Pathfinder 1E Should I kill off players who don't show?

The game can make a big difference when being people down. Some games can handle PCs being missing better than others. 3Era, each character is pretty valuable

Like if the cleric and wizard don't show in a dungeon filled with creatures that leave you "Screwed until Dispelled".

Or if the meat shields stayed home, leaving the wizard and rogue having to go through the whole dungeon in "sneak by or get squashed" mode.

And the game can also be the culprit. Like when the fighter and rogue decide it is not worth showing up to play Casterfest 3.75 anymore.
 

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The first thing to do is to raise with issue with your players. Outline the situation, and why it is a problem. Find out if there is anything going on. Ask for input. Someone mentioned doing it via a group email, which has the advantage that it doesn't put anyone on the spot.

The ideal outcome is to find a solution that everyone is happy with. But sometimes you might have to make a decision that is not popular with all concerned. The goal is to ensure that if such a decision is required, it shouldn't come as a surprise, and the reasons behind the decision are understood by everyone.

Finally, I would always recommend keeping a copy of all the character sheets. Whether you keep the originals, or a copy is up to you. There are pros and cons to both options.

Best of luck.

thotd
 

Hello again all and sorry for the rather long awaited answer to things, I had to go through the trouble of getting a new computer. I REALLY appreciate all the advice and suggestions on here, especially since I had originally expected a lot of yes or no answers!

As it stands they've been coming around a bit more often, though still having missed a couple of our recent games, and I've had a talk with them in the meantime. Unfortunately I still don't feel comfortable running the game without them now more because of how the plot is going, the campaign may in fact be done (after roughly 2 years) within the next month or so and I don't feel it would be fair to have them miss it, however taking the advice from several people on here and talking it out with the players who do show up I've started a much easier to balance and simpler style game with just them so when the other 2 don't show, they just get to be the stars of their own side game, which so far has made everyone rather satisfied.

As it stands to be still annoying when they don't show, I admit I was jumping the gun a bit at the idea of killing the characters off from the other players annoyance getting to me after so long, and just told them that if they DO miss is more then is reasonable, I'll have to player there characters for them and they'll miss the ending, mostly because if not them I'd need to write up two more guys that somehow remotely fit the rather special situation going on in game, and that's tiring sometimes lol.

Since the game is supposed to have a 'sequel' in the same world using the main characters descendants though, I've been talking regularly with them to try and find a better schedule to work around, I'd love to find one or two new players to just avoid this situation again in the first place of course, though I'm not much the type to make friends easy (yeah antisocial DM, that can't cause issues right?...), but maybe one of the group knows some people that wouldn't mind pouring over pages of established story and world to make something :D

Again though seriously, thanks guys, this was a lot of help and has some great ideas for more then just the situation I came for help on- side note I labeled the thread Pathfinder on reflex cause that's the game we're playing, buuuut....yeah it probably should have gone in a more broad topic XD
 

[MENTION=99243]Naoki00_[/MENTION]

Glad to see you where able to make things work. And you can take onboard all this advice for next time.

I resisted recruiting new players for a long time, and was pleasantly surprised when I did. Don't let just anyone play, but also be confident that there are lots of good players out there.
 

(. . .) just move the game on without them (. . .)


Yup. And recruit some new players that can be more regular. Unless you tie your game to some overarching plot in which the absent players' characters are integral, this shouldn't be a problem. If you are a plot DM, then you probably need to adjust your game until more regular players are part of the group.


*edit* posted based only on the OP. :)
 
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Hello again all and sorry for the rather long awaited answer to things, I had to go through the trouble of getting a new computer. I REALLY appreciate all the advice and suggestions on here, especially since I had originally expected a lot of yes or no answers!

You are welcome. Glad to hear that you have found a working solution. Thanks for getting back to us. It is always nice to hear how things worked out, especially if it worked out well.

thotd
 

And recruit some new players that can be more regular.

And if recruiting new players is an issue, you could have your reliable players create "sidekick" secondary characters that see action when the less reliable players don't show up.
 

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