As a player, I've been involved in a game where 4 PCs started an adventure as CP 20, i.e. high-tier (levels 3,3,4,4, in a 1-4 scenario). However, a little over half-way through, we lost one of the level 4 players due to real-life issues that caused him to have to leave early.
How is a situation like this usually handled? I've been unable to find any official directions, so this question is obviously somewhat of a "how do you handle this?"
a) does the player who had to leave receive (partial) rewards? It seems that there is no requirement to have completed any amount of the scenario after starting it to receive at least the xp?!
b) how should the scenario continue for the remaining players? If rescheduling at a later date with the same group is possible then pausing and finishing up the scenario another time is likely a good option, but what if that's not possible? Allow them to abort with no credit and replay the scenario later, even though they've already played a significant portion? Add a pregen in the middle of the adventure? Have them go on as just the three, as if that PC had died? And if so, do you recalculate CP for future encounters - you wouldn't after a character death, I think(?! Please correct me, if I'm wrong there), but this is somewhat different.
Our GM chose to handle it as if the character had died, so no replacement by a pregen nor recalculating of CP. However, that saw our now CP 14 party facing high sub-tier opposition scaled for CP 20, ultimately leading to the death of another character before the remaining two ultimately bailed. This did seem rather harsh, especially considering that noone, including the player who had to leave early, had done anything wrong, it was just an unpredictable accident.
Has something similar happened at one of your tables and how was it handled? Or is there some official guidance on the matter that I may have missed?
Venture-Captain, Nebraska—Bellevue
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Real life, what a bummer when it interferes with our beloved hobby.
Good questions, though.
(a) The PF1 guide had a little better guidance on what partial credit looked like. Assuming the player experienced at least some substantial portion of the play after the mission brief, my first thought is to give them a partial credit boon. Full XP. Fame/Reputation based on what had been accomplished up to that point and same for Treasure bundles acquired.
(b) I would not penalize the remaining players for the one leaving for real world issues. I would pull out a pre-gen to get back to four players and (if needed) adjust the CP of the future encounters.
The closest I came to that situation was a live game shop game where I got a call from my wife that a tornado had hit our neighborhood. I apologized to the players and gave them full credit chronicles before I rushed out the door. They had completed 75% of the PF1 scenario, so I felt that was the fairest thing I could do for them.
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Real life, what a bummer when it interferes with our beloved hobby.
Good questions, though.
(a) The PF1 guide had a little better guidance on what partial credit looked like. Assuming the player experienced at least some substantial portion of the play after the mission brief, my first thought is to give them a partial credit boon. Full XP. Fame/Reputation based on what had been accomplished up to that point and same for Treasure bundles acquired.
(b) I would not penalize the remaining players for the one leaving for real world issues. I would pull out a pre-gen to get back to four players and (if needed) adjust the CP of the future encounters.
The closest I came to that situation was a live game shop game where I got a call from my wife that a tornado had hit our neighborhood. I apologized to the players and gave them full credit chronicles before I rushed out the door. They had completed 75% of the PF1 scenario, so I felt that was the fairest thing I could do for them.
Totally agreed. The GM should do whatever seems fairest. With 4 players dropping to 3 that is very likely a pregen. With 5 dropping to 4 just recalculate the challenges and move on. If it happens in the middle of the battle USUALLY it is best to just continue the battle unless that is egregiously unfair (I've had one of the mooks suddenly remember that their stove was on back home :-)).
I think that your GM made a mistake. I think that the player of the dead character should probably contact the appropriate Venture Officer to see if the death can be reversed.
Venture-Captain, Minnesota
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I had someone drop out of a Starfinder scenario a couple weeks ago because he was recovering from Covid, and then realized he'd run out of spoons for the night. The remaining party was fairly well-balanced and completed the scenario okay. I gave him a full credit chronicle, and the next week he felt better and lasted the whole game.
It might not be what Organized Play would normally suggest but... it was an extraordinary situation. I think a little GM flexibility during this time is important.
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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We do in fact have guidance about what to do in these situations, in the Guide:
Dealing with out of game problems
Sometimes circumstances prevent a player from completing a scenario. Reasons include—but are not limited to—personal emergencies, device battery issues, venue problems, and bad timing. To mitigate the impact on the table, GMs may exercise their discretion by adjusting the scenario’s Subtier or Challenge Point Adjustment to accommodate the table’s new Challenge Point Total, bring in the pregenerated character that most closely resembles the lost PC, or postpone the game until all players are able to complete the scenario. In the event that a character sheet is no longer accessible due to a loss of battery power, the player may play the pregenerated character and apply the scenario’s rewards to his original character. In all cases where the GM applies one of the above remedies, rewards for all players are based on the lowest subtier played during the scenario.
If a player is forced to leave the table, and the game continues, the GM should endeavor to get a chronicle to the player as soon as possible. When filling out this chronicle the Player should receive 1 XP per hour played for scenarios. They recieve any fame and reputation rewarded for the tasks the party has completed up to that point, as well as any treasure bundles found, and any items found that were listed on the chronicles.
In the (hopefully rare) case of a medical emergency (defined as a player needing immediate, unexpected, professional medical treatment) the chronicle should be filled out as if the player stayed for the rest of the game, receiving the same benefits as the rest of the table.
So yeah, dropping down the number of challenge points is one of several reasonable remedies.
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I had someone drop out of a Starfinder scenario a couple weeks ago because he was recovering from Covid, and then realized he'd run out of spoons for the night. The remaining party was fairly well-balanced and completed the scenario okay. I gave him a full credit chronicle, and the next week he felt better and lasted the whole game.
It might not be what Organized Play would normally suggest but... it was an extraordinary situation. I think a little GM flexibility during this time is important.
This happened to me during Gameday - a player was hospitalized mid-game. We ran the last combat or two without them, and I elected to give them full credit.
The most important thing for me was documenting everything. I prepped their Chronicle, rolled for their Day Job and Faction stuff, left them a PM, and then left detailed instructions for myself on the Discussion thread (in case it was a few months before they returned).
I'm also not sure I followed RAW, but honestly, if someone is going to yell at me for giving too much credit to people hospitalized during pandemics, it's a criticism I will happily accept.
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I had a player go silent for a few months towards the end of a game. I asked one of the players to cover the characters turns and had them participate through to the conclusion. When said player resurfaced after dealing with the death in their family, they received full credit.