Greetings everyone, I'm a somewhat experienced Game Master who has a problem with player attendance. I ran Dark Heresy for my 40k club and my players have an awful tendency to flake at the last minute. Here's how it was:

I was running a character driven campaign Dark Heresy campaign for the latter half of 2008. My campaign was set up that missions would be long term, so it didn't lend itself well to players being unable to play their roles due to absense. At least 2 players would always be missing. It was from tons of sources: job shifts, children, complaining wife/girlfriend, exploding dog, you name it. I go into these games with the expectation that if you're too busy, you won't ask to play. However, because these players were still there, I expected most of it to be temporary. The game was originally weekly, then when that was too much, it became bi-weekly. When even this proved impossible to fit in, I decided on once a month. I gave my players a full 30 days to plan their schedule. I figured that this would be enough time, but my patience was short because of all the compromising and accomodating I had already done as well as a recent car accident. 3 of my players failed to show up that night even with all the advance notice I gave them. Having had to move and cancel sessions at least a dozen times already, I lost my temper, called them nasty names for wasting my time, and told them it was over and it was their fault.

Do you have any suggestions for house rules/literary devices I can use to deal with unpredictable player attendance? I don't want to punish players for having emergencies, but I don't want them to think that they can just come and go as they please either. What can I do?

I GM a group of people who are very busy - myself included - and it is a nightmare to get everyone in a room together without serious planning. We play every three-four weeks, and book the game two sessions in advance; so for example we have a session today, we already have another session booked a few weeks from now, and at the end of today's session we'll be booking another one for around six week's time.

This obviously needs quite a lot of discipline (not to mention people turning up with their diaries) but it means nobody has any excuse for failing to turn up. The only time that people should be failing to turn up is in the event of illness or other unavoidable bad stuff. That has happened a couple of times, and I've simply assumed their character wasn't there, and awarded no XP for the session. I expect this to be enough of a "punishment". The one time I had a player who was regularly late or absent, I had talked with her about why she was late, we agreed she would try and do better, and when her life began to get too busy, we agreed she would leave the campaign; this was quite amicable and didn't cause major problems for me.

For the most part my players want to be there so the "punishment" isn't really necessary. This isn't a coincidence; I spent a lot of time carefully selecting my player group from people who I felt would be committed, and explicitly not invited people I thought would flake on me even if I'd quite like to roleplay with them.

Of course, not everyone has the luxury of dozens of potential players to choose from. If you don't, my view is that you need to have an adult conversation with them before the campaign even starts, and explain that your campaign is one where you need absences to be the rare exception rather than the rule. Explain why, so they understand that in return for good attendance they are getting a better game from you. Ask if that is a problem - are there days you should avoid booking sessions, is there anything that might cause the player to unexpectedly miss a session - see if you can work around it. If you can't then you can politely suggest that this might not be the game for them after all.

I know some people probably favour using XP penalties, making nasty stuff happen to characters whose players don't turn up, and so on. That can certainly be effective, but it is a very poor second to the conversation mentioned above, because (presumably) you'd rather that your players took the game exactly as seriously as you, and make the effort to turn up, rather than having to use carrots and sticks to force them to. Also, punishments in particular can create bad feelings, which can really sour a campaign.

Simple.

Boils down to three things really.

Get a new group.

Advertise on a local community forum or in a FLGS. List dates that YOU can play and make others fit in around you.

Failing that, start an online game.

Or walk away from the hobby.

Troup-Style-Play
If everyone is unstable, start a game where no-one has a "personal" figure. Instead, the people get an "extended group" (represented by what the =I= in question deems to use for a mission) and the available players play one of these pc.

RPG
Every of this "pc" get some very small and simple character tags applied to them (angry old soldier, young fearsome psyker, etc.) and the pc have to play by that. That is a lot different to "normal RPG" and normally -reduces- the amount of "real roleplaying". Unless, you have players who really enjoy it.

Who uses whom?
If players show up on successive events, they play the figure they played last. Unless, they do want to take another "free" figure.

XP-Award
No individual XP. The group accomplished X and everyone unkilled gets the award y for it. You can, of course, grant xp for entertaining role playing..

Advancement
The group discusses just how the xp-account of a "figure" should be used for that figure, with the GM having the final saying. If you award "personal xp for roleplaying", a player can spend this xp on a figure for any advance HE wants. Of course, he has no "owing right" afterward.

Remark:
A lot of players will not like that. Most player enjoy playing and rising -their- character. But it is much better then having a GM that start to giving you names... and in addition, perhaps it reduced the amount of players whom want to join to the point where only reliable players heed the call.

