So I've made a post about this campaign before and if you want info on it go here. Anyways, one of my players can't play any more bc of problems at home. She's already super plot-relevant and has a destiny in this campaign (that I haven't quite figured out yet haha :smiling-crying:). One of the PC's already k!lled himself bc the player didn't like his personality and had a better character idea anyways. So I allowed it. MY. BAD. There's a lot of grief in the party as it is, and I don't want her to just get killed off, so here are the current options I've thought up:

Option 1: She stays with an NPC (that she has connections with from a previous campaign, they went through some sh!t together) for a while until we can sort this whole thing out, or she just doesn't want to go on this adventure any more, and its not worth it in her eyes.

Option 1a: Her dad (a previous mini-big-bad who she has a lot of problems with- which they are currently working out) stays with her (which would aleviate two of my problems at once bc i didn't intend for them to take him with them but that's my fault for not planning ahead) at the NPC's house. 

Option 2: Some sort of divine thing draws her away from the party. Maybe a message from a god or something (She's an atheist, but has had contact with a god two before).

I'm here to ask which I should go with, or maybe even a third option that I can't think of on less than 6 hours of sleep. 

HALP :'D

I would work with the player to determine what she would want for her character, outlining the options you have above. It gives her agency in her character, and leaves the door open if she chooses to come back.

How about an actual happy ending? If the party is in a town, maybe she meets someone in a bar and just clicks with them and decides to stay there and see how it goes. Or she and her dad reconcile and he pays for her to go to school? or give her his business? Or maybe she befriends an orphan kid and decides to take care of them? Or one of her previous mentors meets up with her and asks for her help with something and she goes off with them?

You don't need some master plan for this, you can just talk to the players and say "Hey so and so can't play anymore, so their character is just going to go off and do their own thing." Why make a big thing of it? 

D&D is never going to have perfect narrative cohesion, so stop trying to force it. You're making unnecessary drama. Even professional shows like Critical Role have episodes where a character is just off screen or behaves differently because the player wasn't available. 

If you didn't mean for them to bring the dad along, why is he still there? Just have him find a job in a town and decide to stay there and leave the adventuring to the younger folk.

Yes i forgot to mention that I'm working with her and the rest of the group to see what they think would be best for all of them

By the way I editited the first post and actually inserted the link to my previous forum :sweating smiling:

I agree with agilemind’s ideas. 
Also keep in mind, “she walks away and you never expect to see her again.” Is a perfectly reasonable option. That sort of thing leaves open a lot of narrative options. Because, of course, they can see her again if you like. Maybe you need an NPC the party will trust to show up and help out, swooping in for the fight before the last one and she pulls the old “I’ll hold off the minions, you just go get that bastard.” Then the party goes on to face the BBEG.
Or she can  spoon feed the players some information. Turns out she’s still been working on the same problems, just from a different angle, and now she can give them a piece of the puzzle. 

Or, you can always turn her into a bad guy. Maybe she steals some important macguffin on her way out. Or just uses her knowledge of the party members to work against them. Though I’d really only do this if the player either really pissed you off, or is cool with their character doing a heel turn. 

Whatever you do, don’t kill her. An NPC with that level of investment in the party is gold.

I like these ideas, thankyou! ^v^

Once the dust settles irl, perhaps she can even come back as a bbeg minion. The Evil Queen could maybe use her... She is a wild magic sorceress, so maybe her curse runs wild. >:)

Also, @Agilemind , he tried. Several times. It's a long story (.__. ;)

Btw, Ik we aren't gonna have a concise storyline, but I'm still kinda new to this. At this point, I'm going with whatever feels like the party will like most while still trying to move the story along. I've also moved across the country during this campaign so there's been a subpar performance from me for a while and I'm still trying to get back in the groove. This sounds like excuses but they're legit reasons 

perhaps she can even come back as a bbeg minion. The Evil Queen could maybe use her... She is a wild magic sorceress, so maybe her curse runs wild. >:)

And then you wonder why your party has trust issues and are constantly in fighting? Don't use ex-party members or current party members as villains, for the most part don't use their close family members of the player characters as villains. In general, people don't want a depressing game where everyone sucks, everyone is a bad guy. They usually want to feel like heroes being the good guys saving the good innocent people from the villains, and eventually getting a happy ending.

