Disappearing - Is This Anything?

Having trouble getting a bunch of adults together on a weekly basis to play dungeons & dragons? Work that problem into your story!

Last winter, people started disappearing. It happened suddenly, with no warning, and seemingly random.

One moment, a shopkeeper will be trying to close a sale, and the next moment, the customer will be alone in the shop. The bartender turns his back to pour a pint, and when he turns back to serve it, the patron is gone. An adventuring party – in the middle of an altercation with several bandits – was a group of four, but now a group of two. But at the same time, the 10 bandits has now become seven.

And, just as worrying, everybody who disappeared at the same time, reappears at the same time. They remember nothing of when they were gone.

It’s been a year since this started, and society has changed in small ways to alleviate any problems this has introduced. That shopkeeper? He never works his store alone, always sure to have his wife or his apprentice alongside. The bartender? Always takes the coin before serving the ale. The adventuring party? Well, they just met, they’ll have to figure out how to work together, themselves.

Out-of-game, in case it’s not already clear, these disappearances happen in the downtime between sessions. Every new session, the DM takes stock of how many players were able to show up that week, and then rolls secretly to determine how much of the rest of the population has disappeared.