Earlier this week, in the spirit of wanting to provide a game experience for my players in spite of half the group being unavailable, I asked why we couldn’t just show up and play anyway? Today, it’s game night and I am unprepared. Life happened, the Resistance slapped me around, it’s 15 minutes until session, and I’ve got nothing.
But I’m still going to show up.
I feel as though the session time needs to be sacrosanct for the GM. Even if no one else shows, it seems to me that being available is the basic expectation for the host. Except that, when you analyse it, that’s a pretty tough ask. What if you get ill, for example?
This is the tension, isn’t it? On the one hand there’s the desire to play and the expectation of providing an enjoyable time. On the other hand there’s our humanity and our frail grasp on the vagaries of our lived experience. How do we resolve this tension?
The truth is that I’m not ready to play the game I wanted to be running. Half my group is elsewhere on perfectly understandable interludes with family. The guys who are available have been quiet and not saying very much. As a GM, I feel the aloneness and the desire to run and hide… because uncertainty triggers fear.
What do I do? I believe I show up and see what shakes out. There’s nothing else to do. 🤞
Game on!
Roleplay Rescue’s Blog 
As GM and/or host, I think we have a higher level of responsibility. If Jack doesn’t show, we play on. But if the GM cancels, no one can use that rare free time to enjoy their hobby. OTOH, I get pretty cranky about player cancellations, with and sometimes without prior warning. There’s a threshold at which an ongoing campaign can’t function, IE you need a certain number of bodies. Again, that free time is precious and those who keep their commitments shouldn’t be penalized. I’m with you on not being prepared though. I’d give the group as much notice as I can, suggest some alternatives (board games probably), and then bow to the majority choice. I think odds are at least one player will want to play a board game with you.
LikeLike
[…] midweek and had gone understandably quiet. Worst of all, I wasn’t anywhere near prepped. I wrote about how I felt 15 minutes before the session and it wasn’t […]
LikeLike