Ok. Here's a model for solving your issues: 

The 'destiny' of this character is to become the BBEG - or closest henchwoman - and fight the party. One night, around the campfire, the PC and her dad have a whispered discussion. The next morning, they are both gone. 

Throughout the game, the PC's may find subtle clues that the lost PC has been around, doing .. something. Then, finally, she'll appear either as the BBEG, or at the BBEG's side, along with her dad, of course.

That ties a nice ribbon on all the loose ends you have, and you can move on. The player however cannot come back and reclaim her character. 

It's unclear to me whether both player and PC are female. It seems so? Otherwise, my bad =)

That ties a nice ribbon on all the loose ends you have, and you can move on. 

But it's the opposite of moving on. You're keeping them both involved in the plot for many many sessions, potentially until the end of the campaign. Everytime they come up it will remind the other players of the person that is missing from the table, and it will make the player characters feel guilty and/or betrayed. That's not a good thing! It might even be read by the other players as you being vindictive to the player who left to make sure they can never come back.

Just as people don't need to become horrible people to leave a D&D table, player characters don't need to become villains and be killed by the other players to stop adventuring. Have them just walk away, then if that player decides they have time and want to come back they can do so without the entire rest of the party hating them or having to make a new character.

Also, @Agilemind , he tried. Several times. It's a long story (.__. ;)

Sorry, but this is just dumb. You are god of the world, and the brain of this character. If you want him to leave and start a business somewhere there is literally nothing that can prevent that from happening. You invent a town or an NPC that desperately needs someone with his skills, and you decide his mind cannot be changed, et voila! He's gone. I don't understand how you are unable to fix anything... you are the deus in deus ex machina. Just fix it.

I agree with Agilemind, with the player's permission obviously give them a happy ending and just leave it there. You'll probably be surprised how readily players will accept a fairly major character just no longer being in the story, they'll freely handwave for themselves a character not doing anything except following silently along for a session or two because Dave has to work late and can't make it and they'll definitely be fine with the idea of a character just never leaving the tavern one day and never being seen again. As mentioned even Critical Role did it a lot in campaigns 1 and 2 

From this and the previous plea for help I think you're just getting stuck in your own head and over thinking things. Like Agilemind said you are basically the god of this world, both player characters and NPCs can leave without explanation and so long as everyone is having fun they'll go along with it

Quote from Agilemind >>

perhaps she can even come back as a bbeg minion. The Evil Queen could maybe use her... She is a wild magic sorceress, so maybe her curse runs wild. >:)

And then you wonder why your party has trust issues and are constantly in fighting? Don't use ex-party members or current party members as villains, for the most part don't use their close family members of the player characters as villains. In general, people don't want a depressing game where everyone sucks, everyone is a bad guy. They usually want to feel like heroes being the good guys saving the good innocent people from the villains, and eventually getting a happy ending.

 @OP please read and then reread this paragraph from Agilemind, as they hit the nail on the head. It sounds like the players are constantly at odds because you are adding in too much turbulence. It might seem like a fun plot point to have trusted NPC's betray the party, or to have the duped, or cheated, but if that's all that you do, then of course you'll run into these problems. Give them a chance to trust people, give them a chance to have fun together. Not everything needs to be high-stress, tense, or a desperado stand-off. 

I ran my players through a very stressul arc in the nine hells at high level, and I'm still working on getting their trust back, almost a year IRL from when we finished that arc. I can't imagine what a full game of just that would do to the players. 

Quote from Agilemind >>Just fix it.

 It's not stupid, it doesn't work like that.

Firstly, If he could, he would. But he's a very fragile guy and it wouldn't make any sense for him to just up and leave. Also, I feel like I should mention that they are in a very desolate area where there are little to no towns for miles.

Also, none of the table will hate her, we are all friends and we love the drama. The evil hench-gal will work, heck, it'll be even more fun that her just homer simpson-ing. And I'm not going to just do this without her permission, I'm going to discuss with all of them what they think would be a good option to move forward with. We are all a very close team. 

I probably am overthinking things, yes. :sweating smiling:

We've been going through a "decompress" kind of arc recently, where its just traveling and bonding. Half the party is trying to make a wagon (which they've dubbed the "pimp-mobile") to protect one another from the elements whenever they get tired or need a quick shelter. They've started sparring with one another during their off-time to give each other feedback and making up combo moves. That previous "help i ruined my campaign" post is from a few months ago, and I've worked through that bit mostly. I agree that constant turmoil and turbulence aren't good for a campaign, and I'll admit that I was messing about with that whole wild magic idea. That may be too far, but we'll see how the player feels about it.

