D&D 5E My group wants to access the cleric spells whenever the healer is absent from the session...

[cbwjm]

Normally, when a player isn't at the table we act as if the character isn't either. We might explain it, but don't necessarily feel the need to explain their absence. In the past, I have run a session where I looked after the healing from the paladin, who was our only healer in the game, and just asked the players if they wanted me to burn a healing spell. Normally, we just run with whatever resources we have at the table and leave any absent player characters out of the game with their resources unusable.

 

[Saeviomagy]

We typically have one of the other players run the character of the missing player, with an implicit assumption of conservative play (ie - no solo scouting or hurling oneself into the volcano) and a veto: if the DM or the other players don't think the character would do something, they don't do it.

That works really well for typical games, but recently we've been trying to run a game where the characters have secrets from each other, which makes running the character difficult.

 

[Caliban]

One of the groups I used to play in, the standing joke when someone returned after missing a game was "Your character was so brave!" Then we would start telling about the insane risks their character took last session, and end with our condolences and remarks about how they will be remembered for their heroism.

It's hilarious for about 2 minutes, but the jokes would last at least 10-20 minutes, because we were jackasses. Good times.

I think it would be funny for the DM to run the missing cleric as a healing vending machine - i.e. they suddenly refuse to heal unless properly compensated.

 

[cbwjm]

One of the groups I used to play in, the standing joke when someone returned after missing a game was "Your character was so brave!" Then we would start telling about the insane risks their character took last session, and end with our condolences and remarks about how they will be remembered for their heroism.

It's hilarious for about 2 minutes, but the jokes would last at least 10-20 minutes, because we were jackasses. Good times.

I think it would be funny for the DM to run the missing cleric as a healing vending machine - i.e. they suddenly refuse to heal unless properly compensated.

We've done something like this in our group except we would text updates to a player during the game. He's so infrequently there that we now refer to him as a guest star.

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[Tony Vargas]

Normally, when a player isn't at the table we act as if the character isn't either. We might explain it,

"He's at the dungeon entrance, guarding the horses."

but don't necessarily feel the need to explain their absence. In the past, I have run a session where I looked after the healing from the paladin, who was our only healer in the game,

There are a few particularly key contributions that it can be problematic to do without when you're accustomed to having a PC provide them.

One option is to swap in a low-maintenance NPC of similar type to do the more passive/low-profile elements of that contribution. So, if the PC healer is out, reality convulses a little, and it's been this NPC healer the whole time, honest, when he comes back ::ripple:: it's been him the whole time. Heh. Stranger things have happened in fantasy.

I run a lot of open-entry games and one thing you do learn to cope with is uneven resource use. A player misses a big fight or two, he might come back in relatively fresh while everyone else is tapped out. If you just put an absent player's PC on pause, you could have the same kinds of effect.

 

[transtemporal]

I allow one of the other players to control an absent PC, as long as the absent player is ok with it and they provide the controlling player with their character sheet. I also try to make sure its someone who knows that class.

If the player isn't ok with that or they fail to provide the character sheet, then their character comes down with a sudden and very serious temporary illness and the group just has to muddle through without them.

I used to give the group an NPC to fill the gap, or run the absent character myself but I realized eventually thats just more work for me, so I gave the responsibility back to the players.

 

[Staffan]

In general, I wouldn't allow the PC of an absent player to help out in combat, unless there's a pre-determined agreement that one of the other players handles that PC. I would, however, allow post-combat healing - particularly condition relief that isn't available from other sources (e.g. if one of the other PCs caught a nasty disease from a monster, I'd allow the absent healer to cast lesser restoration in order to cure them).

 

[cbwjm]

"He's at the dungeon entrance, guarding the horses."


There are a few particularly key contributions that it can be problematic to do without when you're accustomed to having a PC provide them.

One option is to swap in a low-maintenance NPC of similar type to do the more passive/low-profile elements of that contribution. So, if the PC healer is out, reality convulses a little, and it's been this NPC healer the whole time, honest, when he comes back ::ripple:: it's been him the whole time. Heh. Stranger things have happened in fantasy.

I run a lot of open-entry games and one thing you do learn to cope with is uneven resource use. A player misses a big fight or two, he might come back in relatively fresh while everyone else is tapped out. If you just put an absent player's PC on pause, you could have the same kinds of effect.

Generally, that is what happens. The paladin came back to our recent game, along with a new player, with full resources while the rest of us were in need of a long rest. It's all good though.