Keep Your Campaign On Track: Missing Players

December 19, 2017

At The Gaming Table/ Dungeons & Dragons/ Game Master Tips/ Interviews/ Keep Your Campaign On Track/ Roleplaying Games

Hello nerds! Nerditor Doug here, welcoming back guest poster Elyunn who shared a great story along with tips and advice for getting started with Fantasy Grounds. She is back with us again, and this time around she adds to the Keep Your Campaign on Track series.

Elyunn spoke with some folks over at Fantasy Grounds College to glean their insights on a situation all roleplaying game groups experience at some point or another…

What to do about missing players

Below are some tips, tricks and general advice Elyunn gathered. Fantasy Grounds College is a group of experienced and highly-motivated individuals who volunteer their time to teach others how to use Fantasy Grounds and how to play various rulesets.

Fantasy Grounds College 101 classes are free, and you can check the class schedule on their website to find the courses you’re interested in, plus they have a Discord server to connect with the community and learn more about it. They also have a Patreon page for those who wish to help and get a little extra assistance.

Let’s see what the instructors over there have to say about what Game Masters can do when unexpected player absences throw a curve ball at your next gaming session.

It is best to avoid having essential players in the first place. However, when you are running a quest designed around the backstory of a player character, you will just have to bite the bullet. It has never happened for my group. My players have always let me know in advance if they can´t make it. Thanks to this, I can plan ahead. In those cases where they can’t show, I ask the player what their character would do in certain upcoming situations. Then, as the DM, play their character. I limit myself to the actions of the situation or event; I do not talk for the character. – From Fantasy Grounds College Map Expert, Flo

I have been thinking about this dilemma for a while. Of all the tricks, tips, and workarounds I have learned, I use this mantra: play the session(s) as one-offs, if possible. What ties each session together is not how many players there are, but the loose combined motivation or common threat of the party.

That being said, I usually develop NPCs that are “shadows” of the missing players, in case there is a critical session or function. Story-wise I have the PC remain behind, or switch places with an NPC. In other cases, I will have the absent player’s character take a “sick day” in game. However, if their character has a skill or job that can utilize out-of-game time, I will apply that in-game. The PC can take watch at the fort, fortify its defense, tend the horses, guard a critical way point, or do other functions, such as crafting. In short, I will be able to focus more on the players that are there, pay more attention to what I have and not worry about what I don’t.

It is hard to do this every time, but in the end, the results are positive. I also look at the absence of a missing player as a nice ‘easier’ time for me in a background story sense, just adjust fights accordingly. – FGC Founder, Laerun

Further resources

Maintaining a long running narrative in your campaigns can become a challenge when player have conflicting schedules, families and other responsibilities making regular attendance difficult. But there are plenty of ways to work around player absences.

In addition to the Keep Your Campaign On Track series here on Nerdarchy’s website, there’s a digital product at the Dungeon Master’s Guild called 100 Ways to Excuse a Character Absence available at the pay what you want level.

This topic has also been addressed by Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel, as seen in the video below.

But how about you? What tips, tricks and advice do you have for keeping campaigns on track when circumstances prevent the whole party from mustering at the gaming table? Let us know in the comments below and keep an eye on Keeping Your Campaign On Track here on the website for more insights into this situation.

And as always, until next time, stay nerdy!

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