D&D General DMs, how do you handle 'split party' situations?

[payn]

If you don't want to lose that 10-30 min of game time then don't split the party.

Even a small group can split a party - I've had situations with two players where one got punted for a while while the other did an away mission.

Sounds like we have entirely different groups and expectations. Threads like these are good so folks can get a variety of experiences. For example, my players love weaving in and out of character knowledge. The scout seeing one thing, and saying another because they want to convince the group to take another path is gaming gold. Of course, I know that folks struggle mightily with this but I haven't gamed with them in decades.

 

[iserith]

Players don't tend to do it very often. When they do, I just make sure to switch back and forth between them very quickly, searching for a decision point or cliffhanger each time before flipping over to the other part of the group. While doing this, I do my best to encourage them to get back together as soon as it makes sense.

In my D&D/street level heroes mashup, I encourage splitting up by putting more than one threat in play at a time that demands attention. The players have a stable of sidekicks they can call upon to help. So they deploy X superhero PCs to deal with the problem plus 5 minus X sidekicks. The players whose PCs are not in the scene play the sidekicks. They only have 6 sidekicks to choose from, so the amount of splitting up is limited, but this only creates demand for more sidekicks. As a result, I can use earning new sidekicks as a reward.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

If the players split the party, I shift the spotlight back and forth until they are back together. I mean, the same thing happens to a lesser extent when a party is engaged in exploration - I go around to find out what each PC is doing before adjudicating. Now, with a split party, the spotlight swings take much longer so I just pray no one gets lost on their phone while their portion of the party is not in the spotlight. Then again, maybe that's ok (to some) as those players won't be able to know information that their PC couldn't know.

Which brings me to another point. I don't care about metagaming or separating player-PC knowledge. Good faith players can play their PCs however they like. So I don't care if everyone is listening in - I would assume the party would share knowledge once they are back together anyway. Saves table time to not force them to then act it out. I'd much rather have engaged players than having some people isolated from game events while the rest of us play for a while.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I generally try to discourage splitting the party. Sometimes I'll outright say "if you really want to do this, you can, but we only have X amount of time left this session and I'd prefer not to have to manage two separate groups for it" or with larger tables, outright say "no, you can't split the party; I can't be focusing on two PCs while six others sit there not doing anything, so you all need to decide on what the party does as a group."

But it still happens. When it does, I generally try to move as quickly as I can to get the party back together or move back and forth between the groups as quickly as I can, minimizing the time people are sitting there not doing anything. If it's scouting ahead, that's one thing, but if it's just "I want to go do this thing without the other party," I will frequently have the main group of PCs do their thing first, and then get to the person that wanted to go off on their own.

I will sometimes move into initiative order, even if we're not in combat, as a way to try to make sure everyone's getting even time.

 

[Greg K]

I have not issue with splitting the party or the party spliting on their own. As I mentioned in the other thread. I try to give each group 2-3 minutes and cut away. The time is flexible depending upon the number of groups the party has split into and the number of people in each group. Some examples:

.f the the members have broken down indivdually I try to ensure that within about 10-12 minutes everyone has had a turn of equal lenght
If there are two groups comprised of an equal number of members, I may extend the time to 5-6 minutes per group before cutting away and giving the group equal time
if one person wanders off, I will, typically, begin with the main group, cutaway to the individual, and return again to the main group. So about 4 minutes- 2 minutes- 4 minutes or 5 minutes-2 minutes- 5 minutes.
If things are intense, I may shorten the time spent on a group, but increase the number of times each group goes within that 10-12 minutes.

Finally, as mentinoed by someone else, I may dead end scenes depending upon the situations and bring people together.

 

[prabe]

Generally, the parties I run split in cities. I switch back and forth with some frequency, and make sure that Team Library gets something for sitting through Team Getting Into Trouble's ... escapades (because resolving research is quicker).

 

[billd91]

Generally, the parties I run split in cities. I switch back and forth with some frequency, and make sure that Team Library gets something for sitting through Team Getting Into Trouble's ... escapades (because resolving research is quicker).

That's about the way I do it too. I try to keep the amount of play vs watch time balanced so nobody is sitting at the table too long without being involved. I would only step out of the room or send players out of the room for very quick side actions or questions or ones where I really did want the issue to be secret for the rest of the party.

 

[Oofta]

If the party splits up, I just switch between and everyone stays at the table. It's just not worth the hassle of sending everyone down to the basement "just in case". So we'll do a scene with one group then switch to another after something like 10-15 minutes.

We used to literally send people to a different room, it honestly doesn't buy that much for us.

 

[Minigiant]

20 shifts unless a combat happens.

Or the other group to do a pizza/burger/chips/beer/nacho/roti/sushi/rice/chicken/fish/whiskey run.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

I have everyone roll initiative and then intercut between characters in initiative order.