Unfortunately, running the game with a few characters missing does result in gaps. This shouldn’t be a problem as everyone should have enough other contacts that the missing characters won’t impact on the game too much.

However, if you are concerned that your guests will want to talk to the missing character, then you can tell your players (during the introduction) that if they want to contact any of the absent characters, they can simply talk to you.

To make this happen, bring the absent characters with you (either printed or on a laptop, phone or tablet).

Then, when someone comes up to you and asks to speak with an “absent” character, you can quickly scan the character sheet and role-play that character.

Detectives and reporters

You can let detectives and reporters (and other characters) use their abilities on absent characters.

For example, if a detective has the “I’d like to ask you a few questions” ability, you can show them each character’s’ Clue.

But don’t let anyone use absent characters to cheat!

Watch for players who try to “cheat” by using the absent characters to achieve their goals instead of interacting with the players present. It’s better for everyone if they are talking and negotiating with the other players rather than with the host.