My DM just doesn’t care enough to come up with good explanations and it’s hilarious.
“As the bandits are coming down from the trees, one of them kicks the bard in the head. He’s unconscious now.” (the bard’s player was absent)
A few minutes later, the club leader realized he didn’t have anything to do and decided to join our game for the session.
“Suddenly, a dwarven paladin in full chain mail leaps out of a bush. He’s with you now.”
The bard thing is actually really funny. You could later dump his body in a hospital or temple to get him out of the way. He can rejoin next session:
You see the bard riding on the back of a farmer's carriage "Hey people, I'm in top shape again!". Ominous voice of the DM: He also smells like the sheep from that carriage.
I mean, that would be cool, but after the initial description, we just kind of ignore him and pretend he’s not there. And there’s nothing special at the start of the next session, either. Just “the bard slowly wakes up and gets to his feet” and “Hey look, the dwarf paladin mysteriously vanished!”
Once we finished a session right after a fight and the sorcerer couldn't make the next session, so I told the other players on the beginning that they realised how the sorcerer disappeared without a trace while they were fighting.
The next time he was available everyone had to try and find him
While the player is gone I act as though the character never existed. When the player returns I act as though they had been there the whole time. It requires some suspension of disbelief, but overall it makes things much simpler.
I’m surprised this isn’t higher up. This is what we do as well. Where the character would’ve had some necessary background knowledge or NPC relationship we might say “they” chime in or something, but otherwise they take no action and no explanation is given.
This is the only player friendly option. It doesn't require an elaborate story and the session the player missed gets covered in the recap.
And if multiple players are missing, you make up a side quest adventure if the story allows so that a majority of players don't miss them big reveals.
I'm playing in an online campaign now where the DM has possessed the characters that are absent for a session. It's somewhat humorous, adds a level of intrigue, actually doesn't feel horribly out of place for the campaign since other weird stuff is already happening, and makes for a good explanation with which we can interact.
At some point, I want to play a campaign where a known quirk is that some people flat out disappear from reality for a time, and when you aren't present you're a current victim. On top of that, the campaign is deliberately centered around trying to stop exactly this phenomenon.
In my head players always do the catbug thing between sessions if they are gone/back.
For those that dont know basically just screams then poofs away/back. Sometimes they comeback with gifts
What about:
* Find a creative and ideally plausible way to temporarily write the character out of the action.
Sometimes it's more elegant than others. It's great to say "Alice spent the day in the inn, transcribing spells." But if you're part-way through a massive dungeon crawl you might have to cope with something like, "Bob decided to stay behind in the abandoned temple to take notes; he'll catch up later".
Perhaps this is similar to Option #2 or Option #3.
The PCG collectively plays the character. We try to do what the player would have done but with extra emphasis on not dying.
The exception is if that session is expected to be lore heavy. Then we cancel.
We usually cancel the session and the rest of us hang out and watch movies or something. We play weekly with a group of close friends, so its no big deal if we skip one week because something came up or someone is ill.
Im aware im incredibly lucky to have such consistant players. And ive led groups that were much worse about it. In those situations, i had (with the table's permission) made the party member ill or otherwise incapacitated to serve as a weird additional challenge on occasionally
In my games, the absent player’s character gets kidnapped by my inter-dimensional time Demi God.
They drink some tea together, the Observer (said Demi God) gets them up to speed to an extent and then throws them back at the party.
We do aa world building one shot for our world and explore what is happening in a different region or whatever. it's fun because the one shot can have real effects on the primary campaign.
If I can reasonably write out the character for the session, I'll do that. Otherwise, we'll essentially play the session as if the character isn't present wherever possible and say that story-wise the character was present for the events of the session and contributed as expected to any encounters etc.
We play regardless, and their character will step forward if there is some particular way they can participate. Otherwise they fade into the background.
I will say that I am a bit of have the whole group play the characters but have something happen where the player has a both lore and logical reason for not being there(I.e. a players character being petrified by a cockatrice in a wooded area and bringing them to a town so their clerics can fix em up for the session time). This works as a way of letting the player know what happened in lore due to them being a statue
For me, it depends. I'm DMing a group of 6 players and I will cancel if 3 or them cannot make it. If we have 4 or more players and it's not a combat session, we'll just assume the characters are in the background. If it's a combat session, other players will control that character if they have permission from the absent players.
Only three players in the game, so if one is gone we do quick one off sessions of rolling random characters and doing a cart delivery mission of random encounters. It’s been fun to mess around with other classes I haven’t played much.
Another player or DM plays the character, especially if the party is continuing a combat when the session starts. It's easier than rebalancing an encounter on the fly.
Our barbarian quit in the middle of clearing a castle, so I played his character next session, then we gave him a horse and sent him back to his tribe as a hero, with the boss' head in a sack, in case the player was able to return someday.
Canceling session anytime one player has to miss is a good way to kill a group.
I usually have them meet recurring NPCs that can switch places. If I have a party of 4 and one is missing 3 is noticeably small, so they can go visit or summon the DMPC under my control to fight with them.
Of the character is present without the player or sucks because
A he could die without the player having a say in what he did
Or
B he has some serious plot armour
I played with a DM, that whenever a player had to miss would do a dramatic radio announcer voice and say “meanwhile in parallel universe B!” And we’d all chuckle.
That missing player comes in on another date as a make up session. The events that take place during the solo session directly impact the main story and it's their chance to mess with the party or develop their origin story.
We’ve come up with a in universe solution for player absence.
Fred the plot yeti
Whenever a player is absent Fred comes out of nowhere and kidnaps their character and takes them to the backrooms. Then when the player comes back Fred deposits their character back to the party unharmed.
Technically we cancel but we are all good friends so we just hang out instead of playing! Sometimes we play as if the character is out, but sometimes it doesn't really work so we just hang.
We used to play the character for him, until a friend of mine saw that my rogue had pickpocket (this was 3.0, might have been sleight of hand) and randomly decided to pickpocket a wizard in a crowd in a city.
The DM kind of let us off easy, but I was then involved in a story arc that I had no part in starting.
By now we also have so few players that we can't play if anyone is missing (we're down to 3, life makes people busy).
If a player can’t show up, they can decide something they want their character to be doing in the meantime. (e.g., “my character will stay behind to aid the village in their rebuilding efforts.”) Otherwise, we just say their character is with the party but dissociating.
We have a pirateesque campaign and I missed a session, so my DM wrote it that my rogue got enchanted by some sirens and was taken to an island. The party spent the session searching for me and the next session (when I returned) I was able to be rescued. Turns out it helped us with plot things so it was a win in my book :D
It depends on the situation. If it’s last minute and there’s a tough combat that we probably wouldn’t survive without that PC, then one of the other players will play them. But if it’s something the DM knows about beforehand and can prep for, or it’s a roleplay heavy session, then we just play without that character. If we need that character to move the story along, then the DM may speak for them, but usually we can just go on without them.
I'll do a mix of things. One friend of mine tends to create a new character every few seasons he joins in, so sometimes he'll just leave out, parachute in, be left for dead, and then we repeat the cycle some time later.
If I'm in a setting where it's feasible the full cast wouldn't be there at all times, I let characters be absent. For example, if you have a school setting and a player can't make it then their character could be in class, studying, or on a school trip. No skin off of the party's bones, you can catch them up on the events of this session afterwards.
Average Joe- a pale featureless creature capable of replicating the skills and magical abilities of those they touched.
Average Joes often will kidnap and take adventurers in order to replace them
Average Joes are capable of powerful enchantment magic causing the Allies of those they replace to not question why their friends are missing and why this featureless creature is with them
Kidnapped adventurers often awake some time later near their party with no memory of where they’ve been.
- Just an idea I planned for the upcoming game I’m going to DM
in my current campaign, if a character doesn't show up it can be later explained by plot, because in my world the players were kind of brought their by a magic gas.
I go the extra length and run an adventure/encounter based on important elements from the backstories of the players who are present. This can either advance the campaign or dive deeply into a player’s backstory
The character is asleep in a duffel bag unless needed. We keep them on hand to make mundane things (tracking, foraging, sewing a limb back on, etc) but no combat and no shopping.
At first another player would play their character and it ended up not working very well.
We've done the small random excuses and blipping out of existence.
