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malachi
2011-09-01, 12:27 PM
I am not my group's normal DM, but I decided I wanted to run a short module. I originally decided to do this on a week when the DM and one player wouldn't be present, and I'd introduce another friend to DnD. Some shenanegins happened, and I ended up DMing for a group of 4 (was expecting 3). This week, I have the options of DMing for 3 or 5 (or having someone who's normally involved in our group sitting out of the session).

The party consists of 4 PCs (barbarian, beast-form druid, warden, and sorcerer) and a DMNPC (lazylord to handle the healing). I wouldn't want to include a 6th character on the PCs' side, as the maps I made just aren't large enough to accommodate that many monsters/players. I also don't think that the new player would enjoy playing the lazylord (I would have to extrapolate the character out into a PC, but that shouldn't be too hard), as it basically only rolls when it heals.
If I play with only 3 people, it would be the barbarian who wouldn't be present.

I can add or remove characters without impacting what little story I have (the guy the PCs are working for / the NPC's father can teleport things when he makes purchases, and has so far demonstrated this with a yo-yo used to test a magical wall).

So this is my question; should I have a session when the barbarian's player is out of town, or should I try to work in the new player, or should I just continue with the same people and have the new player sit out?

It is pretty likely that our normal DM will have a session planned as well, which our normal group could do on a different day.

Oh, and because I forgot to say this earlier, only the friend I am introducing to DnD and I don't live at the house where we play DnD (if the newest player didn't live there, then I would have less reservations about having the next session without her, and then having our regular DM meet her DnD needs).

Mindartis
2011-09-01, 03:31 PM
So this is my question; should I have a session when the barbarian's player is out of town, or should I try to work in the new player, or should I just continue with the same people and have the new player sit out? In my experience playing DnD, we just work out a reason why the character is gone if one can't make the sessions. However, if your friend is brand new to Dnd, you might want them to sit out, so that way they have a grip on the game a little bit before they play. Might make things easier for them. However, it is your call. Whatever you feel more comfortable with, you should go with.