When Nature Calls (CSC)

__TOC__
: "Yikes, it's eight o'clock! I was supposed to be home at 7:30! I'm in for it now. See you next week, guys."
: "What happens to Frank's dwarf Thuenor was the only fighter we had lift."
It would be nice if the outside world could be kept from intruding on the DM's carefully ordered game world However, players are people (it's really true!) and people often have commitments that take them away from the gaming table. The fact that Thuenor is the party's only fighter means little to a players wife if he was supposed to be home an hour before. Likewise, a player's urgent need to "pay rent" on the two litres of soda pop he's ingested since the game began may not wait for a convenient rest break. Either way, a player character disappears from the game, often at an inopportune moment
So what's a DM to do? Consider the following options:
==He's dead Jim!==
Without the player at the table to control him, the character dies, struck down by a bolt from heaven (or a sudden coronary). This heavy-handed style of play is not recommended if it seems likely that the DM would like to keep this player in his game (or even keep him as a friend).
==Sleeping Beauty==
The character collapses in a limp heap. Nothing can wake him and nothing can hurt him. For the convenience of the other characters, the afflicted one could move around like a sleepwalker, a somnambulating zombie. Like Snow White, the sleeping character waits to be reawakened. How he gets out of the dungeon, whether he must be carried or walks zombie-like on his o~ is up to the DM.
==There's No Place Like Home==
When the player leaves, his character is instantly teleported to wherever it is that the adventurers hang out between quests. All hit points, experience points and accumulated treasure are intact. Of course, if the PC group doesn't return here at the end of the play session, the DM must come up with an equally implausible way to return the character to be with his comrades. Warning: some bright player is going to figure out that this is a quick way out of a bad spot. When the PCs find themselves surrounded by bugbears, he says "Gosh, lookit the time, well I gotta be going now!"
==Into the Bermuda Triangle==
Some fluke of the universe swallows the character and he disappears to who knows where, possibly another plane where time passes not. When the player comes back, his character reappears from limbo and time starts again.
==Polymorph to NPC==
When the player leaves, his character becomes a nonplayer character under the control of the DM. His character still fights and even takes risks, but cannot lead or propose innovative solutions. Whether or not the character gains experience is up to the DM. When the player returns once more his character is returned to him, along with any wounds or treasure he may have accumulated.
==Changing Hands==
Control of the character shifts to another player until his original player's return. The new player treats the character just like one of his own. Unfortunately, any secret information recorded on the character sheet is revealed to the new player. Furthermore, any special knowledge known only to the original player and the DM is usual1y not shared.
The solution real1y depends on the playing style of the group and how long the player expects to be gone and possibly even his reason for leaving. Zapping the character of a player who has to make a mad dash for the bathroom is grossly ill1fair, but the same cannot be said for the player who becomes engrossed in a movie showing on television.
All in all, we have found that the last two solutions, polymorphing into an NPC and changing hands, work well in almost every situation. Most of the other, more dramatic solutions, should be used sparingly (if at all) for they tend to disturb the "suspension of disbelief which is integral to any roleplaying game.
Whatever the choice, remember this: chances are that the DM may find himself a player in campaign run by that very same player. Revenge is often fatal, final and unpleasantly sweet.