Suggestions for scheduling problems in a campaign?

[gadams]

Hi All,

Long time lurker, first time poster. In the current campaign I’m running I seem to keep having scheduling problems with the group. I’ve run prior campaigns without issues, but this time it seems like we just can’t get together to play. As an example, this week the place where we play was unavailable and we found out at the last minute. Last week I was sick. The week before that three of my players were unable to attend (car problems and illness) and we had to cancel.

I’ve been contemplating a couple of things, such as designating a back-up time and place, obtaining a secondary DM, or recruiting reserve players. However, other people have probably had this problem before, so I figured I'd ask if any of you had tried a solution and how it worked out.

Thanks,
G. Adams

 

[pogre]

Welcome to ENWorld.

Scheduling can be a challenge. I still think a standing time is the best way to go. People can include a standing time in their scheduling of other events. As the campaign picks up speed, people will make it a priority.

Sometimes real life will get in the way. Getting sick, vacations, etc are just part of it.

When we conclude playing we compare schedules at the end of the session for the coming month. We try to play weekly on Sunday afternoons. If we're looking at a month of busy Sundays for everyone, then we compare notes on Saturdays as possibilities - something we did this past December.

It can get discouraging. We are playing this Sunday for the first time in a while due to a number of factors - local gaming con, illness, Valentines' Day, etc. So I feel your pain.

 

[Dandu]

Have you considered destroying them?

 

[Echohawk]

This won't work for everyone, but for our Red Hand of Doom campaign, we had seven players, but only six characters. One of the players didn't have a character of his own, but stepped in to play one of the other characters (or sometimes more than one!) whenever one of the regulars couldn't make a session. During the course of the 33 games it took us to play through RHoD, he ended up playing more often than most of the "regulars". Of course, it takes a talented player to leap from character to character like that, but it worked a treat in keeping the campaign going despite missing players.

 

[MortalPlague]

I'll second what pogre said. Having a set weekly time, date, and place makes all the difference. Sometimes you have to skip a week or two, but try to get back at it as soon as possible. I find that unless the game is running really well, a hiatus of more than two weeks often kills any momentum...

Mind you, we just had an Olympic break, and our game just started back up very strong. Your mileage may vary...

 

[Jhaelen]

Well, my solution to the problem was to have a pool of players. Currently the group consists of nine players but on average only five to six appear for a game session. We still only manage to play about once every three to four weeks, so it's still not ideal.

There's also a small problem if everyone happens to have time: gameplay slows to a crawl with nine pcs.

 

[S'mon]

Things I am currently doing successfully:

1. Run regular games, but not too frequent. Run it for a limited time. I run games fortnightly on Sundays in 3-month blocks, followed by 3 months 'off'. Set a regular day, time, and location. Stick to the schedule. Too little is better than too much. But Stick to the schedule.

2. Have more players than you need. I have 7. Design your game assuming 1-2 absences. I assume 5-6 players will be there - in practice it's usually 7. Assume 5-6 players, and the game is runnable with anywhere from 4 to 7.

Stick to the schedule.

 

[Umbran]

Scheduling can be a major headache and barrier to getting a game to fly, especially if your players are adults with family responsibilities or full lives.

On a general note, several friendsof mine have found Doodle to be a useful online tool for scheduling group meetings. Basically, you set up a sort of survey, indicating when an event might occur, and your invitees get to put in their availability.

As others have said, life happens. People get sick, get flat tires, and so on. Occasional last-minute cancellations probably can't be avoided. They can often be mitigated.

Have a policy for non-attendees, and stick to it. It may be that the character magically disappears when the player isn't there, and doesn't get XP. it may be that you play the character as an NPC, or the player designates a second to play his character. Pick something your players can agree upon.

Having more players than you actually need, and having adventure designs that can flex a little to acccommodate variations in the number of people help.

Even if you have to trash a game session because of absentees, get the rest of the group together to do something - watch a movie, play Parcheesi, or whatever else you find fun. This allows folks to know they're doing something with their time, no matter what happens. If there's reliable fun, they are less likely to ditch on you.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Pick a day and time and stick with it. If people really want to play, they'll fit it into their schedules. If they don't, they won't.

Also, if the game is always on a certain day at a certain time, then no one has to wonder "Game on?" Game is always on.

You can run a campaign with just 1 DM and 1 Player if you have to. In fact, I'd rather DM for one dedicated player than several flaky players who are constantly cancelling.

Sometimes, though, stuff happens, no matter how dedicated the players or DM. And sometimes this even happens two weeks in a row, or three. Just keep going.

 

[Nifft]

Our group has multiple games going for different "configurations" of players. One person is DM'ing 4e, another is running Shadowrun, yet another is storytelling Exalted.

We know who's able to make it to each game, so we know who needs to prep for any given session, but beyond that it's a bit of a crap shoot. Still, it works for us.

Cheers, -- N