Sup /tg/. I'd like to ask your opinion on an issue I'm having with one of my players/friends. I'm running the Mummy's Mask adventure path and I, as the DM, have a policy that if your character is not present, they do not get XP. You can however, have someone run it for you if you don't want to miss out on any. Now the aforementioned player couldn't make it due to his work schedule so he didn't play, and didn't ask anyone to run it for him because he's afraid of his character dying apparently. Anyway, a few days later, I'm playing some games over steam with him and the subject of the session he missed comes up. I tell him he didn't get xp, and explain that as a GM I can't make exceptions. He gets all huffy says he's gonna quit and logs off without saying another word.
>mfw
Am I being unfair, /tg/? It seems he may not have known about that policy, but I know most of the group does. Also, how do you guys handle absent players and xp?
>>46174289
>Now the aforementioned player couldn't make it due to his work schedule
you should probably make an exception for anyone who gets fucked by work. in a perfect world we wouldn't have to work shitty jobs to pay rent and miss out on things we would rather be doing with our friends. if you're doing this to him + are unemployed you should just jump off a cliff.
>>46174289
I always give my players a base value, with additional XP for exceptional roleplaying, or doing something of worth to the group.
But then again I don't usually run systems with tiered advancements, and when I do, everyone gets exactly the same amount of XP.
>>46174317
>you should probably make an exception for anyone who gets fucked by work. in a perfect world we wouldn't have to work shitty jobs to pay rent and miss out on things we would rather be doing with our friends. if you're doing this to him + are unemployed you should just jump off a cliff.
Yeah the thing is, most of the group works or is in school and the schedules don't always line up. This particular time, we had to chose whether he would miss it, or three others would. I'm between jobs atm, but I've missed plenty of thing because of work in the past, some of them rpgs, where I also didnt get xp. I just thought, hey if your character isnt there to help overcome the adversity, how can he learn from the fight? I dunno. Maybe in the future, I'll just give xp to everyone no matter what.
>>46174368
>most of the group works or is in school and the schedules don't always line up
this is exactly why you shouldn't make it any harder to play, I've had 3 campaigns fall apart because of conflicting schedules and a DM that liked to punish people for not showing up. just enjoy the time you get to play and don't be a dick to your friends. Now if someone bails when they have nothing else to do, they deserve punishment.
>>46174289
Yeah. You are being extremely unfair unless this guy misses sessions for other reasons than work basically every other week. It's better than nothing to have some sort of "catch up" system for them as you seem to have described, but it's still total shit to punish someone who just flat could not make it, especially if they gave you prior warning.
Now this is not an attempt to proselytize or anything here, but this is seriously one of the big problems with the way 3.PF handles advancement. If you have a game that does character advancement piece meal (most non-class based systems) you can give seperate XP amounts easily. They are designed with this in mind. If you are running an older edition of D&D, you can give different XP amounts; these are also designed for characters to advance differently from each other, and the difference between level 5 and level 7 for most classes is an average of 4 extra HP. In 3.PF though, denying someone the XP of an entire session is a huge deal. If you insist on "not making exceptions" you should try running a system where it's not a big deal to lose the XP value of a single session. Just look into other systems, maybe you can even steal their methods of advancement and sew it onto your game somehow.
Also if you don't have a job and especially if you've never had a job and you're keeping this whole idea of not giving XP to your employed friend, you should consider either getting a job or drinking bleach.
Can't make it? It's ok, catch up next time, you get half the XP the party is awarded. If you are sick or it's obviously a *have to miss* rather than *want to miss* then we can talk about it, but if this becomes a recurring issue the group will need to decide things going forward.
>>46174398
Not trying to be a dick or punish anyone, that's just the way I've always seen it done in other groups I've been in and it made sense to me. But yeah, I'll probably change that going forward.
>>46174289
It's a dick move and can lead the a party in which the players eventually become vastly different in power and so people get shitty. Don't punish people just because work gets in the way occasionally. If you really have to come up with a way to rationalise them getting xp, simply imagine that they were there, and they did help, they just didn't stand out this time. Can't be in the spotlight all the time.
