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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ARandomGod" data-source="post: 2360849" data-attributes="member: 17296">I'm glad he took it well. And I hope that he rolls well on the reincarnation/gains some nice bonus XP for his unusual playstyle (to make up for the XP penalty for being raised). I agree with people who say they think he was hosed. His character really didn't die, because he wasn't there.I usually play (and prefer) the "fade out" style. You can go to the faded cleric after the fight for healing, but not in combat. The mage can use his utility spells outside of combat, but isn't there otherwise, etcetera.Some people like to apply an XP penalty for this type of immortality. Some don't. I see both schools of thought and I think that it depends largely on the age of the player (and I know that "age" is somewhat discriminatory, so feel free to think 'psychology). Younger players typically have more time, and are less 'invested' in the game, meaning they're giving up less. Such players respond well to an XP penalty for not being there. It gives them an incentive to show up at the games regularly. Older players are generally already expending a lot of their resources to show up at games, and are more likely to have serious reasons why they can't show up. That type of player is more likely to respond negatively to an XP penatly. They've already been penalized by not being able to show up, why are you punishing them further? Plus, as I said, gaming represents a greater amount of 'free time' resources to the older player, and if he starts getting less powerful for something he can't control (gets behind due to unavoidably missing a few sessions), he's likely to find that he could be spending his free time to better effect elsewhere. In my games I not only have them fade out and get full XP, but I also have a set amount of bonus XP they get for missing that session. Presumably it's for something memorable their character did off screen. (I give about 70% of what a character *could* earn regularly in bonus XP, because I also give bonus XP to players for playstyle. This generally works out to more than a player gets on average). Plus there's the additional philosophy that if you can bribe someone to stay home with extra XP, I don't want them to show up anyway. He's making the game a better place by not being there!</blockquote>

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