Private Sessions?

[Gerdra]

So I had a question for any other DMs or GMs that might have gone through something similar to what I have. Quick backstory: At out last session the party had gotten into combat with a Necromancer and their hoard with the Necromancer plotting to trap them with a nearby slumbering Purple Worm. Several members of the group had just become dragon riders (I have worked the Rise of Tiamat into our 3.5 story and this is how they wanted to fight her) and we were essentially testing out their new dragons and how they changed the party. One of the riders (small Halfling) was swallowed with his dragon mount (medium) by the Purple Worm; however, since this was the first combat it took much longer than normal since they were still figuring everything out with their mounts. We ended just after the Halfling was swallowed and the Purple Worm retreated.

Basically, I wish to have a private session before our normal game night with the guy who plays the Halfling. The party talked over the weekend and stated that they do not plan to go after him and the worm since many of their dragons are too large to follow and they don't want to be separated. So no one will be missing out, and this might help us figure out if his character survives or if he needs a new one.

Has anyone ever done something similar like holding a private session with only a select part of the group? If so, how did your party take it. I basically don't want to force everyone to sit their next game while we play through if he survives or not if it can be handled with just the two of us. Thoughts or comments are appreciated.

Thanks.

[dejarnjc]

So I had a question for any other DMs or GMs that might have gone through something similar to what I have. Quick backstory: At out last session the party had gotten into combat with a Necromancer and their hoard with the Necromancer plotting to trap them with a nearby slumbering Purple Worm. Several members of the group had just become dragon riders (I have worked the Rise of Tiamat into our 3.5 story and this is how they wanted to fight her) and we were essentially testing out their new dragons and how they changed the party. One of the riders (small Halfling) was swallowed with his dragon mount (medium) by the Purple Worm; however, since this was the first combat it took much longer than normal since they were still figuring everything out with their mounts. We ended just after the Halfling was swallowed and the Purple Worm retreated.

Basically, I wish to have a private session before our normal game night with the guy who plays the Halfling. The party talked over the weekend and stated that they do not plan to go after him and the worm since many of their dragons are too large to follow and they don't want to be separated. So no one will be missing out, and this might help us figure out if his character survives or if he needs a new one.

Has anyone ever done something similar like holding a private session with only a select part of the group? If so, how did your party take it. I basically don't want to force everyone to sit their next game while we play through if he survives or not if it can be handled with just the two of us. Thoughts or comments are appreciated.

Thanks.


I've had similarish situations but have just resolved them by email. That being said, resolving it 10-30 min before your gaming session could be fun too and I don't see why anyone would have a problem with it.

[Orc_Lord]

I have done things like this. I find that it works better if it happens in a different day than the usual game.

Last time I did it, it was a bard that actually perma-died. I asked him if he would like to come back as a warlock....so he came out of the grave the party had dug. And shortly there after zombies came out of the graves and attacked. It messed with players for multiple sessions.

[Zanthy1]

I have done it, do recommend doing it separately. If it is something small i've just taken the player to another room for a bit, but something big like that i'd schedule something.

One thing that you should be aware of is that as a party sees stuff like that happen, they may be more inclined to want a single private session every now and then. For me this often looks like a small side mission for the individual player. An example: The party arrived at a city and the bard decided he wanted to spend a night gathering information and the like, so we had a whole session with just him and I over skype detailing what he was doing while the rest o the party slept. The next session convened with them waking up and he was able to share what he wanted with them.

Long story short: They can be a lot of fun, just make sure it flows.

[Friv]

I've done it before. Doing a private scene with a player or two before a session has been pretty common in a lot of games, especially if a player has some extra time and the scene won't be that interesting to the rest of the party. I generally won't do it if I think it'll take more than 10-20 minutes; full private sessions are a serious time commitment, and I've never been a big fan of 1-to-1 gaming.

[Sigreid]

Doing it is fine but my main thought is that the halfling needs to find better friends. 🤔