How do you deal with player absence as a DM?

[Wonder]

Sooner or later a player will skip a session of play, i think that every possible solution ( different from not playing at all that day ) brings up unnatural situations. What's the best way to deal with it ?

P.S. i was inspired by corndog's thread for this Q

[Waker]

Though I could come up with a convoluted explanation for why a character wouldn't be with the party, run the character as an NPC or have another player fill in for them, my usual response to player absence is just to have the character be suspended in a there/not there state. They can't contribute to the party in any fashion, but when the player returns, it is assumed the character was present for all events.

[Corndog]

yaaay I've inspired someone

I've only done one of two things:

1) Run the game normally with the missing player acting as a sort of silent NPC and be gracious when it comes to failed rolls (not fair to kill them off if they're not even there)

2) Have the missing player's character go off to do something else and then run a solo session with them on the side

[Malak'ai]

Depends on why they're missing the session, and if they've let me know before hand.

If they're sick/stuck at work late/have an appointment/another decent reason, I have their characters either run by another player, or run by me as NPC's.

If they haven't contacted me, or given me a crappy excuse, then their characters stand round, picking their noses/scratching their butts while holding the horses/mules reins.
If this happens frequently, then I give them a warning that they have to start showing more interest in the game. If that doesn't happen, then they're characters... disappear :belkar:.

[Norin]

In our group we tend to let one of the more experienced players run the missing players character as a npc. Depending on the character and what part it has to play in different situations it just follows, heals, searches, full attacks, etc. More or less like a cohort.

Then we recap the session and what happened to the missing player the next time he joins.

Works well for us, but maybe not for every group.

I guess you need a good amount of trust between players and knowledge about how the different characters react to things.

[CRtwenty]

Though I could come up with a convoluted explanation for why a character wouldn't be with the party, run the character as an NPC or have another player fill in for them, my usual response to player absence is just to have the character be suspended in a there/not there state. They can't contribute to the party in any fashion, but when the player returns, it is assumed the character was present for all events.

This is what I do as well. It's too much hassle to constantly come up with reasons why a PC would be leaving and exiting the party so often. We just say they're present but stuck in "Hero Pose" based on the bit from the "Gamers" movie.

[lycantrope]

Our group started a meme when a druid couldnt makr every session due to real life obligations. He would walk into the woods to "commune" (read:prance around naked) at the beginning of the absent session, and return at the next session he was available for, having gained a conveniant amount of exp while communing.

While its not usually stated, its now assumed that absent players just wander off to do their own thing. Rp explanations are welcome, but never necessary or expected.

[Curmudgeon]

If the player is absent, the character is sidetracked somehow. They wandered off, leaving a vague note about "personal business" to attend to. Or an old friend of theirs stopped by your camp and took them away for a day.

It's not fair to the player if the DM starts running the character (differently, of course) and the PC can still die. It's also not fair if the DM uses up that PC's resources while the player is gone. It's not fair to the group if the character gets included on things like loot when played by the DM. It's especially not fair to the group if the character sticks around yet suddenly becomes invulnerable while they continue to risk their lives.

The only solution which treats everyone fairly is the one which matches the situation in the game with the situation involving the players.

[Krazzman]

IN our Pathfinder campaign we use the way with the least resistance.

Magical Energies warp around the party and form a time/place mismatch.

E.g. If a person can't come it is assumed that the character isn't there. If we are in the midsts of a dungeon the person is warped in the next time we play while another might miss.

ExP is an Share value as in everyone has the same value. No matter how many sessions they missed. Treasure on the other hand is only divided among the guys currently playing.

In our Other group (mostly 3.5 with an odd Pathfinder and Warhammer game) we just play another group when someone can't come.

[Crake]

In the game I'm DMing if someone can't make it, we just reschedule for later in the week if possible, otherwise skip the game for the week, but I only have 3 players in that game and its a very roleplay focused game, so disappearing or having someone else play your character doesn't really work.

