The recent thread on "OffScreen Characters" got me thinking.

How do you handle it when a member of the group doesnt show up?

In a current game of D&D 5th Im playing in we have 6 players. In every game Ive attended there have been no more than 4 and not necessarily the same 4. The GM is handling it the best he can, essentially a sort of weird 'alternate reality' ensues where the missing characters just dont exist, they arent missed, nobody notices or cares... the characters there that day are the ones in the adventure, period.

I sympathize with his situation and dont intend to criticize but I dont think I could handle doing it that way. I know as a player its a disruption. One day we have a Cleric and his healing spells, the next fight we dont!

How do you suggest it be managed? GM takes over the character as a NPC? Another player runs the character? Ideas?

This is why Gary always, ALWAYS made sure each session ended in some sort of "safe place," even if it was only a little one-horse town.

That way, if somebody couldn't be there, "Tom got a message from his temple and had to go back" or "Bill decided to go home."

It also puts a stronger emphasis on a little NPC henchman backup.

Honestly, it's not a bad gamest solution.

IMG, depending on context, I'll run the PC as an NPC or the party will leave them at camp/at the inn/somewhere else/send them on a minor errand for a session. If I'm running the NPC it's 1/2 exp, and the character may die. Sucks but dem's the breaks.

Typically, players specify how they want their PC to be run in their absence. Sometimes they assign a specific player to run them for them (for games where I don't want players to see other players' real character sheets, I make abridged/approximate sheets for them). Otherwise the GM does.

Depending on the game situation, it may make sense for the PC to be absent or less active. e.g. They take a shift staying at camp, guarding the wagons, scouting, delivering a message, running errands, or going someplace to be played out in a make-up session (possibly on phone or email or whatever). It's of course easier the less stuck a party is in the middle of a situation.

It's common for groups to include NPCs, for PCs to be taken out of action by injury or whatever, and for PCs to split off for a while, so the main issue is whether something important is happening (especially, of course, deadly situations) to the PC whose player is missing, which is going to detract from the experience for the player to not be there.

In a few games I have built-in an OOC rule/agreement that pulls PCs of absent players away (e.g. The Wizards' Guild summons Myrtle and she is teleported away in a puff of smoke. Or the PC falls ill...) but that was for casual lighthearted games where players really didn't want their PCs to be run and/or risk death without them. I do prefer not to do that, and do want there to at least be an in-world explanation.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;997603This is why Gary always, ALWAYS made sure each session ended in some sort of "safe place," even if it was only a little one-horse town.

That way, if somebody couldn't be there, "Tom got a message from his temple and had to go back" or "Bill decided to go home."

It also puts a stronger emphasis on a little NPC henchman backup.

That's a pretty good idea.

In my case, I currently run 3 games.

In the first two, there are about 4-5 players. In that case, if a player is missing, I just invent an excuse to offscreen them, or run them as a very basic NPC. We have jokes about the Dwarf's player always just standing there drinking because that's all he does when the player isn't there.

In the third game, I have 10-ish people, and at this point there are some people ALWAYS missing and there is a different group every time. In this case we just do what rgrove's DM does which is just politely pretend they are "there" but not actually participating, so to speak.

In the future I want to run a sort of sandbox or one-shot every session type of game where it's built-in to the game setting that everyone is different each time.

The best solution I've found is to just have other players run the character for the missing player. We're all in our 40's-60's and aren't out to screw each other over, so it works.

Quote from: rgrove0172;997595The recent thread on "OffScreen Characters" got me thinking.

How do you handle it when a member of the group doesnt show up?

In a current game of D&D 5th Im playing in we have 6 players. In every game Ive attended there have been no more than 4 and not necessarily the same 4. The GM is handling it the best he can, essentially a sort of weird 'alternate reality' ensues where the missing characters just dont exist, they arent missed, nobody notices or cares... the characters there that day are the ones in the adventure, period.

I sympathize with his situation and dont intend to criticize but I dont think I could handle doing it that way. I know as a player its a disruption. One day we have a Cleric and his healing spells, the next fight we dont!

How do you suggest it be managed? GM takes over the character as a NPC? Another player runs the character? Ideas?

I play with whoever shows up. In order to avoid continuity problems, I can stretch or shorten the session when the party is in a relatively safe place, but I'm not going to continue unless I know they're planning an uneventful trek across friendly terrain:).
So basically, what Gronan said, and the party usually has a stable of NPCs that are going to be there anyway;).

