All of us (and some others) were going to go to Vermont for a few days, but three of us had to drop out for various reasons (DM has to work, Rogue has school, I'm in a show). The others are still going later this week, and wanted to play before they left. Unfortunately, I have a two day orientation at my University tomorrow and the next day.
They asked me if someone (not in the group) could play my character for me.
My retort is, do you mind if we play your three characters while you're in Vermont?
I mean, seriously, the point of the game isn't to beat it or anything. I'm playing and leveling this character. And I'll be reaching a new level in this next session...ugh.
I told them they can play, but without my character.
However, you are perfectly fine saying no. I can see how you'd not want someone messing up your character. I don't think it'd be too much to have the new guy use a pre-made character.
So it wouldn't upset me, but I don't think you did wrong. The retort might have been a little snarky.
Look at the options though.
1) let the other person play the character, gain the experience and all that, and keep the story flowing smoothly (so long as you have a decent group that would say "no, that's not cool to do to his character while he isn't here" instead of allowing whoever is taking over for the night to marry a were-jackal and settle down into a cushy accounting job for the evil empire)
2) tell the group not to use your character at all, and end up behind the group in terms of xp and what not for the rest of the game. This also ruins suspension of disbelief for some players (myself being one, even as the DM) because a character that was an important part of the group is now "doing something else for a little while" or just following the party in a useless catatonic state for no reason, or worse... actually fades from existance and memory because the DM says that's what happens when a player is gone because they don't understand that characters built as a team are severely hindered by not being able to have that team member perform their party function at all.
- The DM could effectively turn you into an NPC for the session. One of the other players directs your actions in combat, but the DM makes the rolls and the PC "sits out" on social interactions.
- Another player runs your character entirely (which you reasonably have issues with).
- Your character "poofs" for the session; he's not there, gains no XP, and magically reappears when you can next attend.
- The party does a "one off" adventure with different characters to accommodate the new player. The folks present get to play and the integrity of the existing game is preserved. Given how quickly a 4E character can be created, and the ready availability of adventures from the WotC website and Dungeon Magazine, this may be the best option.
Your reply was pretty snarky, however. A simple, "Y'know, guys, I'm not OK with that. How about <> instead?" would probably have been a better way to handle things.
In actuality, I didn't give that "snarky response," I had just planned to the next time I talked to them. I'm not going to now, I realize I wasn't being very levelheaded.
I'm the only controller of the group, and I have the highest skills (13 Arcana, 10 History, 10 Dungeoneering, 10 Insight, 10 Nature, 8 Religion, 8 Perception, 7 Diplomacy -- we're level 4s) of anyone in our group, sadly no one else even comes close. I'm also the person the DM constantly asks about rules, because I'm the only one who has really read the books thoroughly.
Our DM does a (perhaps bad) thing where he makes everyone in the party have equal EXP no matter what.
I guess this thread kind of makes me sound like I'm a dick. These guys are all my best friends, I've just put a lot of time into playing my character and making him have lots of depth -- and I'm bothered by someone who has never even seen him play trying to play him.
Moreso, the DM has told me that I'm the sole reason why the campaign has gone in this direction, and he's very happy for it. Our Fighter, despite all of our pleas not to (including the DM's), left the room while we were interrogating a prisoner of war, and fell right into a trap which slaughtered him. I bluffed the prisoner into believing that it was the sound of his teammates being absolutely destroyed and rolled a very high check. Then I used diplomacy to make him take our Fighter's place. This led us to barracks, where we were consulted with a Keeper that was ready to fight us. He asked for our Guard papers and I handed him blank paper we had previously acquired, but used Prestidigitation to make them seem authentic. The DM really liked this and has led us through a whole new path as a result, a story he never intended. Because of all this, I feel like I'm really involved and quite honestly intruiged by the story, and I really don't want to miss it because they want to play on a whim.
Also, I hope this post doesn't make me seem arrogant, because I'm really not. X_X
PCs are kinda like cars. Would you feel comfortable using your car while you're out of town? Opinions, and personal views vary. For example, there are specific people I'd be fine with using my car, others, even though they're good friends, I'd really like to avoid using my car.
A character is a character, a role is a role.
When I am at the table, I play my PC. If I am not there, so what?
That's how I see it.