Also, quick disclaimer: I'm not here to go behind my player's backs. We are all planning on calling this weekend to talk about how to move forward with this, as we value communication. 

It's not stupid, it doesn't work like that

Firstly, If he could, he would. But he's a very fragile guy and it wouldn't make any sense for him to just up and leave. Also, I feel like I should mention that they are in a very desolate area where there are little to no towns for miles.

It does work like that. If they are in a desolate area then:

• there is a merchant or a group of nomadic peoples who just happening to be travelling to a nearby town and hey they could really use a hand taking care of their animals or looking after the little ones, would Mr. former-bad-guy Father like a chance at redemption as well as an escort to a nearby safe area?
• there is a small community of pacifist monks (Hermits United) who live in this remote area to keep out of politics of the world, and don't they just strongly believe in redemption through spirituality and service, offering simple hospitality to the lost souls travelling the wastes, wouldn't Mr. former-bad-guy Father like to join?
• there is a small damaged scouting/hunting outpost that got attacked by a roving monster, mum and dad are dead but two little kids survived hiding in the cellar, and wouldn't you know it Mr. former-bad-guy Father just feels obligated to stay and look after the little ones until help arrives from nearby settlement.
• The party come across a group of living-teddy-bear like creatures who just happen to believe in a god that looks just like Mr. former-bad-guy Father and insist they stay and be their leader.

Also, none of the table will hate her, we are all friends and we love the drama.

To clarify I meant they would hate her character not her as a person, so she would either have to make a new character to rejoin the party or you'll be back in the "help! the party just keeps fighting with each other" situation you had from before. If your party loves the drama and all your ideas work out great then why are you here asking for help? 

Quote from LocoCocoDraws2 >>

Quote from Agilemind >>Just fix it.

 It's not stupid, it doesn't work like that.

Firstly, If he could, he would. But he's a very fragile guy and it wouldn't make any sense for him to just up and leave. Also, I feel like I should mention that they are in a very desolate area where there are little to no towns for miles.

 I appreciate you trying to keep your NPCs with a consistent personality. But it’s important to remember this is a game, not the next great fantasy novel. If a character’s behavior is getting in the way of the story, you can change the behavior. If the character is a pain the butt to have hanging around, you can have them leave. Don’t let one NPC’s personality side-track things; get them out of the way.

Doing otherwise is basically the DM version of, “but that’s what my character would do.” And that’s always a red flag sentence. 

Oh no I meant that they would enjoy the plot twist (so long as I time it right, of course). Like, it would be fun for her to come back later once the dust settles. They really enjoyed having my character form our old campaign come back as an NPC. It's those kinds of things.

And not all my ideas work great, that's why I'm here asking for ideas. I'm by far not the greatest DM, I'm just a kid (relatively). I'm doing this as a last resort kind of thing. Sorry if my tone made you think that...

When you put it that way o__o;

Seriously though, I legit didn't know that was an actual option. I had planned these character's personalities and just straight up thought I couldn't change them for fear of messing things up (Which makes no sense). 

*The more you know screen plays* (thank you haha)

Quote from LocoCocoDraws2 >>

When you put it that way o__o;

Seriously though, I legit didn't know that was an actual option. I had planned these character's personalities and just straight up thought I couldn't change them for fear of messing things up (Which makes no sense). 

*The more you know screen plays* (thank you haha)

 Don’t forget that even real people often do things that seem totally out of character to those around them. People are messy and there’s no reason fictional ones should be held to a higher standard than real people. If you need them to act in a certain way just make them act that way. I’d be very surprised if anyone other than you even notices 

Quote from LocoCocoDraws2 >>

She's already super plot-relevant and has a destiny in this campaign (that I haven't quite figured out yet haha :smiling-crying:)

That's actually ideal. Much easier to drop the character out completely that way and pivot to something else

"Oh hey, you know that prophecy all the wizards and sages were sure referred to Character because of her birthmark? Turns out it wasn't about her at all. I guess her destiny can be whatever she wants it to be, like running a bakery."