D&D General Anyone Co-DM'd a Session?

[Lwaxy]

Several times, always worked out fine. Several GMs in the same world worked as well. If I co-GM something, I usually go by what the main GM has planned which makes it rather easy.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Closest I came was last night when one player's PC had just been raised so he needed 2 weeks of rest before he could do anything other than move at half speed with 1 HP. So when the party ambushed a group of swamp goblins laying in ambush for them I let him run the goblins. Honestly I was kind of hoping he would TPK his own party, would be a laugh and he would do it if he could. Instead a hasted + dust of disappearance'd party rolled.

 

[Wolfram stout]

I've done 2 DMs before - and for Paranoia, 3 GMs at the same time for a large group of players.

As for advice on how to go about it, first a question - WHY have multiple GMs? What's the goal? What are you hoping to get out of it?

For 2 DMs running Paranoia, I know you didn't, but I hope you guys made it as confusing as possible, and even stepped on each others toes. . I mean, how fun would that be for a player to ask a question, get two different answers with no clarification as to which was accurate. That would be pure Paranoia for me.

 

[Charlaquin]

I’ve assisted a friend who was new to DMing and wanted backup. I found it a little awkward because I didn’t want to step on his toes. But it worked fine; I was really more there as a safety net in case he felt he didn’t know how to handle something than anything else.

 

[R_J_K75]

needed 2 weeks of rest before he could do anything

This came up last night too. Not specifically but the old school mentality of the game in general. I ran a 5E session, not as a railroad but a loose lets move this along. Its OK to hand wave a 100' of corridor, a mob in the town square, get to what matters. 1 out of 6 players objected and wanted to check every nook and crany.

 

[R_J_K75]

Anybody remember those sessions where party was split up in a dungeon and the players were in one room and the DM in another? Youre name got called like you took a ticket at the butcher counter. It was absolutely forbinnen for players to share knowledge.

 

[payn]

I guest starred as a couple NPCs in a campaign a friend was running once. The GM would let me know when it would be cool for me to take over an important NPC. Usually at the end of a module or campaign arc. We would get together over a beer and the GM would fill me in on all the interesting bits. I'd play the character during the session against the PCs.

It wasn't necessarily Co-GMing, but it was fun and took a little extra work off the solo GMs plate.

 

[Ancalagon]

I've played in such a game and, IMO, it was a disaster so I wouldn't recommend it.

CO-dming can work well if the DMs are rotating. An "assistant" can also be great. but 2 full DM running one session? Nope.

 

[collin]

I guest starred as a couple NPCs in a campaign a friend was running once. The GM would let me know when it would be cool for me to take over an important NPC. Usually at the end of a module or campaign arc. We would get together over a beer and the GM would fill me in on all the interesting bits. I'd play the character during the session against the PCs.

It wasn't necessarily Co-GMing, but it was fun and took a little extra work off the solo GMs plate.

I have had a similar experience. A friend of mine and I decided to tag-team DMing for our group's kids (pre-teens and teens). When the non-DM was in the game, we were essentially playing an NPC, then we would switch off.

I have been thinking recently that co-DMing might be a good thing, especially for groups that are 6+ in number. It would obviously have to be 2 people that work well together. Styles that are too much the opposite of each other would likely prove to be problematic. However, I don't think having totally identical styles is a must or even desirable. Having two DM's whose styles are at least a little different might be a good thing and add more to the experience.

 

[iserith]

Anybody remember those sessions where party was split up in a dungeon and the players were in one room and the DM in another? Youre name got called like you took a ticket at the butcher counter. It was absolutely forbinnen for players to share knowledge.

Definitely did those and look back on them now as big time-wasters for no real benefit.