Any time someone is gone, they always set up a proxy, but that proxy is a member of the group. While acting as proxy you basically agree to do your best not to get the other person's character killed, not waste their resources such as potions (not to say that they won't be used at all, but just within reason), and generally not involve them in anything stupid.
I like that if I can't make it for some reason my group will still be at full strength. I assume my friends feel the same way since they all set up proxies as well. It's not like my friends are going to do something stupid to my character while I am gone, they basically just end up with a cohort for the session. We always get xp and level at the end of sessions, so even if I were to level from the session, I would still do all the leveling choices myself.
If more than 2 people cannot make the same session, we scrap the session and do something else, maybe a one-shot or board games or just sit around and chat.
Would I be upset if my friends wanted someone outside the group to play my character as a proxy? Depends on who it is, if it's one of the other gamers I know who isn't a part of this campaign, I probably wouldn't care. If it was someone I didn't know, I'd tell them no, but then again, I wouldn't expect my friends to pull something like this.
Sounds like you and your group need to sit down and work out guidelines for what exactly happens when someone misses a session. That way everyone is on the same page and you have something consistent to govern missed sessions.
But we don't. I'll get a call on a Thursday at 11:30 PM and hear, "grab your character sheet we're going to Ian's." It's so irregular it's absurd. This is the first time they've tried to plan, and they've picked a day that I can't attend.
My favorite part is when they decide to play without telling the DM. I was hanging out with the DM at this girl's house and they called and said that they were outside of his work, and that they can pick him up as soon as he punches out to go play. He said he'd be out in a few minutes. Obviously, he didn't work that day.
When I don't show up my friends play my character since he's a Cleric. I don't mind since it is helping them out and free XP is always nice. Last night I couldn't make it so I phoned into the session for updates on what they were doing.
I would oblige if we had regular times for sessions. If they said hey, we play every Monday night. This is this.
But we don't. I'll get a call on a Thursday at 11:30 PM and hear, "grab your character sheet we're going to Ian's." It's so irregular it's absurd. This is the first time they've tried to plan, and they've picked a day that I can't attend.
My favorite part is when they decide to play without telling the DM. I was hanging out with the DM at this girl's house and they called and said that they were outside of his work, and that they can pick him up as soon as he punches out to go play. He said he'd be out in a few minutes. Obviously, he didn't work that day.
Ah, well then. Yea, regular play times really help, but I'm sure you've got that figured out
Our DM does a (perhaps bad) thing where he makes everyone in the party have equal EXP no matter what.
Actually, that's recommended now. You'll notice there's nothing that involves taking full levels from characters, and when death occurs, no longer do you start at a previous level.
Personally, I used to be the kind of DM that gave out staggered XP. If you impressed me, I'd slide an extra 100 or 200 your way. If you didn't, you'd lose 100 or 200.
However, people began to start using that "meta" to try to impress me more and more. They'd say things that they thought I'd find funny instead of things their character would say. They'd do things they thought I'd like instead of what their character would do.
Now , the only bonus I offer is a flat 100 XP to everyone if the majority of the party writes an "After Action Report" of some type. 200 XP if EVERYONE writes one. It stopped players from trying to metagame the campaign, stopped them from going out of their way to please me, and allowed them to have more fulfilling characters.
Those who just play to socialize could probably care less which character they play as long as they are together.
Those who like to play D&D like to play their character.
I have had similar in the past with a NEW group and explained that my situation was not the same as theirs. I don't just use any playing piece in the game and prefer to not have others play my character.
It is not a group character afterall. You don't just go in each session and pick a random character and start playing it.
It isn't the levels I seek, but the character itself for me. I put a lot of work into it. Into designing the character to function how I wanted it to.
There is a flaw in 4th because of the "group build" concept where personal characters get lost in some combat and damage output machine.
To me the character I create will be played be me alone. I invested into it and made it what it is and try to keep it alive for that reason.
Not to mention another person playig a character could alter too many things about it to screw up all that work.
If they need some character to fill your place, then they need an NPC for a while to take its place until you can rejoin them.
Because if you do allow it, you can regret it later and then there's no way to null it.
But if you don't allow it, there's way less chance for regret. (YMMV of course)
The example with cars was pretty good, IMHO. Some things are just not for share/ing (sp?) (or not with anyone, etc).
EDIT:
"I think involves the 2 types of D&D players. The ones who play the game to play the game, and the ones who play it to socialze."
So true.
