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View Full Version : Player cancelled at the last minute - need help with plot!



Glass Mouse
2011-02-24, 08:20 AM
In two hours, my RPG group arrives. Only problem is - the player upon whom I'd built the entire session just canceled. Since this is her third cancellation in a row, we play anyway.

But now I have no plot!

The setting is medieval Europe, only with magic and mythology all over the place. System is Ars Magica, if anyone's familiar with it. The players play a band of mages (and associates) who are currently traveling around, looking for a mysterious man who cursed some of them (this is the main plot that I have to put on hold).They're half evil bastards, half decent people. Mostly self-serving, though.
Any ideas for some simple, single-session fun would be to so much help!

Some additional info about the party and situation, if anyone wants that:I have four players, who play two characters each.
Player 1/1: A dwarf with self-esteem issues, used to be a circus dwarf, now a mage.
Player 1/2: Gentle giant, 'Billy Gravedigger'. Mundane (non-mage).
Player 2/1: Evil, manipulative, powerhungry bastard. Acts like a gentleman. Mage.
Player 2/2: Charlatan, gambler, Casanova. Selfish and petty. Brother of the dwarf. Mundane.
Player 3/1: Pious Christian, very kind man. Doubles as a masked avenger when he's angry. Mage.
Player 3/2: Old butler type. Very distinguished, old-fashioned. Loyal to the evil bastard. Mundane.
Player 4... is the one who cancelled.

Possible plot points and details that I have laid out already:
- a circus man who would like to capture the dwarf for his circus. Only problem is, he's mundane (and mages are ridiculously overpowered in this setting). It'd make very little sense for him to be a mage.
- a nearby covenant (home of mages) of two twins/lovers who are slightly creepy and obsessed with fire. I may need these (or, rather, their home) for the main plot, so I'd rather not use them too much for filler.
- a very shady town filled with merchants, cutthroats and general criminals.
Thanks so much in advance!

rakkoon
2011-02-24, 08:45 AM
Hows about they go to the local casino? Can be some kind of maffia, possible loot or debts (plot hooks)
The nearby circus is mentioned or someone is present .
You have a gambler and some evil people. Perhaps there is a secret bard that is influencing the games and the people in charge are suspecting this.
Perhaps a raid by the local officials is in order...
just tossing ideas at ya.

gbprime
2011-02-24, 09:42 AM
Well you could always run a kidnapping plot. The player who didn't show up is stolen away in the night. Slavers, gypsies, corrupt noble, church enforcers... whatever makes sense for the character background.

Glass Mouse
2011-02-24, 09:59 AM
Hows about they go to the local casino? Can be some kind of maffia, possible loot or debts (plot hooks)
The nearby circus is mentioned or someone is present .
You have a gambler and some evil people. Perhaps there is a secret bard that is influencing the games and the people in charge are suspecting this.
Perhaps a raid by the local officials is in order...
just tossing ideas at ya.

Ooh, I like this idea! I'm actually using half - but whether or not they go to the actual casino is up to the players.
I'll probably use it sometime else, though. I can't believe I never thought of introducing a casino to the setting before :smallbiggrin:


Well you could always run a kidnapping plot. The player who didn't show up is stolen away in the night. Slavers, gypsies, corrupt noble, church enforcers... whatever makes sense for the character background.

Hadn't thought of that, either. Really good idea, actually, if it doesn't turn into a habit.


The players are arriving right about now. Thanks a lot for your help, both of you! :smallsmile:

rakkoon
2011-02-24, 10:00 AM
Good luck Mousy!

big teej
2011-02-24, 10:00 AM
when in doubt/in need of prep time

throw a combat at them, something that will last for a while, long enough for you to come up with something to improvise with for the rest of the session.


SOP: if a player hops off the rails/rides away from the plot so radically you've got NOTHING to answer it with, throw a combat at them while you come up with something.

if after combat, you still have nothing. be up front with your players about a lack of adventure, ask for ideas/whatever.

this is a potentially great opportunity to flesh out people's backgrounds.

gbprime
2011-02-24, 11:24 AM
I used to keep 3x5 cards with adventure hooks on hand for any time I had nothing planned or if the players did something completely unexpected and went way off plot. Nowadays it's not cards, it's a file on my laptop, but the idea is the same. :smallamused:

The Glyphstone
2011-02-24, 11:27 AM
I used to keep 3x5 cards with adventure hooks on hand for any time I had nothing planned or if the players did something completely unexpected and went way off plot. Nowadays it's not cards, it's a file on my laptop, but the idea is the same. :smallamused:

Hopefully the game goes good.

I would, though, question the logic of building the plot around a known unreliable player. You should probably not do this anymore.:smallfrown:

Tyndmyr
2011-02-24, 11:57 AM
I would, though, question the logic of building the plot around a known unreliable player. You should probably not do this anymore.:smallfrown:

Agreed.

Yeah, Arenas and casinos are great filler scenes. They can generally be tossed into almost any civilized area and bring up entertaining side-quest possibilities and the like.

Glass Mouse
2011-02-24, 04:44 PM
Game night is over, and it was a succes! They didn't bite on the casino angle (but they did manage to prevent a mafia-based murder, so I can always have the mob go look for them if I want to), but I had managed to cook up something pseudo-plot-relevant, so they went hunting for a woman-eating fey to gain the trust of a mage who might help them. Stuff happened, I improvised something like 80% of the session, and... it went really well.

Also, one character was almost eaten by a water fey. Ahh.

@rakkoon: Thanks a lot :smallsmile:

@big teej: I'm not sure I think fast enough for that to work (and in Ars Magica, fights are generally decided more by smarts than dice, so I have to stay alert and non-distracted). It's a good idea for a more dice-heavy system, though. I'll keep it in mind.

@gbprime: Nice idea. I actually have a bunch of backup plots for this group, but they're all tied to the characters' home. I guess it couldn't hurt to have some universal ones.

@The Glyphstone: I've definitely learned that lesson now. Problem is, she was more-or-less reliable when the plot started to motion; her many cancelations came quite suddenly.
I'm gonna be a lot more careful about this in the future (never stretch out player dependance more than one session, never make something unsalvagable if a player cancels, etc).

@Tyndmyr: Ooh, arenas. Nice. They're going to my list of universal plot points.


Thanks a lot for your help and comments, guys! They're greatly appreciated :smallsmile: