Missed session catch-up XP

[Azzy]

I've always used party XP. We don't bother tracking individual XP totals we just have a single XP total that is used to determine the level of the entire party, even if you miss a session or two your XP total is equal to the party XP total and you level up at the same time as everyone else.

Same with my group.

 

[Winterthorn]

For the games I've run for my friends, we treated the PCs of absent players as NPCs. They would be awarded half the XPs a PC would earn, they would be run that session by another (experienced) player, and as DM/GM I promised the absent player their PC wouldn't die unless the party was brazenly foolish - in which case a TPK would render the whole matter moot. So they would return the next game to see some XP and minor loot gained, and possibly hear a harrowing story from the other players

 

[Blue]

An interesting side point to this is where do do players and replacement characters come in?

If I join your group, what level / XP total am I? Will I forever be a junior member unable to catch up, or am I coming in at the same level as everyone else? Do at come in at the lowest of the current players - which means my character is effectively penalized by the amount the person who attended the least is since we all get the same XP. Do I come in at the highest of the players and my XP losses atre only on my shoulders - but that means I've surpassed some people who have already lost XP.

How about replacement characters? If I die and come back with more XP, what does that say? If I die and come back with less than a new player, what does that mean?

These are questions for more traditional setups of one character per player, not ones with stables of characters for each player.

 

[ad_hoc]

For the games I've run for my friends, we treated the PCs of absent players as NPCs.

Have you considered just not including the PCs?

That sounds like a big waste of time. The players who showed up should have that spotlight time divided evenly instead of having 1 player have 2 characters.

 

[iserith]

An interesting side point to this is where do do players and replacement characters come in?

If I join your group, what level / XP total am I? Will I forever be a junior member unable to catch up, or am I coming in at the same level as everyone else? Do at come in at the lowest of the current players - which means my character is effectively penalized by the amount the person who attended the least is since we all get the same XP. Do I come in at the highest of the players and my XP losses atre only on my shoulders - but that means I've surpassed some people who have already lost XP.

How about replacement characters? If I die and come back with more XP, what does that say? If I die and come back with less than a new player, what does that mean?

These are questions for more traditional setups of one character per player, not ones with stables of characters for each player.

Though it varies a bit by campaign, in general, you're always coming in at 1st-level as a new player in my games. You are therefore encouraged to create and level up a backup character by swapping him or her in from time to time as your main. Usually, players will play both characters until they're at 3rd level each, then pick one as the main and leave the other as backup. At least they get to start at 3rd with a subclass if the main bites the dust. You catch up pretty quick in my experience.

As an alternate, I've had it where the backup character earns half the amount the active character earns in a given session on the assumption they're off doing something that helps them advance. Or, as in the case of my latest game, backup characters earn XP every time a player spends Inspiration to benefit another player's character.

 

[bedir than]

I've run some "email sessions" for when my players don't show. We run drop-in sessions when 3+ players can show. If players don't show they don't get XP.

When they fall way behind I'll have an email/Slack DM session with them. We'll chat about what their character was doing off table and I'll reward XP based on that.

 

[Horwath]

What is this individual XP?

Maybe 10 years ago we gave up un rewarding XP, you level when there is campaign reason to level or the party did lots of things outside planned quests.

 

[Ancalagon]

In my game, absent PCs get half XP

A solo session *could* be interesting, but it should have some sort of impact on the game

 

[Iry]

Everyone has the same XP at my tables. If someone misses the game because of Real Life issues, then they have already been punished enough not being able to play D&D. Not to mention their character was probably up to some great adventures of their own during that time.

Now, if someone misses the game often enough that their attendance is an issue... then I sit down and talk to them about it. Scheduling is the bane of adult gaming, and sometimes you can’t make it work for everyone.

 

[Coroc]

Normally it should be no problem at all, also for the case some PC dies irrevocable, if there are 2-3 levels of difference. BA helps immensely with that. Also if you log XP exactly, even a level one will catch up quick. I feel that this is the better way to do it, starting with a high level char seems a bit like cheating to me. It can be an additional challenge for the other players to keep the "weaker" char alive.
I see problems though, if the DM uses rules like "level up each two sessions" or such which do not exactly track XP. In these situations you might not get around introducing a new PC already leveled or keep standing PCs who could not attend up to pace.