Large, Rotating Player Base in Ongoing Campaign

[long-staff sixpenny striker]

I am currently running an Adventure Path and I have 8 players. We play 1-2 times a month. Because of life, etc. we usually have 4-5 players at a game. However, these are usually not the same players each time. This means that often times we will start a session with 1-2 of the folks present from last game with ongoing negative effects and reduced hit points and expendable resources and 2-3 who didn't attend the last game freshly rested with full HP and resources. This tends to throw off the challenge pacing and resource management element of the game. I'm looking for a way to handle this because right now it feels like people are punished for showing up consistently and it makes encounters 50% less challenging than I feel they would be (but only for the people who didn't show last time).

[The Chort]

This is a rough one. I don't think there's a perfect solution to your problem, but here are possible courses of action:

Whittle down the size of your group - Consider having a cap of 6 players at any one time? Keep players who are committed to the group and/or players who are good at making the game more enjoyable for each person at the table.

Constantly communicate with players - Make a facebook group; whatever. Do your absolute best to find a date without conflicts

Reward good behavior - This is difficult, especially in AP's, but it is preferable to punishing bad behavior. Whether it's more experience, loot, or some other blessing of the GM, find some way to illustrate it pays to show up.

Make your game as enjoyable as possible - Haha, if only it were as easy to read this instruction and execute. All I'm saying is that if you read your material, do a good job narrating, running combat, running NPCs, and keep a friendly group of players which you communicate with throughout the month... It's more likely to build commitment; an "Oh my God, I don't want to miss this, it's the highlight of my week" kind of attitude.

[The Chort]

Oh, another more immediate band-aid to your problem would be to punish not showing up in small way:

Rather than permanently falling behind, (Less loot/exp) just create some sort of "worn out" template for players who didn't come last time.

Like, all casters show up with half of their spells (rounded down) expended at each level. I.e.

6 1st level spells - expend 3
5 2nd level spells - expend 2
4 3rd level spells - expend 2
3 4th level spells - expend 1

And then apply the same to limited uses per day abilities or whatever. Maybe if you're especially deep in a dungeon, round up instead of round down.

I'm not sure I'd bother with fatigue or HP loss or whatever, especially if there's a Cleric whose spells and channeling have been reduced by this "worn out" template.

[long-staff sixpenny striker]

The Chort wrote:

Oh, another more immediate band-aid to your problem would be to punish not showing up in small way:

Rather than permanently falling behind, (Less loot/exp) just create some sort of "worn out" template for players who didn't come last time.

Like, all casters show up with half of their spells (rounded down) expended at each level. I.e.

6 1st level spells - expend 3
5 2nd level spells - expend 2
4 3rd level spells - expend 2
3 4th level spells - expend 1

And then apply the same to limited uses per day abilities or whatever. Maybe if you're especially deep in a dungeon, round up instead of round down.

I'm not sure I'd bother with fatigue or HP loss or whatever, especially if there's a Cleric whose spells and channeling have been reduced by this "worn out" template.

This is what I am leaning toward - I'm floating the idea with my players right now. I think I would go with 1/2 HP, because we don't have a Cleric. Healing is usually through potions and wands, with the Witch, Alchemist, and Paladin filling if present and as needed.

[ConfusedPeon]

To the OP: Unfortunately, it looks like resource management challenges that span more than one session won't really work that well with your group with attendance being like what you described.

I would suggest reducing the focus on resource management and looking for other ways to challenge your players. Try ending your encounters with a well deserved night of rest, and perhaps giving your PCs some downtime. That way, everyone starts on equal footing on the next session.

If you find this makes your dungeons and combat encounters too easy, try to beef up the CRs by adding a few more monsters or adding templates/racial hit dice/class levels to your existing monsters.

I'm actually in the same boat as you in my campaign: Playing once or twice a month with an irregular set of players. I've found the easiest and most painless way of dealing with this sort of problem is to just avoid it. :)

Hope that helps!