recently learned that adding a new player to an existing multiplayer session of Baldur’s Gate 3 is a pain. Let’s elevate the headache, and find out the simplest way to add a new character to your existing party.

How To Add A New Character to an Existing Baldur’s Gate 3 Session

While Baldur’s Gate 3 is a great game, adding new players to a party of three is surprisingly cumbersome. As I discovered, the host of the game will need a few things to ensure that you can join in with a custom character, rather than taking control of a previously created character:

• Two Controllers
• At least three players
• One free spot in the Party

If you’re hoping to continue your adventure while someone who is normally in your party isn’t available, you’ll want to make sure you can access the Split Screen mode on your platform of choice. This is going to be a key way to ensure that the final player can join your game without controlling either a standard Party Member from the main story or the additional custom character in the game.

The first thing you’ll want to do is have the host of the game start up the session while in Split Screen mode. If you’re playing on PC, you’ll just need to connect two controllers, as it will not allow you to proceed in Spilt Screen if you are trying to use keyboard and mouse, or keyboard and mouse alongside a controller. Once they have connected the controllers, have another player who has already played join the session.

Make sure that there is a free spot available in the party, as if the new player tries to join while someone like Shadowheart is still in the party, they’ll receive an error message stating that the party is not joinable. Once everything is in motion, the new player can join.

Once they have joined in and loaded the most recent save, now is the time for the new player to join. When the new player joins, they’ll be taken to the Character Customization screen, and this character will then be locked to them, rather than another party member. Make sure to save the game after the final player joins the session, and then you will no longer need to worry about this happening again.

From here, you can exit to the main menu, have the host disconnect their controllers if they prefer not to play on PC this way, and then have everyone rejoin. Even if they do decide to play with a gamepad, we’ve got a comprehensive list of all gamepad buttons available for players to use. All players will be assigned their respective characters, and now the adventure can continue once again with balance being restored. You can now continue your adventure, and the new player will automatically be leveled to match the rest of the party. How cool is that?

If you don’t have the facilities available to make this happen, you’ll just need to try and get all of the normal players together and start up a session. This method is primarily for those who may not be able to get the whole crew together at once, so it’s quite a bit easier if you’ve got the whole party together. However, now you can continue your adventure, even if one of your members isn’t available to play.

Make sure that you’re ready for anything that Baldur’s Gate 3 can throw your way by checking out our section below. There are so many things to do, so make sure you check out the Act 2 Checklist to make sure you’re getting everything done before embarking on the next step of your journey.