I think the best thing to do is to let the DM run the missing characters as NPCs. I get attached to my characters too, but making sure the group as a whole has fun should be a higher priority. It also keeps all the characters in more or less the same experience range, which is very helpful to the DM.
I would also say that if more than one or two of the players are missing, then its probably best to just do something else, like play a board game, break out some playing cards, run a one shot adventure with some DM made characters, or just watch a movie for a change.
It shouldn't be that the party member has to be harmed or anything lost from it, just that it is taken somehow, by someone that will be able to be met the next time the PCs player returns. That means the party member will not be found until the player returns. Maybe he even escaped himself and somehow made it back to town and is healing in a hospit...nvm...4th edition healing crap ruins that.....
Well anyway, some NPC could be found telling the party they were hiding and that they saw what happened to the other missing member. He wants out of wherever he is and will help if the party agrees to protect him.
whether the NPC is part of the plot or not is up to the DM. Not something you want to do too often, but then I also never had long dungeon delves where you could not return to town often for missing man problem to be taken care of.
It may be Dungeons and Dragons, but it isn't Diablo. You should only play out and start big events when everyone can be there scheduled ahead of time. If an emergency comes up during play, you pause and wait to everyone can meet again, or just run a one shot with who you have for a change of pace while the person is missing.
Several people missing means you need to postpone your game.
Why I do this? For the reason the OP might have listed...if a player misses a session, I don't want them penalized for not being there in real life. Some kids make it some sessions but not others, while others can make it all the time. I also don't view that slaughtering X amount of monsters gives the characters Y amount of XP and so on and so forth. I use the XP charts to better prepare more balanced encounters, but I think a PC should level when they have accomplished quite a bit of stuff (as determined by me...and that's usually 2-3 sessions per level for now) and/or accomplished a major quest.
In the game world, I always explain what the PCs are alternatively doing... chasing some of the other kobolds down, running errands for the local priest, visiting friends and family at a neighboring village, etc. Never would I let another player "take over" someone's character...well, maybe not never, but only the player can really "roleplay" their character, especially when a huge chunk of the game is emphasized on roleplaying and politics.
Ok, so I don't run ALL games like this, but with my current group I do, and I was upfront about it...right away during character creation I gave the party notice how experience was going to run. And, well, if a player missed quite a few sessions or joined the game late...they may be penalized a level (for only one session...they'll level at the end of the evening). However, before I get attacked, this particular group of players are quite tight, and play really weird where they share everything, coordinate and are almost completely trusting of each other, etc. They are close real life friends and are new to D&D and don't mind that there is no real "race" to get XP over each other etc. So they are fine with the no real XP concept.
Fox
There are a host of ways to deal with this sort of thing. Ferinstance:
- The DM could effectively turn you into an NPC for the session. One of the other players directs your actions in combat, but the DM makes the rolls and the PC "sits out" on social interactions.
- Another player runs your character entirely (which you reasonably have issues with).
- Your character "poofs" for the session; he's not there, gains no XP, and magically reappears when you can next attend.
- The party does a "one off" adventure with different characters to accommodate the new player. The folks present get to play and the integrity of the existing game is preserved. Given how quickly a 4E character can be created, and the ready availability of adventures from the WotC website and Dungeon Magazine, this may be the best option.
Your reply was pretty snarky, however. A simple, "Y'know, guys, I'm not OK with that. How about <> instead?" would probably have been a better way to handle things.
I hate this situation as a player. Used to have a DM that just had me ghost... couldn't stand it.
So as a DM I do everything in my power to work them out of the game for the session and then back in.
If their in a dungeon they get disappear down a pit trap which closes behind them or get separated by the party by a cave in.
Maybe they get captured and the group has to go after them and rescue them. Or they get lost in town.
Anything can happen but I never punish the missing party. In fact I find it more fair and reasonable to give them the same XP the party gained. After all its all for fun and its never fun to get left behind in the power scale just because you have a life outside of DnD.
"Malos wakes up in the tavern and goes downstairs, whereupon he is apprehended by three guards. They drag him to the jail..." so on and so forth. I then use Ghost Sound, Fey Step, and Expeditious Retreat to free myself from them. I get outside of the jail and see my companions on a roof, and three guards coming toward me. I use sleep and knock all three guards unconscious, and rejoin my allies.
"You knocked them all unconscious!"
"Yeah?"
"We...we missed you..."
<3