Duo-DMing

[mac1504]

A friend of mine that I game with says that he read an article in some publication awhile back about running a D&D campaign with two DMs involved. He says he can't seem to find the article now; even after searching through his old polyhedrons, dragon magazines, and the dragon magazine CD-ROM archive.

I was just wondering if anyone might have an idea of where this particular article might be located, or if anyone knows of any other good sources of information for running a campaign with two DMs. Or, hopefully, you can provide me with both

Thanks in advance for any help.

-mac1504

 

[The Antra]

I had this idea some time ago (er... a long time ago) and even set things with Claudio Pozas about doing it. Both of us Dming, making NPCs talk among themselves and sharing duties like music, organization, handling Player's aids and changing the environment of the room...

Claudio and I came to develop a very rough storyline but...

It never happened... (sigh)

But I still think it's a good idea!

 

[Napftor]

The concept is a good one for a few modules I would say. After all, two heads are better than one. But be warned, you must choose a co-DM who you can get along with. I tried this once with one of my more mediocre players. Regrettably, he made the maps, and I did the rest...sigh. When he periodically mentions co-DMing these days, I just shudder and move away quickly.

But finding someone with your passion and vision can definitely yield some great gaming I would think. Sorry, this isn't the answer to your question about finding the articles, but I thought I'd chime in anyway.

 

[BluWolf]

Our current group uses two DMs but in totaly seperate game worlds.

I did try this WAY bac in high school, it worked ok. The biggest problem was the other GM and I were probably the strongest players and we never got the chance to adventure together.

 

[Ruined]

I've had some odd experiences with this, and a mix of good and bad feelings. Wayy back, a friend and I conceived this grim futuristic superhero campaign using the d20 system. I ended up running the majority of it, and the players all really enjoyed it. He mentioned running some parts, and I said sure, take some of the heat off me. Scary how in one night, your campaign plans can be destroyed...

Anyways, I've also had some experience running a Live Action game for about fifty players. The roommates and I spearheaded that effort, and you have to learn how to play nice with others. That and how to reign in your crazy co-GMs sometimes.

" What do you mean they killed that villain? They weren't even supposed to meet him, let alone be able to beat them? "

Fun, fun. But I'm retired now. I just play and enjoy the good games they deal out.

 

[mac1504]

Well, thanks for all the replies so far. I think it could be a great way to run a campaign if done correctly. I was hoping to find those articles to give some insight... but my co-DM and I might need to forge it alone.

Right now we have roughly determined that one of us will work on the more creative elements of the game and the other will work on more of the mechanical parts of the game. While running the game- we will also both be DMing. This should allow for the group (hopefully to be a larger group of six to seven players) to split up and avoid the pain of one group sitting unattended for an hour while the other group resolves their adventures with a DM.

I also see this as good in that both DMs can be in charge of role-playing half of the NPCs in the campaign. I think both of us could get pretty good at playing 6 or 8 NPCs instead of one DM trying to roleplay 12 or 16 NPCs. Specialisation in NPCs I guess

I'm also hoping that this will help speed up combat, which our group desperately needs to do, although I'm not entirely sure how that will happen.

If anyone out there has anyother experiences with duo-DMing, I would love to hear about it.

-mac1504

 

[Gee]

I have tried this on a couple of occasions (about 12 years ago mind you) without much success.

Some thoughts:

Make sure that each DM is given clear 'jurisdiction'. ie You do combat and NPC's X,Y, and Z and I do story arc and NPC's A,B and C

Also be sure that each DM has a clear picture of the different ways the game could progress and decide who is responsible for painting that picture.
When I last tried this tactic, my co-DM ran the game and I ran combat. When a couple of PC'c died in a relatively mundane encounter he got pissed at me because this impacted where he thought the game was going.

We hadn't discussed how something like PC death impacts the other DM's ideas.

I did play in a one shot session though where one DM drew maps (on an overhead) moved minis and ran combat. This worked out very well as each of the DM's had taken the time to define their roles and they complimented each other very well. Very fun session.

 

[barsoomcore]

One of the greatest experiences of my DMing career was co-DMing a massive, seven-year campaign with my best friend. I cannot tell you how much fun it was or how amazing that campaign was.

We sat down before we started and decided on some basic ideas for the campaign -- single story arc, a world history, basic setting notions and magic level. We came up with an introductory adventure and started off.

Contrary to what some posters have said, we didn't have clearly-defined areas of responsibility or anything like that. Whoever had written the current adventure operated as the principal DM while the other guy helped out with record-keeping, player questions and any groups that had split off from the main party. Sometimes we had 14 players to keep track of, which got pretty crazy.

Sure we argued sometimes and irritated each other. But it's just a game, at the end of the day, and we're still very close friends. It was great, no, GREAT, to have someone to bounce ideas off, to take up the slack when I wasn't feeling creative. It also made it a lot easier to keep gaming sessions super-regular. We played every Friday night for seven years (Geeks? Us?) but each of us didn't have to be there every time. So you could take a break if you had to.

My partner spent a year in France and I went through a bad patch for a while where I couldn't be bothered and the campaign continued. It was bigger than either of us, which gave it that much more of a epic feel.

I say again, it was one of the greatest gaming experiences I've ever had. I totally recommend it.

 

[Chaldfont]

Multiple DMs

Some twists on this can be really fun with the right group. In one group, each person got to take a turn as DM. Each session we had a different DM but with the same characters in the same campaign. Each person made up a new adventure. It was very cool to see what others would do with a plot thread you began. You need to be on the honor system so you don't favor your own PC when you DM, but with the right group this shouldn't be a problem.

An example: When I DMed, I had a villain who had a white cat, just like Blofeld in James Bond. The cat was nothing special, not even a familiar. But in the next session, the DM had all the nobles carrying white cats. In his game, these were magical intelligent cats that were dominating the upper class somehow. We had to defeat their plot to conquer the world. This made my villain's cat, retroactively, the mastermind of the plot.

In my current group, we decided to take a break on the campaign, so we started a story line where a gnome king declared a story telling contest. Each player in the group would create a one or two session campaign and that would be their entry into the contest. At the end, we will vote on who has the best story.

 

[Paka]

Gaming buddies from college were all gathering from all over the east coast to have a reunion and game again.

An old friend and I brainstormed a high level game in which a high level group tried to figure out who had stolen the Sun and the Moon. One party went after the Sun and the other went after the Moon.

My DMing style is very fast and loose and I think I stepped all over my friend's toes.

It was fun when we were running two groups in two different rooms, though.

It is so important for me, as a DM. to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Even when I DM solo I like to have an out of town or out of game buddy who I b.s. with to make sure the game is gelling in my head.

Thanks,

P-