[quote=@Norschtalen]
As for introducing new characters, maybe we find them as prisoners here? I mean obviously they need to feed the drakes and this monster something. Maybe when we go look for fresh meat we'll find a new party member who has only recently recovered from their near death experience? 
[/quote]

While possible, it introduces the momentary party size increase and the need for people to play multiple characters at once. The new character also would be far from combat ready, especially if kept in a meat storage or something of the sort. This would introduce an escort mission that would have to be completed before the introduction of the next character, so while baking them in earlier it would only allow taking control of them at the same point as before. Any thoughts on the matter, [@Lucius Cypher]?