On the other hand, the greyhawk game I play in we simply have them "disappear in a puff of logic" only to reappear next session.

[Kudaku]

After a near TPK because three (out of 6) players were noshows for a session, I implemented the following policy:

If you cannot make it to a session and you do not let me know in a reasonable time (ie up to about 30 minutes before the session), your character is 'delayed' for one level. The next time the rest of the party level up, your character does not. Your character waits till the end of the next session, and then you can level up to the same level as the rest of the party. After that, the character progresses at the same pace as the rest of the party again (unless you're a noshow and forget to tell me again).

That rule is continuously up for consideration - if you were late driving over from work because you work in the ER and was working overtime saving a patient, don't worry about it and thank you for being an awesome person.

If you were late because you stopped on the way for a hot dog, forgot where you were driving and wind up going to Disneyland, you're in trouble.

So far I've found it quite an effective deterrent. My players are now very fastidious about letting me know if they can't make it to a session, or if they'll be a few minutes late. People do of course have RL obligations and can't make it to every session, which is perfectly ok - I would never punish people for having other stuff going on.

When people can't show, I generally consider the situation. If the party ended last session mid-encounter and/or heavily rely on that character's presence, I'll either play for the missing player myself, ask another player to take control of the character, or invite a friend to play him for the session.

If the character is not particularly important for the session and there's a graceful way to let him step out, I'll generally put the character in stasis - he is not present for encounters and the like, though he does still get an equal share of any loot found.

[Blas_de_Lezo]

We use The Punishment.

The rest of the players play the missing character collectivily as an NPC and use it for all the nasty work nobody wants to do. It's a guarantee: that player will never flee again... We use that "NPC" as trap trigger, tank, door/opener, unknown magic item beta tester, first striker, last one being healed, and a big list of nasty nasty work. Hell, we even prostituted one character once... :smallamused:

So when a player says, "sorry guys, I can't play", the sole answer with maquiavelian face: "fine, we'll take you along as NPC" is enough to get to an agreement... :smalltongue:

[EyethatBinds]

There are several methods in our local groups. The time capsule is probably the funniest, a tube rises from the ground and imprisons the character and everyone else is given the Suggestion spell (no save) that this didn't happen and there's no reason to look for them. It came to a head in a recent campaign when we discovered the organization that was trapping adventurers and draining their life forces. That game tends to be a bit odd though.

Another method is something falls on the character knocking them unconscious for however long it is until the player shows up. This gets a bit weird when the person has too many traumatic brain injuries to be a playable character.

My method is to have the character passively follow the party and automatically agree with whatever he is told to do. They then robotically and disconcertingly announce "I agree" whenever the situation might suit the phrase. Depending on the rest of the party, this can turn out really bad for the player, but most tend to keep the spirit of teamwork going so it's rarely a big deal. People who are absent just return to hear really weird stories of their exploits.

[prufock]

My group has 3 players, plus the DM. We're picking up a new player soon, though. I find that 3 is the minimum enjoyable number of players, so our first option is rescheduling the session. Our second option is skipping the session. We're all friends outside of gaming, so it isn't difficult to stay informed about each other's availability. If we aren't all available, we usually don't play. We might do something else or just do our own thing.

I've gamed with bigger groups, though. With 4 or more players, as long as 3 players can make it we'll still usually game.

To deal with absent players, depending on the size of the group and the number missing:
- The party splits, each having to deal with a different (simultaneous) problem. This works best if there's an about even split of missing and present players.
- The missing player's character has something else that needs to be done - legal issues, family matters, etc. Works best if only 1 is missing.
- The missing player's character becomes a silent partner for the duration. I'll run him as an NPC, and try to keep him as close to character as possible, but for the most part he'll say little, contribute to combat in the ways he usually does, and has a type of plot immunity. I won't kill off a missing player's character, ever, but they also don't get experience for the sessions they miss, nor will anything really important happen for that character in particular.

[ericp65]

I knew a DM who would rule that any missing player's character(s) each magically became a palm-sized black stone during player absence, and the party was trusted to secure and carry said stone until the player(s) returned.

