D&D 5E Cancelling games over absent player(s)

[LabyrinthLord718]

I run 6-7 players in my current group. I will run with any number of players, even solo, but sometimes it doesn't work if you are in the middle of a dungeon or something. I will typically rather play than not, but if I have to, I will cancel if there are less than 3 players in attendance.

I handle XP this way: If you miss one session, you get a full XP share. 2 sessions, you get a 1/2 share. 3 sessions, 1/3 share. After that, no XP for you!

 

[Sunseeker]

We have a weekly game. Generally, if two of the five players in the game can't make it, we'll cancel the game. However, that doesn't mean that we won't get together. Often times will instead play a board game or do a One-Shot Adventure.

My groups are the same, and it really depends on who's missing too. Some of my players are BIG personalities and they're a little difficult to handle without that being spread out over the group. But usually if 1/2 the group isn't present I'll cancel the official game.

 

[iserith]

This is a home game? So session to session, the PC's can chop and change from a roster of 8?

I run this game on Roll20. The roster of players (and characters) changes up every week.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

We have 6 players and a DM, and if we have 4 and myself as DM we play. The other PC become NPC under the command of the rest of the party. These NPC frequently become recklessly violent for some strange reason and have a tendency to run towards death like they embrace it. Its a strange phenomenon.

 

[DragonBelow]

We were a group of 1 rotating DM and 4 players, usually if one person missed a session, we played through and someone would play the missing character (players always tried to leave an updated character sheet with the DM precisely for this eventuality). If it was important for the player to be there, but he couldn't be, then we would play board games or a one-shot game instead.

But I don't have a gaming group right now

 

[Jester David]

If we're missing two players, everyone still comes over and we board game. Or, if we need the time off for other stuff, we cancel outright.

If one player cancels with less than a week, we go without them. Rescheduling that late (i.e. switching +/- a day) never works.

 

[Prickly]

I will always run if 4 players are present.

 

[DEFCON 1]

In both cases, my 7 player game and my 8 player game... we will always play if we have 3+ players (not including myself). If we somehow get down to 2 players for a particular week, it will depend on where the party is currently in the campaign, and whether I think those two players could logically go off and find something to do.

 

[jayoungr]

Cancel the game, or cancel the session?

 

[innerdude]

Our groups is six people; 5 PCs + DM.

Our general rule of thumb is, we'll play with one person out, cancel if it's two or more. But there are a lot of exceptions to that. If the person missing is particularly important to what's about to happen, or if it's one of the two hosts and he/she is sick, or (of course) if it's the DM, we'll cancel with only one person out.

This is almost word-for-word what I would have posted.