While you were gone...

[hewhosaysfish]

I was recently talking with my DM about people frequently missing the game and I game up with a potentially hilarious idea. Potentially hilarious, potentially a dickish move....

A random this-is-what-happened-to-your-character while-you-weren't-there table.

We tried brainstorming a few ideas but thought the collective evil intellect of the internet might be able to offer a few suggestions.

I was thinking of inconvenient/embarassing mishaps, curses and misunderstandings: gender-swapped until you get a remove-curse, wake up hungover next to a hairy minotaur, etc.
The DM offered a few suggestions closer to "rocks fall, you die": loss of all wealth and gear, level drained down to level 1, etc (I think he's getting a little frustrated with people cancelling at short notice).

But enough of our ideas! What sort of thing would you like to see in a random this-is-what-happened-to-your-character while-you-weren't-there table? And what sort of thing would you dread to see... :smallamused:

[Rannil]

Not sure if this can help you but in the same style:

Our in game party leader once skipped a session while we were preparing for a long trip. We were buying horses and stuff and because the leader wasn't here it was up to us to buy the equipment. So we bought him a woman saddle for his horse.
He still doesn't have a clue why all the NPC's are snickering.

[gbprime]

Our regular game has no-shows just like any other, but the players are largely dependable. The DM keeps a current copy of everyone's c-sheet, and someone just plays them when they're absent. This results in a lot of comic releif, as the character is basicly on autopilot, says only stereotypical things the player would say, and generally fights using only the most general of abilities.

I was out quite a bit from the previous campaign due to newborns in the house, and my sorcerer would be run on autopilot about 1 weekend out of 3. They kept commenting that the party always took a LOT less damage when I was around, as my job was to cast combat-changers like haste/slow, confusion, mass resist energy, mass fire shield, mass whelm (empowered), indomitability, swift etherealness, etc, etc.

[ShadowsGrnEyes]

this can be funny as long as funny fits the feel of your game, go for it. . .

My dm always runs missing players to the best of his ability based on how they play.

but I think what your looking for is ideas of what to happen right?

Once as a GM I temporarily tunred a player into a goat. . . and the party turned him into a pack animal. . . I let it last until the begining of the next session. . . he came back and was like. . "I'm a what? HOW!" We let him think it was permenant for a little while then had the botched spell ware off. . .

Another time I gave someone an STD because they said that they'd just be in the brothel, rather than the Inn. Then they missed the next session. . . so they were in the brothel a LONG time. Made him go find somebody with remove disease. . . (cleric didnt have it yet, it was early in game)

once I had someone who ended up loseing all his mundane gear. . .

other things i can think of:
-gender change
-hillarious romantic encounter that the party can tease them about
Accidentaly married
really unattractive lady
Really unattractive man
ex-significant other resurfaces
-temporary but entertaining penalty of some kind.

[valadil]

What I do depends. The quality of the reason I come up with depends on the player. Some PCs are warm bodies who show up and roll dice, but don't speak. I pass their sheet off to another player and nobody notices the difference. For other players I try to reschedule or write them out in some interesting way.

I killed a couple players off. Also resurrected them without penalty. I just enjoyed seeing their faces when they came to the next session and woke up being rezzed.

The druid in my party shapeshifted into a dog and got stuck that way. Followed the party yipping uselessly.

In a previous game I had a PC steal the McGuffin and sell it to the black market when he missed the session. He probably would have done the same had he been there. In retrospect this was excessive. The group eventually suspected him of the theft, but dismissed it for metagame reasons. They were kinda pissed when they figured things out.

[Volos]

I actually made up a random table of things to happen to said missing player while they were gone. I would usually roll on the day they were missing, having said thing happen in front of the rest of the party so that they could enjoy the fun. I think it was a roll D% table and I had atleast 20-30 different things that could happen. Some would pop up more often then not, and a couple would lead into other incidents, which would involve rolling a second time. Sadly this list has been lost, but it's something to think about.

[Drake Gryphon]

In a Rifts game I played one of my friends would randomly miss without warning, so me and another of my friends would add something to his char every time he missed like that. To start with his car was a home brew meant to be like Ben 10, but his powers came from the whole Hero's Unlimited book, and as a joke he took WP Harpoon. So here is what got added:

1. First name: Ben
2. Last name: Percentile
3. His parents had be flaming gay. (They died in the 1st game)
4. They taught him to use the Harpoon.

The friend who kept miss, laughed, agreed it was fair, and played his char with the additions.

[Safety Sword]

Our missing player's characters routinely disappear without a trace.

They then emerge at some time later from a cupboard, footlocker, or other appropriate storage device..

Sometimes they remember where they had been... sometimes not.

DMs with our group (myself included) are reasonably apt at scaling encounters on the fly so that one no show doesn't derail the entire session.

[Mikeavelli]

If someone doesn't show up to the game, I contrive reasons for why their character disappears for that session.

Recently, one was kidnapped by ninjas.

[nedz]

Missing players are easy, their character just gets left behind. Perhaps they had a hangover or went off on some minor errand.

What do you do when the DM goes missing though ?
This seems to happen quite often in one group I play with.

[Milskidasith]

Having funny incidents? Sure.

Autopilot? No problem.

Cursing the player? No.

Killing the player's character? Don't expect him to show up again.

If somebody has to miss due to legitimate issues, put the guy on autopilot, have him disappear, or something, just don't mechanically hurt the guy because he can't be there with you, and certainly don't kill the character, because, besides hurting the roleplaying, you're going to make it so that whoever it is has to work just to be able to get back into the group; if you want him to show up, don't pile on extra work because he didn't show up. Plus it's just mean.

