![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Shit happens.
I think we can all agree on that. It happens to all of us, and always when we least expect it. (Hell, if it were expected it wouldn't be "shit", would it?)
But it's rare, very very rare, that shit happens so unexpectedly that there's no time to tell someone else about it, so plans that were made can be altered.
Cases in point: I'm gm-ing a couple of role-playing games, a Call of Cthulhu scenario on Thursdays and an Ars Magica chronicle on Sundays. This past Thursday, one of the players sent a heads-up email saying he'd be late to the game; instead, he was a no-show. I ran a couple of scenes for the other characters, but Mister Not-Here was crucial to a plotline and I couldn't "ghost" around him. I understand work and deadlines and the pressure to meet them, even if I haven't had a job since August. However, it seems to me that when you learn you're going to be overwhelmed and can't make the game at all, you might pick up the phone and let the rest of the players know so they can figure out how-- or whether-- to work around your absence.
Likewise, half of my four players bailed on today's game; the first I found out about it was when the other two walked in saying the missing pair wouldn't be coming. No warning, no chance to figure out how to accomodate the absent characters. I tried, honestly I did, but the game just wasn't working so we watched some anime instead. But I could have kept the folks who did show up from wasting their time if only I'd been given the courtesy of a call or email. And I could have taken a nap, gone out with the kids, done something besides feel like a dolt for not being flexible enough to cope with half the players not showing up.
It's a matter of courtesy. Taking a moment to inform other people who're affected by your choice to do, or not do, something to which you've commited.
I think we can all agree on that. It happens to all of us, and always when we least expect it. (Hell, if it were expected it wouldn't be "shit", would it?)
But it's rare, very very rare, that shit happens so unexpectedly that there's no time to tell someone else about it, so plans that were made can be altered.
Cases in point: I'm gm-ing a couple of role-playing games, a Call of Cthulhu scenario on Thursdays and an Ars Magica chronicle on Sundays. This past Thursday, one of the players sent a heads-up email saying he'd be late to the game; instead, he was a no-show. I ran a couple of scenes for the other characters, but Mister Not-Here was crucial to a plotline and I couldn't "ghost" around him. I understand work and deadlines and the pressure to meet them, even if I haven't had a job since August. However, it seems to me that when you learn you're going to be overwhelmed and can't make the game at all, you might pick up the phone and let the rest of the players know so they can figure out how-- or whether-- to work around your absence.
Likewise, half of my four players bailed on today's game; the first I found out about it was when the other two walked in saying the missing pair wouldn't be coming. No warning, no chance to figure out how to accomodate the absent characters. I tried, honestly I did, but the game just wasn't working so we watched some anime instead. But I could have kept the folks who did show up from wasting their time if only I'd been given the courtesy of a call or email. And I could have taken a nap, gone out with the kids, done something besides feel like a dolt for not being flexible enough to cope with half the players not showing up.
It's a matter of courtesy. Taking a moment to inform other people who're affected by your choice to do, or not do, something to which you've commited.
