Firstly, life happens. Being able to GM an ever changing party of PC’s is a required skill.
So what do I do?
Fritz has explisive diarroea. Told you hiring a goblin cook was a bad idea.
Roderick fell into a portal trap. The party resques him a week later.
Gail got a letter from her boyfriend. He wants to talk…
And so on. There is always a teason in the fiction.
I have a few fallbacks….
They get drunk, start a fight, and get arrested. The party could rescue them (an adventure in its own right, as the member is still so hungover as to be useless) or they could go about their business, since the punishment is to be locked up for just a few days.
The locals warn that a local goblin band ambushed the last group seeking to enter the Lost Dungeon Of The Week. The missing player’s character volunteers to lead (and keep an eye on) a few militia hirelings who will encamp at the mouth of the dungeon and prevent an ambush.
In Dungeon World in particular I like to fall back on having their character doing something that entitles the player to a few BOLSTER holds when they get back.
Whatever the case, they get as much XP as the lowest-earning member present.
Firstly, life happens. Being able to GM an ever changing party of PC’s is a required skill.
So what do I do?
Fritz has explisive diarroea. Told you hiring a goblin cook was a bad idea.
Roderick fell into a portal trap. The party resques him a week later.
Gail got a letter from her boyfriend. He wants to talk…
And so on. There is always a teason in the fiction.
I have a few fallbacks….
They get drunk, start a fight, and get arrested. The party could rescue them (an adventure in its own right, as the member is still so hungover as to be useless) or they could go about their business, since the punishment is to be locked up for just a few days.
The locals warn that a local goblin band ambushed the last group seeking to enter the Lost Dungeon Of The Week. The missing player’s character volunteers to lead (and keep an eye on) a few militia hirelings who will encamp at the mouth of the dungeon and prevent an ambush.
In Dungeon World in particular I like to fall back on having their character doing something that entitles the player to a few BOLSTER holds when they get back.
Whatever the case, they get as much XP as the lowest-earning member present.