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GameMastery Guide / Getting Started / Rules of the House

Player Absence

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 14
What happens to a character when its player is absent from a session? Below are some of the most common solutions.

Another player plays the character. This is a simple solution, but be warned that the other player may be unskilled with the class or simply unable to think of appropriate actions. If the character dies, the absent player is inevitably distressed—and legitimately so. Even if the character survives, the other player will almost certainly play it differently, which may result in unfortunate consequences for the character or the party. This arrangement has the best chance of working when each player designates a specific person to play her character, with no holds barred.

The GM plays the character as an NPC. This solution presents some of the same problems as giving the character to another player. As GM, you have enough to handle—you don’t need the additional hassle of trying to run a PC in the game. Though you may be more cautious with the character than another player and are less likely to get the PC killed (since you know what challenges she will face), you won’t be able to give as much attention as the regular player would, and any negative consequences are likely to bring resentment from the player.

The character leaves the group to do something behind the scenes. This solution is usually workable, though the party may keenly feel the lack of that character’s skills during the session. Sometimes you might have to play the character for a bit to finish a combat, but a short-term withdrawal usually works. The main problem with this technique is that you must provide a logical in-game exit and re-entrance opportunity, and tie those in with the storyline.

The character disappears from the group, reappears when the player does, and no notice is taken of the event. This solution is quite simple, but it requires a degree of maturity to pull off. The character was there, then simply is not. After a time, she’s there again. The GM does not need to find something else for her to do or stage an exit and re-entrance. When she reappears, the character may know what happened in her absence, or may not, depending on the group’s preference.

Archives of Nethys

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Player Absence