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I recently started up the Mummy's Mask AP and my group was putting final touches on their characters when one of my players said that he wanted his girlfriend to join our game. Problem is, she only comes home from college once a month. Meaning I would have a player who is only in 1 out of 4 sessions.
Should I tell him no? NPC her character the rest of the time?
Have her make a character where it makes sense she is only present some of the time - like a paladin who is often called away on business for her order or a rogue who need to leave to deal with "mysterious allies". If your player want to have his GF join the game and she really want to play as well, I think it would be a shame to disappoint either.
I'm not sure of the AP, but if the player could easily jump in and out in character, AKA there's a base city and sometimes she comes sometimes she stays home. Or are they out on a quest and in the middle of no where.
Personally unless easy to explain in game why she's sometimes there I'd say no, but maybe let her control an NPC or a villain when she's there.
Use these:
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/artifacts/metagame-artifacts/scar-of-de stiny
NPCs could still die; why not have her character appear and disappear without actual explanation?
Maybe I'm just a jerk, but I would say no. If you can't commit to make the same time as everyone else, it's not fair to those players who can.
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Maybe I'm just a jerk, but I would say no. If you can't commit to make the same time as everyone else, it's not fair to those players who can.
Why not? Seriously, why not? Real life is a thing and living in another town/state country seems like a resonable reason for not showing up every time. Moreover, speaking from experience, if my GF only was in town one weekend out of four and she couldn't play in my weekly D&D game if she wanted, that game would quickly become 3/4th weekly for my part
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Ive got a similar situation coming up. My gaming group is 6 including the rotating GM. One of the group recently had a baby so his ability to make sessions has become greatly impacted. Instead of saying stay away until you can commit we have invited him to play whenever he can.
As some have mentioned I plan to come up with reasons why the PC may not always be around. Maybe the PC spends time researching in the library while the others are out exploring the city. Maybe the PC is gathering gear and watching horses/mounts while the PCs go adventuring. You can see where this is going.
There might not always be a perfect or great reason for the PC not to be around. This could hurt immersion if people are too uptight about it. For us we care about having our friend at the table enough where we can expand our suspension of disbelief to make sure they can be included. That said our friend is a longtime member and valued.
In the OPs case this is a new player and it will be difficult to determine that value. I would say yes if it makes the game more enjoyable for your friend and the group. If the GF is a problematic player you may need to be ready to ask her to step aside. I would make sure and have this conversation with them ahead of time so that there is less potential for misunderstanding or hurt feelings. If you think that will be problmeatic it might be best to just say no right now.
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I have been coming up with reason why characters come and go. I always find something amusing, fell down a hole, told other characters to go on without them, got lost in almost-endless tunnels until reunited, ran off on another mission, etc. I always found a way to make things fit together.
We had an entire war, and that was a great way to split off characters who came back with stories of how they avoided orc search parties, etc., to get back to the main group.
Role-playing-wise, it was actually kind of neat, and I snuck in little details that would make the characters go on another mission after the ones who were away saw something of interest....
For me I am ok with a quick handwave for situations like this. If people have legitimate reasons for missing games (IE being at college, work, taking care of family) and inform me ahead of time, I generally dont have a problem writing them in and out of the adventure. Usually its sort of ham handed, IE 'you get split up in the chaos of that fight that ended last session, but you know she will meet you at the end of the city' or something like that. Not great for immersion, but honestly, there are things more important then immersion, like making your friend feel welcome at a social event.
Again its different if someone is flaking out constantly, or showing up late, or whatever. But in cases of family, work, school concerns, I am always willing to make the concession.
Often too, I ask the player to do something extra, like write up a journal about their experience while the party was doing its thing, as like 'makeup xp' if I am using xp for that campaign. Because I also dont believe in penalyzing players for having a life (having them be behind in level for missing sessions).
Another thing you could think of is running one campaign 3 weeks then the weeks she's back doing a different one. Then you don't have to worry about having a character without a player.
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The players I've always had never really cared about a character mysteriously popping in and out of existence, just the occasional joke of "Hey, where'd that guy with the shiny purple gloves go this time?" Of course, the players I run with tend to be goofy types, so most of them didn't feel a huge need to have everything make total sense in-game.
