How to Handle Non-Participants

[BioCharge]

First off, sorry for the vague title; I'm not the best at them.

Alright, so in the next session of my Pathfinder game, one of my party members has been invited to participate in the Race of Eight Winds in Sharn. I plan to have a whole section before the race to do all the politicking and negotiations and back-room dealing that usually goes on behind the race.

Further, an individual will hire on the party to help influence the race, preventing the Boromar sponsered members from winning. The reason behind is that this year is an election year and those that sponser the winning racers have a much higher chance of winning the election. With the individuals that are part of the Boromar Clan (such as Ilyra) and some that are in their pocket, the party's benefactor wishes to prevent them from gaining more power on the city council (and maybe get Ilyra booted off).

However, I'm not sure what to do for my other players during the actual race. I plan on treating the race as a skill challenge. The one player is the only direct participant, as she is the only one who has the skills, but I'm not sure what to do with the others during that time.

Any ideas welcome.

[Inevitability]

You could invite those players to come up with a racer of their own (which can be as simple as a one-paragraph description and concept), assign appropriate scores in the relevant skills, and let them control these during the race. A lot of players might like the opportunity to roleplay some silly one-scene character and get really creative with it: more mechanically-inclined players will at least get to roll some dice and make some decisions.

Alternatively, the other players get drawn into an encounter simultaneous with the race: perhaps, while waiting among the spectators, they spot a mercenary mage lurking on a balcony, waiting for the racers to come by so he can hex his employer's rivals. It then becomes a race against the clock to reach and subdue the caster, giving the inactive players a direct stake in their friend's success.