when a player does not make it....

[Corbert]

If at least four players show up I run the game. The characters that don't show up are turned to small rocks while the player is gone. I have this explained in game as a deity of chaos randomly polymorphing people into rocks for variable times. No one knows the name of the deity, but intense divination has determined that the first letter of his name is Q. I also have my game set up so that no particular character is essential.

 

[Frozen DM]

Let me come at it from another direction.

The DM keeps all of the character sheets. When a player does not show a person who is will play the PC. Every week someone can not make it for one reason or another.

We feel this is the best way. The DM is not SOL if a key person does not play.

This is what our group does. The DM for any campaign holds the character sheets. This has the added benefit of eliminating the problem of a player forgetting their character sheet. When a player cannot show up for a game, the character is passed on to another player to "safeguard". As a DM I generally try to avoid killing or seriously impacting characters if their player isn't present (especially if the controlling player does something I would consider to be out-of-character). In cases where a TPK is possible, then I let the dice fall where they may. Death is the ultimate risk you take for missing a game.

Of course, we also reduce the rewards for the character. They only get a basic 20% of the party experience awarded for the session, and none of the character -specific or RP XP. Also, since we generall divide treasure using a round-robin scheme, the missing player's character may get the short end of the stick when it comes to booty.

 

[Rel]

Wow. Serious Threadomancy going on here!

 

[Ferrix]

Skipping reading all the stuff but your initial post...

I find that sometimes it pays to call them. It happens with relationships often too: why didn't you call me? Oh, I was waiting for you to call. Or they forgot completely, etc. Giving them a call might result in them going Doh! Forget, be right over! Or, I'm in the emergency room waiting for my sister to come out, or something important that takes precedence.

This way, it shows that you have interest in them being there to have a good time and that their character is important to your game. Additionally, they'll be more likely to remember the next time.

Now on to the game stuff:

Often times, it's a good idea to keep a copy of your players character sheets if one of them doesn't show. Sometimes I'll NPC the character, or ask another player to do so. Some people penalize the players of these characters by reducing the XP they receive, but since it's a game, and often times I want the characters around the same level, I don't.

If a bunch of people don't show, I'll cancel the game and just hang out with my friends who I game with.

I guess that's all.

 

[Crothian]

As long as 3 of the 5 Pcs are there I'll go forward with the game. Their characters get played by the people there.

 

[Haradim]

Missing players' PCs are left to other duties if possible (downtime between adventures, last session ended 'just travelling', whatever).

If it isn't possible to extricate them from the next session (it's their turn to provide the critical ability/item/etc, or the last session ended in the middle of a dungeon or some such), then I'll play them, mostly to prevent the use of the character as trap/monster bait . The NPC is fully active, but can't die or experience any other annoying permanent effects.

If the player warns in advance that they cannot make it, and they decided to keep their character active, they get the minimum rewards available for participating (depending on the game, there may or may not be much difference between the PCs), and no loot unless given to them.

If there was no warning, there are no rewards. I agree with Henry's now-nearly-ancient opinion that it is rude to just leave everyone in the dark.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Last time I responded to this, I got a lot of board members angry at me for my players' sakes. So, before I say anything, let me state that this is the way we play, and don't let it bug you.

So, basically, missing players' PCs get run by another player. They reap all rewards and penalties for the game in which they miss. That means if they die, then they die, and if they come across an ancient relic that gives everyone a +2 inherent bonus to wisdom, then they get the +2 inherent bonus to wisdom. They're also daring in engagements with the enemy (within reason) and helpful with disabling traps and opening locked doors.

Note that no missing PC has actually died in at least 10 months, and the +2 wisdom thing did happen. The one that died was raised before the next session began.

 

[IronWolf]

Wow! A thread revived after three years!

So, basically, missing players' PCs get run by another player. They reap all rewards and penalties for the game in which they miss. That means if they die, then they die, and if they come across an ancient relic that gives everyone a +2 inherent bonus to wisdom, then they get the +2 inherent bonus to wisdom. They're also daring in engagements with the enemy (within reason) and helpful with disabling traps and opening locked doors.

This is how we do it. We do require at least three of the five players to be there in order to run the game. If we have that minimum number then we play. It looks like we do it pretty much like ThirdWizard does. If a player dies, they die. They also get experience points awarded. The person playing another person's character tries to play them as close to true as possible, if anything probably playing them a touch more careful than a character is usually played.

So far this has worked for us. We have had a character die while the player was not there though. The person took it pretty well and it didn't turn into any sort of issue.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Wow! A thread revived after three years!

Ha! I didn't even notice. I just figured it was time for this to come around again, since it's a new month.