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<blockquote data-quote="Mika" data-source="post: 5338519" data-attributes="member: 56588">First off, be thankful that you have a mature and responsible group -- it seems that generally your players let you know in advance of any upcoming absences, so you can plan around them to some extent.&nbsp; I wish my group did that more.Okay, so let's say it is the beginning of a session, you did not have to leave off in the middle of an encounter last time, and one or more of your players are going to be late.&nbsp; Do you have any &quot;down time&quot; things that the players who are present want to take care of?&nbsp; Well, now is a great time to do them.&nbsp; If not -- on to the action.&nbsp; If a battle is about to start within a few minutes of the expected arrival of a prompt player, then a short break is in order.&nbsp; Otherwise, any player arriving in mid-battle should wait and join the party at the end of the battle.Later in the evening, another battle is about to start -- and the required departure time of one of your players is coming up.&nbsp; Check your watch and decide whether you are likely to have time to finish the battle before the player has to leave.&nbsp; If not, say good-night to them then.&nbsp; Otherwise, proceed with the action.&nbsp; If the battle is still going on when a player has to leave, remove them from the battle at that time and assess the situation.&nbsp; The usual situation here is that a battle has become grindy -- the outcome is not in doubt, but it is taking your players longer to finish off their foes than you expected.&nbsp; If you are pretty sure that is the case, grant them victory by fiat.&nbsp; Otherwise, remove enough enemies to keep the current battle situation balanced and finish the encounter.&nbsp; Absent player characters should survive anything short of a TPK, in which case all player characters (present or absent) are killed.XP and treasure are not a big deal, as you need for all players to stay close to even to keep the party viable.&nbsp; Hopefully you won't have to award too many bonus items or levels to player characters who frequently have to be absent -- it is better to maintain the illusion that they are earning everything they get if possible.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mika, post: 5338519, member: 56588"] First off, be thankful that you have a mature and responsible group -- it seems that generally your players let you know in advance of any upcoming absences, so you can plan around them to some extent. I wish my group did that more. Okay, so let's say it is the beginning of a session, you did not have to leave off in the middle of an encounter last time, and one or more of your players are going to be late. Do you have any "down time" things that the players who are present want to take care of? Well, now is a great time to do them. If not -- on to the action. If a battle is about to start within a few minutes of the expected arrival of a prompt player, then a short break is in order. Otherwise, any player arriving in mid-battle should wait and join the party at the end of the battle. Later in the evening, another battle is about to start -- and the required departure time of one of your players is coming up. Check your watch and decide whether you are likely to have time to finish the battle before the player has to leave. If not, say good-night to them then. Otherwise, proceed with the action. If the battle is still going on when a player has to leave, remove them from the battle at that time and assess the situation. The usual situation here is that a battle has become grindy -- the outcome is not in doubt, but it is taking your players longer to finish off their foes than you expected. If you are pretty sure that is the case, grant them victory by fiat. Otherwise, remove enough enemies to keep the current battle situation balanced and finish the encounter. Absent player characters should survive anything short of a TPK, in which case all player characters (present or absent) are killed. XP and treasure are not a big deal, as you need for all players to stay close to even to keep the party viable. Hopefully you won't have to award too many bonus items or levels to player characters who frequently have to be absent -- it is better to maintain the illusion that they are earning everything they get if possible. [/QUOTE]

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