D&D 5E Sidelining Players- the Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Poll

[Shasarak]

Well, in fact it did; it was a retired character returning...not that it matters.
I think it might have been the only torture room in the adventure, and it had some...interesting equipment.

I do know this (homebrew) module had been meticulously designed by the DM, and I can understand his not wanting to change it at the last minute.

It's also quite possible that some of the other players kind of enjoyed hanging me out to dry. They as players knew I had a character in there somewhere but (quite legitimately) the characters did not know, so they had no in-character reason to do anything different than they usually would.

But the best part was yet to come. When they finally did find me I was strapped to a table whose function was to greatly magnify any touch or impact felt by whoever was on it (remember what I said about interesting equipment?) thus a simple pinprick felt like a sword thrust, a tap on the shoulder felt like a punch, and so on. I'm mostly unconscious, having not had any water for quite some time, and so one of the PCs who recognizes me slaps my face to wake me up.

And breaks my neck.

Lan-"after this the players/characters did take pity on me, and made sure I was quickly revived"-efan

I dont get it, if it makes a pin prick "feel" like a sword thrust then it would just be more painful, right? Otherwise if it made a pin prick do the same damage as a sword thrust what would be the point of using it as a torture device? You could not really torture people very well if they kept dieing every time someone pricks them or, as in your case, roughs them up a little.

I mean if you have someone tied up and wanted to stick them with a sword then you could just stick them with a sword, why would you need an intricate magical device that turned pin pricks into sword thrusts? It seems like the DM did not think that one through very well.

 

[kagayaku]

I dont get it, if it makes a pin prick "feel" like a sword thrust then it would just be more painful, right? Otherwise if it made a pin prick do the same damage as a sword thrust what would be the point of using it as a torture device? You could not really torture people very well if they kept dieing every time someone pricks them or, as in your case, roughs them up a little.

I mean if you have someone tied up and wanted to stick them with a sword then you could just stick them with a sword, why would you need an intricate magical device that turned pin pricks into sword thrusts? It seems like the DM did not think that one through very well.

*Jumps into a chat halfway through* It made a fun story though. :'D I might steal the pain amplifying table idea, but not have it also amplify damage.

I'm surprised by the number of people who chose option 1 on the poll. I don't have much experience with D&D yet but I think my players would be upset if they had to sit out of the fun IRL for in story reasons, especially if the player had made the story more awesome by putting their character in danger.

I haven't had the situation yet, but I think I will real soon because orcs. I think I will let any players who get taken out of the action for more than a short time take over a non-critical NPC while they wait to be revived/until next session or so when they can introduce their next character. Even if it's death on the battlefield (which it probably would be), I think my players would have fun just pulling a random character and voice for a nearby guard out of the air, and then another one a little later if that guy dies too x'D Who knows, they might like the random out of the air character they come up with, and then there's no need for awkward party integration with a stranger next session.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

(never mind, dead horse)

So, um, apropos of nothing--does the 7th level aura from a Paladin of the Ancients halve the damage the caster of a Warding Bond takes when the warded character takes damage? It's damage being caused by a spell after all...

 

[Hussar]

It's funny how people are talking about how the player is being rude for leaving.

What about the other side of the coin though? You know Bob wants to leave but you insist that he stays? How is that not 100% selfish of you. It's not about Bob at all. It's all about you.

I guess I'm just not so self absorbed that I would force someone into staying when I know they don't want to.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Sidelining players for extended periods, outside of split scenes, where you go back and forth, is my "rapier wielding Gnome paladin".

Except mine is rational!

But seriously, it's bad.

Related: if you can't handle keeping two scenes straight, going back and forth, don't split a scene. Just don't.

 

[Lanefan]

Sidelining players for extended periods, outside of split scenes, where you go back and forth, is my "rapier wielding Gnome paladin".

Related: if you can't handle keeping two scenes straight, going back and forth, don't split a scene. Just don't.

Sometimes, however, a split scene consists of one group actually doing things (a common case is a couple of stealthies scouting ahead) and the other group basically doing nothing except waiting for the first lot to return. Realistically this makes sense as what the characters would do, but there's not really any "going back and forth".

And further, this sort of scene is almost always player-initiated; thus as a group they really have no-one else to blame. About the only time I as DM can initiate a split is by either capturing someone or by a teleport trap where the first few go through but the rest stop as soon as the leaders vanish.

Lan-"a few months ago I had a ten-character party get split into ten separate parties of one character each...thank stars for email..."-efan

 

[Tallifer]

I allow my players to create alternate characters when their main character gets side-lined. But I prefer other narratives which keep including characters. Mind you, my campaign is in practice very loose with continuity and record-keeping, so players sometimes switch out characters for trivial reasons.

I do warn players out-of-character if they contemplate a course of action which will sideline their
character ... because I will probably ever get back to them. The main action will continue without them.

 

[Fanaelialae]

Sometimes, however, a split scene consists of one group actually doing things (a common case is a couple of stealthies scouting ahead) and the other group basically doing nothing except waiting for the first lot to return. Realistically this makes sense as what the characters would do, but there's not really any "going back and forth".

And further, this sort of scene is almost always player-initiated; thus as a group they really have no-one else to blame. About the only time I as DM can initiate a split is by either capturing someone or by a teleport trap where the first few go through but the rest stop as soon as the leaders vanish.

Lan-"a few months ago I had a ten-character party get split into ten separate parties of one character each...thank stars for email..."-efan

I think it's still good form to periodically ask the waiting group, "Are you doing anything?" or "What are you doing while you wait?". If they say no, then they are effectively opting-out of their turn (presumably, this speeds along the return of the first group) but are aware that they were given the option.

 

[Maxperson]

I think we need to respect the feelings of even those people we don't understand. So in the 'battle' between two people who are in danger of having their feelings hurt (the DM because his player is leaving / the player who just isn't the watcher type) whose feelings take priority?

There is no such thing as priority here. Everyone there(including the DM) is a player there to have fun. It's rude for the DM to leave a player twiddling his thumbs for hours, and it's rude for the player to pick up his ball and go home.

 

[Morrus]

Because "I'll see you next week, good luck guys" means "Hey guys, I don't want to hang out with you unless you can make special accommodations for me."
It's kinda antisocial to just leave. That you'd rather do nothing - you'd literally rather do anything else - than hanging around with your "friends" and watch them play...

I’d rather do anything else than watch other people play D&D. It’s no spectator sport.