[Vaarsuvius]

I'd like to start off with: Greetings! I'm new to these boards, somewhat new to shadowrun, not new to RPG's.

So I started this game I'm running mid April, and origonally it was meant to be once every two weeks, changing to once a week when another game ended (it occupied that slot otherwise we would have started once a week). I really don't like doing a game once every two weeks but whatever I was really enthused to do Shadow run, so whatever.

However shortly after we started summer hit and with it came excessively frequent cancellations (in all my games this happens every summer) and my game was coincidentally affected the most. The only thing is it didn't stop when people stopped going on vacation. This entire time I think we've played 5-6 sessions.

I just got home and looked at Facebook and people canceled, sickness, maybe that Dresden is also cancelled tomorrow (My game was supposed to be tonight). I think it really has been co-incidence, I don't think that people are purposefully avoiding my game or something like that. It's just that I've been dealing with this quite stoically, but when I got home looked online and saw that the game was cancelled my attitude officially transitioned from understanding, to extremely frustrated. We all have very full (of games) schedules so there is really nowhere else to transfer the game.

I don't really see what conversation could really accomplish in this situation, it's not like people are cancelling on purpose, or because they want to. But I am dead tired of this (to the point of joining a forum to talk about it) and I would like some constructive advice or something.

[LordGrizzle]

MAybe other people have better ideas. But I can only tell you, if we have an agreed schedule as a group and people are completely incapable of keeping to that schedule then I generally tend to not play with those players anymore.

[Carmody]

At my table we try to play once a week. We used to discuss on monday to find the better suited day for everyone. It worked well for quite some time. Then it became more and more difficult to find a proper day for all players, and we had to cancel more and more games.
We decided to move to a fixed day of the week, so that people can arrange in advance and make sure to be available the said day (well... maximize chances I mean).
As of today we still do that and it works great.

[Reaver]

Sometimes that Life.. Lord knows I've had to back out of playing and GMing some games when Life throws me a curveball.

but if it's really starting to bother you, the way I see it, you have a couple of options.

A: find a new group of players that you get along with and have a schedule that fits yours.

B: See if you can move the game to maybe a different time slot or even online.

Both options can be a pain in the butt to work out and/of manage, but sometimes a change of venue can also help...

In my younger years, we used to play at the local Denny's after we finished up at the Bar.. So the games generally started at 3am and went to 7am. And we did for about 2 years until we finished college and got on with our lives... From there we moved the games to an online format (similar to what happens here.. because well, I'm old and the internet sucked back then.. unless you wanted free porn!)

Nowadays, we go with a group Skype system for my original group just because we are spread across the country and no one is going to fly 12 hours just to play a game It works well for us.. but then again we have also been gaming together for almost 30 years so we know each other very well...

[cantrip]

We attempt to play with one GM and three players online once a week - sounds like you already have the day/time set, that helps a lot. But, just as has been mentioned RL happens.  For example, one of my players and sometimes GM just shipped out to a remote for a year and a half. No wireless until the end of January at the earliest. So, we are going to continue on as time allows and have their character doing something else during this time or relegated to backup as the GM needs.
So, my opinion is to play regardless - if you have one player, go solo or invite other people (if it is a FLGS) to jump in as NPCs - if you have just a couple, continue on. It's up to you if you have the other PCs do the run or just weren't available being engaged in some other nefarious activities. Eventually you'll have a solid core of people and will have a few more that come and go. Just the nature of roleplaying nowadays.

Just a few thoughts! 

[farothel]

I can totally relate.  In my group we are with 4 people (GM + three players and we rotate GM duties).  Last Friday was the first time in more then 2 months we managed to play, first because I was on holiday for quite some time, then another player couldn't (I don't know the reason anymore).  Unfortunately, as said before, RL happens and if all the RL issues for the players fall at the same time, it's just a short break, but if they fall one after the other (like in my case), the period can be quite long.  We're not getting any younger (at least I'm not, I broke my personal record on 'longest consecutive period alive' today ) and RL throws the monkey wrench sometimes.

Of course, if you feel that it's only your game while the other games are not (or less) affected, maybe see with your players if they still want to play Shadowrun, or if they want to make some (small) changes to the way the game is played.  If they don't like the game or the way it's done, they will more quickly find excuses to stay away.

[DeathofVirtue]

  Firstly I can relate, I run two seperate groups on weekends, one is a 5 person group of close friends and the other is a 12+ group (really not as bad as people say IF you are well organised and can split the group between off gm's) incorporating an old group of mine with the smaller one of my close friends.  I recently had to wait a month and a half to continue my smaller groups campaign due to a similar situation.  It wont be the last time it happens, it certainly wasnt the first, it can be frustrating but issues do crop up from time to time and accepting that is important.

  That said there are workarounds, full online game, meeting up at a different time/day, npc'ing an unavailable pc etc.  Hell I have even allowed play by text and once face time for people who have the time but have other issues such as getting there due to rl constraints.  Nothing is perfect, the trick is to come up with a method that maximises attendance and immersion and avoids disrupting the group as much as possible and that involves having a frank discussion with your players and working together to create a method that works for your group if an issue does come up.

 

[farothel]

One more thing you might do.  Depending on how big your group is (I don't think you mentioned that).  If you have 5 players or more, if one or two are absent, play on with the rest, adapt the run slightly and it should be possible.  You just need to come up with a way to make sure that people are not running too much behind in nuyen and karma, but if it's not always the same people who are absent, it should level out in the long run.

[Sphinx]

Play anyway. Depending on how large your group is, you can probably do without a player or two. Go ahead without them. Their characters disappear for the events of that session, and don't earn karma for those plot points.

If you're equipped for it, you might allow up to one "teleplayer" per session. When someone can't show up in person but still wants to play, we'll set up a laptop in their place, point its webcam at the gaming table, and have them join virtually using Google Hangouts (or Skype or FaceTime). Works well enough, but only one person at a time and don't let them make a permanent thing out of it.

If you're missing too many players to go ahead with the campaign, then run a one-shot mini-mission for the ones who do show up. Just a simple courier job, surveillance, sabotage, bodyguarding, etc. Extra karma for those characters. Be sure to wrap it up in a single session, though, or you end up with multiple unfinished games in progress.

Or play Shadowrun: Crossfire or Shadowrun: Encounters instead.