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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Vraille Darkfang" data-source="post: 2358508" data-attributes="member: 16989">Kid,First the nice advice (much of which you've recieved here already).You seem to indicate (in retrospect) that , yes, the guy got hosed.  You see that now & have taken steps to see that it doesn't happen again.  Live & Learn.But, You won't retroactivily change things just for him.  I'd reconsider.  Just some advice learned form a decade of DM'ing.Now the more general audience at large points.Folks, this is a game.  This is not life.  Many seem to think its a crime to miss a session.  While I've had a player not show up because he's too hung over to play, I've also had a father who had to go to his 6 year old's first play.  I'v had a guy get called in to pull double shifts in both of his jobs, so he worked the previous 46 hours before the game.I REFUSE to punish ANYONE for having more important things to do than a GAME (whether they REALLY have a good reason is sometimes debatable).For Instance. I just missed my Wednesday game (of course I'm the DM, so it shanges things).  I was only able to tell 1 player I wouldn't be able to make it (thankfully he offered to guest run a 1-shot).  Why did I just skip out & not tell anybody?My sister just had her baby.  One month early.  It was having Lung & Liver problems & was refusing to eat & they were having to force feed it with a feeding tube.  I could have cared less about a silly game at that point, the was something of REAL importance that needed to be taken care of (namely supporting my sister, mother & brother-in-law).  I had no problem with leaving the gaming table & high-tailing it to the other side of the state.Now, a week later, the baby's lungs are fine (crying his head off), his liver is fine (no longer a sickly yellow hue) and he's eating every 3 hours.  In fact, the were just allowed to take the baby home.If, after that, I got back & had a DM say "Sorry dude, you weren't here so Bob played your wizard.  You died defending the pass from a horde of orcs."  I'm taking my stuff & leaving.  I have my priorities.  Gaming's no where on that list.  But, loyalty to my friends is.  That's why I bust my butt every week to try to come up with an adventure.  Not for the GAME'S sake, but for the FRIENDS I play the game WITH.  Story arcs, metaplots, backstories are all fine, but friendship trumps all that.  I won't stab a friend in the back over a plot point.And family is even higher on that list.Thus, if a player; a friend; can't make it to the game.  No problem.  I'll keep his character in the background is he's REALLY needed (like the only cleric in the party), but he need't worry about anything happening to the character since he promised to take his 8 year old daughter camping.  Family's forever.  Friends are forever (if you're lucky), Games, they'll come and go.BTW, those examples I mentioned above?  They happened.  Had one player forced to work, another just finished a 46 hour shift, another took his daughter camping (thus depriving me of 2 characters), and another player got a date (his 1st in 3 years).  I went from a party of 9 to a party of 4.  If I had run my prepared adventure everyone present would have died.  What did I do?  Random encounter, leads off beaten trail.  Keep the party on a sidequest.Did it delay my plot-line?  Yes.  Could the Ubervilian have used the bonus time to finish his plans? Yes.  Did it make sense for half the party to dissappear in the middle of a cavern complex?  No.  Did the Players who made it have fun?  Yes.  Did the missing players once worry about letting work, family, or life in general take precedence over gaming? No.  Will all my players still try their damndest to make it to my next game?  ABSOLUTELY.And there is a reason they try so hard.  I'll let you figure out why.</blockquote>

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