You can improve player attendance with proper scheduling, and follow the schedule up by sending out a reminder to all active player. Try to make the schedule a regular thing, e.g. every sunday afternoon. Tell the players to call you or send you a message if they can't make a scheduled event: you need to know who's going to attend at least 24 hours before the session so you can make those last minute adjustments to the adventure.

Also, identify those players that are regular "maybes" and avoid basing important plot developments on ther characters.

If you find you don't have enough regulars to run a cohesive character-driven campaign then don't run a character-driven campaign.

-K

Vulkan He''stan said:

Kick them out of the group and replace them with more appricative players?

My group try to play weekly and the attendance is usually great (although it will probably look a little different now that we have brought in more players, but thats a natural consequence), we try mostly to play at sundays, because thats when everyone is usually free to play, and it lets people go out on fridays and saturdays (which are pretty common days for going out for everyone). But sometimes, sunday doesnt work for everyone so we usually re-schedule to saturday instead when that happens, instead of calling the game off alltogether.

But seriously, if your players have as much as a friggin MONTH to plan ahead you really shouldn't accept that behaviour. Sure emerencies can happen, but still if they had "emergencies" during weekly and bi-weekly sessions but cant even bring themselves to show up or at least give a notice several weeks in advance, when they have a whole month in to plan ahead then they really dont deserve the effort you put into your game. So tell them that you're gonna have to kick them out of the group if they dont get a grip (but theres no need to be overtly aggressive about it, just tell them in an "as a matter of fact" kind of way). And if that doesnt work, then kick them out an try to find replacements...

I think it really is a question of whether or not you can find more committed players. I have over the years had players that were there whether we played or not and others who showed up when they had nothing better to do. Usually I just stop telling those players when we are playing and it generally fixes itself. I find I am very lucky with the people I have. We play weekly in two games Saturday and Sunday with 6 and 4 people plus GM and they are very committed to being there. Of course some of these people I have been playing with for 20 odd years, so they are either committed or should be committed LOL. We also are lucky and have a semi-formal waiting list as well. We never punish people who can be there. Things come up such as work or sickness and those should be punishment enough. However I do feel your pain in having a good long term story die before its time. Maybe you could post it so we can read what u had in mind. Always looking for good ideas for my campaigns.

Thanks you all. These are really great posts.

I wish I could find more committed players, but I'm beginning to think that's impossible. I may just be unlucky in this regard, but the "most committed" people in my area have literally nothing else going on in their lives. That's not the kind of person I want to be around if I can help it. I just subscribe to a philosophy of "If your personal life is not my business, than it shouldn't be my problem either." However, when someone's life outside of my circle consistently interferes with it, it becomes my problem. My social circle's inability to do this though has made me ponder simply walking away from TTRPGs. I would really rather not but what choice have I got?

@kanejax

This is what I had. Much of it was and is very rough, but I still liked how things had been taking shape.

After all was said and done, I had 5 Acolytes. I had the players put together some form of backstory for the five of them. They were as follows: Feral World Assassin, Hive World Arbitrator, Imperial World Cleric, Void Born Imperial Psyker, and Imperial World Tech-Priest. I set up a very basic framework as I wanted things to be shaped by the Acolytes to an extent to give them a connection to what's going on.

Based on their backstories, I hatched the plots that set them apart from their peers.

Assassin-From Volonx, son of one of the local tribal chiefs. His father and most of his tribe were slaughtered by a tribe led by a Red Sonya like figure and her tribe who worshipped Khorne

Arbitrator-From Scintilla, son of a deceased high ranking Arbites. His father was murdered by a Psyker who made a pact with a daemon of Tzzentch in exchange for the ability to murder anyone by writing their name in a book and seeing their face. I freely admit ripping this off from Death Note.

Cleric-Disgraced son of a hedonistic noble, he became the apprentice of another battle-cleric who made it their aim to lead the fight against the enemies of the Emperor. It would have turned out that he was the only one of his clan not to be tainted by Slaanesh, and would have fought the current inheritor of his name, who happened to be his half-brother.

Imperial Psyker-born on board a ship similar to the Misericord that travelled between the worlds the Acolytes were born on. When he was young, he was nearly murdered by other children for no discernable reason. It turned out they were possessed by Undivided Daemons. His foe would have been one of these children.

Tech-Priest-trained on the Lathes but born on an Imperial world. His father had taught him to rely on his human intellect as well as on the Omnissiah's blessings. While not entirely comfortable with the most conservative, this stance was not heretical. Unfortunately, some tech-priests did not see it that way and their "mind rust" as it was termed was an actual communicable disease spread by Nurgle.

