QUICK! HELP! SESSION IN 3HOURS. MISSING PLAYER

[Glomb175]

sorry for the caps but I have a session in 3hours and one player has just pulled out so I need quick advice.

- Should I rp her character
- Or let someone else
- Or make up a reason why she's missing
- Or don't mention it and just leave her out

Problem with other people rp-ing her is the strain it puts on the player, especially for me because I have one encounter with 13 enemies and 6players already and I'm already rp-ing an npc

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[ExploderWizard]

What does the player want?

We usually let the player decide- either the character is not present, and thus safe, but earns no XP for that session

OR

Designates another player to run the character. The character is then at risk but earns XP for the session.

That way the player is responsible for anything that may happen as the decision maker.

 

[pogre]

If you have 6 players - leave her out of the adventure. Just say she was down with illness or something.

 

[Glomb175]

I'll ask if they're willing to play her,if not,we won't bother,I can't handle it myself.

Off topic; all my encounters are melee therefore boring, can you advise on how to change this? The problem is they're fighting a doppelganger and goblins as per the book, so they are melee, but its so dull every fight

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[GlassJaw]

Leave the character out if it's easy to do in-game. Otherwise have another player (or you) play the character but only for the purposes of combat if the group is in the middle of a battle or if a missing character would be a big loss in power.

I always give full xp for someone who can't make it. Life happens. Losing xp is a penalty for something that's supposed to be fun


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[ExploderWizard]

I'll ask if they're willing to play her,if not,we won't bother,I can't handle it myself.

Off topic; all my encounters are melee therefore boring, can you advise on how to change this? The problem is they're fighting a doppelganger and goblins as per the book, so they are melee, but its so dull every fight

Sent from my HTC 10 using EN World mobile app

Why is it always melee? Goblins have bows last time I checked, and the nimble escape ability. They make great little archer skirmishers. A goblin would only fight a stand up melee fight against larger stronger opponents when they have a great advantage in numbers or if they get backed into a corner. Have the goblins try to engage at a distance, and keep falling back using disengage as a bonus action when needed to escape opportunity attacks and trying to hide if the environment permits it.

 

[Glomb175]

Sorry I didn't mean melee, stupid mistake on my part. I mean it's all physical contact, swinging swords, shooting bows, there's no utilisation of spells or magic. Can I just add a random spell to the goblin/doppelganger's arsenal?

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[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Sorry I didn't mean melee, stupid mistake on my part. I mean it's all physical contact, swinging swords, shooting bows, there's no utilisation of spells or magic. Can I just add a random spell to the goblin/doppelganger's arsenal?

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You're the DM, you can do anything you want with the monsters. For example, pick one goblin, call it a "shaman" and let it cast 1st and 2nd level druid spells. Have it wear a cool headdress so that the players can tell it's special.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Sorry I didn't mean melee, stupid mistake on my part. I mean it's all physical contact, swinging swords, shooting bows, there's no utilisation of spells or magic. Can I just add a random spell to the goblin/doppelganger's arsenal?

Sent from my HTC 10 using EN World mobile app

Give all the goblins the Magic Initiate feat. Show everybody how terrifying magic really should be.

A friend and I were discussing a ways back what a devastating force a military unit consisting of conscripts trained in minor magic would be. That's just as true here. Hell, have one of the goblins cast sleep. That would add a wrinkle or six to the adventure.

Of course, depending on your group, you might end up with a bunch of whining about how you're cheating, but I'd say shaking things up is worth the risk.

 

[Quickleaf]

sorry for the caps but I have a session in 3hours and one player has just pulled out so I need quick advice.

- Should I rp her character
- Or let someone else
- Or make up a reason why she's missing
- Or don't mention it and just leave her out

Problem with other people rp-ing her is the strain it puts on the player, especially for me because I have one encounter with 13 enemies and 6players already and I'm already rp-ing an npc

Sent from my HTC 10 using EN World mobile app

Hi Glomb Don't stress and have a fun session.

In the long-term, I recommend you have what is called a "Session Zero" discussion. During this discussion with your players (before or after you play), at a minimum try to get a feel for their thoughts on the following questions:

• What maturity rating do we want this game to be, if it were a movie? Are there topics (e.g. some players draw the line at spiders, others at child abuse) that are out-of-bounds and we agree not to delve into?
• Are evil PCs allowed in this game? If yes, have a talk about how the evil PCs actually intend to stick together.
• Are there any house rules that you're implementing as DM? Do you reserve the right to change rules that don't work during play, and if so will that be handled by you, a designated rules layer player, or by committee?
• Should your players expect all of your encounters to be balanced using the encounter guidelines, or is there the possibility of encountering "under-leveled" or "over-leveled" creatures and needing to use their wits?
• Can PCs die? And if a PC dies, what happens? Are there resurrection options, and how readily accessible are they? How do you all want to keep the player of the dead PC participating? For example, some groups adopt gritty house rules and make death ever-present, while others make the PCs pretty much immune to death unless the player of that PC raises a finger ("death flag") and says something like "I'm ok with risking my PC's death in this scene."
• When a player can't show up to the game, what do you with their PC? Hand-wave it and have the PC fade into the background? Have the DM role-play the PC (if the DM is willing)? Have another designated player RP that PC (and the player should be designated by the absent player in advance)? Devise a story mechanism that can explain missing PCs (e.g. "Sliders" style planewalkers might go missing through a portal)? And do absent players incur a penalty toward their PCs' XP/leveling/treasure?
• Speaking of which, do you plan to use story-based leveling or XP? And if you use XP, what guidelines do you plan to use?