Rotating DMs?
iserith
Magic Wordsmith
Sometimes you can find yourself in a situation where someone rotates in and is running a game whose play experience you don't particularly enjoy. If you're not in a sufficiently large group and absenteeism matters to whether there's a session or not, it can be harder to dip and wait for the next DM. But if everyone's who will be in the rotation has been tested and found true, then this isn't so much a concern.
aco175
Legend
Tried it in the past and it worked for a while. The problems involved using the same PCs and some DMs not having anything prepared or giving away too much treasure and magic. We tried to have a base town and go on missions to tombs and such in a length of 3-4 weeks of play. The group had some wonky adventures for the 5-6 levels we played since each DM had different styles and used different monsters. It was hard to carry a common thread into a story.
We also tried to have a game where we had a rotating group of PCs in a game more like an adventurers guild where each player could pick from a few PCs they made. If a DM wanted to go into the sewers- I could play my thief. If another DM had a tomb raid- I wanted my mage. Each player had 3 PCs. The problem was that one PC was a favorite and gained the most levels and the other eventually fell off. The player who wanted to play with the 4th level PC caused the others not to want to play with their 2nd level PC in order to keep up.
We also tried to have a game where we had a rotating group of PCs in a game more like an adventurers guild where each player could pick from a few PCs they made. If a DM wanted to go into the sewers- I could play my thief. If another DM had a tomb raid- I wanted my mage. Each player had 3 PCs. The problem was that one PC was a favorite and gained the most levels and the other eventually fell off. The player who wanted to play with the 4th level PC caused the others not to want to play with their 2nd level PC in order to keep up.
My most successful group traded off every other campaign. We mostly ran D&D for 5-6 levels each, and the longest one was up to 9th. We ran a bunch of Shadowrun and Champions too. That was college.
Nowadays we have a few people that run games in our group, each in separate campaigns, and take turns every few weeks or so. Welcome to adulthood.
Nowadays we have a few people that run games in our group, each in separate campaigns, and take turns every few weeks or so. Welcome to adulthood.
Older Beholder
Hero
I've done this on occasion so I got a chance to play a character as well, but never with the same characters/game.
You're better off having the new DM start a second game. Either go session for session, or swap after each adventure/ story arch wraps up. Ideally play in a different setting (or system) just to differentiate them.
You're better off having the new DM start a second game. Either go session for session, or swap after each adventure/ story arch wraps up. Ideally play in a different setting (or system) just to differentiate them.
Gilladian
Adventurer
We did it for a while with a hub world that connected to other worlds via gates. We were explorers and each DM had one world to be in charge of. Two of us ran the main hub world with a backdrop plot to tie things together. It worked for about a year.
If you want a stable of characters, keep them all the same level. That makes swapping easier. And put one person in charge of tracking continuity.
If you want a stable of characters, keep them all the same level. That makes swapping easier. And put one person in charge of tracking continuity.
hawkeyefan
Legend
My group has done this in the past, and it's usually been very cool. But we learned to actually sit down beforehand and set some parameters, and do some worldbuilding. Everyone took part in the creation of the setting, and the tone we were going for, which helped create a bit more cohesion than I think would have happened otherwise.
Such involved worldbuilding also meant that everyone's PC was created to be part of the setting, which was kind of a side effect. Everyone designed their character with the setting in mind, so there were all kinds of existing connections and motivations and hooks for all the characters.
I think if you all work together, it's a great way to play.
ccs
41st lv DM
We rotate DMs in our Sunday game. There's 4, sometimes 5, of us.
1 person will run a campaign start to finish (we average about 18 months per campaign), then someone else will run a campaign, then....
Every now & then whoever's running will need a week or two off, so somebody'll run a 1 shot adventure or we'll play some boardgames.
Works just fine.
We've not mixed DMs within the same campaign though as each of us has a preferred setting/style/options/etc that wouldn't mesh well together.
1 person will run a campaign start to finish (we average about 18 months per campaign), then someone else will run a campaign, then....
Every now & then whoever's running will need a week or two off, so somebody'll run a 1 shot adventure or we'll play some boardgames.
Works just fine.
We've not mixed DMs within the same campaign though as each of us has a preferred setting/style/options/etc that wouldn't mesh well together.
Are we talking a single campaign with rotating DMs or a group that has multiple campaigns running simultaneously?
If running a single campaign, it's best for the DMs to agree to some ground rules. For example, if one DM wants magic items to be ultra-rare, but another DM gives them out like candy, this can cause a ton of friction. It can work, however, as I've seen a group pull it off, and participated as a guest DM once.
If running multiple campaigns, the only major issue is scheduling. My group has 4 DMs in it, and we usually have 2 games running on alternating weeks. Currently we have one primary game running once every two weeks, plus my game is restarting (but is a bit irregular), and one DM who's got a bunch of one-shot adventures for when someone can't run. We use a Google calendar to track who's running when. Players have access to the calendar, plus we regularly message each other, so everyone knows what's going on each week.
If running a single campaign, it's best for the DMs to agree to some ground rules. For example, if one DM wants magic items to be ultra-rare, but another DM gives them out like candy, this can cause a ton of friction. It can work, however, as I've seen a group pull it off, and participated as a guest DM once.
If running multiple campaigns, the only major issue is scheduling. My group has 4 DMs in it, and we usually have 2 games running on alternating weeks. Currently we have one primary game running once every two weeks, plus my game is restarting (but is a bit irregular), and one DM who's got a bunch of one-shot adventures for when someone can't run. We use a Google calendar to track who's running when. Players have access to the calendar, plus we regularly message each other, so everyone knows what's going on each week.
Oofta
Legend
I've shared campaigns with my wife a few times, as long as you set some ground rules I think it works fine. We discuss ahead of times things like character advancement and treasure along which story arcs/NPCs each of us "own".
In general, one of us will own the main story arc while the other does more sideline stuff. It works pretty well and gives the DM a break and chance to play now and then. When I was younger and did more dungeon crawl-like adventures we'd just switch off between dungeons. Again, it just came down to agreeing to some basics ahead of time.
In general, one of us will own the main story arc while the other does more sideline stuff. It works pretty well and gives the DM a break and chance to play now and then. When I was younger and did more dungeon crawl-like adventures we'd just switch off between dungeons. Again, it just came down to agreeing to some basics ahead of time.
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