TheGenerator says:
... Are you going to actively recruit people or just wait for players to find their way here? ...
Since this is a game for new players, we mostly rely on them finding us when they arrive. Recruiting has less value if they have not arrived yet. :)
We can post a bump in the 'recruitment' thread
Games for new players to help those new players find it. Do you want to do that, or should I?
TheGenerator says:
... I have no problem substituting the extra HP with something else. ...
Let's keep to the rules. If we find it is a problem, then we can deal with it.
TheGenerator says:
... Or giving new players the same level as our characters. ...
That should not be necessary in PbtA.
TheGenerator says:
... I'd like to focus on the horned wolf story ...
Do you mean the 'horned-wolf' specifically, or 'the thing that was happening with the temple' in general? The Horned-Wolf is a possible solution or way forward or source of exposition, but you could just charge right in if you don't want to 'investigate'. The conversation with the captain may explain that more.
TheGenerator says:
... seeing the history of players quitting pretty fast ... it would be a shame if that hinders our progress ...
That is a danger, but we will try to keep the story going in vaguely the right direction. The new players should mostly be contributing details around what is going on right now —which does, of course, shape how things proceed— so should not be disrupting the 'progress'. For example, the temple and all that came from player contribution, the horned-wolf was placed on a wall by a player, and so on.
We will place the new player into the world and the current events and let them shape things, but those current events are still happening. If they are more interested in taking a detour, the group will decide where exactly we go right now.
The tricky part is when they add details and then leave. But we will deal with that as it comes up. If it comes to it, we can just 'discover that they were wrong' and there is 'nothing to see here'.
TheGenerator says:
... I'm hoping that you'll have a good way to make detours still work with/be relevant to the current objective. ...
Here's hoping. But this is, first and foremost, still a game for those new players. Our actions are not meant to have far-reaching impact on the world, so we may often get sidetracked by small-time, local/regional issues that don't matter to people one village over. Even the temple and horned-wolf stuff probably does not matter to the city you 'started' from... unless it comes to a head.
TheGenerator says:
... If we're continuing this game (which it looks like we are) I don't see the point in starting up a second game for it. ...
Fair enough. It was just an offer if you guys wanted a game where you could explore your character more deeply (deeper rules) and have larger impact on the world... or were just bored with WoDu.