D&D 5E DM's: what do you do with players who miss time?

[Satyrn]

. . .Your PC dying seems like a much bigger 'punishment' to me . . .

My characters dying have been some of the most fun moments in my gaming life. It's not a punishment at all.

Feeling weaker and less effective in several sessions is a punishment for me, though - I remember those sessions being less fun for me.

 

[billd91]

I didn't say they were entitled to loot.

You pretty strongly implied it by including missing out on treasure as punishment. You're free to see that however you want but there's no consensus that missing out on getting something is equivalent to punishment.

 

[MG.0]

That's not even near the only thing.

Where did I say it was? I didn't.

That is nonsense.

No it isn't.

That's not really accurate.

Yes it is.


We disagree. Leave it at that.

 

[MG.0]

Why would individual character advancement be rendered meaningless with party wide exp? They still level up. The only difference is, everyone levels up at exactly the same time. No one is ever a level behind on the rest of the party. But they still get to do everything else they'd normally do when leveling up their characters. They still roll for hit points, increase their stats and pick new spells as usual.

Ugh, that's exactly my point. Where is the sense of accomplishment if you can miss five sessions only to be told your PC has gone from level 2 to 5 and also, here's a bunch of treasure, and a magic sword, and you are now the mayor of a small village? Whee! At that point everyone should just stay home and enjoy regular reports on how well their character is advancing.

My parties consists of far more characters than can adventure together at any given time. They should all just magically level up together? I wouldn't want to play that game. We have characters (and sometimes players) join and depart on a regular basis. No one worries about being the same level as everyone else. Everyone is focused on developing thier character in their own way at their own speed. It isn't a race. The players are really good too. If they feel they are outpacing party members too far, they may have that character take a trip to research something, or build a stronghold while they develop a lower level character. This means the player who was strongest last session may be weakest this session. No one has a problem with that. It also solves a lot of the problems that happen when characters die. If an immediate resurrection isn't feasible, other characters are waiting in the wings to give the player something to do.

 

[Satyrn]

I don't play D&D for a sense of accomplishment. I play for fun.

Also, I wish I had the motivation to write up a fake report card on a PC's progress.

"Brutus the barbarian plays poorly with others. Always screams when things go his way"
"McCoy the warlord fights well with others, doesn't work well alone"

Etc.

 

[Maxperson]

Players often split the party, it simply happens. And when it does, chances are that some players get into a fight and earn exp, when others do not. And then the players that miss out lament that fact, and they may feel encouraged to look for trouble just to get into a fight, and catch up on exp.

The last time a my group split the party was about 3 years ago. The fighter died because he wandered by himself into a creature that was a tough encounter for the whole party. In my experience, parties seldom split due to the dangers of doing so.

 

[Jacob Marley]

I don't play D&D for a sense of accomplishment. I play for fun.

For me, the sense of accomplishment is what's fun. I need to know that my wizard reached 5th level because he was placed at risk, in situations that generated experience, and that my decision-making (or that of the person I delegated it to), coupled with the random number generator allowed him to achieve it. For me, receiving experience for pacing reasons, or balance reasons, or just because diminishes my enjoyment of the game.

I understand that people like experience for balance or pacing, and I am glad that they find enjoyment in doing so. But it's not for me.

 

[Maxperson]

For me, the sense of accomplishment is what's fun. I need to know that my wizard reached 5th level because he was placed at risk, in situations that generated experience, and that my decision-making (or that of the person I delegated it to), coupled with the random number generator allowed him to achieve it. For me, receiving experience for pacing reasons, or balance reasons, or just because diminishes my enjoyment of the game.

I understand that people like that, and I am glad that they find enjoyment in doing so. But it's not for me.

That's why when a player can't make it to the game, someone else runs it. The PC is still placed at risk and is capable of being killed, gets experience, and also gets a share of the treasure.

 

[TheFindus]

Exactly. Being able to see/control that individual progression of your character is what sets RPG's apart. Making all advancement automatic and linked to a group regardless of what you actually do in the game (or even if you show up!) turns it into something akin to those other experiences, where characters are either completely static, or on a predefined level up curve that you honestly have no real control over. There are some board and video games that fall outside this depiction, but the vast majority do not. Regardless, my point was that individual advancement is an important piece of D&D.

While individual progression of a PC is part of an RPG, the use of XP is not. There are plenty of RPGs out there that do not use the XP system of D&D.
I also do not think that it is correct to say that without (highly) individualized XP players have "no real control" and "characters are [...] completely static". The players choose the things they engage. By doing so they decide on the pacing of their PC's advancement. The retain full control, I would say. And their PCs are not static either because what tells the PCs apart is the individual game mechanics, roleplaying traits and individual roleplay of and for this PC.
I also disagree that individual advancement regarding XP distribution is an important part of the D&D experience. There are loads of groups that play D&D without XP. The many people I have played with in the last 30+ years have done so. And not only in Europe, but also North America. Anecdotal evidence, I know, but it works.
There are many more groups who distribute XP evenly, as this thread clearly shows. Yet we are all playing D&D and not some video game (yea, D&D!).

 

[ccs]

The last time a my group split the party was about 3 years ago. The fighter died because he wandered by himself into a creature that was a tough encounter for the whole party. In my experience, parties seldom split due to the dangers of doing so.

Ha! I've had parties WILLINGLY split themselves over distance, planes, & TIME. In the same session!

And in the current Fri. Night game? Not a session goes by where someone's not wandering off on thier own. In 100% known-to-be-hostile areas. Usually it's the rogue, the Barbarian, or the ranger. The party pauses for a short rest & one of them pipes up that he's fine & intends to scout about.
Didn't turn out so good for the rogue the other night.... He got himself ambushed by a Medusa and petrified.