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Hey all,
I'm preparing to start running a CotCT campaign using PRPG rules sometime in the next two months (whenever the group's current campaign ends, which the GM estimates will be in 4-8 sessions). I have some GMing experience, mostly short campaigns and one-shots but I'm pretty confident I'll be able to handle running a full campaign with the help of a published AP and the helpful folks on this forum.
In this thread I'm not looking for general game-mastering tips but rather advice on dealing with one specific issue: our group has eight members, so I'm going to have to adapt this AP for a party of seven PCs.
Now this isn't quite as bad as it might seem (or perhaps it's just bad in a different way, depending on your PoV) because we almost never have a full table. Several players have work issues that cause them to miss about one game in four, so it's fairly common to have only four or five players at the table for any given session (if fewer than four can show up we usually cancel or play board games instead). Not an ideal situation, but it is what it is.
On top of the attendance issue, there's one player who is a total non-contributor in nine out of ten situations due to his penchant for building (unintentionally) de-optimized characters and making incomprehensible role-playing decisions--when he manages to draw his attention away from the WoW game he's playing on his laptop, that is. Previous GMs have dealt with this by ignoring his character when designing encounters and that seemed to work pretty well.
The rest of the players are pretty skilled veteran role-players and build solid characters able to contribute meaningfully in both combat and social encounters. Actually one of them--the wife of one of the veterans--is more interested in combat than RP but at least her characters are competent fighters, thanks to the help her husband gives her with character building and tactics. She seems to have fun and doesn't detract from the group's power level or anyone else's enjoyment of the game, so it's all good.
What this boils down to is that I can expect to have 4 to 5 players in most sessions, three of whom will role-play and four of whom will contribute to combat. Sometimes I'll have six and occasionally I'll have all seven. Our usual practice is to keep the characters of the missing players with the group but not have them participate unless absolutely necessary, otherwise it's assumed they're doing something useful "off-stage" during combat encounters. It takes some willed suspension of disbelief but it works for us.
So, how would you prepare to deal with this situation? I have a few ideas of my own but I'd like to hear what others think. Splitting the group or uninviting someone are not options, BTW.
Thanks in advance!