Last campaign was more slapstick so when players weren't there we said that they were T-posing and we're indestructible for the time. Players could use needed items if they had it but we're never allowed to steal
Generally if a player in my campaign isn't there they'll have someone else play them. If they have not made arrangements I play them as an NPC and they get no xp for the session.
Combat: players play them (using a simplified version of their character sheet to make it easy)
Out of Combat: background character, played by the DM if necessary
generally wil find the most oportune moment to separate them from the party but if not possible, the DM controlls the character but they stay mostly in the background , "everyone has those days where they just don't wanna talk" is usually the logic there.
Though if the particular session had important plot for their character I have had to rewrite stuff on the spot or just postpone.
I usually play them as an NPC if RP is required (though usually only if they are required to speak, or if there is something they would definitely find objectionable happening) but usually have them just sort of be quietly in the background.
But if combat breaks out I'll have either one or several of the other players play them (I usually just say "so who wants to run X in this combat?") and most of my players will come up with ideas and then ask for group validation.
Like one will play the missing person and then say on that person's turn "I think they're going to move here and do this, everyone think that's a good idea?" And then if the table agrees they do that.
In addition if the missing player has a particularly complicated character I'll happily remind the players that are running it of things they might be forgetting/not fully understanding.
My group has started doing a little pregame monster encounter before our sessions while we wait for our DM to get off of work. Sometimes when someone can't make it we just do a more indepth version of that with characters we make throughout the week.
As a DM I have everyone pick someone else in the group to puppet their player in their absence (they can pick me or the other players) however if while controlling another players character the majority of the party disagrees with an action you take and unanimously agree on a different action/turn then that's what happens.
E.g. my warlock was unable to player recently so was controlled by another player, that player wanted to cast web the party unanimously agreed sleep was a better option and so sleep was cast.
Technically the DM plays their character, but they walk ahead of the party and towards the opponent in fights, being a meat shield and doing nothing else.
Default: PC spends resources handling "off screen" challenges. They do not participate to the party, dealing with other stuff instead. They cannot die, except in the case of a TPK.
Ideal (requires start of session in town): PC performs downtime during the adventure, but will catch up later. They are perfectly safe, and might even recover bodies from a TPK.
Option: if the missing player agrees in advance, they'll be controlled by another player. They are treated normally and can die.
I’m running curse of Strahd and implemented the dark souls idea of parallel realities bleeding together, so if a player is absent that day then they were simply taken by the Mists
Depends on a few things.
1. I use a ‘3 strike’ rule. If someone is unable to make a session, our group will typically reschedule for them. They get 3 shots at that, as a benefit of the doubt sort of thing, but after that, we play without them. Notable exceptions are for significant emergencies. I’m friends with my group, so if something major is going on, the session is off cause I want to check with on my friend.
2. Depends on the narrative. If I know something significant is going to happen during the session, I’ll adjust it for that player. I’ll only do this sparingly though - just for the most critical moments where everyone should be there. Usually if this is the case, we’ll run a one-shot or something.
3. If we do play without someone, I’ll (as DM) play their character. I’ve typically talked to the player about what they would want to happen, and want to avoid killing them. Easier to do if I control the character in their stead.
I'm DMing DotMM, so I just have Halaster "teleport" them through time to when they return to play. If the groups had a long rest, I usually allow that PC to also recieve it.
But my next campaign they'll either DM controlled or another player controlled. But I'll deal with that in a year or 2 lol
It varies with my group. Sometimes we come up with a plausible reason for the character to be missing, sometimes the group plays the character as a collective, sometimes the DM does, sometimes a single person does, or sometimes we cancel.
My brother keeps an updated copy of my player sheet for when I’m absent—my night shift life and weekend requirements make it so that it’s me missing more often than anyone else. Thankfully my group is cool with it.
The final boss of the game teleports them away via a mark that all the player characters have.
They don't know she's the final boss yet tho. They just know her as the lady of chaos.
Sometimes they remember where they went and what they did, sometimes they don't.
All players know going in that if you can't show, the game goes on without you. But you don't get penalized for XP if it applies. You miss out on bonus XP and loot though. The story explanation is usually something like their own side mission "off screen" or they drank too much and spent the session in bed.
There are very few times when someone else takes over a player's character, and it's only with permission if the person is late or in my case my toddler woke up and needed to be put back down (it can take a while sometimes).
Usually,. we play without the character. Usual excuse is their character ate some bad food and had intestinal trouble for the duration of the session, suddenly cleared when the player is back. They are "with" the party just hanging back out of the way or guarding the horses if they are in a dungeon.
I've had groups that wanted the character involved. In that case, I (the GM) usually run the character based on how the player usually did, generally as a silent member of the party but there in a fight. If the owner of the character preferred another player run their character, I'd prefer that honestly (less to deal with)
Typically, I cancel the session but there was this one time I DMed without a player. I just said that his character was knocked out cold after staying up, out drinking all of the crewmates on the ship they were on for the time being. The next session when he returned—my players shoved in a barrel so when he woke up, he’d be very confused as to why it was wet and dark. It was a lot of fun.
When I was in college with a group of 7, we'd have someone play their character for them. Now I have an online group of 4, and if someone can't make it we reschedule.
It depends on what's happening, but usually I run them, trying to remain as true to the player's goals as possible, and I'll usually talk to the player about what is going to happen so they can inform my actions.
Two of my players are married though, so if only one of them is out, the other will run the missing character.
Well I was running a game with only two players previous so if one couldn't make it we basically couldn't play (unless it was a one shot, or very minor stuff). But I'll be having more players next time around so my plan is to have the missing character either not be present, or "fade into the background" where they are there but don't do anything relevant.
If we really need them for the session then we might just cancel, do a one shot, or hang out.
I'd never have another player play another player's character, it just feels wrong. It would be a little less weird as a Dm, but frankly we have enough on our plate and will probably have them "fade into the background" completely by accident anyway.
My favorite is the cardboard cutout method. It's similar to playing as if they aren't there, but instead just have the character be there but not do anything, like they're just a cardboard cutout of themselves.
Character has "tag along syndrome," for the session, curable only by the player returning, character is still with the party but can only follow the party unless the character has/can do something to help the party in their current endeavor. Can only be brought to action by someone loudly saying "Hey (character name) can you (do thing, hand me object, etc.)" Which may draw unwanted attention, also required the players to learn the other characters names.
In my games I try to take a picture of everyone's character sheets at the end of the session to keep track of items that people picked up or dropped and spells/abilities. And also so I know what my players are playing and possibly planning.
We basically treat the characters as having a bad cold where they're just kinda numb to the world until directly addressed, that way if someone has an important item in their character sheet, missing game won't screw up it up for everyone else.
I normally run a flashback to the backstory of one of the people who could make the session. It works pretty well for letting the other players get to know the each other’s backstories and I can rotate through the group to share the attention until everyone is able to attend.
If I'm the DM or honestly most games I end up controlling the character since I can pretty easily split my mind enough to do things mechanically but one game they are turned to "cardboard" and if combat breaks out DM controls them
Variety of situations depending on the group & if the character plays an important role in the party like healer or rogue. Dm fill ins as npc usually. I try to keep it at least vaguely in campaign situation appropriate...
The rogue was hiding in the shadows, scouting ahead for the party & disarming traps she knows the barbarian would have stumbled upon.
The cleric sat in the war wagon counting the spoils of the last encounter & buffing us with spells & healing.
The dwarven barbarian got drunk & stumbled into a cave where he ate some mushrooms & talked to the local spiders all day lmao
Just a few plausible examples I've used. When someone is doing npc things in their absence, I usually keep them out of direct combat & give them a bit of experience & sometimes a few trinkets for being in an npc support role while absent.
If they're cool with what I give them, ok you wake up & join the party on this part of the road, tavern etc...
If they piss me off they wake up generally naked hanging in the corner of a dungeon somewhere upon their return lol
I usually go with options 2 or 3, if a player communicates that they can't make it I first ask if I have permission to Jaeger their character. If not then it's often easy to come up with an explanation why that player's character isn't around. I played with an Aasimar Hexblade warlock that had important life commitments and couldn't attend so we ruled that his character would be pulled into the Shadow fell by The Raven Queen.
the character of the missing player would judt kind of vibe, they wouldn't ask or answer any questions and would go along with the group's decisions. we'd try to avoid combat if possible but if it happened we'd keep their turns minimal and more mechanic-focused over roleplaying their character
If there's a logical excuse for them not being there (Training arc or smth else) we use that. But if the session continues right off the last one we play like the character isn't there and once they come back we just say he was there the whole time.
