What happens when a player misses an encounter?

[reyyvin]

I ran a scenario today when a player had to step out for an hour for a family emergency. He played 2 encounters, missed one, and was back for the last one (the group did all 4 encounters). The encounter he missed had 2/3 of the gold for the entire scenario.

What are the rules for that? Does the player loose on the gold and items?

[Doug Miles]

There's no rule to cover this specific situation. I think making a rule would set a precedent. This should remain the GM's call. The ball is back in your court.

I recommend that you ask the player the question. The answer will tell you something about the type of person they are. Give them what they think is fair.

[FLite]

The guide is very clear.

Gold is based on communal encounters.

XP is individual
Prestige is individual (but since it is usaully based on a static universal condition, it is rarely different for different PCs.)

xp wrote:

A PC may receive XP only if he

survives the scenario or is raised from the dead by
the scenario’s conclusion and completed at least
three encounters

gold wrote:

If the PCs failed to earn any of the rewards listed for an encounter, deduct the amount listed for the applicable subtier from the value circled in area F.

prestige wrote:

Determine how many Prestige Points the

character earned over the course of the scenario.

Everyone who went on the mission gets an equal share of the gold.

There are different rules for modules and adventure paths, because they may be divided into multi session events.

[Avatar-1]

Those rules all assume the player is there and an emergency hasn't come up. Doug's right, the commonsense rule should apply.

[BigNorseWolf]

I'd just give them the cash, they're already having a bad enough night.

[Kyshkumen]

Since he completed 3 encounters and made an effort to come back I'd just give him the full gold. Most people don't bother trying to make it back.

[UndeadMitch]

What they said, but make sure of what the primary and secondary success conditions are, and whether they were present for the completion of them. At table I played recently, a player had to leave before the final encounter, which happened to have the primary success condition. This scenario's secondary condition was completion of the primary success condition, so the dude got full gold, items, and an point of EXP, but no prestige.

[Andreas Forster]

First, in such a case, I'd consider the reason for the player having to leave for an encounter. In the case of a family emergency, I would of course work everything out in the player's favor. After all, it wasn't his fault he had to leave and penalizing him for leaving because of an emergency would clearly show the wrong priorities.
So if the player manages to come back to the table before the end of the scenario, I'd give him full reward (unless the group actually missed something of course). If he doesn't manage to get back and has to leave, I'd later work with him to solve the issue, maybe not reporting his character and having him replay the scenario.
A hobby should never stand in the way of real life problems.

If, on the other hand, the reason for him leaving is not an emergency, I wouldn't be that kind, maybe not even allowing him to return for the final encounter (depending on the reason for leaving. If, for example, he's just doing 2 encounters, then leaves to chat with someone and play a card game, and later comes back for the final encounter, he defnitely wouldn't get to rejoin at my table. He would still get a chronicle, though so he can't replay the scenario for credit.)

Finally, on the subject of gold reward: As FLite already mentioned, the Guide clearly states that gold is gained equally by the party. And that actually makes sense, because they return to the lodge together and haul their loot to the vaults where they get paid.