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Being a new DM, I've finally encountered a point where the cleric has to miss a session in the middle of a combat heavy scenario.
Mind you, it's not like I left off the last session in the heat of battle, but they're generally in or headed to hostile territory. My current policy is to have the PC just 'there' but not acting except during downtime phases where I can say '<player name> cures all your wounds before rest' if they can't make it.
Right now though, given their situation, I can't suddenly plant cure potions or scrolls in the middle of nowhere so to speak, and starting to NPC the Cleric doesn't bode well in my mind.
I'm either thinking to tone down the encounters, adding more curative loot to tables. Or just have them doing a sneaky recon session.
Tips?
Why not ask one of the other players to play the PC cleric (perhaps get input from the cleric's player beforehand)? That's the simplest way we have dealt with missing PCs in combat. You can control the cleric out of combat, but hand him/her over for combat purposes to another player. My 2 cp. Good luck!
I've encountered this problem as well before. It depends on your players really...
If my players don't mind/ don't care:
My usual solution is to have an experienced player play their character and the missing players. Most players are understanding and know how important it is to have a cleric/healer in the group, and usually I'll have at least one experienced player who would enjoy playing the extra character.
If your players do mind:
I've never had my players argue with me about it (Its suppose to be all fun anyway right?) BUT if they were to argue, I would just tone down the encounters until such a time you can add potions or some healing method.
Obviously the easiest solution is to npc the cleric or have someone else run the cleric.
If that isnt an option, then i'd consider putting significant healing resources in the possesion of the first group of enemies they encounter (wands, potions, maybe a 3.5 healing belt). That way they'll hopefully have what they need to get through that session until the clerics player turns up (hopefully) for the next one.
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Why not ask one of the other players to play the PC cleric (perhaps get input from the cleric's player beforehand)? That's the simplest way we have dealt with missing PCs in combat. You can control the cleric out of combat, but hand him/her over for combat purposes to another player. My 2 cp. Good luck!
This is the easiest solution and it is standard practice for my group. In fact, we've never had a PC miss a game, although players are forced to miss regularly.
If you can't stand the thought of another player running a PC that isn't theirs, run the Cleric yourself as a NPC.
-Skeld
NPC the Cleric is the easiest, just make sure you don't kill the Cleric off in their absence
(I had that happen once, which irked me to no degree).
Or, you could TPK the entire party...
I'm confused as to exactly what you think is the problem. You indicate that you are fine with the absent cleric healing wounds outside of combat, so presumably you think that having in combat healing is absolutely necessary for any party.
Frankly, if your cleric is just a healbot, him being missing from the group for combat probably matters less than if any other member of the group was missing.
Obviously, and encounter designed for 4 PCs will be tougher with just 3, but the cleric, especially if you are allowing out of combat healing from him, isn't likely to be more critical than any other party.
Personally I don't like other people running my characters and I don't like running two PCs or having players run two PCs. That said, if those things don't bother you and your group, it is a viable solution.
Alright Ayanzo, I'm going to assume as a new GM, you don't want to run a PC cleric in addition to running the game. Also, if you were willing to do this you wouldn't have asked us. I'm also going to assume that you don't want to create yet another NPC cleric in the PC cleric's place to do the same thing. So, here's your solutions:
1)If you have a single PC with ranks in the skill Use Magic Device, then set up a minor combat before the major stuff later that yields a wand of cure moderate wounds and let that character take care of healing
2)If no one has ranks in Use Magic Device, introduce a magic item with limited healing capabilities that are none spell completion, i.e. spell-like abilities
However, set this up as a reward from a relatively simple combat, and don't do potions, scrolls are ok. But, potions provoke attacks of opportunity, and gamers typically don't use them until it's too late. Wands are optimal because they keep the group working together, just someone else, your rogue or bard, plays the role of healer.
2)If no one has ranks in Use Magic Device, introduce a magic item with limited healing capabilities that are none spell completion, i.e. spell-like abilities
To the OP: I can well understand the predicament this can create. Everyone is going to play a little differently, after all. A number of groups I've seen happen to employ clerics, and enjoy them. It certainly doesn't make them "playing wrong" or "enjoying wrong." Sometimes though, they can be a little overly relied on by other party members!
I agree with the MI idea. You might also take the players aside and explain that the cleric may or may not be there in future sessions. That you hope the player will be, but this isn't always possible. Let them adjust their PCs and encourage them to brainstorm on more defensive strategies. A first step is to look at the barbarian's AC or other defenses, for example. The second step is to get them talking and working together around the issue. Encourage them to think of it as similar to a puzzle in a campaign, but one they're given time out of session to address (and a little leeway with adjustments).
As for leeway, if they come up with some good ideas, I would consider letting them redistribute a little wealth or perhaps a feat. Not overly much, but enough to let them adjust for example, if someone's playing a two-handed AC 15 fighter who always rushes into the front line... etc.
Clerics can be amazingly fun, and healing is not an evil, verybad. I'd suggest though, rather than feeling this is something you need to solve more personally, present it as an opportunity for them to focus on themselves as a team and encourage them to brainstorm ways to be a little more self-sufficient.
The cleric player might appreciate it, too.
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I've used many different methods of handling this kind of thing over the years, generally depending on the group. Sometimes, the 'missing' character is present, but not active, possibly justified by the character being suddenly ill or off on a personal errand. Sometimes (with groups less interested in the roleplaying, or in shared campaigns), we skip reality, and the character literally disappears while the player is not there, and reappears when he does, with nobody really commenting on it. Sometimes, the character will be run by another group member, assuming the character sheet is available (most of my players keep their own character sheets, and nobody else really has access to it between sessions). Sometimes, if the character sheet isn't available, the character will be run by the GM in some fashion, potentially with much hand-waving. Sometimes, especially with smaller groups, if a player is not available, the game does not happen that session, and we play something else.
It's probably best for the GM to just ask the players how they would prefer to handle missing players. In addition to what happens with the character, you also need to have an understanding of what happens to the character's share of loot and/or xp, which would need to be tailored to what is happening to the character.
Give them a cure wand and its not your problem if nobody has UMD. A wand should last pretty long. If you have an arcane caster an infernal healing wand will work as well. In combat healing on a regular basis is bad, so there is nothing wrong with waiting for the infernal to work.
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Our group plays by the rule that if you can't be at the session, you can either:
1. Have another player of your choice run your character during the session. If you do, you take the risks of being there, including dying, etc., but you also get your share of treasure.
2. Have your character bow out of the session. You are not there (or are safely side-lined), there's no risk of harm to you, but you do not get a share of any treasure obtained during the session.
We have some players who always choose option 1 and some who always choose option 2.
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After reading everything here, I think I'll put in a CLW wand with 15 or so charges. They're leaving town on a scouting mission under the coin of the council, so I'm wagering that they could get a requisition order to get one extra piece of gear.
Before you say they can buy it, they're level 2, and each has about 200 or so gp in a low magic setting, not to mention it's a scrappy little town.