The Inquisitor, Luitger Dunstan, Ordo Hereticus and a former Acolyte of Inquisitor Von Vuygens, had been tracking these Five Horsemen of Chaos, who were coordinating their efforts to create a massive Warp Storm in the Sector through great ritual sacrifice. Using the Emperor's Tarot, he had found these 5 who would be best suited, due to their "closeness" to the targets as well as the desire for revenge. Through he did most of his work away from the Acolyte's sight, by communicating remotely and never revealing his face. This was done to make him mysterious and intimidating, but also not to steal the spotlight away from the Acolytes. I had planned seven phases, the introduction, one phase for each Acolyte's subplot, and the ending. I had planned for the entire thing to be the plan of an Istvaanian Inquisitor, believing this was necessary to strengthen the Imperium.

A bit of thread necromancy. I've come up with some basic rules. Some have been called harsh, but what do you all think?

This was what I posted on my game club's website. Some felt it was too harsh. Some felt it was long overdue. What do you all think?

Maximum # of Players allowed: 6

Attendance Policy

1) You must plan your schedule as far ahead as possible. This means reading your work schedule, social calendar, etc. and coordinating them. I will provide the app as soon as possible to meet this need and keep it simple. The game will probably be bi-weekly.

2) When the date is set, you are expected to attend, emergencies not withstanding. You must be able to reliably get to the club on the date and time specified. Emergencies include: debilitating sickness in you or a loved one, a crashed car, or a REAL work emergency.

3) You have 3 strikes when you fail to attend due to a non-emergency. You get 3, you're out. Do not complain, because I will not listen. Your work and family schedule is YOUR problem to balance. If your boss keeps forgetting to give you time off, it's YOUR problem. If you keep getting called in for work at inopportune times, it's YOUR problem. If your wife/girlfriend is complaining that you're spending too much time away from her, it's YOUR problem. If niggling crap keeps coming up, it's YOUR problem. Once again, your personal life is not my business, so don't make it my problem.

Gameplay Policy
1) We need to start promptly. You must make the effort to be on time.

2) Keep the BSing to a minimum.

3) Electronic devices will be permitted so long as they do not become a distraction.

4) We will take breaks every hour for 10 minutes. You can do your stuff then. Until then, you can cope.

If you disagree with any of the above, this is not the campaign for you.

Personally, I would leave the "three strikes" rule out. Several reasons:

- It seems quite harsh, though that may just be the wording

- It may encourage people to lie

- It paints you into a corner if in reality you decide you don't want to drop a person (for whatever reason)

My suggestion is that you keep the rule, but don't tell the players about it. The first time anyone cries off without a decent excuse, give them a warning. The second time, tell them it's their final warning. The third time, chuck 'em. They're still getting fair warning, but you avoid the bad feeling of dire threats hanging over the game from day one.

@Cardinalsin: You do have a good point. No matter what, it does come across as harsh. I felt it was somewhat warranted because my players had interpreted my flexibility as an excuse to just walk in and out whenever they pleased. It was my way of drawing a line in the sand and saying "no more." In terms of reality though, I'm going to have it work out the way you have said. These people are my friends too. I just want them to know that I'm not going to tolerate the wasting of my time and effort anymore.

Honestly you might need to add an exception for the wife/gf thing if its an anniversery theres no way i would go to a gaming session unless my girl came with me...or an important date honestly i would tell the gm "i have to go on a date with my gf/wife and if real life gets me kicked out of fantasy so be it but im just telling you shes important to me and unfortunatley the group must come second to companionship" this might sound a little harsh but i saw a relationship fall apart because the guy always said he wouldnt hang with his girl because he was with the group...and honestly if a girl wants to even be near a guy that plays rpgs i suggest getting the girl involved in the game then the sessions are like a minidate...although you need to keep them seperated from eachother and focused on the game because pda makes most ppl want to shoot themselves and if the couple wants to the badly im sure they can wait a few hours.

@ThenDoctor

There has to be a balance. Your friend simply had it in the opposite direction of my friends. He was far too into it. My friends aren't into it enough. Both are equally as bad. You're wrong if you believe that I expect my friends to wreck their relationships. All I expect of them is to plan and manage their time as mature adults are supposed to do. If my friends have an anniversary, I'd ask them to have the courtesy to tell me so I could plan so they don't conflict.

Unfortunately, I've had too many friends who get offended that they aren't being included and yet when go time came would disappear because their girlfriend is demanding they drop everything to attend to their every little "need." I speak of those like the one mentioned here in this link.

http://unmoderated.info/cm/showentry.php?e=16&catid=member&entryuserid=168

Ultimately, it's not my business who my friends date, but I have no wish to feel the effects of their drama. I've also had enough of "I'm in a relationship" being used as an excuse for rude and inconsiderate behavior. A good SO understands that you need space and time for yourself.

