When players don't show up to the session

We're a small group, and when someone can't play we usually don't gather, bur sometimes we do. when we're in a city the vacant character is assumed to be training or doing something for his guild/church/school. Things are more difficult to manage in the middle of a dungeon crawling adventure:
1. Because i've already prepared it thinking that their party level was at the maximum
2. Because if is the tank or the healer to not show up the group will have a hard time
3. How to manage its disappearing.

I use to say in those cases, that he's simply guarding the site, or watching the back of the group, but in this way there are also many problems:

a) enemies can actually still arrive from the back or not?
b) if the party flee, what the vacant character do?

The solution is something metaphysics? Something like he is there but he can't co nothing and receive not XPs? Dunno, i don't like it at all, but it happened to me that the group entered a portal, and there weren't one of the character... the next session i had many problems in justifying his presence with the group (and sometimes it is useless or impossible to let him play alone for the first half hour or hour just to reach the rest of the group... of course he can't have no idea of where they are, or cannot solve some puzzles alone in order to reach them)

Mi question is: How do you manage it?

Steven McRownt

we don't play (3 players only). then we beat the missing person (if its not a good excuse). no really i hate making excuses for people, everyone gets mad. my adventure is messed up, the mising player is behind and the current ones are weaker and without good explanation. however, with games with 5+ players, if easy for someone to get left behind and not worry too much.

I (the DM) will play the PC as if it were an NPC.

Takota said:

I (the DM) will play the PC as if it were an NPC.

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And what if he die?

Tough chitin. PC death happens, even if the player isn't there.

::shrug::

One of the other players plays the character.

Steven McRownt said:

And what if he die?

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Tough titty, he shoulda been there. I haven't had a problem excusing a character, leaving him to watch the mules, etc. As DM I can usually place him where I know nothing will happen. If there is no such place, oh well.

I can't help with a small group as we have five players so whenever one is away the DM plays that character. Sometimes we remember he is actually around at convenient moments like casting healing spells. Non fighters are probably easier to keep out of the way but when I was away I am sure they used my Samurai a bit more!

P.S. Steven, what is Roleplaying in Italian?

When I disappeared from the table one summer, I asked my DN where my character had been during the games that had taken place in my absence. His response was, "He's been in New Jersey for summer vacation."

On the other hand, when another pair from our group transferred to another campus, their characters -- a wyrmslayer and a dweomerkeeper -- were said to be off on their own adventure to strike into the heart of the Forest of Wyrms or something similar.

Basically, if a player can't make it to one particular game, their character just isn't there. It never really becomes that important in the greater scheme of things, and the only big effect is that the missing player loses out on EXP. Usually, the PCs' abilities overlap enough so that the whole party doesn't just shut down when somebody can't be there.

When I DM, I try to think of some errand the missing player's PC could be sent off on that furthers the plot. If there's nothing like that that would make sense, they just become and NPC under the control of one of the other players. Somebody's character actually died recently while doing this... luckily they were bored with the character, and welcomed an excuse to make up a new one.

In the other game that I play in, the DM is a real nazi about "If you're not here, then your character isn't either." and doesn't care about providing explanations for their absence. It bothers me a bit, but not too much. Its just kind of dumb when the guy who was leading the party suddenly disappears right as we go into combat, or something.