When PCs Die When the Player's Not There

[gizmo33]

As has already been said, I think the most important thing is to figure out a policy for what to do when players can't show up. Make sure everyone agrees to it - and understands the situation that it's supposed to remedy.

IMO any character taking part in an adventure should be subject to the same risk of death as everyone else. There's more at stake than just XP - there are possible gains in items, information, prestige, etc. that all result from taking part in a quest. IMO these things should not be gained unless there is risk involved.

 

[ThirdWizard]

What you're doing seems cruel. If you have players with attendance problems you talk to them, you don't use their characters as cannon fodder.

Psh. It's just death. You act like its permanent or something.

 

[ptolemy18]

I'm going to take that statement as written (despite the winky face), because you seem to support it in other posts... No, the dice are not superior to all else. The enjoyment of the players, and the DM's judgment as to what will make the best game, are superior to all else. The dice are a tool.

Yes, it was mean. But unfortunately, I just didn't leave myself any escape route.

I *did* roll the dice in front of the players (I don't always, but I was just feeling dramatic) and so, since there wasn't any way to undo it without actually saying "Aww gosh, shucks, I can't kill him! He's absent!", I couldn't undo it.

If I had "pulled rank" to keep him alive it would have been unfair to other players whose characters have died in the past. The campaign doesn't have a high death rate -- only four PCs have died out of about 30 sessions -- but sometimes it happens. Although none of them died while they were absent, it still would've seemed like favoritism to let him live when the deadly 27-point greataxe came slammin' down on his head.

Jason

P.S. BTW, Mouseferatu, Ye Who Sometimes Speaks for Green Ronin, I didn't mention that it's an EGYPTIAN ADVENTURES/TESTAMENT campaign! Mythic Vistas rules! WoooOOOoot!

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Yes, it was mean. But unfortunately, I just didn't leave myself any escape route.

I *did* roll the dice in front of the players (I don't always, but I was just feeling dramatic) and so, since there wasn't any way to undo it without actually saying "Aww gosh, shucks, I can't kill him! He's absent!", I couldn't undo it.

If I had "pulled rank" to keep him alive it would have been unfair to other players whose characters have died in the past. The campaign doesn't have a high death rate -- only four PCs have died out of about 30 sessions -- but sometimes it happens. Although none of them died while they were absent, it still would've seemed like favoritism to let him live when the deadly 27-point greataxe came slammin' down on his head.

Jason

P.S. BTW, Mouseferatu, Ye Who Sometimes Speaks for Green Ronin, I didn't mention that it's an EGYPTIAN ADVENTURES/TESTAMENT campaign! Mythic Vistas rules! WoooOOOoot!

It is equally unfair that someone else played the character as expendable.

The Auld Grump

 

[was]

I have a quick question: Who chose to have the best friend play the pc?

-If the absent player chose the best friend to run his pc, then I'd let it stay just the way it happened. The absent player made the choice in hopes of earning XP and treasure. Therefore, he knowingly took the risk.

-If you assigned the absent player's pc to the best friend, or the best friend volunteered to run the pc without the absent player's consent, then I'd leave the pc at -09 HP and deduct a large measure of the XP gained.

I think that you and your group need to sit down and come up with a house-rule for this situation. If someone misses a session, they need to either choose someone to run their pc for them or let him/her fade away for the session. If a player chooses to let someone run his/her pc for them, then they are knowingly taking the risk of loosing them.

 

[DonTadow]

Psh. It's just death. You act like its permanent or something.

I see we play two different campaigns. I run a role playing campaign where my players care about their characters. Death is not an every day, week occurance and rolling up characters is not the usual before game ritual. From your comments, you run a hack and slash game which IMO nothing more than modifying Dungeons and Dragons to be a board game.

A good role playing campaign makes the players care about their characters. IF you're characters (and you ) are treating characters like hit point "lose one, get another one" then you're not running a true role playing game.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I see we play two different campaigns. I run a role playing campaign where my players care about their characters. Death is not an every day, week occurance and rolling up characters is not the usual before game ritual. From your comments, you run a hack and slash game which IMO nothing more than modifying Dungeons and Dragons to be a board game.

A good role playing campaign makes the players care about their characters. IF you're characters (and you ) are treating characters like hit point "lose one, get another one" then you're not running a true role playing game.

Actually, the liklihood that the PCs will come into a battle that will be a live or die situation is quite rare. If a PC misses a session, odds are, they won't get a scratch on them.

I have two players missing a game this Saturday, and the only planned (combat) encounters are in a brothel with some mooks or in an alleyway with a bunch of thugs, who are all well below the PCs' power. Well except the sewer creature, but they should run from that one. All they'll see are the giant tentacles and shaking ground as it approaches. They're smart like that.

And, this is an eight hour session. I suppose 30 minutes of combat is a bit much for a "true" roleplayer, though.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

ThirdWizard, you're having Wrong Fun! More than 6% combat? Unspeakable!

 

[jeff37923]

If the player isn't there, then her/his character isn't there. No risks, no XP, no problem worrying about PC death due to absent player. Now if the player tells another player to play their character while they are away, then all bets are off and the player takes their chances that their PC will be toast under the control of another player. As DM, I won't run a PC as an NPC if the player is not going to be there - there are too many problems associated with it.

 

[ForceUser]

I've had characters die when I'm not present. It sucks. You question everything the guy running your PC did--did you do what I would have done? Did you do anything stupid?

You can't second-guess people, though. You weren't there. As a DM I have a tendency to fade the absent players' PCs into the background during roleplay, and have them contribute equally in combat, assuming it would be reasonable to do so. City adventures work well for absent players because you can just have them run off on an errand of their own for the evening; dungeon adventures, not so much. Ultimately, if it makes sense that your PC would be involved, we play him as we think he'd act. If he dies, he dies. Sucks, but what character death doesn't suck?