Realistically, you'll rarely (if ever) be able to seamlessly fit a player's attendance record into the game world--someone has to leave due to their master's commands halfway down a dungeon and comes back (one missed session later) after the group's done three fights and solved the deadly puzzle trap, which may have only taken an hour or two in-game. "Yep turns out he just wanted me to put this scrying mark on a tree outside. And no, it couldn't have waited three hours for us to finish what we were doing." However, if your group really gets into that kind of immersion, it can become a practice in creativity--explaining why and where they're gone while leaving it open how long they could be absent.
Edit: the bigger issue as a GM is making sure you can balance encounters on the fly depending on whether your extra character is there or not. You don't want to make it so everything's a breeze because she's there or extra difficult because she's not. Of course, with it just being one player it shouldn't be that drastic, but an extra minion or two you can add in would probably help balance it.
The players I've always had never really cared about a character mysteriously popping in and out of existence, just the occasional joke of "Hey, where'd that guy with the shiny purple gloves go this time?" Of course, the players I run with tend to be goofy types, so most of them didn't feel a huge need to have everything make total sense in-game.
Realistically, you'll rarely (if ever) be able to seamlessly fit a player's attendance record into the game world--someone has to leave due to their master's commands halfway down a dungeon and comes back (one missed session later) after the group's done three fights and solved the deadly puzzle trap, which may have only taken an hour or two in-game. "Yep turns out he just wanted me to put this scrying mark on a tree outside. And no, it couldn't have waited three hours for us to finish what we were doing." However, if your group really gets into that kind of immersion, it can become a practice in creativity--explaining why and where they're gone while leaving it open how long they could be absent.
In highschool my dm used to say it was just a random no save teleport trap, and that the player happened to hit another one when he came back the next session.
Nothing wrong with it if the rest of the table is OK with it.
A note, though: she needs to level up at the same rate as everyone else at the table. It isn't fair to the rest of the players to be forced to carry an underleveled character when she is in attendance.
Maybe I'm just a jerk, but I would say no. If you can't commit to make the same time as everyone else, it's not fair to those players who can.Why not? Seriously, why not? Real life is a thing and living in another town/state country seems like a resonable reason for not showing up every time. Moreover, speaking from experience, if my GF only was in town one weekend out of four and she couldn't play in my weekly D&D game if she wanted, that game would quickly become 3/4th weekly for my part
Again, to me, it isn't fair to those players who do show up regularly and actually clear their schedules to make it when a game is scheduled. Yes, real life happens, that's why you don't kick someone out of the group when they can't make it...once in a while. This isn't a once in a while thing. This is a "I am guaranteed to not be here MOST of the time" situation.
Every time she shows up they
A. Have to decide whether or not she levels up with them, is trailing behind them, etc. If she levels up with them, how is that fair to the other players who earned those levels? If she doesn't, she will quickly grow frustrated lagging FAR behind as a result of only having 1/4 the usual experience.
B. How to distribute equipment, considering she won't be there to be helpful 3/4 of the time. I'd be resentful as a fellow player in the group if she got the good loot. Then again, there's the frustration on her behalf if she's still using mundane, non-masterwork gear while the rest of the party is rolling with +2 stuff.
C. Recap what happened in the story, again, not just for an occasional missed session, but the majority of it. This isn't such a big deal, but it can be a bit annoying.
A 1/4 commitment isn't really a commitment at all.
Yes, I agree. A girlfriend > a game. I'd probably happily let you walk out on my game if that were your situation. Then again, finding players where I live isn't horribly difficult. There's just too many people who are willing to actually show up when you play to think about someone who is only part time.
Clearing up a few hours one day a week is not that hard for most people. If it is, then a 1/week game isn't for you. Find someone who plays 1/month if that's all you can commit to.
(That's not so much a statement for this particular situation as it is in general. A lot of players I've met treat gaming as a back burner activity, only showing up when they have nothing else to possibly do that day, not clearing their schedules, always doing activities on game days that could be done other times, etc...)
ALL THAT BEING SAID...
Dude, Skype exists. You can always add her to the table virtually those other 3/4 times IF she's really serious and wants to join you guys.
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I will probably have a sit down and talk it out with the group and bring them in on the decision. I like the suggestions of just hand waving a reason why her character isn't there or even playing a shorter, side game on those weekends she can't come. Another one of my players has been talking about wanting to run.
Another thing you could think of is running one campaign 3 weeks then the weeks she's back doing a different one. Then you don't have to worry about having a character without a player.
Oh, I like this one. Run an AP for the main group, and a module for the main+1. Very clever!