[Jack_Simth]

Missing players are easy, their character just gets left behind. Perhaps they had a hangover or went off on some minor errand.

What do you do when the DM goes missing though ?
This seems to happen quite often in one group I play with.
Find a player who's willing to sub, and run a side-campaign with different characters. Unless the DM is also the host.

As for players, if you want a big list of strange happenings... pick a table:
Drawbacks (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/cursedItems.htm#drawback), Rod of Wonder effects (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rods.htm#wonder), Affected by a spell, chosen at random through the Scroll Listing (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/scrolls.htm).

Or you can make a list, and roll a d100 and divide by 3; Remove Curse gets rid of them.
{table=head]roll|Result
00|Roll twice more.
01|Character's race changes to Dwarf
02|Character's race changes to Elf
03|Character's race changes to Halfling
04|Character's race changes to Human
05|Character's race changes to Gnome
06|Character's race changes to Half-Elf
07|Character's race changes to Half-Orc
08|Character loses one randomly-selected magic item
09|Character loses all clothing (magical or mundane)
10|Character loses all coins
11|Character becomes female
12|Character becomes male
13|Character becomes genderless
14|Character becomes a true hermorphodite
15|Character becomes pregnant (irrespective of gender; If already pregnant, character instead gives birth to some random monster)
16|Character's hair changes to a random color
17|Character's size goes down by one size category as per Reduce Person
18|Character's size goes up by one size category as per Enlarge Person
19|Character's Strength decreases by 1d3
20|Character's Dexterity decreases by 1d3
21|Character's Constitution decreases by 1d3
22|Character's Intelligence decreases by 1d3
23|Character's Wisdom decreases by 1d3
24|Character's Charisma decreases by 1d3
25|Character's Strength increases by 1d3
26|Character's Dexterity increases by 1d3
27|Character's Constitution increases by 1d3
28|Character's Intelligence increases by 1d3
29|Character's Wisdom increases by 1d3
30|Character's Charisma increases by 1d3
31|Character gains a random minor magic item
32|Character becomes an intelligent skeleton
33|Character becomes an intelligent zombie[/table]

[Kylarra]

Boo. I read 31 as "Character becomes a random minor magic item"...

[Ormagoden]

I always had a fantasy of playing a character with the "Phasing curse" For games where I know I may not be able to show up some times. Then on the session before I can't make it I phase out to dark world.

Appearing with the party again at the next session I can make it phasing in at incredibly embarrassing positions. Like inside the paladin's sleeping bag.

[PersonMan]

I very rarely have missing players, mainly because 3 of my players are directly related(father, sons) and one is my mother.

However, whenever someone is missing they just don't...do anything. We just completely ignore their existence, rather than do random things to them.

[Fuzzie Fuzz]

When my players are gone, they autopilot, and the other players play them in combat. Next week, the player's back, and ask what they missed. We tell them. This... this is brilliant.

[mucat]

If Jim missed a session with no warning, or otherwise deserves a little added torment before rejoining the game, go with this:


All right, so picking up where we left off. Jim, your character Rahcsmij is still sitting at the head of the conference table. The assembled archmages, godlings, and demon lords glare at him, but given the ultimatum he has just made, they can do nothing...for now.

Finally, the goddess Bast stands and glares at you through slitted eyes. "All right, Rachsmij," she hisses. "You've left us no choice; you may carry out your plan. But for all our sakes, I hope you know what the hell you are doing."

She turns on her heel and leaves, followed by Asmodeus, Mordekainen, and the others. The walnut-paneled conference room fades, and you are back with the rest of the party in Harold's Crypt.

Then, no matter how Jim tries, you never refer to these events again.

[Bharg]

If Jim missed a session with no warning, or otherwise deserves a little added torment before rejoining the game, go with this:

Originally Posted by Jim's DM
All right, so picking up where we left off. Jim, your character Rahcsmij is still sitting at the head of the conference table. The assembled archmages, godlings, and demon lords glare at him, but given the ultimatum he has just made, they can do nothing...for now.

Finally, the goddess Bast stands and glares at you through slitted eyes. "All right, Rachsmij," she hisses. "You've left us no choice; you may carry out your plan. But for all our sakes, I hope you know what the hell you are doing."

She turns on her heel and leaves, followed by Asmodeus, Mordekainen, and the others. The walnut-paneled conference room fades, and you are back with the rest of the party in Harold's Crypt.
Then, no matter how Jim tries, you never refer to these events again.
Reminds me of an episode of "Malcom in the Middle". Glorious! :smallbiggrin:

[shadow_archmagi]

It's pretty obvious that a situation like this requires a multi-layered table. (EXAMPLE)


DM: Okay... 13, 67, 92, 68

Player: What?

DM: While you were gone you... murdered a... exploding.... cactus..... using... orphans.

[AxeD]

Roll to see which other member of the party takes control of the missing person's character. This can be hilarious depending on the other members of the party.

For example, in Knights of the Dinner Table, Sara blew off the game so she could go a date. The DM let one of the members of her party (Dave) run her character for her in her absence. Dave then promptly stripped her character of all of her armor (to maximise its tumbling skill - or something like that) and proceeded to kick in all of the doors in the dungeon and blitz all of the monsters one after another (completely naked, mind you). In the end, Dave ended up having Sara's character seal itself inside a room to hold off a monster that was going to eat the party (again, still completely naked). The party pretty much appropriated all of Sara's character's belongings amongst themselves.

So yeah, if your players don't give enough notice before a game, roll to see which other party member controls the missing person's character. If the other members of the party are half as greedy and self serving as in the case above, your players might think twice about missing games in the future. :smallbiggrin: