Okay, so...I think everyone has had to deal with late or no-show players a few times, but I think this is a special case. I've got a campaign that I run online that has anywhere from 6-8 players. Here's the thing, though--we're in different time zones, so we game from 8 pm to 11 pm EST, 7 pm to 10 pm CMT. There are also a number of issues that keep about half the group away at the beginning, mostly erratic work schedules to putting their kids to bed to having to wrap up a night class to simply having a crappy Internet connection. So if we start gaming at 8, then by roughly 9:30 everyone is there. That leaves about an hour and a half where everyone's there.

These people are friends and family, and they've pretty much all said they'd like to join right when the game starts--it's just that real life gets in the way of that. By and large I'm sympathetic, but it brings up a problem. What do I do in the beginning with the 2-4 players who show up on time? I don't want to give them something they can't handle, which is hard if they're in the middle of an adventure, especially if I wanted to end things on a bit of a cliffhanger the last time. I've been trying to get away from that, but sometimes it's just what works in the session. At least one player has the Addicted Obligation, which works because his PC is usually in a stupor for the first part of the session. With the others, I'm not really sure.

Does anyone have some thoughts as to what to do with a fraction of the group? Has anyone had to deal with this before? Thanks.

Plan two 1.5 hour sessions instead of one 3 hour session.

Is starting an hour later a possibility? If it seems to be a common problem, then moving the time frame might be a better solution. My group plays online and we generally waste the first 30 minutes BSing anyways. Then we get going. If someone is a few minutes late, oh well, we were just BSing anyways.

If you started an hour late, then did a recap to make sure everyone was up to speed, the vast majority of the group is ready to go. As the last straggler or two show up, find a way to work them into the story.

These people are friends and family, and they've pretty much all said they'd like to join right when the game starts--it's just that real life gets in the way of that. By and large I'm sympathetic, but it brings up a problem. What do I do in the beginning with the 2-4 players who show up on time? I don't want to give them something they can't handle, which is hard if they're in the middle of an adventure, especially if I wanted to end things on a bit of a cliffhanger the last time. I've been trying to get away from that, but sometimes it's just what works in the session. At least one player has the Addicted Obligation, which works because his PC is usually in a stupor for the first part of the session. With the others, I'm not really sure.

Does anyone have some thoughts as to what to do with a fraction of the group? Has anyone had to deal with this before? Thanks.

Don't be sympathetic.

You need to have a blunt and frank conversation with them. They are being rude to the group and everyone else. Everyone has personal issues, relationship constraints, and a serious lack of personal time. It only gets worse as you age and gain more responsibilities and real life concerns. Time is the most valuable resource we have. Sound familiar? It is their excuse for holding up the game.

If it is only an occasional thing, sure let it slide with a brief mention about consideration. If it continues, pare down the party to just those who are serious about playing and not wasting the valuable time of everyone else. Offer to allow their characters a hiatus until their lives become more stable and then allow them to rejoin.

Be friendly but firm.

Don't be sympathetic.

You need to have a blunt and frank conversation with them. They are being rude to the group and everyone else. Everyone has personal issues, relationship constraints, and a serious lack of personal time. It only gets worse as you age and gain more responsibilities and real life concerns. Time is the most valuable resource we have. Sound familiar? It is their excuse for holding up the game.

If it is only an occasional thing, sure let it slide with a brief mention about consideration. If it continues, pare down the party to just those who are serious about playing and not wasting the valuable time of everyone else. Offer to allow their characters a hiatus until their lives become more stable and then allow them to rejoin.

Be friendly but firm.

This. I've had to deal with this lately and a straight forward conversation will either get them to make it a priority or allow you to pare down the group to the committed players. It can be a little awkward for sure, but it's for the best in the long run. Sometimes people don't realize the disruption that it is causing.

If you aren't open to that... I'm not really sure what you can do with the 3 or 4 that are on time. You could run a separate campaign with them with different characters. Them basically having double the game time as everyone else in the party does not seem viable to me in a combined campaign. If you don't want to ask others to show up earlier, then you will probably just have to shorten the session.

Don't be sympathetic.

