Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[longarms]

I've read various ideas for how to handle absent players, including ideas such as the magic fabric absorbing their PC only to expunge him in the next session where the player attends, etc, etc.

However, it recently occurred to me that it would be fun to let the other players run the PC of the absent player as an extra. No wild die, no bennies, 1 wound, etc. When the extra version of the PC gets incapacitated, he automatically becomes a walking wounded (the kind that can walk but not do anything else) until the earliest of the absent player returning or the party healing him just as would be required for any walking wounded extra. It could be amusing to see how one of the other players impersonates the PC of the absent player, at the least.

[Borias]

We generally have someone else double box (for lack of a better term) a missing player, or discuss their actions.

However, on the occasion or 2 where the MIA player has gone incapacitated, or taken several wounds, they tend to get quite upset, if it wasn't something they would have obviously done themselves.

That being said, it really depends on what role the missing person is. Most people can sub in as a tank type or archer/mage, but it's really amusing to see people try to be the face of the group if they don't know how to do it. (especially if you hold the missing player accountable for what was said in his absence! )

[Crimson Devil]

My group does one of two things. We either use the PC as an extra with the caveat that they can not be killed or screwed over or we ignore them for that session. It really comes down to the personality of the player and what they are comfortable with.

One issue I've seen is when one player does a better job of role playing the absent player's character than they do. During the Flood campaign we had the absent player's PC run for Mayor of Perdition. The player running him did such a wonderful job of defining the character that when the original player returned he retired the character. He didn't feel he could compete with her interpretation of his character.
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"People using flintlock pistols shouldn't fire warning shots." -- Badmovies.org

[77IM]

I like it, especially the rule that the PC can't be killed while absent.

Actually we had a guy leave a session early one time... and then his character's whole sniper team was wiped out by a lucky mortar shot with lots of acing damage. The GM ruled that instead of being jelly, the PC had an injury that could only be healed by natural healing.

-- 77IM
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Stuff I made: Arcane Abilities · Talent Edge · Savage Fading Suns · Savage Wuxia!

[Dylan S]

We usually come up with an in-game excuse for the character being missing. The character's reason for absence is inversely related to the player's reason for absence; that is, if the player is off doing something cooler than hanging out with brutal nerds playing RPGs, then their character is doomed to be off doing something totally lame, and vice versa. For example, if the player is partying with trendy ladies, then the character will be sick with chickenpox in a gutter, whereas if the player is actually sick with chickenpox then we'll sympathetically excuse the character for reasons of fabulous partying. For some reason, this solution completely satisfies my group.

We have tried players running two characters in the past, but since my group tends to enjoy their RPing, we found it uncomfortable all around.

[Rachan]

I have the exact opposite problem. I WANT my group to play my character when I can't make it. They don't.
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[quote="77IM"]… it's not specifically allowed by the rules, but the GM is specifically allowed to allow it. [/quote]

[amerigoV]

I just started an Olde Skoole game - into the ruins of Castle Greyhawk. If the player is not there - "zapp!" - teleport trap hits the PC. Damn things are everywhere.

My rule - not at the session = no character, no XP, no Loot. Since characters of different XP levels play pretty well together I do not have an issue with a spread developing.
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I call Shinanigans!

[Sitting Duck]

In the Necessary Evil campaign Gospog plays in, it isn't particularly unusual for players to miss a session. But in this case the genre tropes make it workable. In essence, it's made like the old Superfriends cartoon where you have a few core characters who appear in every episode with frequent guest appearances by other supporting characters.
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The rabbit is cuddly. Kids like little cuddly sidekicks. I mean... The rabbit... It's a time-tested... Okay, the rabbit bites.
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The Gamer's Codex Reviewer

[Lord Inar]

Honestly, I've never seen any good coming from letting an absent player's character die. I also, as others suggested, let someone play the character and if that character would die, they are just incapacitated.

I also don't penalize experience, since, at least in my groups, people don't fail to show up because they "had a better offer," but rather because of some valid real life reason involving work or family.

Personally, I like playing multiple characters (even normally if it's a small group like two players) so I don't have a problem from an RP standpoint. Sometimes the biggest frustration (less in SW than some other games) is that it can be hard to optimally play the mechanics of the "adopted" character if it uses a portion of the rules that you're not quite as familiar with.

Usually it's just a judgment call, in that if no one feels like playing the other character, we just sort of ignore that they're even there.
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Lord Inar
Sherwood and Gaslight
Rocky Mountain Savages
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[Dylan S]

I also don't penalize XP because my players have long-since decided that unevenly-levelled characters are no fun. Absent players don't receive loot, although they may get a cut of whatever money is split between characters.

[The GIT!]

Hmmm - we normally try to have the characters of absent players out of the game. For my Rippers campaign I had the group make up two extra Wild Card characters that would be available for missions in which certain players couldn't turn up. This has made it quite interesting when the team has been deciding who should turn up on what mission.

That said, in some situations, it can be unavoidable and we then have the group run the character with my final decision on whether any actions are out of character or not. The group is very responsible with other player characters and things have worked out well.

As for experience, I award points to characters on a mission. If a PC is not on a mission then he/she doesn't get experience. My players prefer it that way and they feel that any experience is truly earned.

I personally feel that one of the biggest strengths of Savage Worlds is that characters of different experience can still work well together.
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Ejector seat? You're joking!

[Raskolnik]

[Borias]

Something our GM had us do, that I would suggest for others- have all your players type up a short bit about how they would want other players to play their characters. Sometimes how we perceive the actions a player takes is not quite how they think their character acts. (give em a little exp to make it worth it too)