Scheduling can throw out curveballs even for veterans ofDungeons & Dragons.
Some Dungeon Masters will insist on pausing the campaign when not everyone can make it.
Bring some fresh blood into your D&D campaign.
Dungeons & Dragons Tomb of Annihilation Illustration By Jedd Chevrier
Carrying on with someone missing can create its own challenges.
You also don’t want to waste the existing preparations you’ve done.
Here are a few ways to make it work.
Recruitment Drive by Diego Gisbert
You’ll want todiscuss with the players how these situations will be handledahead of time.
This saves you from having torebalance an encounter that has already been revealedto the players.
These types of games are often designed around the assumption of varying group availability.
Recruitment Drive by Diego Gisbert
The best approach is tocontinue as normal and then provide a recapto the player who couldn’t make it.
A side adventure takes place with the reduced cast
Campaigns atplot-critical momentsthat want all players present.
Otherwise, you’ll want to give them a concise summary of what they missed.
Art via Wizards of the Coast
Cover what their character is doing parallel to the group.
Often this jot down of side content won’t feature combat.
If multiple people wereabsent, you’ve got the option to run these together.
Concept Art from Keys from the Golden Vault by Evyn Fong
These long-term absences can be easier to handle because they’re less spontaneous and easier to plan around.
In character, you have a few different techniques for explaining a long-term absence.
Method
Hospitalised
A character might need a long time to recover from a mortal injury.
The Outlands Splash Art by One Pixel Brush
Punched Into Next Week
Time shenanigans can comfortably fit into most fantasy options.
So, a group of adventurers buy a bar.