Another DM would allow the present players to handle the missing player's character(s), as long as they felt they could accurately represent the character's personality, style, and interests.

[Segev]

In college, my regular circle of friends (constituting multiple overlapping gaming groups) typically used "black-and-white syndrome." OOC, we jokingly referred to the PC as being "black-and-white" for the session, and they helped out with unimportant tasks where failure was uninteresting, and generally stayed out of the way unless there was some crucial thing only they could do. (For example, if the party cleric was black-and-white, he'd do post-combat healing.)

IC, the character was just "Sir Not Appearing In This Episode." He is technically around, but the spotlight is never on him and he doesn't have lines. He's assumed to have IC information as is reasonable (and to the extent the other players filled in the absent one on what he missed). He is a pair of hands where needed. He can go do unimportant tasks, or even go do somewhat important ones that are too boring to run on screen but which he'd be good at (so long as, again, failure was not interesting enough to be worried about checking).

[supermonkeyjoe]

Happens very rarely but my group used the fade into the background method, the character is still there but never actually present, out of combat abilities such as spells and skills can be used by the party if the DM agrees but otherwise the character just doesn't contribute.

This means that the party walking into the dungeon isn't suddenly shafted if the rogue's player can't make it, they can still make disable device and open lock checks, they just can't help out in any other meaningful way.

[Bubzors]

My group used to either skip,reschedule or have a more experienced player run the character. Of course when we played the character it was mostly like a cohort, go here full attack/heal/hide or whatever.

What we do now and really fits our group is have a side campaign that is noy as serious and that players can rotate characters if they want. We have 7 people in our group including DM and this works out great if one or two people are missing. We are playing the Red Hand of Doom module so if there is a last minute cancellation not much prep is needed. The players really like it because we can always at least play and they get to learn other classes as they usually swap characters between players almost every session.

[Dimers]

In my AD&D group we don't take roleplaying too seriously. And we don't take in-game physical reality too seriously either. So when a player can't come, their character "goes on Deep Rear Guard", inactive and not present for any purpose. We've had situations where wandering monsters appeared from where the D.R.G. characters would have to be ... no matter; the PCs probably just found a well-hidden oil of invisibility and unsmellability and used it just in time, or something ... A character on Deep Rear Guard earns no XP or loot for the combats they miss.

Several times, I've seen a character come off D.R.G. and rejoin the party in the middle of a fight. They get a full share for that. :smallsmile:

My other tabletop group (3.5) is much more serious and muuuuuuch more oriented toward roleplaying and character interaction. Since several of the players have been working together for years, they have a pretty solid understanding of the personality and preferences of each other's characters. We always have all the characters present and active, run by other players or occasionally the DM. They cast spells, use wand charges, use daily abilities and so forth just as if they were being played by the regular person. In at least one case, a character has perma-died (wouldn't accept resurrection magic) while being run by someone else. It was as much of a mess as you'd expect OOC, though the PC was so new that the party just considered him an expensive and talented hireling IC.

That system actually works really well, but it takes a lot of trust in the group and the DM. It also requires us to skip a session when we don't have enough people to play those who are missing. I'm not sure whether the characters get XP for combats the players miss, but they definitely get story XP, and we handle loot by story arc anyway so missing one game session isn't even a factor.

[Telonius]

If one player is absent, I play the character. (I don't have the PC do obviously stupid or suicidal things, but they're as much at risk as they would be if the player were actually there). If two people are absent, the session is canceled.

Also, for absent players, I have a small Ned Flanders figurine (just about the size of a mini). Absent players will have the shame of being represented by Ned instead of their usual mini.

[Soupz]

I've done the character is missing type thing. Then players want to search for them. There's some level of disconnect that's missing from the game for them. HE'S NOT HERE, HE HAD TO WORK TODAY.

If I leave the character around then everyone wants to use the missing player's resources. Missing works out when reintroducing characters and weaving that into the story because if I decide their situation beforehand we can easily get off track from that.

