Comments on: What to Do for a Gaming Session When Some Players Can’t Attend http://gamingmyway.com/2009/01/03/what-to-do-for-a-gaming-session-when-some-players-cant-attend/ Opinions About Video Games and Roleplaying Games Fri, 18 May 2012 16:35:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: Katana Geldar http://gamingmyway.com/2009/01/03/what-to-do-for-a-gaming-session-when-some-players-cant-attend/comment-page-1/#comment-517 Katana Geldar Sat, 30 May 2009 10:13:17 +0000 http://gamingmyway.com/?p=402#comment-517 I had this recently and I was more or less forced to take the first option, no alternative. Why? Because we play Star Wars Saga, and left the planet to go to another. Subplots are kinda hard when you need to have that ship to get there. I will take up your suggestion of sidequests though, maybe they were doing that while the players who were there were doing the main story. I had this recently and I was more or less forced to take the first option, no alternative. Why? Because we play Star Wars Saga, and left the planet to go to another. Subplots are kinda hard when you need to have that ship to get there.

I will take up your suggestion of sidequests though, maybe they were doing that while the players who were there were doing the main story.

]]> By: Omnus http://gamingmyway.com/2009/01/03/what-to-do-for-a-gaming-session-when-some-players-cant-attend/comment-page-1/#comment-384 Omnus Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:40:02 +0000 http://gamingmyway.com/?p=402#comment-384 Sadly, there are times when none of these options work. When the call-ins are just an hour or so before game-time, you don't have a lot of time to plot out a new side-venture, and if the next item on the agenda is The Big Fight, slated to take most of the night, well, if a person or two misses out, it can be pretty catastrophic. That's why I always have a few fallbacks myself. 1) Card games. A few premade decks of Magic: the Gathering cards, a brisk game of Nuclear War (from Flying Buffalo, ask for it by name!) or a slapstick game of no-holds-barred Munchkin can help ease the pain of not playing the game they expected. 2) Beer-and-Pretzels games. Light-hearted and rules-light games like Paranoia, Kobolds Ate My Baby!, or even Marvel Super Heroes Saga Edition are easy to whip out, play through the evening, and leave feeling you weren't wholly cheated. 3) Movie Night. Now, how often does your gaming group go out together to see a movie? How about game-related movies like Conan, Blade Runner, or Dungeons & Dragons? ( I kid on the last one, it really wasn't that good, but if you want to, it's your own slice of heaven, go for it). Pop a DVD in the player and imagine it's your character slicing off those limbs! 4) Mindless fun/ non-gaming. Cocktails and reminiscing to a spur-of-the-moment BreakKey tournament (what a waste of plastic those things are, but they were soooo cheap...), possibilities are endless. Just avoid mixing gaming and drinking if you're running a serious long-standing game, as odd results may follow. One group I was a part of got trashed one night I wasn't there, pulled out their character sheets (playing West End Games' Star Wars RPG) and decided they wanted to spend all their character points and cash to become a swoop (think the choppers of speeder bikes, a jet engine with handlebars) gang. When we got around the table the next week, no one could remember how their characters got broke and out of character points, until they all noticed they had high levels of Swoop Operation.... This is my short list of things to do when folks miss bellying up to my table... Sadly, there are times when none of these options work. When the call-ins are just an hour or so before game-time, you don’t have a lot of time to plot out a new side-venture, and if the next item on the agenda is The Big Fight, slated to take most of the night, well, if a person or two misses out, it can be pretty catastrophic. That’s why I always have a few fallbacks myself.

1) Card games. A few premade decks of Magic: the Gathering cards, a brisk game of Nuclear War (from Flying Buffalo, ask for it by name!) or a slapstick game of no-holds-barred Munchkin can help ease the pain of not playing the game they expected.

2) Beer-and-Pretzels games. Light-hearted and rules-light games like Paranoia, Kobolds Ate My Baby!, or even Marvel Super Heroes Saga Edition are easy to whip out, play through the evening, and leave feeling you weren’t wholly cheated.

3) Movie Night. Now, how often does your gaming group go out together to see a movie? How about game-related movies like Conan, Blade Runner, or Dungeons & Dragons? ( I kid on the last one, it really wasn’t that good, but if you want to, it’s your own slice of heaven, go for it). Pop a DVD in the player and imagine it’s your character slicing off those limbs!

4) Mindless fun/ non-gaming. Cocktails and reminiscing to a spur-of-the-moment BreakKey tournament (what a waste of plastic those things are, but they were soooo cheap…), possibilities are endless. Just avoid mixing gaming and drinking if you’re running a serious long-standing game, as odd results may follow. One group I was a part of got trashed one night I wasn’t there, pulled out their character sheets (playing West End Games’ Star Wars RPG) and decided they wanted to spend all their character points and cash to become a swoop (think the choppers of speeder bikes, a jet engine with handlebars) gang. When we got around the table the next week, no one could remember how their characters got broke and out of character points, until they all noticed they had high levels of Swoop Operation….

This is my short list of things to do when folks miss bellying up to my table…

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