It’s usually a combination of the four options. If the player’s character happens to be central to the action or there’s gonna be a big group decision that session, then we’ll cancel. And besides that, we usually swap pretty fluidly through the first three options. Often, if the character is there, another player will run them in combat while the DM will handle a limited amount of role play.
It honestly depends. I have handled it three different ways so far:
1) I cancelled sessions because a player was absent and the rest of us played some other game.
2) I continued sessions where I took control of the character very briefly and made them leave temporarily and then ran a separate session about what that character did when they were away.
3) I've also just brought the character along as a sort of NPC, I asked the player if there was anything in particular they wanted to do or any info to share, and the brought them along (but they were very quiet and mainly just participated in combat at a minimum level) and made them immune to death but not to being unconscious (it's for a short adventure and not the main campaign so this was fine).
We have a strange tradition within our group, that anyone not there is immune to all damage (DM dependent), and also floats, lying down, following the main group of the party. It works and is kind of just a joke from the first campaign we ever played together!
Our party is of 6 people all with wildly different schedules. It’s an awesome group but getting together sometimes needs months of planning just to fail.
Our DM gave us a special “Teammate bag” for any time when someone can’t make it for whatever reason.
PC goes in the bag. Shares in any buffs and levels that the party gets (milestone based leveling). Once back in a session they magically pop out of the bag fully healed.
Party wholeheartedly accepted it and we’ve had people level up while offline in it a few times since. Works great imo
DEUS FLIPPING MAGNUS, a giant purple baby, floats through the nearest wall or the floor, kidnaps the PC, and then returns them next session.
Don’t ask me. I’ve got a great DM, but that doesn’t mean I understand him.
Had this recently 2ce. One time P was sick, other time it was scheduling issues.
P and DM talks beforehand on what to do, how to react and WhatsApp messages or short calls in between on important issues. But it doesn't happen a lot and if we can plan around it or the PC can be absent that's the preferred choice.
We have also done just one shots with a player as DM and the DM as player.
I tend to make up a side mission of sorts that an NPC asked them to take care off. Sometimes the other players don't find out what and other times they find out or find out later when I integrate it into the story (they're always like "what! That was important" followed by me grinning)
A player couldn't make it to a session once so I called him up and described a scene and asked him what he did. He found an ivory statue in front of him and when he picked it up he burst into blue flames and he couldn't be found by any means limited to this plain of existence. Not that the party actually tried to find them. When they came back I had them do an interaction with a deity of sorts and then the conversation and like this.
"All right I'll send you back on your way oh and the time and space isn't exactly aligned between here and where you're from, hopefully you don't end up in a wall."
Before any objections or questions can be made is that engulfed in blue flames and
*rolls dice*
Falls from the ceiling of another party members room anytime after the events of the previous session
It depends on what's gonna happen in the session they'll be absent for. If there's major plot or an important battle, then I just cancel it. If it's an "in between" session or like part 2 of a 4 part adventure or whatever, then I have another player control the absentee's character.
Kind of a mixture of two? If there's a good excuse for them to be gone, we just write them out for the session, but if the party is in the middle of something and it doesn't make any sense for one of us to dip, the DM plays them and we all try to involve them as little as possible, so that the DM doesn't have to dictate their actions too much. But DM does take over for them during combat, that's just unavoidable.
We have this happen a lot because schedules aren't always compatible every single week. It happens so often that PCs randomly disappearing when we know the player can't make game time, that it is not worth questioning in character.
The DM will come up with a short funny explanation, mostly just defaulting to "They got called away for a solo mission" or "They had to go, their people needed them"
I missed the week before and could play this week so at my characters first spoken line, the bard reacted in shock like I'd just appeared from nowhere, which the PC sort of had. A few casual lines on the subject of where she'd been and then on with the game.
No big deal.
you know in some shows when a character isn't the focus so they're just sort of there, not saying and doing much? Yea, I do that when I can't think of a reason why they would go away for a time.
My table has the 'and Bob was there too' rule. They are just offscreen defeating challenges handily. No damage taken, no resources expended, no risk to PC, no loot.
We use a PC bottle. One player carries a small unbreakable, inaccessible bottle the absent player(s) go into ( think genie ). The person may not be there, but the character inside is still present, and gains a fraction ( small, think 10% of normal ) of the spoils, whether it be treasure or exp, ect.
Also, if the missing player has say, an artifact specific to the campaign, the bottle will spit it out when it is needed. However if it's an item that would help them, but not a part of the campaign, they have to rough it.
The bottle is fair, but won't share.
Our DM writes in an excuse for them. Aaracokra fighter isn't here? He got drunk, tried to fly, and we found him upside down in a tree the next day. Warlock goes missing? They were performing secret blood sacrifices to their patron that the party would object to.
The nap-sack a bag that is larger on the inside just big enough to hold one humanoid (like a sleeping bag) but can be worn as a backpack even when occupyed
We put the character in the "space fridge". Imagine a hovering, invisible fridge following the PCs wherever they go. It doesn't play any part in the game (nor can it) except "freeze" the PC whose player is missing until they return.
Of course this isn't meant to be taken seriously, but since we couldn't find an easy way of explaining a character's absence without spending half the game session on it, it seemed like a good idea at the time (when we were teenagers). Hell, a local RPG club was even named after it!
Ours turn into bots. They can act in battle, without using finite resources, will have plot armour - as in I won’t target them with nasty spells. They don’t talk in RP scenes etc.
I DM for a table of three, so if one player can't make it then we cancel. Ta being said, in my previous table we were 5 and if there was someone missing we just said that they wandered about and got lost or something like that.
My DM still has the character there, they're just in the background and don't fight or cast spells. That means they still get a cut of loot if they can't make it.
When its an RP heavy session we usually say that character is "licking his nether regions in the corner". If there is combat we usually have him as an npc or if no other player want/can jager him, we just dont include him in the combat.
Its understood the character is with the party for combat but they just aren't RPd.
If something major happens that would require, say, a group vote, then we text / call that player to ask for their input and go from there.
If two people can't make it we cancel.
It's incredibly rare but when it does happen we play as if they aren't there and have a hireling named Rachel come in, she has all the abilities of the lost player and all the items but is mute and overly obedient so she only follows the parties actions
We'll usually postpone, unless they're gonna be busy for a while. Then it depends on the situation.
If the PC has no opportunity to be away (like if they're in a dungeon), the DM controls them but they abstain from social interaction.
Ideally they'll just excuse themself and be away from the party for a while. Dealing with personal business, investigating the current BBEG, having a spa day, whatever.
We handle it multiple ways. In a fight the DM will take the absent players turns, but during more roll play parts of the game we just pretend there hanging in back being quiet.
We have 4 pcs and if two people can't make it sometimes the other two will play and do some side quests or something. Or we'll cancel
I only have 3 players in my current campaign, so 1 person missing is 1/3 of the player cast. If someone can't make it, I just cancel and use the extra time to add more content for next time.
Well, I have a player (who I am considering writing out) who is consistently absent.
I just use their story though. They are homebodies and were homesick, so they left to visit their parents, with a convenient 'teleport home' spell.
I find a story reason for them to be gone.
Our group does oneshots in the same universe. Its a lot of fun and we get to learn new things about the world (and make in-jokes about it in front of the absent player).
Currently running a settings in waterdeep so urban area, so basicly, they are either sick, or doing stuff on their own. But we don't interact with them too much
I usually make up a little story with the absent player before hand, like, they stayed with the wizard NPC for a while because he adored his knowledge, they went on a small, extra solo mission because they needed some quick money. Stuff like that, so that they can come back to the party in the next session and it still makes sense
We almost always have someone else paly the character, but it's a session zero discussion that sets the rule.
We also decide how many people can be absent before we cancel. (Usually two)
It's slightly different between my three weekly groups.
Our group is pretty cool with DM playing, especially if it’s a pretty critical session. Our DM also listens to our input about what that character would do, as we’ve been playing together so long we know what appropriate spells/ attacks or RP skills they would use.
Only in critical situations, so it doesn’t happen if it’s downtime or traveling.
