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How to deal with solitary party member?
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<blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 7441144" data-attributes="member: 6801286"><p>I think this is a difficult problem that all DM's have to deal with eventually. In my opinion, there are three ways to approach this:</p><p></p><p>If the player is deliberately constantly splitting up, then discussing it outside the game would be a way to go. Explain to him that it is a team game, and that if they try to stick together, the game is a lot easier for you to run. It also isn't very enjoyable for players to wait for the combat of another group of players. It should not be fun for him when he has to sit it out, nor is it fun for the other players when it's just him versus a monster. The game isn't always about <em>"what your character would do"</em>, but also about <em>"what is the most enjoyable for everyone at the table"</em>. It's a cooperative game in more ways than one. </p><p></p><p>Another way to approach it, would be to allow it, but to conveniently have characters (players and npc's) meet him at the same location. This is a technique I use all the time, and the players know I'm doing it. I take some narrative license as a DM to conveniently have the paths of different characters cross at the same time, so they are together again. So if your player happens to decide to go on a trip to the local church... guess who happens to run into him at that church? Of course, it's that good old npc that they met earlier... he just happens to be there. And this npc may just relay a piece of important information that is really crucial for the other players to know, thus giving him a good reason to rejoin them!</p><p></p><p>A third way would be to allow the PC to sit an encounter out, but to have the player take control of an npc during the fight that his allies are involved in. So while his character isn't present, he still gets to participate in the fight. I ran into a similar situation in one of my campaigns:</p><p></p><p><em>"All of the players decided to drink from a magical lake, to partake in a magical ritual that put them in a deep slumber... that is, all players except one. But I still had this player take part in the dream-trial that followed, but as a spirit guide. He got to take all the same choices as them, and show what happens when that choice is made. But at the end of the trial, everyone woke up next to the lake, and he was the only one who had no recollection of the event (because he never really took part in the ritual)."</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Imaculata, post: 7441144, member: 6801286"] I think this is a difficult problem that all DM's have to deal with eventually. In my opinion, there are three ways to approach this: If the player is deliberately constantly splitting up, then discussing it outside the game would be a way to go. Explain to him that it is a team game, and that if they try to stick together, the game is a lot easier for you to run. It also isn't very enjoyable for players to wait for the combat of another group of players. It should not be fun for him when he has to sit it out, nor is it fun for the other players when it's just him versus a monster. The game isn't always about [I]"what your character would do"[/I], but also about [I]"what is the most enjoyable for everyone at the table"[/I]. It's a cooperative game in more ways than one. Another way to approach it, would be to allow it, but to conveniently have characters (players and npc's) meet him at the same location. This is a technique I use all the time, and the players know I'm doing it. I take some narrative license as a DM to conveniently have the paths of different characters cross at the same time, so they are together again. So if your player happens to decide to go on a trip to the local church... guess who happens to run into him at that church? Of course, it's that good old npc that they met earlier... he just happens to be there. And this npc may just relay a piece of important information that is really crucial for the other players to know, thus giving him a good reason to rejoin them! A third way would be to allow the PC to sit an encounter out, but to have the player take control of an npc during the fight that his allies are involved in. So while his character isn't present, he still gets to participate in the fight. I ran into a similar situation in one of my campaigns: [I]"All of the players decided to drink from a magical lake, to partake in a magical ritual that put them in a deep slumber... that is, all players except one. But I still had this player take part in the dream-trial that followed, but as a spirit guide. He got to take all the same choices as them, and show what happens when that choice is made. But at the end of the trial, everyone woke up next to the lake, and he was the only one who had no recollection of the event (because he never really took part in the ritual)."[/I] [/QUOTE]
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