I've done explanations before, but whenever I do that players want to go find their friends again.

[Stux]

If it is just a one off absence in an awkward position to explain (eg mid-dungeon), then we tend not to bother with an explanation, but also don't have the player be there as an NPC. We basically have an unspoken agreement to ignore the logical disconnect involved. The character is in no danger of dying or losing any gear, but at the same time earns no XP and no loot, so there is a big insentive to not miss sessions unless you really have too. Plus no one in our group would be comfortable having their character played by someone else.

If it is a more prolonged absence then we generally come up with something to explain it (my character was off training with a secret order for a little while in the last campaign for instance). Also for longer absences there was usually some XP and loot awarded based on what the character had been up to, but this would always be less than what they would have gotten if they had been present.

[Tvtyrant]

They stay at the last resting point because of some problem that they can invent when they show up/the next session. If they show up midgame they managed to catch up to the party just then (they were inconvenienced/shoe failure/etc.) and if it is the next game session they show up at that one after having spent a day sick or with a twisted ankle or something along that nature.

Everyone levels at the same time in my games unless crafting is going on (which never happens) so they lose out on loot unless the party decides to share it with them, but not on "XP."

[Dimers]

Also, for absent players, I have a small Ned Flanders figurine (just about the size of a mini). Absent players will have the shame of being represented by Ned instead of their usual mini.

*snerk* That's great! :smallbiggrin:

[Martial_law]

Though I could come up with a convoluted explanation for why a character wouldn't be with the party, run the character as an NPC or have another player fill in for them, my usual response to player absence is just to have the character be suspended in a there/not there state. They can't contribute to the party in any fashion, but when the player returns, it is assumed the character was present for all events.

Sick with a really bad flu, they keep getting sick and if they stop showing up the flu killed them?

[Tathum]

In the campaign I'm running, the PC's have a large stable of NPC's to invite along to fill gaps when needed. The town that serves as their base has almost every class to choose from, though I made some have requirements to fulfil before having access to them.

Whenever a PC is gone, they're just not there. No explanation, just ... not there.

[FlappyTungsten]

The last time I missed a game session, it was the one after my character had spectacularly failed a climb check to descend into a chasm. He fell about fifty feet, smashed his head on a rock, and had to be stabilised by our cleric.

When I was absent the next week, our DM ruled that I was out of commission for the next stage of the dungeon crawl. As my character was a 35 lb gnome, it was a simple matter for the party bruiser to carry him in a bag over his shoulder until he woke up. This was the same bag he used to get put in when he had one of his drunken tantrums. I miss that guy :smallcool:

[Yael]

Normally, our DM states that, unless stated otherwise, the PC will stay on the same spot he was; affording consecuences. Hence, if the last session was finished inside a Deep-Labyrinth-like dungeon; if we get out without taking our friend with us (saying it to the DM), the character will stay there, doing what he was doing. If the session was over before a fight, the DM will make the PC act like a NPC, having normal rolls (no use of feats or combat tactics).

Somewat rude, but it helps to do not skip sessions without further advice.

[BWR]

For the most part another player just plays the character. In one of my groups we have a guy who works a lot and has two small kids. He tries to show up for game nights once or twice a month, but he's always late and often can't make it at all. It would really break suspension of disbelief if his character was always somewhere else or busy with something else at the time. For the most part, everyone in the group knows how the other players' characters work and their basic personality so we can easily take over playing a bit. We don't put them in extraordinarily dangerous situations if we can help it, unless the character is built that way (a dps/tank that runs from combat wouldn't make sense) but they do participate. Not only because it makes sense in game, but because we'd often be hosed if we didn't have all hands on deck.

[amdskitzo]

my usual response to player absence is just to have the character be suspended in a there/not there state. They can't contribute to the party in any fashion, but when the player returns, it is assumed the character was present for all events.

Thats how my friends and I usually do it. Sometimes in extreme circumstances, the "suspended" character will do something.