When a PC dies, their player is left without an avatar to interact with the game world. This means that they can no longer play the game, and are forced to simply sit and wait while everyone else keeps playing.

This is not necessarily a terrible thing. There are many players who thoroughly enjoy the audience stance and can have a grand old time being entertained watching their fellow players trying to haul their corpse back to civilization for a raise dead spell (or seeking bloody vengeance for their death, whatever the case may be). But, generally speaking, you don’t want the players of a game to be in a position where they can’t play the game.

In Random GM Tips: Backup PCs we discussed a variety of techniques you can use to shorten the amount of time players are in this purgatory. But there will likely still be spans of time when they’re twiddling their thumbs.

So what can you do?

Have them assume the role of an NPC. This character might be an ally or companion of the PCs, in which case the role become sort of a temporary PC, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s quite possible for players to step into any supporting character or even assume the role of foes.

IN COMBAT

A fairly easy time to do this is during combat: A fight breaks out, you hand the idle player one of the monster’s stat blocks, and you ask them to roll for initiative.

It’s just that simple. They might be playing for the other “team,” but they’re actively playing the game. (And if the monster they’re controlling gets killed, you can always pass them the stat block of another.)

Combat can often be the most time-consuming — and also the least interesting if you’re not actively participating — part of play, so keeping a player engaged during these encounters can solve most of the problem all by itself.

There are a couple things to consider here. First, what if the player sandbags the encounter for the benefit of the other PCs? Ideally you have a player who can embrace the challenge, but if this is a concern simply give them an ancillary stat block instead of the central bad guy in the encounter.

Second, what if the player goes all-in and ruthlessly takes down the PCs? This becomes an issue if you’re designing encounters that are too difficult and then dumbing the NPCs down so that they don’t crush the PCs. The short version is that you should stop doing that. But if this is a concern, then you may want to rethink using this technique (or, once again, give the player a less power member of the encounter that’s less likely to go PC stomping).

These minor concerns aside, the reason this works so well is that:

• Monster stat blocks are designed to be picked up and played.
• The monster’s agenda in combat is so straightforward (defeat the PCs) that it probably doesn’t even have to be explained in words.

So it’s very easy for the player to grab the monster and jump straight into play.

IN ROLEPLAYING

We can learn from lessons from this as we consider how a dormant player can successfully step into an NPC’s role in other scenes.

The first thing we would need is a briefing sheet (similar to a monster’s stat block) that can be handed to the player and bring them up to speed on everything they need to know about the NPC. Fortunately, if you’re using the universal NPC roleplaying template, it basically solves this problem.

The second thing we need to do is clearly communicate to the player what the NPC’s agenda is. Outside of combat this can get quite complicated and/or nuanced, but you don’t want to spend a lot of time briefing the player in (which kind of defeats the purpose of keeping everyone involved, can wreck the pacing, and can easily overwhelm and stress out the player). Try to select roles with simple, straightforward agendas (like, “you need to make sure Old Bill tells the PCs that he saw Murray by the shed at 1 A.M. last night”). These might even be conveniently summarized in the Key Info section of the roleplaying templates (neatly killing two birds with one stone).

Take advantage of these moments, too. For example, it’s always challenging for the GM to stage a scene where multiple NPCs talk to each other. But if an NPC is being played by a player, suddenly the NPCs can have a true conversation at the table!

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL…

This technique also works even if the PC isn’t dead. Maybe they’re imprisoned, in a coma, in flagrante delicto, or simply across town staking out the warehouse belonging to the Quicksilver Corporation. Whatever reason the PC might have for not being in the current scene, you can bring the player into the scene through the supporting cast.

It can also be used for new players, who might assume a supporting role at the beginning of their first session until you can arrange for their character to join the group. An extreme example of this, for me, was a Trail of Cthulhu campaign in which the group was on an expedition in the middle of a trackless waste. The new player assumed the existing role of an NPC guide and, due to an unforeseen swerve in events, ended up playing this character for several sessions before their own character could be brought into the ongoing events.

In another case, during the first session of a campaign, the players had set things up so that their new characters would meet each other when a caravan arrived in a new town. (Some of the characters would logically be with the caravan, and others would be in town.) But, for various reasons, I wanted the caravan to be attacked on its way to town. Rather than leave half the group dormant, I immediately handed them the monster stat blocks and had them plan out the ambush on the caravan.

When using this technique, particularly with the not-so-deceased, you may want to keep one eye on spoilers. Make sure your NPC briefing sheets don’t contain sensitive information that the PCs/players shouldn’t have access to yet. You may also find that some players really WOULD prefer to remain in an audience stance rather than splitting their attention into a new role. Try to be aware of that and respect it.

Random GM Tip – Memorable NPCs Random GM Tip: Encounter Distance Random GM Tip: What Were We Doing Again?