When players don't show up to the session

[Jack Daniel]

I use the "fade into the background" theory. The character just doesn't participate (sort of like Final Fantasy characters who aren't in the battle party at the moment). No damage, no death, no experience. Out of battle is more of a case-by-case judgement call. I typically rule that in dangerous settings, the character isn't there, but in friendly roleplay-only areas, the character is present and accountable for.

 

[NiTessine]

We just play without the character. If it happens a lot, we kick out the player and get a replacement. Like we did just today.

 

[Corwyn]

I usually relay on the FTA (fluke teleporter accident).
This means that the players character is teleported out of play and as soon as he joins play once more is teleported in again.

This is the way out of messy situations with characters in play where no other simpler explanation would suffice.

 

[Chimera]

Ok, how many of the people who have the PC mysteriously vanish and then re-appear are the same DMs who have problems with Raise Dead ?

Me, I dislike having to invent reasons for the PC to be there one moment, then absent the next, then back again. Expecially when the party is in a dangerous area.

In my last campaign, I assigned the missing player's PC to someone else to play. They got all the experience and were sometimes raised automatically, but only when killed due to the stupidity of the temporary player. (Not always their fault, they were not familiar with the special features of their temporary charge).

In my next campaign, PCs of missing players will be played "by the group" with DM assistance. The new 15-second decision limit will still be in effect, so the character may not be as active as before. (Don't decide what to do in 15 seconds, you do nothing.) The M(issing)P(layer)C(haracter) will gain only half experience and not get a vote in party matters or treasure division.

In the case of death, the MPC will suffer no negative consequences for being raised. However, no breaks on obtaining that Raise Dead will be given.

 

[Tar Markvar]

We have the character come along, usually, but just not add a lot beyond their simple role in the group. For example, if the party barbarian's player is absent, then he'll be available for simple fighting, but he won't do a lot of complex maneuvers, and he won't offer advice or suggestions for solving problems. He is protected by the NPC Aura, in that I won't kill a character if the player's not there, but he also receives no XPs. He has access to loot if the party decides certain items would be best off going to him, and he is entitled to a share of the coin.

Sometimes the absent player's character doesn't go along, in which case they're not entitled to loot and don't add to the party's adventure in any way. Generally, though, in my campaign, whcih involves space travel over long distances, keeping the party together is of utmost importance. Otherwise, you'll end up with the problem of getting the abandoned barbarian off to the Vega system to join the party when the player returns.

 

[ForceUser]

We're a small group, and when someone can't play we usually don't gather, bur sometimes we do. when we're in a city the vacant character is assumed to be training or doing something for his guild/church/school. Things are more difficult to manage in the middle of a dungeon crawling adventure:
1. Because i've already prepared it thinking that their party level was at the maximum
2. Because if is the tank or the healer to not show up the group will have a hard time
3. How to manage its disappearing.

I use to say in those cases, that he's simply guarding the site, or watching the back of the group, but in this way there are also many problems:

a) enemies can actually still arrive from the back or not?
b) if the party flee, what the vacant character do?

The solution is something metaphysics? Something like he is there but he can't co nothing and receive not XPs? Dunno, i don't like it at all, but it happened to me that the group entered a portal, and there weren't one of the character... the next session i had many problems in justifying his presence with the group (and sometimes it is useless or impossible to let him play alone for the first half hour or hour just to reach the rest of the group... of course he can't have no idea of where they are, or cannot solve some puzzles alone in order to reach them)

Mi question is: How do you manage it?

Steven McRownt

I used to struggle with this as a DM. No longer. Here's what I do: the character is there whether the player is or not. If we're in the middle of a dungeon crawl and the player's not present, I will RP the character or allow another player to play it in addition to his character. We make decisions for the character based on what we think that player would do if he were present. The character is just as much at risk of death as normally, and it's just as likely he'll be injured or killed as when the player is present.

The character will gain one-half normal exp for the session, just like an NPC cohort. The encounters are what they are and will not be altered on the fly because so-and-so is missing. If the player gave specific instructions on what his character would do while he's gone, we follow that. If for whatever reason the character is not present for that specific adventure, then perhaps the players who are present should reconsider assaulting the Rotting Palace of the Lich King until their cleric is back from semenary next week. Or maybe they can ask a different cleric to join them. Or maybe they'll go without the cleric anyway. It's up to them. But I don't bend the laws of physics or destroy suspension of disbelief because a player can't make it. That's less work, true, but it's cheesy and makes the game just a little less fun for everyone else.

If I have less than half my group present I'll cancel the session.

 

[Palantir]

I have a group of five players. We have a set monthly schedule. We play the second Sunday of each month.

If one player can't make it, I usually ask (and am granted) permission to use the character as an NPC. I play the character intelligently and appropriately (I think). They get a full share of experience and treasure, but are also equally prone to death. Them's the breaks.

If two players can't make it, I cancel the session. Simple as that. I do insist on regular attendance. If a player starts skipping regularly, they're out. Nothing personal, nothing inferred about their personality or their commitment, but I have people who would be glad to play a regular game, and I don't want someone taking up a seat some of the time if there's someone who can play all the time.

My 1/50,
Mark

 

[Radiating Gnome]

While I understand why many DMs opt for leaving an absent player's character on the sidelines when they can't make it to a session, that's not the way I usuall handle it with my own game. I have a pretty small group, and an absense would usually be keenly felt.

Also, I tend to push the party right to the edge of what they can survive, and if there is a character missing, it's not going to go very well.

I don't always do it, but usually I let another player run the missing players character. And, as you'd expect, absent players tend to suffer a bit more character death than present players -- after all, if it's a question of who's going to open that door with the big scary warning sign on it, odds are it's going to be the absent player's character.

As for experience, I have never withheld experience from a character simply because his player wasn't there. After all, if I'm putting the character through the adventure, he should get the experience. Perhaps that's too generous. It works for me.

-rg

 

[Wolfspirit]

Well, I've had this problem a lot, since I think out of the 30 or so people that I've DMed for in the past year, about 7 remain (sigh, kinda sucks playing online sometimes)

Anyways, if there's a way that they can still be there yet out of the action, they do that. I've had characters get sick, watch prisoners, etc. When it got down to just 2 people showing up in one game, I eventually just started having the characters there, just not contributing much. ("Hey, Cleric, can I get some healing?" Me (cleric): "OK")

Of course, this style of handling npcs of people that aren't there can have major problems when there's about 5 people like that. (Me: So, you've figured out that the thieves are on that well guarded ship. What do you do?" Them: "e go back to the inn and get the rest of the group." Me: "Ok, you go back and get <character whose player is here>" Them: "No, we're getting *everyone*")

Therefor from now on, if a player has missed three games in a row, they're character is going to be off doing something else. Its possible they'll rejoin, but they're not just waiting at the inn :b

 

[Davelozzi]

Incidentally, we had two players missing last night. But it was the first game of the campaign, so we started anyway, with threee players, and will worry about the no-shows later.

hey Gospog, what kind of campaign did you start this time?

Back to the topic at hand...I usually do two things:
(1) Get annoyed with the player if he/she doesn't have a good excuse.
(2) Run the character as an NPC. I generally give them less experience but I don't have a particular formula for how much less. I tend to give a decent amount of role play based XP so missing out on that is usually enough.