NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Irda Ranger" data-source="post: 7209959" data-attributes="member: 1003">There's really two questions here which should be addressed separately, because focusing on the discrete problems helps find better solutions:1. What do you do about your D&D game?2. How do you handle the social relationships with players?Question 1 is a lot easier, IMO. As the DM I always require that players send me their character sheets when they level up, and at the end of gaming sessions I log their current HP, slots, etc. I have a form for this I make them fill out as they leave (which takes 10 seconds). So at the start of next game, we know their exact current state. If 1-2 players no-show, I can hand out their sheet for someone else to play that session (in addition to their own PC). Or if too many people no-show, there's always board games or Nintendo. I always stock beer & wine, and there's always a choice of games to play, so game night is always "On".(Side note: if you're the kind of person who's super possessive/secretive about their character sheet, my game isn't for you. I don't need your full character bio on the sheet, you can keep that secret, but everything in "the rules" needs to be on there. I don't find this to be an issue very often, but I have encountered it.)Question 2 is harder. A lot depends on the personalities involved, and also how closely knit the group is outside D&D. Gaming with personal friends is different from running a table at the FLGS. Also, some people are a lot more easy-going about no-shows, while some get offended easily. Part of that being of course why the no-show didn't show; a broken down car or sibling's birthday party is a lot more understandable than treating your D&D "friends" as a back-up plan if nothing better comes along.But all that being said, one thing I find very helpful is that I, as the DM, do not agree to play the middle-man in your cancellations. My rule is simple: If you are going to cancel, you don't just tell me. You have to send a message to everyone in the group, individually, with your apologies. People who apologize to everyone get 1/2 XP for the missed session, otherwise you get 0 XP.I find that this basically fixes the no-show issue entirely. People are only willing to send a half-dozen apology notes for "real" reasons. And for people who were never serious about treating the D&D game as an actual obligation to show up, this rule gets them to quit on their own, because it's not worth the hassle to them.</blockquote>

Verification