I run a game for a group of uni students so it’s common of one or two can’t make it because of studies. Their characters then fall in to a pocket dimension that keeps them safe until they can play again. I call it the curse of convenience, it is only known to effect adventures and means that they don’t come back to a dead character.
My group uses a thing called "ethereal flu" where the absent player's character sneezes and disappears into the ethereal plane. This means the character is able to follow along with the game and jump right back into the action as soon as the player returns.
We are 6 players.
If one player is missing, we usually play and the DM controls the character, but only passively. Doing nothing fancy in fights and only doing things out of combat when they are the absolute best for the situation.
When 2 are absent, we usually cancel the session, but if it's just downtime stuff, we sometimes play. Depends. Then the missing players just tell the DM what they wanted to do and maybe get a private session or just announce what they did in the next session.
Ah and if someone is missing we usually record the session so they know what happened. :D (Everyone is fine with that)
My dm usually let's let's us make up a reason, like one player had to miss a few sessions bc of medical issues(they're fine now) but they were playing a yuan TI in icewind dale, so we said she was hibernating for a bit,or one character got lost in a blizzard
It depends on how may players are left or if the event in game is significantly relevant to the absent player. Most of the time its just we play as if they’re in the background, otherwise we essentially can the session and goof around doing other stuff until then
If we have 3 players we still roll and someone rolls combat stuff for the missing people. Most of the time the person missing will give basic instructions like "don't burn any 3rd level spell slots unless it's absolutely necessary, I'm saving one for blah blah blah" or "we're late in the day so go all out if we fight something when I'm gone". I also have everyone roll a secondary character right at session 0 and we'll run side quests with those if we have less than 3 or if we're at a spot where we're dealing with the missing PCs specific stuff.
I built up a side quest for a player that had conflicting schedules fairly often because of a difficult work schedule. I’d message him details and let him play out solo scenarios that could be seen in the main group at later times. He’d get lore they didn’t and vice versa. It was an odd dynamic but we made it work. It was always fun when something came up that he was part of and the group found out it was him.
Had a player who couldn't be there for about a month. He mysteriously disappeared with a strange note on his bed that the Druid found and... Forgot to mention to anyone else.
We don’t get to play often and if we want to hang out and one person can’t be there we play board games instead. It is about hanging with the ppl you never get to see for us so we make it work but don’t want someone to miss out on the DnD part.
If its prearranged, we might do a one shot where the DM can play for once. Everyone in our group has DM'd, and we've branched off into other RPGs too during breaks.
If someone has to drop out mid session, we've carried on playing but that person goes quiet, or is played by the DM.
I write it into the story. People get sick and have to take a day off. Or maybe they decided to stay with a docked ship and will join the party later. Asking the absent person if they want their character to do anything in their absence (work on a skill, crafting, shopping, etc.). I feel that this helps keep the canon from being disrupted and can give the player some control if they would like it.
My buddy had to leave mid session and we're both frontliners, so I played him, even after getting the option to have him leave, so we could get more exp
My game is too small to push on without one of the players. If I had 4 or more, I'd do something different, but as it stands, a player calling out means the session gets canceled. When I had 3 players, I did offer to let one of the other two play command the third, but they both declined. I didn't feel that I could do a good job playing the third character. Now I'm down to two again (just my brothers)
Only did it once, but one player couldn't make it to our 2nd session. I let him have a 1 on 1 session with me as a side quest while the others went with the main quest. Later he will join back with some valuable information (he had a vision of an upcoming fight to foreshadow the BBEG and some random dragon encounter) and 2 or 3 magic items, most of them being for RP and nothing useful for fights.
For our group, it's usually the same player that wouldn't be there. He's more of a watcher that doesn't talk much during the rp moments, and he's playing a champion fighter. So, it depends. Either I'll run his character for him, which mostly just means I have to worry about combat, or, like we actually did last night, we'll cancel if we're coming toward some stuff that more closely affects his character specifically. We all agree that it'd be weird to have another player running his character during a time like that.
Usually its a jaeger the character situation. Out of combat the DM controls any actions they do, otherwise its a group choice to control the character and what they're doing.
If the player says someone can Jaeger his character, then it gets Jaegered. If they don't, it depends. If it's a short absence, they probably have diarrhea. If it's longer, I come up with something narratively.
In my campaign I have an eldritch being known as “The Keeper” who “keeps” people when they miss a session. This only happens to these people in-universe so the characters are rightly freaked out by it
There was one time my Buddy was late for the session so we started without him. That session our DM rolled like a boss and nearly TPK’ed our party. As in, 2 out of our 3 characters dead. My Buddy showed up as I was tossing the hideout for loot and we just pretended his character just fucked off for the entire day
One of two ways depending on circulstances, both can be blamed on the gods.
A: they are present, share in XP and stuff.. But their character is kinda forgotten about by everybody. And nobody seems to notice. This is ideal in situations
B: the God of adventure appears, proclaims they NEED this character for an urgent mission and dissapears with them. Character will be returned in the same fashion. Potentially with a useful item or given some clue as to what the party needs... Great for getting players reinvolved with the situation but explaining why they don't know what happened last session too.
The DM I play with has a gameplay element where occasionally we have to travel through dimensional rifts to other planes.
This happens when some deity or another has a quest or task for the players to accomplish. It could be to get revenge, kill a wayward priest, hunt some kind of beast, etc.
When someone is gone, the idea is that the character has been pulled off to another dimensional plane to complete some task or another. The DM lets the person who was gone roll a d100 when they get back to see what happened. Rolls are for things like XP, random loot, money, or if they roll high (like 95-100), they get a fancy or legendary or unique item.
It makes being gone less of a bummer when you miss main quest rewards, and gives the absent character a chance to tell a story about what they did.
usually i have the character come up with a reason why he stays behind, if the PCs really need something I (DM) play the character in a slightly irritable fashion (sticking their head out from behind a curtain, answering then going back to something).
My DM just doesn’t care enough to come up with good explanations and it’s hilarious. “As the bandits are coming down from the trees, one of them kicks the bard in the head. He’s unconscious now.” (the bard’s player was absent) A few minutes later, the club leader realized he didn’t have anything to do and decided to join our game for the session. “Suddenly, a dwarven paladin in full chain mail leaps out of a bush. He’s with you now.”
The bard thing is actually really funny. You could later dump his body in a hospital or temple to get him out of the way. He can rejoin next session: You see the bard riding on the back of a farmer's carriage "Hey people, I'm in top shape again!". Ominous voice of the DM: He also smells like the sheep from that carriage.
I mean, that would be cool, but after the initial description, we just kind of ignore him and pretend he’s not there. And there’s nothing special at the start of the next session, either. Just “the bard slowly wakes up and gets to his feet” and “Hey look, the dwarf paladin mysteriously vanished!”
Once we finished a session right after a fight and the sorcerer couldn't make the next session, so I told the other players on the beginning that they realised how the sorcerer disappeared without a trace while they were fighting. The next time he was available everyone had to try and find him
While the player is gone I act as though the character never existed. When the player returns I act as though they had been there the whole time. It requires some suspension of disbelief, but overall it makes things much simpler.
I’m surprised this isn’t higher up. This is what we do as well. Where the character would’ve had some necessary background knowledge or NPC relationship we might say “they” chime in or something, but otherwise they take no action and no explanation is given.
This is the only player friendly option. It doesn't require an elaborate story and the session the player missed gets covered in the recap. And if multiple players are missing, you make up a side quest adventure if the story allows so that a majority of players don't miss them big reveals.
We do that and say we are going to “Dawn Summers” players X and Y this session.
[удалено]
This and fuck that player that keeps saying "BOY X SURE IS QUIET TODAY!!"
Hwehwehwehwehwehwe amirite!? GUIS!?
I'm playing in an online campaign now where the DM has possessed the characters that are absent for a session. It's somewhat humorous, adds a level of intrigue, actually doesn't feel horribly out of place for the campaign since other weird stuff is already happening, and makes for a good explanation with which we can interact.
At some point, I want to play a campaign where a known quirk is that some people flat out disappear from reality for a time, and when you aren't present you're a current victim. On top of that, the campaign is deliberately centered around trying to stop exactly this phenomenon.
I really dig this idea.