You need to have a blunt and frank conversation with them. They are being rude to the group and everyone else. Everyone has personal issues, relationship constraints, and a serious lack of personal time. It only gets worse as you age and gain more responsibilities and real life concerns. Time is the most valuable resource we have. Sound familiar? It is their excuse for holding up the game.

If it is only an occasional thing, sure let it slide with a brief mention about consideration. If it continues, pare down the party to just those who are serious about playing and not wasting the valuable time of everyone else. Offer to allow their characters a hiatus until their lives become more stable and then allow them to rejoin.

Be friendly but firm.

This. I've had to deal with this lately and a straight forward conversation will either get them to make it a priority or allow you to pare down the group to the committed players. It can be a little awkward for sure, but it's for the best in the long run. Sometimes people don't realize the disruption that it is causing.

If you aren't open to that... I'm not really sure what you can do with the 3 or 4 that are on time. You could run a separate campaign with them with different characters. Them basically having double the game time as everyone else in the party does not seem viable to me in a combined campaign. If you don't want to ask others to show up earlier, then you will probably just have to shorten the session.

Yeah, I have had to do that a few times. Before my son was born we used to play every Sunday from noon to 6-ish. Now we have a smaller group that only gets maybe 3 hours every other week. I had to streamline who I wanted to play based on those who I could count on being regular and on-time.

The only other real option is to not give a darn about their characters. Let them come and go as they please. I have done this, but it ends up marginalizing the characters and the players simply by the fact you cannot rely on them to hang a story arc.

Eventually they often get bored and wander off.

Everyone's group dynamic is different. I agree that time is a precious resource, but so are relationships and sometimes the chronically late person makes up for it in some other way, perhaps by being the comic ham or (face to face) bringing the good snacks.

Have a discussion, definitely, and see how people feel about latecomers. Be sensitive to the general consensus.

Then, in any case, if you've got a missing player but you wanna start, just treat that player's character as an NPC. Simple and clean, and doesn't break the flow of anything or set the other PCs up to fail.

My group is on a so far 7month hiatus because my partner and i had a third child and i couldn't give the time needed to play... i miss it a lot. sometimes things get in the way and the sessions are less enjoyable when everyone is not there. i wouldn't be harsh on the players that are late, either play so they just jump in when ready, play later so its less of an issue, or play shorter sessions. kids and work can take a lot out of your life and getting time to be with friends playing RPG's is hard to coordinate, if they didn't want to play they would not still be joining in, so have a chat about it as a group. get a group buy-in "yes my character will do the basics until i join the session" or "ill just magically appear and jump in" or "we try to end in logical places, between scenes so this is easier on the story."

another approach could be to do the episodic style of campaign, each session is another A-Team episode.

Start on time as much as possible and have them holed up in the Spaceship doing some repairs.

At the end of the session they get 9xp and the others get 10xp, because the others were on time.

Yeah, straight out tell them "I appreciate that Real Life sometimes intrudes on pleasure time, but its not fair to the others who do manage to show up on time. So to that the game starts at X time, come hell or high water. Please make your arrangements to wrap up by then or don't be disappointed when you show up half way through the game."

And then play. Their characters are on guard duty back on the ship or got bit by a insect with Sleeping Sickness and spent the last two hours passed out. But don't hold up the proceedings because of a handful of tardy folks - and be sure to give the on-time people full experience and the latecomers appropriately scaled points.

Maybe use the situation the game starts off with to explain why they aren't there?

For example say end of last session they were investigating leads but this week two of them are unavailable so a freak communicator problem after they lost sight of each other meant the missing characters are held up and don't catch up with the others until a suitable point after their players turn up?

For instance they hitch a ride with some new friends but are unaware they're the groups new nemesis leading to suitable hijinx...

What obligations do the other PCs have?

Then, in any case, if you've got a missing player but you wanna start, just treat that player's character as an NPC. Simple and clean, and doesn't break the flow of anything or set the other PCs up to fail.

This has worked for me time and time again. The running joke is something about the gastrointestinal consequences of drinking tainted water and hyperspace. It's making me think there's a dianoga infestation in their refresher system of their vessel and if you happen to gargle when you shower ... well, I'll leave that alone.