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View Full Version : DM Help Temporary PC missions while a player is out



Darth Credence
2020-10-05, 03:09 PM
I am pondering a way to shake up our current campaign, and wanted to know if anyone had done something like it and how it worked out. Recently, one of the players took over an NPC and much fun was had by all.
The party had been divided, with the bard chasing some dreams of stardom while the bulk of the party did some other business. That business was acquiring an expensive painting of a Deity, as the mentor of one of the PCs needed it for a spell. He was not the first tasked with getting the painting - the first was a thief who got caught and ended up in a pillory. The PC was told his fellow member of the Circle was in trouble, and needed their help. During a particular session, there was not much going on with the bard, so I asked her player to run the thief, giving her complete background and some ideas on how to play, but turning it completely over to her to have fun with. She did an outstanding job with it, making for a memorable experience for all. Having a temporary thief who could do things like pickpocketing the party or pilfering treasure without being a regular was great. The entire party is back together now, and playing their standard characters and having fun, but when the thief left, everyone wanted to make sure that we hadn't seen the last of him. I know he will have a further impact on the world, because he found a cave during the session but didn't share the information with everyone else. This cave will fit perfectly as a place to get a specific item into play, so the thief will be involved in going through the cave, and may interact with the party again.
Now, no one is asking at this point to play that character or anyone else, but it was a great change of pace and inspired me to maybe shake some things up. The NPC, Weco, has the opportunity to go on an adventure of his own, and the results may very well be significant for the players and the rest of the campaign. Because of this, I'm wondering if I should let the players take over his mission, so they can see how other characters doing things can impact what they do.

My thought is that when we are short a player for outside reasons, we hold the regular campaign and do a one session adventure with some NPCs, with the understanding that the results of the adventure will have an effect on the world no matter how they end up - TPK, complete success, a known NPC falling under the sway of a demon, whatever. This happens every couple of months - we have an understanding that if two people have to cancel we cancel the game, but if just one we push onwards. I'm hoping this will prevent people from having to deal with either their character sidelined for some contrived reason, or being controlled by someone else, while everyone else gets a fun diversion with some meaning for showing up.

Anyone done something like this? Any pitfalls to doing it that I should take into account? If I decide this will work out, I'll bring up the idea at the beginning of our next session, and only go forward if everyone thinks it sounds like fun. ETA: If any of the players want to get some DMing in, I am prepared to allow them to take it over and do whatever they want with it, with the only constraints being the starting chamber because it was already established and that a particular item be found somewhere within. I don't know if they will want to do so, but it's on the table.