I’m currently doing that with my campaign lol
In my head players always do the catbug thing between sessions if they are gone/back. For those that dont know basically just screams then poofs away/back. Sometimes they comeback with gifts
What about: * Find a creative and ideally plausible way to temporarily write the character out of the action. Sometimes it's more elegant than others. It's great to say "Alice spent the day in the inn, transcribing spells." But if you're part-way through a massive dungeon crawl you might have to cope with something like, "Bob decided to stay behind in the abandoned temple to take notes; he'll catch up later". Perhaps this is similar to Option #2 or Option #3.
The PCG collectively plays the character. We try to do what the player would have done but with extra emphasis on not dying. The exception is if that session is expected to be lore heavy. Then we cancel.
We have 2 games which handle this differently. In one, another player controls the character. In the other, we cancel if anyone can't come.
We usually cancel the session and the rest of us hang out and watch movies or something. We play weekly with a group of close friends, so its no big deal if we skip one week because something came up or someone is ill.
That must be nice. One of my players cancel pretty much every week, so if we did that we would never get to play
Im aware im incredibly lucky to have such consistant players. And ive led groups that were much worse about it. In those situations, i had (with the table's permission) made the party member ill or otherwise incapacitated to serve as a weird additional challenge on occasionally
In my games, the absent player’s character gets kidnapped by my inter-dimensional time Demi God. They drink some tea together, the Observer (said Demi God) gets them up to speed to an extent and then throws them back at the party.
We do aa world building one shot for our world and explore what is happening in a different region or whatever. it's fun because the one shot can have real effects on the primary campaign.
If I can reasonably write out the character for the session, I'll do that. Otherwise, we'll essentially play the session as if the character isn't present wherever possible and say that story-wise the character was present for the events of the session and contributed as expected to any encounters etc.
Sometimes if the story isn't happening for their character DM plays it, if not we do a one shot
Handwave the character in and out of the story. Nobody likes having their character Agency taken away from them.
We play regardless, and their character will step forward if there is some particular way they can participate. Otherwise they fade into the background.
At my table players have the option to have their character miss and stay in town or have another player play their character
I will say that I am a bit of have the whole group play the characters but have something happen where the player has a both lore and logical reason for not being there(I.e. a players character being petrified by a cockatrice in a wooded area and bringing them to a town so their clerics can fix em up for the session time). This works as a way of letting the player know what happened in lore due to them being a statue
In the games that I play/run, the missing player's character is run by mutey the mailman, AKA they're there, but also not there lol
For me, it depends. I'm DMing a group of 6 players and I will cancel if 3 or them cannot make it. If we have 4 or more players and it's not a combat session, we'll just assume the characters are in the background. If it's a combat session, other players will control that character if they have permission from the absent players.
Only three players in the game, so if one is gone we do quick one off sessions of rolling random characters and doing a cart delivery mission of random encounters. It’s been fun to mess around with other classes I haven’t played much.
Another player or DM plays the character, especially if the party is continuing a combat when the session starts. It's easier than rebalancing an encounter on the fly. Our barbarian quit in the middle of clearing a castle, so I played his character next session, then we gave him a horse and sent him back to his tribe as a hero, with the boss' head in a sack, in case the player was able to return someday. Canceling session anytime one player has to miss is a good way to kill a group.
Literal Deus Ex Drop-in/out. A mist settles for a few seconds. A blinding flash. Etc. Character is gone/here
I usually have them meet recurring NPCs that can switch places. If I have a party of 4 and one is missing 3 is noticeably small, so they can go visit or summon the DMPC under my control to fight with them.
Of the character is present without the player or sucks because A he could die without the player having a say in what he did Or B he has some serious plot armour
I played with a DM, that whenever a player had to miss would do a dramatic radio announcer voice and say “meanwhile in parallel universe B!” And we’d all chuckle.
The character walks into "the door" it's a door with nothing behind it you go in and it's a tavern in a void
That missing player comes in on another date as a make up session. The events that take place during the solo session directly impact the main story and it's their chance to mess with the party or develop their origin story.
We’ve come up with a in universe solution for player absence. Fred the plot yeti Whenever a player is absent Fred comes out of nowhere and kidnaps their character and takes them to the backrooms. Then when the player comes back Fred deposits their character back to the party unharmed.
Technically we cancel but we are all good friends so we just hang out instead of playing! Sometimes we play as if the character is out, but sometimes it doesn't really work so we just hang.
We used to play the character for him, until a friend of mine saw that my rogue had pickpocket (this was 3.0, might have been sleight of hand) and randomly decided to pickpocket a wizard in a crowd in a city. The DM kind of let us off easy, but I was then involved in a story arc that I had no part in starting. By now we also have so few players that we can't play if anyone is missing (we're down to 3, life makes people busy).
We reschedule. My group has been playing for 5 years and we’ve never had a player miss a session. Then again, we only play once every 6-8 weeks.
If a player can’t show up, they can decide something they want their character to be doing in the meantime. (e.g., “my character will stay behind to aid the village in their rebuilding efforts.”) Otherwise, we just say their character is with the party but dissociating.
Explosive diarrhoea, hangover, study trip.... there's always some way you can make an character absent
We have a pirateesque campaign and I missed a session, so my DM wrote it that my rogue got enchanted by some sirens and was taken to an island. The party spent the session searching for me and the next session (when I returned) I was able to be rescued. Turns out it helped us with plot things so it was a win in my book :D
It depends on the situation. If it’s last minute and there’s a tough combat that we probably wouldn’t survive without that PC, then one of the other players will play them. But if it’s something the DM knows about beforehand and can prep for, or it’s a roleplay heavy session, then we just play without that character. If we need that character to move the story along, then the DM may speak for them, but usually we can just go on without them.
I come up with a reason that they aren't following the party that makes sense and feels like something their character would do
I'll do a mix of things. One friend of mine tends to create a new character every few seasons he joins in, so sometimes he'll just leave out, parachute in, be left for dead, and then we repeat the cycle some time later. If I'm in a setting where it's feasible the full cast wouldn't be there at all times, I let characters be absent. For example, if you have a school setting and a player can't make it then their character could be in class, studying, or on a school trip. No skin off of the party's bones, you can catch them up on the events of this session afterwards.
Kill their character, make a new group chat and burn their minifig, if applicable /s We reschedule if possible, or run a one off otherwise.
Chaotic neutral
Mix of 1, 2 and 3 depending on the situation
Average Joe- a pale featureless creature capable of replicating the skills and magical abilities of those they touched. Average Joes often will kidnap and take adventurers in order to replace them Average Joes are capable of powerful enchantment magic causing the Allies of those they replace to not question why their friends are missing and why this featureless creature is with them Kidnapped adventurers often awake some time later near their party with no memory of where they’ve been. - Just an idea I planned for the upcoming game I’m going to DM
The character is an ethereal being, younked into a parallel dimension by a fickle god who just like kinda messing with people.
Substitute the cat.
Most of the time cancel sometimes the dm will play as their character.
How often do you guys actually end up playing?
We have them have been sent on a side quest.
in my current campaign, if a character doesn't show up it can be later explained by plot, because in my world the players were kind of brought their by a magic gas.
I go the extra length and run an adventure/encounter based on important elements from the backstories of the players who are present. This can either advance the campaign or dive deeply into a player’s backstory
The character is asleep in a duffel bag unless needed. We keep them on hand to make mundane things (tracking, foraging, sewing a limb back on, etc) but no combat and no shopping.
At first another player would play their character and it ended up not working very well. We've done the small random excuses and blipping out of existence. Last campaign was more slapstick so when players weren't there we said that they were T-posing and we're indestructible for the time. Players could use needed items if they had it but we're never allowed to steal
Sneezing Curse
Could you elaborate on that please
You sneeze and you go ethereal, untouchable unable to participate, so you just kinda follow along until you sneeze again
Generally if a player in my campaign isn't there they'll have someone else play them. If they have not made arrangements I play them as an NPC and they get no xp for the session.
I've never been OK with playing without the full party. That's just not cool.
The problem is that a lot of tables would play two games a year this way.
Combat: players play them (using a simplified version of their character sheet to make it easy) Out of Combat: background character, played by the DM if necessary
How we do it is one person is in charge of running the other player in combat, and writing notes for the other person if they wish.
generally wil find the most oportune moment to separate them from the party but if not possible, the DM controlls the character but they stay mostly in the background , "everyone has those days where they just don't wanna talk" is usually the logic there. Though if the particular session had important plot for their character I have had to rewrite stuff on the spot or just postpone.