Everyone in this thread is vaginas.
If your player knows the rules for missing sessions, it's his fault for not asking you to cover him. I run my missing PCs as DMPCs and give them the same amount of experience as anyone else, but they have to willfully ask for it first.
It's the compromise between getting something or not letting someone potentially mis-role your snowflake.
Stop caring about a single dip that couldn't be bothered to communicate like an adult.
>>46174289
>I, as the DM, have a policy that if your character is not present, they do not get XP
I think that's a dumb idea because it mechanically penalizes characters for real-world circumstances possibly beyond the control of their players, but whatever, it's your group.
>Am I being unfair, /tg/? It seems he may not have known about that policy
Sounds like you think you were being unfair.
>>46174289
You have a fair policy. If they don't like it they should have discussed it with you beforehand.
Your rules sound retarded as shit and you should unfuck yourself sharpish
At the end of the day this is a game, it is something people do for fun. Sometimes you have to miss a session if you have a job, and that should have no bearing on what happens in game. Keep that shit totally separate.
Give the character full XP, apologise to the player and cut that shit out from now on.
>>46178817
Hard to do this if he doesn't tell people about the policy.
My group has one main campaign we all play and 4 different smaller ones specifically so that if a player doesn't show, the other people can still play a game and no one gets left out. Also makes it so no one really gives the person who missed the session shit, cause they still get to play a game properly without weird shenanigans. Also it gives everyone a chance to DM. Just seems like a pretty harsh policy for something that is supposed to be a fun escape from real life.
>>46174289
No, you made the rule clear.
If he wants to throw a tantrum, let him have his little attention-fest. He'll either come to his senses and realize he's just another human on this earth, or he won't and you've just let the strife leave the group of their own decision.
As for the way XP should be handled, my policy is a lot like yours - you have to be present for XP. It encourages people to not wound the group with absence without making it a personal vendetta against the absentee.
~A113
>>46181981
As an aside, I still run the missing characters for the rest of the party. Inefficiently.
It keeps the absence from absolutely ruining the party capacity of a small (3-4) group without obviating the fact that the player isn't present.
~A113
>>46181981
>>46182016
Get a load of this faggot.
~Anon
>>46174289
>using XP at all
>not just leveling all characters together at story-appropriate times
it's like you're trying to be a garbage DM
>>46182178
>>46174289
>using XP systems
>not just levelling up the PCs when it's appropriate to the story
>>46174289
I give them XP in systems where that's relevant to keep them at the group's general level, but they're penalized by not receiving loot if they miss a session.
Attending D&D games is time consuming and should be rewarded, that reward is treasure, the occasional weird new ability and some extra XP opportunities.
I like to discourage missing sessions, because it impacts the fun for all the players, but I also like it because people who say they'll turn up to D&D then don't have wasted more of my time than is reasonable to excuse, and not always for understandable reasons like work.
You put in your time at the office if you want to get paid in cash.
You put in your time in the dungeon if you want to get paid in imaginary gold.
Simple as that.
>>46174289
>if your character is not present, they do not get XP
There should be some kind of qualifier to keep people from getting completely fucked by their RL obligations, like "All PCs will level up such that they are never more than 1 level behind the highest-level PC". You could also just run group XP and level everyone at the same time.
Either way, you don't want to punish people for having a life outside of dnd. If someone's too busy or unreliable to be considered part of your gaming group, then actually deal with that instead of passive-aggressively nerfing that person's avatar in an attempt to make him choose between his life and your game.
>>46174289
Anymore I tend to just level up the group as needed for plot or as it is justified by play.
But, when I have done experience, I would not awarded XP in your example. If another player (or you as the DM) had run the character then I would have. But I would not award XP for absent characters.
I don't even see how that is a question to be honest.
I would consider perhaps running something solo for him, maybe something quick, that would make up the xp. Just to cover what he was doing while the rest of the party was doing whatever. I'd likely be willing to overaward xp to make sure he catches up I suppose.
