Missing players and other players running their PCs

If we're in or going into combat, I NPC the MIA player's PC so the party isn't at a disadvantage. But, outside of combat we just play as if they missing PC is being really, really quiet.

I'd have to be down more than half the group to cancel a session because I understand that the players who are ready to game really want to game.

I can say that I've never seen a player take over another player's character in their absence. We generally just fade out that character and they rejoin when they show up.

As far as what the threshold is for absent players and cancelling a session, I think it depends a bit on the system. Some games handle fewer players better than others. In the case of D&D, I generally find that the magic number is three - anything under that and the game doesn't have the same magic, certain encounters don't scale down as well.

I tend to run small (2-3 player) groups, so if someone can't make it we just don't play.

Back when I was in high school I stood in for a friend, playting his PC in a Ravenloft game when he couldn't make it. Over the course of that session I lost his war elephant but gained him a vampire follower; he did not see that as an upgrade and I was not asked to sit in for anybody again.

aco175 said:

I was going to post in another thread about groups size, but think this is its own thread. If a player cannot show up to play the game, do other players use their character? How do you do this? Does the DM keep the character sheets or a copy and the players get them back if/when they show up?

Click to expand...

I run for groups of size 4-5, and will run if one player is missing, but not two.

I use a variation of the "fade into the background" technique:

• If it makes sense for the character not to be there, they are not with the group and off doing something else. In my Pendragon game, this is pretty much the norm as it's very reasonable for a knight simply to be off doing other things
• If it doesn't make sense, the character is unwell, distracted or has some other vague in-game reason for not participating much (our scholar in The One Ring had the 'flu as the party traveled through the Straight Road in Moria two sessions ago)
• If there's a particular ability the character has that is central to their character, the players can call on me to have that character use it. I don't need a character sheet as it's a well-known ability they have. So the Scholar with 'flu did sniffle their way through a couple of important Lore checks.
• Sometimes I decrease combat difficulties, but not always. I generally will if the fight was already going to be tough.
• They don't take any injuries or conditions unless the entire party does.
• Non-present characters get the same XP as present characters, but they miss out on special loot. For general treasure the players usually just give them a share (it's their choice ...), but if there's a wondrous weapon in a treasure horde in Moria, or a treasure bundle in a 4E game, they don't get it.

I run for 6 people and a quorum I'm willing to run with is 3-4. So we don't really have a problem if a couple have to miss. Their PCs generally just fade to the background unless they have a power/ability/skill that the rest of the group needs to depend on for a particular task. Then they accomplish that task and fade to the background again.

aco175 said:

If a player cannot show up to play the game, do other players use their character? How do you do this? Does the DM keep the character sheets or a copy and the players get them back if/when they show up?

Click to expand...

The PC fades into the background until the player can return. Too many instances of using the missing player's PC as a mine sweeper or the PC suddenly developing a need to give all their stuff to the other PCs for unknown and mysterious reasons. If that PC is somehow integral to the story, then we delay that story until their return, i.e. it's time for a side quest.

It really depends on how we left things.

These days we are more likely to reschedule if someone can't make it, but if rescheduling in a timely manner becomes an issue because one or more other folks who could make the scheduled game have other plans that can't be worked around, we don't think it is fair to push further back or for someone else to potentially miss it, and play anyway.

What happens to the missing player's character - as I mentioned above - depends on where we left the game. If, for example, the party is in town, then the PC might be sleeping off a hangover, suffering from "bog flu," or out doing research for a broader campaign plot (and when they return I try to give them some event or info nugget to bring back to the others).

If we were in the middle of an adventure far from civilization or in the middle of a fight, I usually run the PC in a kind of minimal way, and have a designated player do the rolling and keep with that approach until there is a reasonable narrative opportunity for the character to split off temporarily. But while they are present, they are present - cast spells, fight, defend others, and generally act in a way that we all agree fits with the character's approach to things.

When we were gathering for the beginning of the conclusion of our Ghosts of Saltmarsh+ campaign, the druid's player did not show up and we soon discovered that an unintentional double-booking meant he was out of town not even realizing he was missing D&D until that very moment, I just ruled that he was sleeping off celebratory night with the locals - "we're probably going off to our death tomorrow!" - wildshaped into a rat-form in the hood of one of the other PCs. This way, when he did return the next session, he could just wake up and be as deep in the sahuagin lair as anyone else - but I could also use his character as a kind of potential deus ex machina, if need be.

I personally would never be satisfied either as a player or a DM with a character being present but not actually being "present" in a narrative way that makes some kind of sense. Does this mean that a PC could die when their player is not present? I guess so, yes. Though this only happened once (back in 1993 or '94) and in that case, hers was one of 3 PCs who died, and she ended up making a replacement character she'd play for years longer and ended up liking more than the dead one anyway - so it worked out without hard feelings - and I would make the risk clear.

I guess game expectations also matter. If you are playing a grindier game like Shadowdark or DCC, a dead PC is no big deal. Or a high level game with access to resurrection magic, same deal.

We do try our best to work around a potential absence - for example, we've had players Zoom into the session from home - when they were feeling up to playing but were still potentially contagious for example.

We might also completely call a game if the reason for a person missing is so serious that playing just feels wrong. It really depends on vibe.

We just have the missing pc fade into the background. Maybe they're guarding the camp, maybe they're scouting ahead, maybe they have a bout of the flu or explosive diarrhea, but we don't worry about it too much.

There are a ton of options. We use several strategies to manage absences, including planning ahead, using autopilot characters, and incorporating NPCs into the story. Other solutions include having characters "stay behind" at a safe location, creating a sudden quest or mission, or even having a "body snatcher" moment where a trusted player takes control of the absent character.

Source Blog: Dealing with Absent Players

We've had another player operate a missing player's characters for at least 25-30 years now. People who can't stand that don't need to play with us, honestly. And I've kept sheets for that long for multiple reasons.