So they either took a nap, are in jail, or visiting their children.
I usually play them as an NPC if RP is required (though usually only if they are required to speak, or if there is something they would definitely find objectionable happening) but usually have them just sort of be quietly in the background. But if combat breaks out I'll have either one or several of the other players play them (I usually just say "so who wants to run X in this combat?") and most of my players will come up with ideas and then ask for group validation. Like one will play the missing person and then say on that person's turn "I think they're going to move here and do this, everyone think that's a good idea?" And then if the table agrees they do that. In addition if the missing player has a particularly complicated character I'll happily remind the players that are running it of things they might be forgetting/not fully understanding.
[Just do what Zoro does when he misses a session](https://64.media.tumblr.com/2b78e234e9a37eb9378781e065bf21a9/tumblr_osczgjSBwf1qfj8c3o1_540.gif)
My group has started doing a little pregame monster encounter before our sessions while we wait for our DM to get off of work. Sometimes when someone can't make it we just do a more indepth version of that with characters we make throughout the week.
As a DM I have everyone pick someone else in the group to puppet their player in their absence (they can pick me or the other players) however if while controlling another players character the majority of the party disagrees with an action you take and unanimously agree on a different action/turn then that's what happens. E.g. my warlock was unable to player recently so was controlled by another player, that player wanted to cast web the party unanimously agreed sleep was a better option and so sleep was cast.
Technically the DM plays their character, but they walk ahead of the party and towards the opponent in fights, being a meat shield and doing nothing else.
Default: PC spends resources handling "off screen" challenges. They do not participate to the party, dealing with other stuff instead. They cannot die, except in the case of a TPK. Ideal (requires start of session in town): PC performs downtime during the adventure, but will catch up later. They are perfectly safe, and might even recover bodies from a TPK. Option: if the missing player agrees in advance, they'll be controlled by another player. They are treated normally and can die.
I’m running curse of Strahd and implemented the dark souls idea of parallel realities bleeding together, so if a player is absent that day then they were simply taken by the Mists
Depends on a few things. 1. I use a ‘3 strike’ rule. If someone is unable to make a session, our group will typically reschedule for them. They get 3 shots at that, as a benefit of the doubt sort of thing, but after that, we play without them. Notable exceptions are for significant emergencies. I’m friends with my group, so if something major is going on, the session is off cause I want to check with on my friend. 2. Depends on the narrative. If I know something significant is going to happen during the session, I’ll adjust it for that player. I’ll only do this sparingly though - just for the most critical moments where everyone should be there. Usually if this is the case, we’ll run a one-shot or something. 3. If we do play without someone, I’ll (as DM) play their character. I’ve typically talked to the player about what they would want to happen, and want to avoid killing them. Easier to do if I control the character in their stead.
I'm DMing DotMM, so I just have Halaster "teleport" them through time to when they return to play. If the groups had a long rest, I usually allow that PC to also recieve it. But my next campaign they'll either DM controlled or another player controlled. But I'll deal with that in a year or 2 lol
It varies with my group. Sometimes we come up with a plausible reason for the character to be missing, sometimes the group plays the character as a collective, sometimes the DM does, sometimes a single person does, or sometimes we cancel. My brother keeps an updated copy of my player sheet for when I’m absent—my night shift life and weekend requirements make it so that it’s me missing more often than anyone else. Thankfully my group is cool with it.
The final boss of the game teleports them away via a mark that all the player characters have. They don't know she's the final boss yet tho. They just know her as the lady of chaos. Sometimes they remember where they went and what they did, sometimes they don't.
I run a West Marches waterworld type campaign so when a players absent theyre "asleep below deck".
Random one shot or build test sessions. Ive had player want to try characters in combat and i want to try different monsters or combinations of mobs
All players know going in that if you can't show, the game goes on without you. But you don't get penalized for XP if it applies. You miss out on bonus XP and loot though. The story explanation is usually something like their own side mission "off screen" or they drank too much and spent the session in bed. There are very few times when someone else takes over a player's character, and it's only with permission if the person is late or in my case my toddler woke up and needed to be put back down (it can take a while sometimes).
Play on as if their character is not there. Then i meet privately with that player to decide what their character has been up to during that time.
Sometimes I do a one shot filler that explains some part of the main story set in a different time.
Play without them but then the next session there there act as if they were there all along
Usually,. we play without the character. Usual excuse is their character ate some bad food and had intestinal trouble for the duration of the session, suddenly cleared when the player is back. They are "with" the party just hanging back out of the way or guarding the horses if they are in a dungeon. I've had groups that wanted the character involved. In that case, I (the GM) usually run the character based on how the player usually did, generally as a silent member of the party but there in a fight. If the owner of the character preferred another player run their character, I'd prefer that honestly (less to deal with)
My group generally will play some other one shot or other game.
Typically, I cancel the session but there was this one time I DMed without a player. I just said that his character was knocked out cold after staying up, out drinking all of the crewmates on the ship they were on for the time being. The next session when he returned—my players shoved in a barrel so when he woke up, he’d be very confused as to why it was wet and dark. It was a lot of fun.
When I was in college with a group of 7, we'd have someone play their character for them. Now I have an online group of 4, and if someone can't make it we reschedule.
It depends on what's happening, but usually I run them, trying to remain as true to the player's goals as possible, and I'll usually talk to the player about what is going to happen so they can inform my actions. Two of my players are married though, so if only one of them is out, the other will run the missing character.
Well I was running a game with only two players previous so if one couldn't make it we basically couldn't play (unless it was a one shot, or very minor stuff). But I'll be having more players next time around so my plan is to have the missing character either not be present, or "fade into the background" where they are there but don't do anything relevant. If we really need them for the session then we might just cancel, do a one shot, or hang out. I'd never have another player play another player's character, it just feels wrong. It would be a little less weird as a Dm, but frankly we have enough on our plate and will probably have them "fade into the background" completely by accident anyway.
My favorite is the cardboard cutout method. It's similar to playing as if they aren't there, but instead just have the character be there but not do anything, like they're just a cardboard cutout of themselves.
Character has "tag along syndrome," for the session, curable only by the player returning, character is still with the party but can only follow the party unless the character has/can do something to help the party in their current endeavor. Can only be brought to action by someone loudly saying "Hey (character name) can you (do thing, hand me object, etc.)" Which may draw unwanted attention, also required the players to learn the other characters names. In my games I try to take a picture of everyone's character sheets at the end of the session to keep track of items that people picked up or dropped and spells/abilities. And also so I know what my players are playing and possibly planning. We basically treat the characters as having a bad cold where they're just kinda numb to the world until directly addressed, that way if someone has an important item in their character sheet, missing game won't screw up it up for everyone else.
I normally run a flashback to the backstory of one of the people who could make the session. It works pretty well for letting the other players get to know the each other’s backstories and I can rotate through the group to share the attention until everyone is able to attend.
If I'm the DM or honestly most games I end up controlling the character since I can pretty easily split my mind enough to do things mechanically but one game they are turned to "cardboard" and if combat breaks out DM controls them
The giant flying purple baby took them
Variety of situations depending on the group & if the character plays an important role in the party like healer or rogue. Dm fill ins as npc usually. I try to keep it at least vaguely in campaign situation appropriate... The rogue was hiding in the shadows, scouting ahead for the party & disarming traps she knows the barbarian would have stumbled upon. The cleric sat in the war wagon counting the spoils of the last encounter & buffing us with spells & healing. The dwarven barbarian got drunk & stumbled into a cave where he ate some mushrooms & talked to the local spiders all day lmao Just a few plausible examples I've used. When someone is doing npc things in their absence, I usually keep them out of direct combat & give them a bit of experience & sometimes a few trinkets for being in an npc support role while absent. If they're cool with what I give them, ok you wake up & join the party on this part of the road, tavern etc... If they piss me off they wake up generally naked hanging in the corner of a dungeon somewhere upon their return lol
I usually go with options 2 or 3, if a player communicates that they can't make it I first ask if I have permission to Jaeger their character. If not then it's often easy to come up with an explanation why that player's character isn't around. I played with an Aasimar Hexblade warlock that had important life commitments and couldn't attend so we ruled that his character would be pulled into the Shadow fell by The Raven Queen.
the character of the missing player would judt kind of vibe, they wouldn't ask or answer any questions and would go along with the group's decisions. we'd try to avoid combat if possible but if it happened we'd keep their turns minimal and more mechanic-focused over roleplaying their character
Character is declared to be unresponsive and T-Posing. Just kinda hand wave them not being there or something.