As for girlfriends wanting to join in, I would be fine with it if they're genuinely interested.

ThenDoctor said:

I would think that rules 1 and 2 cover this - the idea is that you know your anniversary in advance, so you know not to book a session then.

I tend to agree with Vulkan that inviting partners is fine if they're actually interested. But there's nothing worse than having someone present who doesn't like roleplaying and is just there to be with their partner. By booking well in advance, it should be possible to ensure you are making time for your significant other, and still make it to gaming sessions.

i liked it when my ex played the game with me it was fun that we could both have inside jokes about the game outside of it and i could brag to all my friends hehe...but yes i see what you mean about the telling in advance, and in all honesty thats what it comes down to...what comes up in your life

I am lucky enough to have a roleplayer for a girlfriend, so we play together a lot. But my experience of non-roleplayers (both friends, family and partners) getting involved has not been very positive :o/

for her it was her first time playing and honestly she jumped right in making us drool over her assassain, but then again it was basicly the first chick to play with us so we were lenient on her character at the begining though eventualy it got pretty good.

Funny that you should both mention that. I just asked out a girl was attached to a 4E D&D campaign I'm in.

ThenDoctor said:

Dude you seriously cant blame it on an "anniversary thing". If it really IS an anniversary thing then you should be able to look it up in a calendar or at least keep the date in your head and in that regard you should be able to mention that while planning to play.

Also if your wife/girlfriend/whatever is important to you, dont you think that YOU should be important to HER as well? In that regard she should be able to let you play rpg's with your friends once or twice a month and not ***** about it.

And what is this crap about "if a girl wants to be near a guy that plays rpgs"? Of course a girl wont want to be near a guy who automatically assumes that playing rpg's are a big turn-off, because said guy's confidence and low self-esteem about his hobby and himselg as a person will certainly show. If said guy instead choose not to place her on a piedestal, and keeps himself from resorting to p***ywhipped behavior im sure that the guy would be able to keep his girlfriend/wife/whatever and not only still be playing but being proud of his hobby, because it is an important hobby to him and by definition an aspect of him as a person. For chrissake the girl is not supposed to be with you for what hobbies you have but for the kind of person you are! Settling for anything less is not only stupid but severely desperate...

I personally say your rules are fair, while maintaining the balance between your self and your girlfriend/boyfriend is important, you need a little "you" time. And if that time happens to involve you pretending to be a spandex clad assassin in the far future...

Whatever

Though seriously, I can sympthasize with anyone who has problems with players who seem to be welded to their other half. It is seriously annoying. My DH campaign has been on hold for a month and 2 weeks now because one player uses EVERY weekend avaliable to bugger off halfway up the country to see his girlfriend. Good for him but please...Think about your other friends?

The rules aren't that bad at all, probably a bit tougher than I'd use, but pretty fair overall.

Personally I set a game up about a week in advance, so my players generally already know their plans and can tell me whether or not my proposed time suits and don't have time to forget about it. If someone does have something come up and they tell me about it, I'll try and write them out somehow. (Having them receive a debilitating injury during an opening fight scene, or succumb to a debillitating illness plucked from wfrp are favourites)If they have something come up and don't tell me about it, I give control of the charachter to my other players and it's the first players fault if they end up having to roll a new charachter...

I haven't ever really come across the significant other thing though, so I don't know how I'd react in that situation. Probably give their charachter a venereal disease or something.

cyclocius said:

Sounds like the guy is locked up in a distance relationship. Don't count on seeing him for sessions much if he has to travel far in order to just see her. Then again their relationship will probably end due to the distance and him acting like he was welded to his other half. But until that time i suggest you drop him out of the campaign if you can.

If you know that you want to go see your girlfriend during every forseeable weekend then you shoudln't volunteer to play in a lengthy campaign anyway...

Varnias Tybalt said:

I know :/ He just phoned me to say he wasn't seeing her this weekend (I actually told him: "Finally" down the phone ) before he said he was going to Cyprus for 2 weeks. Nerd Rage....

cyclocius said:

I sympathize. The Assassin's player had to cancel for 2 weeks straight because he had to go to India. My initial reaction was "Who the #%*@ does he know in INDIA?!" His wife is an agent and is on a first name basis with many celebreties, including Bollywood ones.

cyclocius said:

Welcome to the rest of your life. Seriously. This is what it will be like forever.

My gaming group is hitting 30 or so, and it's just gone downhill as years go by. This is the way it is. As more guys encounter more girls, the things everyone thought were important will pass by the wayside.