Hey all, my friend is starting a new game. We have some newbies joining and their attendance maybe hit and miss, with work schedules and life. What are some creative ways your groups have managed missing players outside of someone paying for them one session?
The way I’ve handled it over the years is to run the campaign episodically and keep the party consistently on the move. Think Star Trek, Kung Fu, Power Rangers, etc. Essentially, build up the plot gradually, but have each “episode” focus on the characters who are there and able to act. Focus on the characters present in the episode; then have the others get filled in as they swap in and out. Obviously you can do callbacks, but you don’t need to have everyone in every game that way. Heck, you can call back to things a character wasn’t present for so that they learn about the event diegetically.