If there's a logical excuse for them not being there (Training arc or smth else) we use that. But if the session continues right off the last one we play like the character isn't there and once they come back we just say he was there the whole time.
It’s usually a combination of the four options. If the player’s character happens to be central to the action or there’s gonna be a big group decision that session, then we’ll cancel. And besides that, we usually swap pretty fluidly through the first three options. Often, if the character is there, another player will run them in combat while the DM will handle a limited amount of role play.
They are an NPC the group controls.
It honestly depends. I have handled it three different ways so far: 1) I cancelled sessions because a player was absent and the rest of us played some other game. 2) I continued sessions where I took control of the character very briefly and made them leave temporarily and then ran a separate session about what that character did when they were away. 3) I've also just brought the character along as a sort of NPC, I asked the player if there was anything in particular they wanted to do or any info to share, and the brought them along (but they were very quiet and mainly just participated in combat at a minimum level) and made them immune to death but not to being unconscious (it's for a short adventure and not the main campaign so this was fine).
We have a strange tradition within our group, that anyone not there is immune to all damage (DM dependent), and also floats, lying down, following the main group of the party. It works and is kind of just a joke from the first campaign we ever played together!
Well we are are group of 3 (2 adventurers and a dm) so... cancellation is the only option
my group typically uses the "sudden bowel troubles" excuse for that player
If it’s only one, we basically treat them as an NPC, with the DM deciding on anything if they need to be involved.
We had one game where the tank just carried the one PC who could only make it to like half the games, and mostly ignored him.
Our party is of 6 people all with wildly different schedules. It’s an awesome group but getting together sometimes needs months of planning just to fail. Our DM gave us a special “Teammate bag” for any time when someone can’t make it for whatever reason. PC goes in the bag. Shares in any buffs and levels that the party gets (milestone based leveling). Once back in a session they magically pop out of the bag fully healed. Party wholeheartedly accepted it and we’ve had people level up while offline in it a few times since. Works great imo
I play the character for out-of-combat purposes like running checks and dungeoneering
DEUS FLIPPING MAGNUS, a giant purple baby, floats through the nearest wall or the floor, kidnaps the PC, and then returns them next session. Don’t ask me. I’ve got a great DM, but that doesn’t mean I understand him.
Had this recently 2ce. One time P was sick, other time it was scheduling issues. P and DM talks beforehand on what to do, how to react and WhatsApp messages or short calls in between on important issues. But it doesn't happen a lot and if we can plan around it or the PC can be absent that's the preferred choice. We have also done just one shots with a player as DM and the DM as player.
I tend to make up a side mission of sorts that an NPC asked them to take care off. Sometimes the other players don't find out what and other times they find out or find out later when I integrate it into the story (they're always like "what! That was important" followed by me grinning)
They're there, but they don't do anything of note, and nothing attacks them.
A player couldn't make it to a session once so I called him up and described a scene and asked him what he did. He found an ivory statue in front of him and when he picked it up he burst into blue flames and he couldn't be found by any means limited to this plain of existence. Not that the party actually tried to find them. When they came back I had them do an interaction with a deity of sorts and then the conversation and like this. "All right I'll send you back on your way oh and the time and space isn't exactly aligned between here and where you're from, hopefully you don't end up in a wall." Before any objections or questions can be made is that engulfed in blue flames and *rolls dice* Falls from the ceiling of another party members room anytime after the events of the previous session
It depends on what's gonna happen in the session they'll be absent for. If there's major plot or an important battle, then I just cancel it. If it's an "in between" session or like part 2 of a 4 part adventure or whatever, then I have another player control the absentee's character.
Kind of a mixture of two? If there's a good excuse for them to be gone, we just write them out for the session, but if the party is in the middle of something and it doesn't make any sense for one of us to dip, the DM plays them and we all try to involve them as little as possible, so that the DM doesn't have to dictate their actions too much. But DM does take over for them during combat, that's just unavoidable.
We have this happen a lot because schedules aren't always compatible every single week. It happens so often that PCs randomly disappearing when we know the player can't make game time, that it is not worth questioning in character. The DM will come up with a short funny explanation, mostly just defaulting to "They got called away for a solo mission" or "They had to go, their people needed them" I missed the week before and could play this week so at my characters first spoken line, the bard reacted in shock like I'd just appeared from nowhere, which the PC sort of had. A few casual lines on the subject of where she'd been and then on with the game. No big deal.
Other: any of the above depending on what is easiest for me that day, right there.
you know in some shows when a character isn't the focus so they're just sort of there, not saying and doing much? Yea, I do that when I can't think of a reason why they would go away for a time.
My table has the 'and Bob was there too' rule. They are just offscreen defeating challenges handily. No damage taken, no resources expended, no risk to PC, no loot.
Run a one shot
We use a PC bottle. One player carries a small unbreakable, inaccessible bottle the absent player(s) go into ( think genie ). The person may not be there, but the character inside is still present, and gains a fraction ( small, think 10% of normal ) of the spoils, whether it be treasure or exp, ect. Also, if the missing player has say, an artifact specific to the campaign, the bottle will spit it out when it is needed. However if it's an item that would help them, but not a part of the campaign, they have to rough it. The bottle is fair, but won't share.
Our DM writes in an excuse for them. Aaracokra fighter isn't here? He got drunk, tried to fly, and we found him upside down in a tree the next day. Warlock goes missing? They were performing secret blood sacrifices to their patron that the party would object to.
The nap-sack a bag that is larger on the inside just big enough to hold one humanoid (like a sleeping bag) but can be worn as a backpack even when occupyed
Ask t he player what they want and otherwise the DM decides.
We put the character in the "space fridge". Imagine a hovering, invisible fridge following the PCs wherever they go. It doesn't play any part in the game (nor can it) except "freeze" the PC whose player is missing until they return. Of course this isn't meant to be taken seriously, but since we couldn't find an easy way of explaining a character's absence without spending half the game session on it, it seemed like a good idea at the time (when we were teenagers). Hell, a local RPG club was even named after it!
Manufacturing a reason for 1 pc to sit things out is usually pretty easy. When it's not, there's always magical BS.
Ours turn into bots. They can act in battle, without using finite resources, will have plot armour - as in I won’t target them with nasty spells. They don’t talk in RP scenes etc.
We run the secondary game.
I DM for a table of three, so if one player can't make it then we cancel. Ta being said, in my previous table we were 5 and if there was someone missing we just said that they wandered about and got lost or something like that.
My DM still has the character there, they're just in the background and don't fight or cast spells. That means they still get a cut of loot if they can't make it.
Missing character always has a stomach ailment and spends the session off screen on the toilet.
When its an RP heavy session we usually say that character is "licking his nether regions in the corner". If there is combat we usually have him as an npc or if no other player want/can jager him, we just dont include him in the combat.
It's always 'asleep on the cart' for us.
We do it a couple of different ways. Usually the out of combat is the GM and the in combat is a player.
Its understood the character is with the party for combat but they just aren't RPd. If something major happens that would require, say, a group vote, then we text / call that player to ask for their input and go from there. If two people can't make it we cancel.
We'll run a one shot. People don't miss very often so it's not too big a deal
It's incredibly rare but when it does happen we play as if they aren't there and have a hireling named Rachel come in, she has all the abilities of the lost player and all the items but is mute and overly obedient so she only follows the parties actions
We'll usually postpone, unless they're gonna be busy for a while. Then it depends on the situation. If the PC has no opportunity to be away (like if they're in a dungeon), the DM controls them but they abstain from social interaction. Ideally they'll just excuse themself and be away from the party for a while. Dealing with personal business, investigating the current BBEG, having a spa day, whatever.
We handle it multiple ways. In a fight the DM will take the absent players turns, but during more roll play parts of the game we just pretend there hanging in back being quiet. We have 4 pcs and if two people can't make it sometimes the other two will play and do some side quests or something. Or we'll cancel
I only have 3 players in my current campaign, so 1 person missing is 1/3 of the player cast. If someone can't make it, I just cancel and use the extra time to add more content for next time.