Quote from: Skarg;997606Typically, players specify how they want their PC to be run in their absence. Sometimes they assign a specific player to run them for them (for games where I don't want players to see other players' real character sheets, I make abridged/approximate sheets for them). Otherwise the GM does.

Depending on the game situation, it may make sense for the PC to be absent or less active. e.g. They take a shift staying at camp, guarding the wagons, scouting, delivering a message, running errands, or going someplace to be played out in a make-up session (possibly on phone or email or whatever). It's of course easier the less stuck a party is in the middle of a situation.

It's common for groups to include NPCs, for PCs to be taken out of action by injury or whatever, and for PCs to split off for a while, so the main issue is whether something important is happening (especially, of course, deadly situations) to the PC whose player is missing, which is going to detract from the experience for the player to not be there.

This. With the addition that the GM vetos any outrageously out of character actions chosen for that PC.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;997603This is why Gary always, ALWAYS made sure each session ended in some sort of "safe place," even if it was only a little one-horse town.

If the party is down on level 7 of a megadungeon 15 minutes before the session is supposed to end, how did Gary get the party out of the dungeon and back to a village, town, or other place of safety?

I've used the following solutions:

1. The PC of the missing player happens to be taking a leak in the woods when the encounter happens

2. The PC of the missing player is run as an NPC to the best of our ability, I will try to make sure the players don't have it do something really stupid

3. We only play when all the players can make it

4. We finish an adventure in one session, so if your not there, your PC isn't either (this was most successful in high school, but occasionally was done other times).

One thing I always point out for games like Traveller where the PCs are travelling in a ship is that for most setups, if you're not there, we need to NPC your character because there's no logical way to have the PC not be present. We would usually not have a PC of a non-present player join a ground party.

Frank

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;997603This is why Gary always, ALWAYS made sure each session ended in some sort of "safe place," even if it was only a little one-horse town.

That way, if somebody couldn't be there, "Tom got a message from his temple and had to go back" or "Bill decided to go home."

It also puts a stronger emphasis on a little NPC henchman backup.

Pretty much how I do it as well whenever possible.

Failing that. "Richard vanished while everyone was sleeping in the alcove on level 8 of the dungeon." and then he rejoins the group later much harried. Or they find him a prisoner in the lair they were about to explore.

Quote from: rgrove0172;997595The GM is handling it the best he can, essentially a sort of weird 'alternate reality' ensues where the missing characters just dont exist, they arent missed, nobody notices or cares...

I had a GM do that; I really really hated it. We'd be in a bus fleeing zombies and suddenly the expert driver would vanish!

As GM I have the PCs take a backseat, fade into the background, perform some offscreen task, guard the rear etc. Last session I had the absent-player Cleric PC perform a ritual to weaken the defences of the evil temple while the present players PCs completed the mission.

Starting and ending the session at a secure, reasonable spot where PC X might reasonably stay behind next time (even if the reasoning had to be pure B.S.) is the best option. But life gets in the way. Heck, sometimes someone gets the call that they have to go home and (medical/children/career issues) and then you roll with the punches. PC Y 'was standing just out of camera view the whole time, what you didn't notice him?' or you have a trusted other play the character. Or the DM "NPCs" them for the rest of the evening, making all the most cautious decisions. But having a robust group that is resilient to one person being missing on a game night also makes the group be resilient to one character being dead on a game night, so you should hopefully be prepared for either.

Quote from: Bren;997711If the party is down on level 7 of a megadungeon 15 minutes before the session is supposed to end, how did Gary get the party out of the dungeon and back to a village, town, or other place of safety?

He kept an eye on the time and didn't wait until 15 minutes before the end.  And sometimes we ran late.

If the player gives notice they're not coming, then as a GM I think of a reason they're not there.
If they just don't bother turning up at the last minute, then I NPC them and if they get chewed, then too bad.

Depends on the game. When I do super hero games, we just play it like the Justice League in the Bronze Age, where any given issue might have a different lineup. I liked it when they had the heads running down the edge of the cover telling you that issue's roll call. Whoever showed up for the game is in that issue; whoever didn't must be having an adventure in his solo comic book that week/month. It's harder if you're playing a game like Traveller and end up having to stop a game while between planets as explaining where somebody went when you were all in the same spaceship is not so easy to do.  Sometimes we just trust someone to run that character as a quasi-NPC for that session. If you can manage it, I'd recommend ending a session in a place where the various PCs could plausibly go their own ways. It's also a good way to explain the introduction of new or replacement PCs.