A House Rule
- Thread starter Renshai
- Start date
Li Shenron
Legend
I never get any Xp if I miss a session and I don't feel penalized at all. So IMHO you're already being generous with 50%.
It becomes a problem only if a character starts lagging more than 2 levels behind the others. In that case I would probably consider some ad-hoc adjustment.
It becomes a problem only if a character starts lagging more than 2 levels behind the others. In that case I would probably consider some ad-hoc adjustment.
GreatLemur
Explorer
Sounds a little bent to me, honestly. Assigning the character to a random player is fine, of course, but the XP penalty is just weird. I mean, it's characters who earn XP, not players. And it just ain't cool to punish your players for having obligations beyond the game table.
Phlebas
First Post
I agree its generous
IMC, no show means no Xp - isnt fair to the other players (who also have lives) otherwise. Normally the PC hangs at the back and only gets involved in an emergency that might effect the other players - so normally NPC'd, but occasionally run by another player if i'm feeling under pressure or it was an awkward time like a cliff hanger ending - its very rare that i'll let magic items be used or the PC be endangered unless it was getting towards a TPK without their input (if more than one no show then we play "munchkin rules" - ie we play munchkin instead)
to try and be fair to those who have genuine excuses, i'll run occasional one off solo or small group adventures for those who have dropped off the pace (eg a player who is on call at work RP's a 'trial' to go up each wizard level that earns a bit of XP to keep him up to speed, a player who had family commitments and knew he'd miss a month played a one off adventure an evening - which also covered what he'd been doing while the rest of the party were away)
At the moment i only have one character who's a level lower than the rest of the party, mainly due to no-shows. If you give more XP to characters of lower level then it stops gaps getting too great, without making the regulars feel undervalued
Just thinking about this, i remember only one complaint from a player going back a few years who missed the final encounter, and thus got a smaller share of the XP. the other players didnt have a lot of sympathy as everyone knew in advance it was the big fight.
IMC, no show means no Xp - isnt fair to the other players (who also have lives) otherwise. Normally the PC hangs at the back and only gets involved in an emergency that might effect the other players - so normally NPC'd, but occasionally run by another player if i'm feeling under pressure or it was an awkward time like a cliff hanger ending - its very rare that i'll let magic items be used or the PC be endangered unless it was getting towards a TPK without their input (if more than one no show then we play "munchkin rules" - ie we play munchkin instead)
to try and be fair to those who have genuine excuses, i'll run occasional one off solo or small group adventures for those who have dropped off the pace (eg a player who is on call at work RP's a 'trial' to go up each wizard level that earns a bit of XP to keep him up to speed, a player who had family commitments and knew he'd miss a month played a one off adventure an evening - which also covered what he'd been doing while the rest of the party were away)
At the moment i only have one character who's a level lower than the rest of the party, mainly due to no-shows. If you give more XP to characters of lower level then it stops gaps getting too great, without making the regulars feel undervalued
Just thinking about this, i remember only one complaint from a player going back a few years who missed the final encounter, and thus got a smaller share of the XP. the other players didnt have a lot of sympathy as everyone knew in advance it was the big fight.
GreatLemur
Explorer
It's not that an XP penalty is immature, so much as that penalizing no-shows makes a lot less sense as players get older and find themselves with more responsibilities. What kind of jerk of a GM punishes a player for missing a session because he or she was stuck at the office on game night? Working instead of gaming is punishment enough.maggot said:
Phlebas
First Post
Its not penalising no shows, its rewarding those who show up regularly!
IMHO - From a game perspective - XP is just a way of moving characters along and keeping them developing and growing. It doesn't make sense to grow a character without playing them. Players who use XP as a way of keeping score can seriously undermine the point of a game - but thats a whole other topic.
Having said that, I do think here theres a difference between a planned no-show, and the last minute SMS - if theres a player who just cant turn up one week in four (think i read that above) then it would make sense to come up with an exception if the rest of the group want to play at that time. Personally I'd just organise a one-to-one every few months and allow some catch up and character development, but not all GM's have that luxury.
Just a thought, what XP method are GM's use here? I use CR based individual so lower levels never drop too far off the pace. If you're using group XP then I can see why you'd have to come up with exceptions for no-shows.