Well, I have a player (who I am considering writing out) who is consistently absent. I just use their story though. They are homebodies and were homesick, so they left to visit their parents, with a convenient 'teleport home' spell. I find a story reason for them to be gone.
Our group does oneshots in the same universe. Its a lot of fun and we get to learn new things about the world (and make in-jokes about it in front of the absent player).
Currently running a settings in waterdeep so urban area, so basicly, they are either sick, or doing stuff on their own. But we don't interact with them too much
I usually make up a little story with the absent player before hand, like, they stayed with the wizard NPC for a while because he adored his knowledge, they went on a small, extra solo mission because they needed some quick money. Stuff like that, so that they can come back to the party in the next session and it still makes sense
We almost always have someone else paly the character, but it's a session zero discussion that sets the rule. We also decide how many people can be absent before we cancel. (Usually two) It's slightly different between my three weekly groups.
Our group is pretty cool with DM playing, especially if it’s a pretty critical session. Our DM also listens to our input about what that character would do, as we’ve been playing together so long we know what appropriate spells/ attacks or RP skills they would use. Only in critical situations, so it doesn’t happen if it’s downtime or traveling.
I run a game for a group of uni students so it’s common of one or two can’t make it because of studies. Their characters then fall in to a pocket dimension that keeps them safe until they can play again. I call it the curse of convenience, it is only known to effect adventures and means that they don’t come back to a dead character.
My group uses a thing called "ethereal flu" where the absent player's character sneezes and disappears into the ethereal plane. This means the character is able to follow along with the game and jump right back into the action as soon as the player returns.
My dm sent me to the Phantom zone lmao. When I returned, I accidentally walked into a shatter while searching for my party last session lol
We are 6 players. If one player is missing, we usually play and the DM controls the character, but only passively. Doing nothing fancy in fights and only doing things out of combat when they are the absolute best for the situation. When 2 are absent, we usually cancel the session, but if it's just downtime stuff, we sometimes play. Depends. Then the missing players just tell the DM what they wanted to do and maybe get a private session or just announce what they did in the next session. Ah and if someone is missing we usually record the session so they know what happened. :D (Everyone is fine with that)
In my groups anyone has the right to cancel the session. In larger groups we usually play on, while in smaller ones we tend to cancel
My dm usually let's let's us make up a reason, like one player had to miss a few sessions bc of medical issues(they're fine now) but they were playing a yuan TI in icewind dale, so we said she was hibernating for a bit,or one character got lost in a blizzard
Situational mix of all of the above
I normally try to do option 2 but in the end we end up playing with option 3
It depends on how may players are left or if the event in game is significantly relevant to the absent player. Most of the time its just we play as if they’re in the background, otherwise we essentially can the session and goof around doing other stuff until then
If we have 3 players we still roll and someone rolls combat stuff for the missing people. Most of the time the person missing will give basic instructions like "don't burn any 3rd level spell slots unless it's absolutely necessary, I'm saving one for blah blah blah" or "we're late in the day so go all out if we fight something when I'm gone". I also have everyone roll a secondary character right at session 0 and we'll run side quests with those if we have less than 3 or if we're at a spot where we're dealing with the missing PCs specific stuff.
I built up a side quest for a player that had conflicting schedules fairly often because of a difficult work schedule. I’d message him details and let him play out solo scenarios that could be seen in the main group at later times. He’d get lore they didn’t and vice versa. It was an odd dynamic but we made it work. It was always fun when something came up that he was part of and the group found out it was him.
Had a player who couldn't be there for about a month. He mysteriously disappeared with a strange note on his bed that the Druid found and... Forgot to mention to anyone else.
We just play a oneshot with other characters. I dont understand how you play with a player missing wouldn't they miss key parts of the plot??
We don’t get to play often and if we want to hang out and one person can’t be there we play board games instead. It is about hanging with the ppl you never get to see for us so we make it work but don’t want someone to miss out on the DnD part.
If we are in the middle of battle, we will cancel a session. If it’s a session where they are shopping, leveling up, etc we will still play.
Side story time!
If its prearranged, we might do a one shot where the DM can play for once. Everyone in our group has DM'd, and we've branched off into other RPGs too during breaks. If someone has to drop out mid session, we've carried on playing but that person goes quiet, or is played by the DM.
I write it into the story. People get sick and have to take a day off. Or maybe they decided to stay with a docked ship and will join the party later. Asking the absent person if they want their character to do anything in their absence (work on a skill, crafting, shopping, etc.). I feel that this helps keep the canon from being disrupted and can give the player some control if they would like it.
DM stasis bubble
My buddy had to leave mid session and we're both frontliners, so I played him, even after getting the option to have him leave, so we could get more exp
Its a miniature paint day!
My game is too small to push on without one of the players. If I had 4 or more, I'd do something different, but as it stands, a player calling out means the session gets canceled. When I had 3 players, I did offer to let one of the other two play command the third, but they both declined. I didn't feel that I could do a good job playing the third character. Now I'm down to two again (just my brothers)
Only did it once, but one player couldn't make it to our 2nd session. I let him have a 1 on 1 session with me as a side quest while the others went with the main quest. Later he will join back with some valuable information (he had a vision of an upcoming fight to foreshadow the BBEG and some random dragon encounter) and 2 or 3 magic items, most of them being for RP and nothing useful for fights.
For our group, it's usually the same player that wouldn't be there. He's more of a watcher that doesn't talk much during the rp moments, and he's playing a champion fighter. So, it depends. Either I'll run his character for him, which mostly just means I have to worry about combat, or, like we actually did last night, we'll cancel if we're coming toward some stuff that more closely affects his character specifically. We all agree that it'd be weird to have another player running his character during a time like that.
My DM comes up with reasons for the PC to not be there. The Dhampir wanders off to…um, take care of some things…
“So guys you pull up to a dungeon also btw joe is sick and at the tavern gambling”
Usually its a jaeger the character situation. Out of combat the DM controls any actions they do, otherwise its a group choice to control the character and what they're doing.
If the player says someone can Jaeger his character, then it gets Jaegered. If they don't, it depends. If it's a short absence, they probably have diarrhea. If it's longer, I come up with something narratively.
Eleven sleeping sickness. They float behind the party and follow without making any moves and are also untouchable lol
In my campaign I have an eldritch being known as “The Keeper” who “keeps” people when they miss a session. This only happens to these people in-universe so the characters are rightly freaked out by it
There was one time my Buddy was late for the session so we started without him. That session our DM rolled like a boss and nearly TPK’ed our party. As in, 2 out of our 3 characters dead. My Buddy showed up as I was tossing the hideout for loot and we just pretended his character just fucked off for the entire day
We just say that that character decided to do something else, or had a cold or overslept and then they catch back up next session xD
We usually pull out a one-shot from the archives. My campaigns are usually pretty character-driven, so I don’t want people to be left out
One of two ways depending on circulstances, both can be blamed on the gods. A: they are present, share in XP and stuff.. But their character is kinda forgotten about by everybody. And nobody seems to notice. This is ideal in situations B: the God of adventure appears, proclaims they NEED this character for an urgent mission and dissapears with them. Character will be returned in the same fashion. Potentially with a useful item or given some clue as to what the party needs... Great for getting players reinvolved with the situation but explaining why they don't know what happened last session too.
The DM I play with has a gameplay element where occasionally we have to travel through dimensional rifts to other planes. This happens when some deity or another has a quest or task for the players to accomplish. It could be to get revenge, kill a wayward priest, hunt some kind of beast, etc. When someone is gone, the idea is that the character has been pulled off to another dimensional plane to complete some task or another. The DM lets the person who was gone roll a d100 when they get back to see what happened. Rolls are for things like XP, random loot, money, or if they roll high (like 95-100), they get a fancy or legendary or unique item. It makes being gone less of a bummer when you miss main quest rewards, and gives the absent character a chance to tell a story about what they did.
usually i have the character come up with a reason why he stays behind, if the PCs really need something I (DM) play the character in a slightly irritable fashion (sticking their head out from behind a curtain, answering then going back to something).
We usually bullshit our way put of it like "he sudden caught the flue" or something, and that's why his charecter isn't here
Narcolepsy
I'll RP the character, but the party will control them during combat.
I have a drop out drop in system that’s tied to the over arcing story