D&D 5E (2014) All Players Are the DM

[Asisreo]

I always like to mention options in the book just in case anyone wants to check them out.

In the DMG, on page 269, one of the options for "Plot Points" is that they change DMs when a player expends a plot point.

 

[Yaarel]

For me, it is normal to take turns till leveling, or completing a dungeon.

The OP idea to swap depending on moving thru regional settings is interesting!

 

[Yaarel]

For me, the best way to level ever:

Count the number of encounters until gaining the next level!

It is about 8 or 10 encounters per level.

But the first tier (levels 1 to 4) advances faster, such as 4, 5, 6, and 7 encounters until level 5. Oppositely, if you are in a sweet spot, or want to slow down advancement, you can double the number of encounters to 16 or 20 before gaining the next level.

Finally, a Moderate challenge is worth 1 encounter. But an encounter that turns out to be easy is only worth ½ an encounter. A hard encounter is worth 1½ encounters. And a near TPK is worth 2 encounters. DM and players can decide the difficulty AFTER the encounter is over. Sometimes an encounter that the DM expected to be difficult, turns out to be an easy cakewalk. And oppositely, an encounter that was supposed to be easy or moderate might end in an near TPK. So decide the difficulty afterward.

No XP. No milestones.

Just count encounters. So simple, and much more accurate.

 

[aco175]

I have tried playing with others DMing when locations change in the same campaign. I may run a series of encounters in a dungeon and back in town another player wants to DM some roleplay and a set of encounters in the sewers. Then, another player wants to offer an option of going to the mountain pass tower or the secret area of the dungeon we were in when I DMed. The problem becomes balancing magic and things like monster ecology and why orcs are around one time and then they are gnolls or such.

 

[pemerton]

So what are your thoughts? What would be the challenges of this kind of game? What would be the rewards?

A friend and I recently started a BW game where we each have a PC and we GM concurrently. Basically each of us is responsible for framing the conflict for the other's PC, and adjudicating the consequences of failed checks. The first session worked fined, and I'm hoping we'll come back to it soon.

BW has some elements that 5e D&D doesn't, which helped: PCs include (as part of their builds) Beliefs, Instincts and Traits, and the basic principle for GMs in BW is frame towards conflict as defined by a PC's BITs. "Exploration" looms less large than it does in typical D&D play.

At the start of this year my group played a session of Orbital, which is "GM-less" and relies on a mixture of negotiation and player authority over certain setting elements to frame conflicts. It calls for a fair bit of proactivity on the part of participants; and the PCs were not as tightly/clearly focused as BW PCs which I think made it a bit harder to get off the ground.

Hopefully there's something helpful for you in the above reflections!

 

[babi_gog]

Some advices about how to do troop GMing can be found in Ars Magica which is set up in part for this style. Often using the geographic areas and spheres of influence model of responsibility. One this we would often do when playing as well was allow others to drop in little plot points that related back to areas of the plot they where leading on, so that it also pulled the world together a little more.