IMHO - From a game perspective - XP is just a way of moving characters along and keeping them developing and growing. It doesn't make sense to grow a character without playing them. Players who use XP as a way of keeping score can seriously undermine the point of a game - but thats a whole other topic.
Having said that, I do think here theres a difference between a planned no-show, and the last minute SMS - if theres a player who just cant turn up one week in four (think i read that above) then it would make sense to come up with an exception if the rest of the group want to play at that time. Personally I'd just organise a one-to-one every few months and allow some catch up and character development, but not all GM's have that luxury.
Just a thought, what XP method are GM's use here? I use CR based individual so lower levels never drop too far off the pace. If you're using group XP then I can see why you'd have to come up with exceptions for no-shows.
dvvega
Explorer
IMC we use options (player selected).
1) you allow others to play your character and take the consequences of death etc. (100% XP)
or
2) you sit on the sidelines and get nothing for your time (0 XP)
or
3) you can take X% of XP but also start the next session with X% of your hit points missing, uses some charges from charged items, has expended random spells from your memory ... the number is based on the % chosen.
Explanations of these options:
1) your character is being used, provides resources to the party, so the encounters are still balanced.
2) you are 100% safe from harm but you don't really learn anything new.
3) instead of burdening another player we assume you were involved somehow and using resources. At the start of the next session if you chose 100% XP then you are unconscious and the party needs to expend resources to get you going again. It does not matter if they made camp for the night, you are unconscious.
What these options allow is for the missing player to at least dictate his/her fate. Thus far players have always chosen option 1.
1) you allow others to play your character and take the consequences of death etc. (100% XP)
or
2) you sit on the sidelines and get nothing for your time (0 XP)
or
3) you can take X% of XP but also start the next session with X% of your hit points missing, uses some charges from charged items, has expended random spells from your memory ... the number is based on the % chosen.
Explanations of these options:
1) your character is being used, provides resources to the party, so the encounters are still balanced.
2) you are 100% safe from harm but you don't really learn anything new.
3) instead of burdening another player we assume you were involved somehow and using resources. At the start of the next session if you chose 100% XP then you are unconscious and the party needs to expend resources to get you going again. It does not matter if they made camp for the night, you are unconscious.
What these options allow is for the missing player to at least dictate his/her fate. Thus far players have always chosen option 1.
Phlebas
First Post
So what XP method do GM's use? I suspect that might explain some of the differences.
Hey Dvvega, good idea to ask the players, but have you ever had a character death or loss of major item and how did the player respond?
Thats always been my nightmare scenario - if the player can see i'm rolling dice and bad stuff is a direct consequence of his/her actions then they can't have a complaint, but when its out of their control I can see some players giving me grief. Thats why i always pick the no xp / no risk option as a default.
Hey Dvvega, good idea to ask the players, but have you ever had a character death or loss of major item and how did the player respond?
Thats always been my nightmare scenario - if the player can see i'm rolling dice and bad stuff is a direct consequence of his/her actions then they can't have a complaint, but when its out of their control I can see some players giving me grief. Thats why i always pick the no xp / no risk option as a default.
dvvega
Explorer
Phlebas\
Funny you should ask that ... 3 sessions ago my wife had to go to bed early (we're expecting and she gets really tired nowadays) and she left her Fighter in my care. Unfortunately the rest of the party wasn't working as well together as they should in a climatic encounter and so my wife's character died.
She handled it and we created a new character (a Warblade) with a totally different concept from the previous one - BTW she doesn't like resurrection/raise dead/etc and neither do I for that matter but that's not what is on the table here.
If you're a person who cannot handle a character loss if you are not there then you choose the other options. But trust me ... players don't want to start falling behind the other characters if they miss sessions, so a lot of them go for the risk taking option.
Funny you should ask that ... 3 sessions ago my wife had to go to bed early (we're expecting and she gets really tired nowadays) and she left her Fighter in my care. Unfortunately the rest of the party wasn't working as well together as they should in a climatic encounter and so my wife's character died.
She handled it and we created a new character (a Warblade) with a totally different concept from the previous one - BTW she doesn't like resurrection/raise dead/etc and neither do I for that matter but that's not what is on the table here.
If you're a person who cannot handle a character loss if you are not there then you choose the other options. But trust me ... players don't want to start falling behind the other characters if they miss sessions, so a lot of them go for the risk taking option.
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