How to believably deal with missing players??

[Vrecknidj]

I have a 4"x6" card for each character (and almost all the NPCs--my stack is about 4" tall). It has all their stats, including feats, skills, spells, etc. If a player is missing, I "play" the character. The players in my group have all played for more than 10 years, and we've all played together for a long time. Everyone knows that if a character dies while under the DM's control, that's the breaks. It's just a game and sometimes such things happen. I have great players and I'd never intentionally kill off a character under such circumstances anyway. But, the players that are at a session would call me on it if I put an absent player's character in unnecessary jeopardy.

If a player is going to be missing several sessions in a row, I find a way to get that character out of the scenario and formulate a plan so that the character can come back in later.

Dave

 

[orangefruitbat]

In my game, the DM takes charge of the character as an NPC. During this time, the character is still helpful, but is generally passive - ie, doesn't come up with ideas, generally stays back in the marching order, etc.

I might also fudge a little during combat (assuming he always stabilizes when unconscious doesn't fail save or die spells), but only when it's non-obvious. Death is still possible.

Also, the character receives only 50% xp for the week (and everyone else receives the other 50% split among them). It's safer, but it's no route to glory - think of it as a subtle encouragement to get players to show up on time.

 

[jerichothebard]

Utilize the mystic wheelbarrow. It's an invisible, silent incorporeal wheelbarrow with a permanent stasis field that follows the party around. When a player isn't htere, their character gets tossed into the wheelbarrow. When the player comes back, someone drags them out of the wheelbarrow.


Seriously.


(It's just a thought device that basically means, "continuity is over-rated").



jtb

 

[Wonger]

Utilize the mystic wheelbarrow.

Well, a common statement in the party is "He's in the bag [of holding]". It has an air cauldron in it... I was just looking for something a bit better.

I must say I'm surprised at how many people have the DM or other players run their PCs. I always thought that was more of a 1E thing and no longer common.

 

[akchf]

Actually for games that end "midsession", especially if there's combat on either side, I just say that party member is unconcious for feeling sickly so they're sitting out.

 

[the Jester]

Our 'standard array' of excuses includes these gems:

*answering a call of nature whenever something happened
*in bed with the flu (depression for paladins)
*scouting ahead
*securing the mounts
*buying supplies
*guarding the camp

If a pc misses several sessions in a row I'll often give them a better bit of story- training with their guild leaders, visiting mom, etc.

 

[Baron Opal]

Our solution is that the character is either finishing old buisness "off camera" or has come down with Dungeon Fever. It is a terrible malady, strikes suddenly, and completely incapacitates the character. Fortunatly the victims recover quickly and there are never any sequelae.

Baron Opal

 

[nameless]

Plus, through no fault of the fill-in player, we've had absent PCs get croaked. Let me tell you, that makes for angry players when we fill them in on what happened.

I think that it's absolutely unacceptable to kill a PC when that player isn't at the helm, unless the rest of the party is beaten in an absolutely overwhelming encounter also. There are tons of circumstances where either the DM or the absent player can write his character out of the story (or at least off-camera) for a session. It's fine to critically wound an absent character, because he'll probably recover even in low-magic worlds. Just don't kill him.

If the game's verisimilitude is too closely tied to the absent player, then it's probably better to postpone the session, otherwise, have him fall in a pit trap for a while.

 

[sparxmith]

Guard the Horses

We've yet to go through a serious (multi-session) dungeon crawl in our campaign. Being on the surface all the time, somebody has to guard the horses. That's where the missing players are. Wizards can scribe scrolls, etc, clerics still act as boxes of Band-aids, and a rogue might still be called on to pick a lock, but it is assumed that otherwise, they are guarding the horses and wagon. (Which all have been stolen multiple times otherwise.)

Does it work in all situations? No, but it covers most of them.

Just my two (What do they call cents in the new Euro?)

Sparxmith

 

[Nifft]

When I can, I try to be creative. For example, a PC cast "Vision Cascade" and went to sleep at the end of one session. The player didn't make it to the next session. The party noticed that the PC didn't wake up, and that a thin strand of ectoplasm extended from his sweating forehead. 22 hours later -- the next session -- he woke up.

What happened? Well, his Vision took his consciousness from Carceri (where time passes quickly) to the Prime (where time passes normally). He fell victim to a Crystal Anchor (see Expanded Psionics Handbook) for about a minute on the Prime, before it was turned off.

So, I got to showcase a new toy for the bad guys, the PC had a good reason to be out of it, and the player learned that even Divinations can be dangerous.

HOWEVER: usually what happens when a player can't show up is that "a shimmering golden bubble of force covers the PC, protecting him while it strangely drains his will and personality". I call it the "NPC Shield (tm)".

-- N