when a player does not make it....

[Henry]

I have one comment about adulthood and personal responsibility.

If a player has a job, a spouse, children, and other commitments that they can juggle on a daily basis, then they also have the level of commitment and competence necessary to plan free time to game, attend a party, schedule a family get-together, etc. If an unforseen emergency comes up, then they also should have the level of commitment and competence to advise the other participants that they will not be attending.

This is not their favorite television program, or an hour of computer gaming that they are missing - it is a social engagement, the same as any other R.S.V.P. event. People are expecting their presence. If they cannot attend, even at the last minute, they need to inform someone, as a common courtesy, that they cannot attend, due to extenuating circumstances.

To do otherwise is both rude and lacking maturity.

Thus endeth the opinion.

 

[Neowolf]

I haven't had too much of a problem with this, but I've made an (admittedly harsh) agreement with my players. If someone chooses not to come for some reason (such as wanting to do something else instead), the game goes on without them, they fall behind in XP, and they just have to deal with it. However, if it's something they can't help or can't get out of (for instance, one of my players recently found out about a dentist's appointment the night before the game!!) then it's handled on a case-by-case basis. I usually try to provide that player with a chance to earn some bonus XP the next session, so they can catch up some. For the most part though, I handle this kind of thing on a case-by-case basis. Also, this isn't much of a problem for me due to the structure of my campaign. We play mostly one-shot adventures, and they tend to be written in such a way that one character's occaisional absence doesn't throw things too much out of wack.

Hope that helps!

 

[Wicht]

I usually just run their PCs as NPCs for that session and if they are going to make a habit of the practice, I phase them out of the game, keeping the character for the odd time they do show up.

 

[KDLadage]

I absolutely hate running a PC as an NPC -- I am not that character. I may be a hundred or so NPCs (and they are mine, I run them -- nobody else) but a character is, in my view, a very personal thing.

I have a total of 11 players right now (possible trhat we may drop to 9 in the near future). Since I allow them to play thier cohorts and such, this is a total of 14 PCs right now as well.

I run games where the plot intertwines all of these players. They are all getting things happening to them, they are all in the midst of the web of intrigue.

If one is missing -- even with a field as large as this one -- we all feel that loss. Fortunately, most of the players are very good at keeping up communications. In fact, two will be gone for a few months coming up (a trip to Europe) and so, we are winding down a total of 6-12 sub-plots and such so that the characters can have a legit reason not to be there any longer -- at least for a while.

But I feel your pain. On those off nights when someone has not called and has not shown up, it hurts. And is (in my opinion) is a sign of disrespect for the rest of the players in the game. As lusk would have it, the few tiems this has happened, it is always the player that has his 'center stage time' set up for that night...



Oh well. Murphy was an optimist, after all.

 

[Songwind]

Strangely Silent

It's really hard when you want to run a game that focuses on a particular character and they don't show up. I would be tempted to side-track for that game session into a one-shot little story and pick up the main story when the missing playerm makes it back.

OTOH, if we have a missing character that isn't *vital* to the story, his character becomes "strangely silent." It was a long running joke in my old game. Basically, the missing player's character is THERE, so we don't have to worry about writing him into/out of the story, but he doesn't say anything, no one gets aggressive with him, and every time combat starts he gets distracted by the pretty flower or something.

Obviously, said character receives no experience for the session, either.

Clerics are also easy to deal with - "It's time for the cleric to retreat from her fellows and meditate on the meaning of truth for a few days. She'll catch up later."

 

[Some guy from Ohio]

I have a total of 11 players right now.

Hey KD,
Now that alone is a topic for another thread! I ran with nine before and found it difficult. You have my respects!

 

[Moe Ronalds]

in my first campaign, no one EVER came. We all had a time and place we agreed on, this continued on for several very sad sessions I spent all alone, waiting for SOMEONE to get over there... Until finally I stopped going all together. And no one seemed to notice that the game had died.

 

[Eye Tyrant]

I say that if the player calls or notifies you in some way, fine, no big deal. If there is no advance warning and you and the other players are sitting around for an extra 30 minutes waiting on Mr./Mrs. No-Show only to find that they aren't coming... I introduce the 3 strike rule. It's understandable that things come up, but it is equally understandable that a courtesy call is in order. I feel that after failing to give the DM that courtesy three times said player just doesn't really give a rat's a$$ and should not be invited back. That's just me though.

 

[BenBrown]

I have one comment about adulthood and personal responsibility.

If a player has a job, a spouse, children, and other commitments that they can juggle on a daily basis, then they also have the level of commitment and competence necessary to plan free time to game, attend a party, schedule a family get-together, etc. If an unforseen emergency comes up, then they also should have the level of commitment and competence to advise the other participants that they will not be attending.

This is not their favorite television program, or an hour of computer gaming that they are missing - it is a social engagement, the same as any other R.S.V.P. event. People are expecting their presence. If they cannot attend, even at the last minute, they need to inform someone, as a common courtesy, that they cannot attend, due to extenuating circumstances.

To do otherwise is both rude and lacking maturity.

Thus endeth the opinion.

Hear hear!

This is how we've kept our gaming group going for four years now. You show up, not because you don't have anything else to do, but because that's what you do on monday nights (or whatever night). It's as much a commitment as anything else. If you can't make it, or are going to be late, let the GM know as far in advance as possible.

If one player can't make it, we go with the "strangely silent" character. If two can't make it--out of five or six (plus gm)--then the game gets cancelled, or we do something else that we've planned in advance.

If you're not all living within a block of each other and can't just start gaming at a moment's notice, this is the only way to do it if you want any kind of continuity at all.

 

[Numion]

My 'rules' regarding this are

1) If at least 4 of the six players can come, we play

2) If you miss two games in a row even when you have agreed to come, don't expect to be told about the next ones.

Rule #2 has only been applied on one player, who was now pissed that we games without telling him. Tough!